Dynamics partners predict impact of Microsoft sales re-org on clients, selves

News of a major re-organization of Microsoft's global sales organization, including a report of 3,000 layoffs is just one of the changes that Dynamics partners will be paying attention to at Inspire 2017 next week.

Reports from multiple media outlets have revealed plans for changes to Microsoft's commercial enterprise and SMB sales organizations, under the leadership of Judson Althoff and Jean-Philippe Courtois. These changes reportedly aim to boost performance and improve focus on Azure-related offerings, and Dynamics professionals we spoke with have noted a range of possible impacts on their work with clients.

Enterprise-grade streamlining

The reported re-org plans align with other guidance Microsoft has given to partners recently around account management, according to channel sources. Specifically, company employees have advised that the sales organization will be offering a more streamlined experience for clients.

One Dynamics professional spoke of a specific prediction from Microsoft employees to expect a "flattened partner organization" at Microsoft in FY18 with account managers acting as the central point of contact for a client, responsible to call in the right sales engineers, partners, and other key roles as needed.

"It's great news for us all. There are too many points of view in the room now," the partner added.

Another Dynamics professional working in the enterprise space reported that Microsoft account management personnel are being called to Redmond this week as sales and sales support responsibilities get shuffled.

Alternative impact in the SMB segment

In the SMB commercial space, plans for more streamlined Microsoft account management and sales support could be felt in a different ways.

One veteran of the channel believes ...