Microsoft partners weigh the choice to go vertical: Lots of potential, but not for the faint of heart

Microsoft has certainly steered partners toward vertical-specific IP for several years. But, asks Malcolm Roach, is that a smart move for a three-year-old services firm? Or one in which the principal is 60-years old and looking to retire? 

Roach is Open Door Technology's president and CEO, and founded the Alberta, Calgary-based firm in 1992. He will walk partners through the decision to verticalize in his Directions North America 2017 session, Transitioning to a Vertical Partner: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly on Monday, September 18^th. He plans to answer such questions as:

• What kind of talent do I need for a vertical initiative?
• How do I choose a vertical market?
• Do I sell the product directly, or through resellers?
• When can I expect to profit from it?

Open Door Technology specializes in oil and gas, "by virtue of being in Calgary," says Roach. Part-and-parcel with that industry is equipment rentals, and the company has developed its Open Door Rental Software for Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 to meet that need.

Open Door released a light-duty version of the software in 2002, but found a decade later that the sales volume via resellers did not fund proper development of the product. "So we started to put more money into development, and also started selling direct, as well as going through partners," says Roach.

One driver to making that R&D investment was that, as Roach describes, by ignoring Microsoft's drive toward specialization, partners risked "putting yourself in ...