Restructured Microsoft Dynamics AX Sales Strategy Offers Risks, Opportunities for Regional SIs

With the announcement that the Dynamics AX partner channel will be reworked to give Microsoft selling responsibilities in the enterprise segment, partners who currently do AX deals in both the midmarket and lower enterprise realm will have some important decisions to make as they plan their business strategies and assess the direction of the Microsoft partner program.

Jeff Edwards, director of channel strategy for Microsoft Business Solutions, notes that Dynamics AX consultancies entering into the enterprise space with more of a mid-market end-to-end sales and service approach will have to make serious adjustments - and the stakes are high. 

Microsoft partner program managers acknowledge that regional SIs can and sometimes do win deals in the lower enterprise market, but their approach often does not reflect the industry standard that a global SI would have applied to the account.  And with the new CSA fee model, lower fees mean an even higher importance of delivering value-added services at the right price and with proper execution.

"From a partner perspective [regional SIs] can get into these deals," says Edwards. "But complex, multi-site management, complex integrations is challenging and they don't have as much experience there...In those projects, if you price it wrong you can drive a small firm into bankruptcy."

New leadership aligning with enterprise strategy

The recent Microsoft organizational change that brings Neil Holloway to the Dynamics leadership team could also be influenced by the decision to evolve the sales strategy.  Holloway's past roles at Microsoft oversaw the entire UK subsidiary as well as Microsoft EMEA, which included more enterprise-level sales and a vision that spans multiple product ...