"Words Matter": Microsoft VP clarifies Dynamics GP future plans after partner backlash

Writing on LinkedIn today, Microsoft VP for SMB business applications Mike Morton apologized for “any lack of clarity in our presentation” on the future of Dynamics GP’s roadmap and stated he wants the GP community to know that “we are committed to supporting our customers, VARs, and ISVs.”

Morton’s statement was an effort to refine the message Microsoft sent when they stated that the October 2022 release will be ”the last release adding other new features”. That presentation on Tuesday drew the ire of GP partners for a range of reasons including the meaning of “features”, the immediate impact on clients’ decisions around support and enhancement plan spending for GP and ISV solutions, and the advantage that competing ERP vendors were seeking to exploit within a matter of hours.

Among the key points Morton made in his new post was that he now understands that his definition of “new features” does not align with the GP community’s expectations. He wrote:

At the Summit we did make a statement about ‘new features’. This intent was to share that we do not expect significant new capabilities in Dynamics GP, such as new modules. Microsoft’s major investments and innovations will be in other Dynamics 365 offerings.

In addition to reiterating that new releases of GP will contain “regulatory (tax), security updates, and hotfixes,” as described during Tuesday’s presentation, Morton clarified that “new releases will also include updates in usability, reliability, addressing top customer issues, and other areas that are critical in ensuring businesses run successfully on GP.”

One of the other top complaints from partners following the Tuesday session was Microsoft’s decision to list four partners who have preferred upgrade and migration services related to moving from GP to Business Central. That decision prompted one GP veteran to state in a group email chain (prior to Morton’s statement):