Podcast Review: Gauging buyer reaction to Dynamics 365 and broader ERP market changes

Eric Kimberling, an independent adviser with Third Stage Consulting, joined the MSDW podcast to discuss how ERP buyers are responding to Dynamics 365 in the marketplace, cloud attitudes, and ERP strategy for the future.

Dynamics 365 adoption

Kimberling, and the Third Stage Consulting group are an independent firm, and not a Microsoft value added reseller (VAR). That means they work with firms that select Dynamics, but also competitors like SAP S4/HANA and Oracle solutions, advising those firms on their investments and on ongoing changes throughout the ERP market.

According to Kimberling, Dynamics 365 adoption is a big topic in the industry. Partners are trying to position the new offering while users attempt to learn what the various applications are all about, particularly Business Central for the mid-market and Finance and Operations for enterprises. Many organizations that already use Dynamics want to understand the process, and impact of upgrades for Dynamics AX and NAV, or migrations for SL, he says.

"D365 has obviously come a long way. It's a really revolutionary product that takes the best of a lot of different Microsoft products, and migrates them to a modern cloud platform," said Kimberling. His team works with clients to help them understand the maturity of D365 relative to the maturity of other products in the ecosystem, comparing the benefits of current AX, NAV, and GP usage, relative to the new offering. Many organizations are debating whether they are ready to adopt a cloud solution, and some are very comfortable retaining their own on-premises system.

"Helping clients understand the value of migrating [is one thing that we work on]," he said. The good news-or perhaps ...