The Partner Channel Magazine Fall 2016

We had some really great business coverage around Dynamics 365 and AppSource in Forbes and the Wall Street
Journal, and from a Partner perspective, VERIPARK shared that they had more leads in the first few days after
AppSource’s launch than they had gotten in a year because of the awareness that came during WPC.
TPC: What advice do you have for Partner organizations and how they move their businesses forward with
everything we’ve covered?
BE: I think Partners need to focus on expanding their capabilities into data, analytics, and IoT as the reality is that
those worlds are going to converge over time. They’re very closely related to Dynamics 365, and they don’t need to
do it overnight, but they need to think about how they partner to create a well-rounded solution for their customers.
If you think about field service, IoT is a very natural focus. If you think about financial services, you need to think
about Cortana Intelligence and how that surfaces in an ISV solution.
I think that many Microsoft Dynamics Partners already have these skillsets, and I know for a fact that some of
our best Power BI Partners are Microsoft Dynamics Partners as I’ve told my teams over the years that they need to
talk to the Microsoft Dynamics team as they’ve always understood how to surface those insights and get customers
to take action on them.
TPC: And finally, back to Dynamics 365. The offering was announced just before WPC, talked about extensively
at the event, and the official launch is coming up at UG Summit in October. What have been the highs and lows
of this announcement thus far?
BE: I think Partners were excited to see Microsoft put Dynamics 365 on the mainstage at WPC. I think they feel
good about the investment they’ve made with Microsoft and about what they’ve built.
I think there is also a good nervousness – similar to when you start a new role – because they’re not quite sure
how this will all play out.
Now we’re doing the education post-announcement. We did a pre-disclosure that general availability will be
coming in the fall, and Partners want to know about pricing, packaging, and licensing. We have shared a good level
of detail, but there is more to come in terms of Partner readiness, and we’re excited about the formal launch at UG
Summit.
16 FALL 2016 | THEPARTNERCHANNEL.COM