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

by Jason Gumpert
Editor, MSDynamicsWorld.com
October 13 2022

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):

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About Jason Gumpert

As the editor of MSDynamicsWorld.com, Jason oversees all editorial content on the site and at our events, as well as providing site management and strategy. He can be reached at jgumpert@msdynamicsworld.com.

Prior to co-founding MSDynamicsWorld.com, Jason was a Principal Software Consultant at Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC), where he implemented solutions, trained customers, managed software development, and spent some time in the pre-sales engineering organization. He has also held consulting positions at CSC Consulting and Monitor Group.

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Jeff
Submitted by jefflfrye on Wed, 10/19/2022 - 18:35 Permalink

So the balloon Microsoft launched the day before popped way sooner than they expected. It still got them what they wanted, a concerned customer base that may suddenly be willing to be financially screwed on the move to a lacking cloud offering. I cannot be the only one that is thinking there is zero chance of moving to another Microsoft product after years of this. Every BC partner I have encountered has been woefully unprepared for adapting to the requirements and expectations of current GP customers. Their skills seem to be limited to using corporate suite catch phrases, dropping "digital transformation" into conversations regarding actual processes, and explaining how limiting flexibility is a good thing for users. Please Microsoft, sell GP to a company that is interested in moving our investments into a lifecycle that will modernize it. You will lose us as customers, but we will allow you to call it "digital transportation" to the offshore partners you do respect now. Also I will promise to not regret our move to Azure and Power products.

In reply to by anonymous_stub (not verified)

Build
Submitted by cleary2022 on Wed, 10/26/2022 - 10:11 Permalink

I underscore your sentiment. Unless Microsoft either realizes how they are alienating existing customers and reverses course or choose to sell GP to a company that is capable of bringing the DB and UI (with on prem solution) to an efficient modern platform , how can anyone recommend to their business that a migration should include a Microsoft product?