Dynamics Introspective: Will CSP Win Over More ERP, CRM Partners at WPC 2016?

Worldwide Partner Conference 2016 is less than two weeks away, and its approach offers a good opportunity to look back at some of the key developments in the Microsoft Dynamics channel over the last year.

Of all the Microsoft partner programs relevant to Dynamics ERP and CRM VARs, the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program is the one likely to have the most direct impact on the next year's planning. Coming up on two years of execution, CSP has grown from Azure, Office 365, and Enterprise Mobility Suite to include CRM Online and the new AX on Azure. Project Madeira is expected to join the program later this calendar year.

CSP program details, shared in July 2015 

The ongoing question for Dynamics partners, of course, is whether and how deeply they want to enmesh their businesses with Microsoft in the era of CSP. Do they want to execute the types of changes in sales, service, support, compensation, and overall strategy that Microsoft expects of a 1 Tier CSP? Or do these partners perhaps want to shed the operational responsibilities of the partner program and downshift their Microsoft relationship by reselling solutions under a 2-Tier distributor?

Dozens of software distributors and service providers have already made serious commitments to the 2-Tier CSP approach, and they are already setting aggressive goals to make the program successful. Ingram Micro's executive director for cloud in North America, Jason Bystrak, recently spoke with MSDW about