business report extreme365 emea 2017 for dynamics crm … · 3. keynote - dynamics crm as part of...

Business ReporteXtreme365 EMEA 2017for Dynamics CRM PartnersLisbon, March 13th -17th, 2017

Index

1. Management summary 3

2. Event, theme and organization 5

3. Keynote - Dynamics CRM as part of Dynamics 365 7

4. The Dynamics 365 capability and capacity dilemma 13

5. Dynamics CRM in the SMB markets 16

6. Exclusive interview with Tony de Freitas 18

7. Exclusive interview with Param Kahlom 22

8. Exclusive interview with Satish Thomas 27

9. Conclusions and recommendations 29

10. About the authors 32

REPORT EXTREME365 EMEA 2017 © QBS GROUP

1.Managementsummary

Being a Dynamics CRM partner in today’smarket is like dancing on a volcano. And the

recentannouncementsaroundtheterminationofDynamicsCRMOnlineandthetransition

toDynamics365willmakethiseffectevenstronger!Thesedays,DynamicsCRMpartners

facethebiggestchallengeseverintheircompany’shistory.Thecombinationofcloud,the

demand for faster delivery, subscription pricing, new types of competitors, continuous

innovation and the changing buying behaviour invite business owners and their

shareholderstoexplicitlystepoutoftheircomfortzones.

Thesetrendscall fornewentrepreneurship,newbusinessmodelsandongoingchange.The

question however is whether the current partner channel is ready, able, and especially

willingtodoso.

AccordingtoMicrosoft,allDynamicsCRMpartnersneedto transformtheirbusinessesto

stay relevant.However,manypartnershavestillnot evenstarted thisprocess-notwith

action and sometimes not even in their minds! PaulWhite, worldwide responsible for

MicrosoftDynamicsintheSMBmarket,forecaststhatonlysome20percentofthecurrent

CRMpartnercommunitywilleventuallymakethistransition.Partnerswhohavenotstarted

theirtransformationprocessyetshouldreallyhurryinordernottobeleftbehind!

Over the last 10 years, the Dynamics CRM product hasmade a fantastic journey! Over

40,000customers,ongoinginnovation,a seriesofsmartacquisitionsandover40quarters

of double-digit growth. However, a great history neveroffers a guaranteefor a brilliant

future.NotforMicrosoftandnotforanindividualDynamicsCRMpartner.

During the eXtreme365 event, lotsofoxygenwas taken out of the room in thevarious

sessionsonDynamics365.Ontheonehand,thismadesensesincethenewsolution isthe

successorof‘stand-alone’DynamicsCRM.Ontheotherhand,thegeneralimpressionisthat

only a minor partof thecurrent channelwill eventually transform their companies to a

successful Dynamics 365 business. But where else should Microsoft present her new

solution?

REPORT EXTREME365 EMEA 2017 © QBS GROUP3

Dynamics 365 is a promising concept indeed! Thesolution helpscustomers in the areas

wheremost companieshave their biggest pains today:connecting their separate, siloed

businessapplications.Dynamics365benefitsfromMicrosoft’sstrongestanduniqueasset:

theMicrosoftstack.Andontopofthat,Dynamics365isaproductthatissupportedbythe

wholeMicrosoftorganization!

ButratherthanjustfocusingonthefunctionsandfeaturesofDynamics365,partnersneed

topayattentiontothebusinesssideofthisnewsolutionaswell!Whatdoesittaketomake

a successoutofDynamics365?Andwhatorganisationalchangesmust theaverageCRM

partnermaketobecomesuccessful?DynamicsCRMpartnersshouldeithergofullflashinto

Dynamics365ordon’tstartwiththisnewproductatall.Asforjoiningjusta littlebit,that

won’twork.

So,DearDynamicsCRMpartners,it’stimetomakeupyourmindsaboutyourfuture!


2.Event,themeandorganization

TheorganizationoftheeXtreme365EMEA2017eventhadmanyreasonstobeproud.In

the seventh edition of this partner-to-partner event they reported just over 1.000

attendees,which consisted of close to 700 attendeesfrom partner companiesand little

over300attendeesfromthecustomerside.Anall-timerecordhigh!

NAME CHANGE

For years, this event was named ‘eXtreme CRM’. With the announcement of Microsoft

Dynamics365,theorganisationdecidedtorebrandthenameandadjusttheeventconcept.

Thenew namenow is ‘eXtreme365’ and the eventwill focus on the full Dynamics 365

concept.SothatincludesnotonlySales,MarketingandService(akaCRM),butalsothefull

ERPsuite,Office365,AzureandallthenewinnovationsthatcomewiththeentireMicrosoft

IntelligentBusinessCloudPlatform.

TARGET GROUPS

Traditionally,eXtremewasapartner-to-partnerevent.AndMicrosofthadherowneventfor

Microsoft Dynamics end-users, called Convergence. The fact that Microsoft stopped

delivering this Convergence event - at least in the EMEA region - created a void. The

eXtreme organisation decided to enter this area by delivering her first eXtreme365

customereventonday4and5.

THE THEME

Thisyear’sthemeforthepartnereditionwas‘BethePartnerofTomorrow,TODAY’.Thisis

what the eXtreme organisation wrote as context: “Microsoft is reinventing business

processes,creatingtremendous opportunities forPartners.These changingbusiness models


are happening right infront ofus today. There is confusion in the channelaroundhow to

leveragetechnologiesaroundDynamics365inordertoaddressthechange.Nowisthetimeto

makeyourmovetoshifttobecomePartneroftomorrow.”

THE PARTNER ROLES

Foranumberofyears,eXtremetriestoattractabroadspectrumofdifferentpartnerroles

to theirevent.Reality,however, isthat technicalandfunctionalrolesarestilldominantly

represented. This is reflected in the agenda and the keynote sessions, although the so

calledExecutiveExchangeprogramregisteredmoreattendeesthaninanypreviousedition.

Therewerealsoalotofinterestingstatisticsandinnovationsthistime:

• ThefirsteventforbothCRMpartnersandCRMcustomers

• AllISVtrainingsessionsweresoldout

• Theinnovationchallenge

• AkeynotedeliveredbythePortugueseMinisterofEconomicaffairs

• And28sponsorswithaboothattheexpo

ABOUT THE CONTENT

UnlikeotherpartnereventslikeWPCandDirections,thiseventwasmainlyfocusedonthe

techniqueandfunctionalityoftheCRMdomainaspartoftheDynamics365concept,and

notsomuchon thebusinessside.ThekeynotedeliveredbyMicrosoftonthefirstdaydid

nottouchonthebusinessimpactofclouddelivery,subscriptionpricingorDynamics365for

bothpartnersandcustomers.

What does Dynamics 365 Sales, Marketing and Service mean for a customers’ market

position,the competitivestrengthsand thebusiness resultsat theendoftheday? Also,

what do Microsoft Dynamics CRM partners have to change to be able to market, sell,

deliverandsupportthesetypesofmodernMicrosoftsolutions?Itfeltlikeamissedchance

to informandinspirethepartnerspresentonaspectslikethepartnertransformation,the

necessaryinvestmentsandtheimpactonthecompetition.

EXTREME365 EMEA IN 2018

The2018editionofeXtreme365eventfortheEMEAregionwilltakeplaceinthespringof

2018.Theexactlocationstillneedtobemadepublic.


3.Keynote-DynamicsCRMaspartofDynamics365

ThekeynotepresentationwasdeliveredbyParamKahlon,General ManagerforDynamics

365.Unlikeotherpartnerevents,thiskeynotewasmainlyfocusedonthecurrentandtobe

expectedfunctionalityintheCRMdomainaspartoftheDynamics365conceptandnotso

muchonthepartnerbusinessside.

WHERE IS DYNAMICS 365?

ThereleaseofthenewDynamics365portfolioinNovember2016wasareal gamechanger.

ThiswasgoingtobethebusinessapplicationsversionoftheenormouslysuccessfulOffice

365 solution. Althoughmainlynew branding ofexistingproducts; from thatmomenton

Microsoftbroughtanentirelynewmessagetothepartnersandcustomers.Morefocused

onbusinesschallenges,lessonapplicationsilo’s.


Butwherearewenow?Wehad tocopewitha steep incline inproduct pricing.Complex

upgradesandmigrationpaths.Morethen300(!)SKU’sintheCSPprogramalone.How to

convincecustomerswhodon’treallyseetheaddedvalue?DowegoforPowerBI,Common

Data Service, PowerApps or Flow? Or maybe all of them? What exactly has changed?

Obviously,alotbutmuchofthatisstilltoarrivesuchasintheEMEAregionwehadtowait

forthearrivaloftheDynamics365BusinessEditionproductsforFinancial,Sales,Marketing

andService.

LOTS OF FUNCTIONALITY…

ParamKahlon’skeynotewasall abouttheDigitalTransformation,new features,morenew

featuresandasneakpeekintotheupcomingBusinessEditions.

RELATIONSHIP INSIGHTS

Intelligentbusinessapps in the cloud in fact are becoming intelligent.With Relationship

Insights, we get automated, predictive assistance built into Dynamics 365. With the

possibilitytoextendintootherplatformsaswell.

Tous,addingCortanatothismixistherealinnovation.Thereisnootherplatformwiththis

muchintelligence-includedoutofthebox.IttakesalittlewhileforRelationshipInsightsto

gathersufficientrelevantdata,butafterthatitdoeswork.CustomerInsightsstartsoffering

recommendations,remindersandanalysis.


Let’sbehonesthere:gettingasalesteamtoaccuratelykeeptrackofall communications,

tasks andmails - now that’s a challenge!Relationship Insightsadds just that extra staff

member,remindingeveryoneofdeadlines,newopportunitiesorevensomethingassimple

aswhenacontactopensyourmail!

OTHER INTERESTING THEMES

Someotherinterestingthemesinthekeynotesessionwere:

• Themuch-improvedOutlookintegration

• Gamification

• RelevanceSearch

• Dataexportservice


• CommonApplicationPlatform

• ApplicationDesigners

• EditableGrids

• InternetofThings

ApplicationDesign isbecomingeasierandmorecomprehensive, featuringNew Sitemaps

andviews!Itallowsforaneasywaytocreateatotallydifferentuserexperienceinminutes.

• Createapplicationmodulestoconsumebite-sizedchunksconfigurableperuserrole

• Graphicaldesignerforconfiguringanapplicationincludingsitemapandview

• Createabrand-newappinminuteswitheasyvisualdesigner

THE ROAD AHEAD

Param also talked in his keynote about the road ahead. The key investment areas for

Microsoftare:

1. UserExperience

2. CustomerInsights

3. LinkedInIntegration

4. BusinessEdition


A new improved User Experience

Inupcomingreleases,wewillseeanewUIforallplatforms–basedonUnifiedClient.One

client for web, mobile and Outlook Web Access (OWA) integration. Obviously, much

improvementoverthecurrentUI.

Customer Insights

Inouropinionthisisthebiggest innovationinthelast3years.Customer Insightswill add

AdaptiveProfilesand scaleout to encompassotherapplicationsthrough connectorslike

Exchange,SalesforceadMSE.

LinkedIn Integration

First thought we had when Microsoft bought LinkedIn was that it wouldn’t take long

beforefurther integrationwithDynamicsCRMwouldbeannounced.However,thattook

(much) longer than expected. Even now, the only integration we have is using Sales

Navigator–wereyoucanconnectDynamics365SalestoLinkedIn–atapremium.So–asa

keyinvestmentarea,weshouldexpectmoretocome.

Dynamics 365 Business Edition

Gettingclarity around theexpectedreleasedatesoftheupcomingBusinessEditionapps

provestobea realchallenge–theanswerstaysvague.However,wedoexpectthatthese


productsandtheiravailabilitywillhaveaprominentposition inthekeynotesonMicrosoft

Inspire2017thissummerinWashington.

Param touched on the subject about what is to be expected in the Business Edition

productsbrieflyduring thekeynote.First, it looks liketherewill be2apps to startwith:

Sales,BusinessEditionandMarketing.

ThelatterisabitofasurprisesinceMicrosoftteamedupwithAdobetoreplaceMDMinthe

Enterprise offering. What’s very nice is that there will also be a comprehensive Event

Managementsolution(includingportal!)includedinMarketing,BusinessEdition.


4.TheDynamics365capabilityandcapacitydilemma

Oneof the first challengesMicrosoft Dynamics CRM partners encounter when thinking

aboutsellingandimplementingDynamics365 istheneedtoofferamuchbroaderskill set.

Asofcourse,Dynamics365 coversmuchmorethan justthe traditionalCRM domain. It’s

alsoERP,Office365andAzurebutontopofthat,Dynamics365 isrelatedtothemanynew

services Microsoft recently released, like Power BI, Cortana Intelligence, IoT and

PowerApps.

Thisexponentialwaveoftechnologycreatesendlesspossibilitiesforpartnerorganisations

tocreatemorevaluetotheircustomers.Whetherit'sbusiness-to-consumerorbusiness-to-

business. From same-day delivery of your new television set to zero downtime of that

complexprocessmanufacturingplant.

Ofcourse,inlargeend-userorganisationstheIT-departmentwill actastheorchestratorof

thisandsourcetherightprofessionalsineveryareaofspecialisation.Inthatcase,thereis

noneedforaMicrosoftpartnertoprovidethatbreadthofknowledgeandspecialisation.In

smallerandmid-sizedenterpriseshowever,theIT-departmentlacksthebreadthandscale

totakethisrole.TheseSME-companiesheavilydependontheirimplementationpartneras

aguideandarchitectofnext-generationtechnologysolutions.


So, in order to get the max out of theDynamics 365 opportunity in the SMEmarkets,

Microsoft is looking for a new breed of partner companies.Hyper-specialisedona given

technologyandcollaborativebynature.Ableto,withthecustomer inmind,architectthe

right solution, consisting mostly of standard services. And working together with

specialisedpeer-organisationstodeliveronit.

AsQBSGrouppresentedattheeXtremeevent,therearebasicallyfourstrategicoptionsfor

thiscapabilityandcapacitydilemma:

1. BecomeaOneStopshop–acquirecompetenciesviamergersand/oracquisitions

2. Insource–findthemissingresourcestodelivertheprojectsyourself

3. PartnertoPartnercooperation–collaboratebydeliveringprojectstogether

4. Evolution–addingdomainknowledgeandcapacityforyourprojectsalongtheway

DYNAMICS SOURCING - A NEW WAY OF COLLABORATION

AttheeXtremeevent,QBSGroupandherstrategicsourcingpartnerDynasourcetogether

delivered a roundtable sessionwhereall thesefourscenarioswerediscussed.Wefound

outthatwhilemostCRMpartnersarestillintheprocessofmakinguptheirminds,mostof

them tend to focus on the Insource, Partner-to-Partner cooperation and Evolution

scenarios.EventhebiggerCRMpartners.

So,collaborationmost probably isoneofthe importantwaysofgrowingyourDynamics

365businessandhelpyourcustomerstotransform.


Thesecond implicationforMicrosoftpartnersisthattheMicrosoftCloudSolutionscover

moreandmoremulti technology hyper specialisations that customersrely on for you to

helpthemwith.Doyouwanttobuildupallexpertiseyourselforwouldyouliketoteamup

withotherstohelpyouandyourcustomers?Whatisthemainchallengeforyou?

Within theMicrosoft partnercommunity there isgreat expertise available that canhelp

otherMicrosoftpartnerslookingforsuchexpertise.Buttoooften,partnersarenotaware

ofthatexpertise.Orhavedifficultiesinfindingthem-especiallyininternationalprojects!In

theDynamics 365 domain,partners should search for the best expertise thatmatch the

requirementandconnectwiththemtowork together,asa network outsideoftheirown

companies’boundaries.It’scalledDynamicsSourcing.

Dynasource is a partner-to-partner market-place that gives Dynamics partners the

possibility to source expertise for their crucial projects and help them to utilise the

expertiseofotherswhentheyhavesometimeavailable.So,asapartneryoucandecrease

thegapbetweendemandandsupplyandincreaseyourutilisation,yourrevenueandyour

profit.

MicrosofthasreleasedaseriesofPartner-to-Partnerdocumentsincludingamaturitymodel

andplaybook.Partner-to-Partnerisallaboutcollaborationandbuildingastrongnetworkof

Microsoftpartnersglobally.

Learnmore:

WebsiteDynasource

LandingpageQBSGroup

LandingpageMicrosoft‘Partneringforsuccess’


http://www.dynasource.com

http://www.dynasource.com

http://www.qbsgroup.com/gl/partner-services/resource-optimisation.aspx

http://www.qbsgroup.com/gl/partner-services/resource-optimisation.aspx

https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/community

https://partner.microsoft.com/en-us/community

5.DynamicsCRMintheSMBmarkets

InmostofthesessionsthatwerehostedbyMicrosoft,mucheffortwasspentinexplaining

totheattendeeshowattractivethemarketforSmall andMediumBusinessesis.Statistics

suchasthetotalnumberofentities,theongoinggrowth,thecontributiontoGPDandthe

share in employment were mentioned to show why DynamicsCRM partners should go

afterthismarket.

Ingeneral,thereisnotmuchdoubt thattheSMBmarket isattractive. The challengefor

Microsoft,however isthatmostofherexistingCRM channelhasa focusonmidsized to

larger companiesandoncustomersthatarewillingto spendbigmoneyonboth licenses

and services.Customers that appreciate thebroadness and complexity of theDynamics

CRMconceptandwhoarewillingtoacceptlong(er)lastingimplementations.

MarketdemandsinSMBmarketsaredifferent.Thisistheplacewheresuccessisbasedon

the ability to deliver affordable, low-risk, simple solutions that can be implemented in

weeksorevendays,ratherthan inmonthsor years.Now thatdealsizesaresubstantially

smaller,successfulpartnersneedtobeabletosellwithmuchlowercustomeracquisition

cost. Practically speaking, this means that a partner needs to have a strong marketing

engine that delivers large numbers of Sales QualifiedLeads and those leadsneed to be

convertedeffectively,quicklyandcheap.


It’sasimilarstoryforthedeliveryside.Thesemarketsexpecthighlystandardisedsolutions,

preferablywitha verticalfocusor someotherspecialisationthatwill bedeliveredwitha

shorttimetomarket.Mostofthecustomersprefertostart smallwith for exampleSales

forceautomation.Andonly aftera successful implementationthey arewillingto expand

thatsolutionovertimewiththelikesofmarketing,serviceandfinancials.

In summary–for success in theSMB markets,Microsoftneedsto develop anadditional

channel.One that iswillingandable to focusona repeatablemodel.Withpartnerswho

believeinavolumeapproach.NowonderthatMicrosofthasratherbigexpectationsofthe

existingOffice365partnerchannel.Thesepartnersareusedtoa‘highvolume–lowvalue’

approach.Theyalreadyknowwhatcloudbusinessis,andthey havelargecustomerbases

wheretheycanstartwithrelativeeasyupsells.

But of course, every existing Microsoft Dynamics partner can also decide to start an

additionalCRMpracticewithafocusonthisfast-growingSMBmarket.


6.ExclusiveinterviewwithTonydeFreitas


EXCLUSIVEINTERVIEWWITHTONYDEFREITAS

“WeseeAppSourceastheflywheelfortheISVbusiness”

“By 2020 we will have have expanded our partner channel capable of selling

and delivering rich Microsoft Intelligent Business Applications”

As a seniordirector, Tony deFreitas is responsible for channel strategy and

channel programs for Dynamics 365. His job is to transform the Microsoft

Dynamics 365 channels and scaling ecosystem in delivering end to end

Intelligent Business Applications in the market. Tony has been working at

Microsoftsince1993withasmallbreak of 1yearinbetween.Wemethimin

Lisbonforanexclusiveinterview.Maintopicwasofcoursetheoverallpartner

businesstransformation.

Tony –in your opinion,what isthestatus

of the transformation process in the

Dynamicspartnerchanneltoday?

“Well,theanswerreallydependentsonthe

view of the channel type that you look

through.Today,theCRMviewdiffersfrom

theERPvieworeven the ISVviewsbased

onthelevelofmaturityofthepartnersand

therespectivesolutions.Idoseeadifference

in partner maturity in developing and

delivering Dynamics 365 solutions in the

market.One thing is for sure; there is an

acceleration in our ecosystem to cloud

solutions.Generallyspoken,mostpartners

are on their way to shift their traditional

business models to the SaaS world. And

that includes the switch from one-time

services to providing ongoing recurring

value through managed services, the

improvement of their marketing, digital

presence, developing vertical capabilities

and adjusting their sales compensation

plans. Speaking for the Dynamics for

Customer Engagement (aka Dynamics

CRM):80percentofallofourValueAdded

Resellers and Services Partners already

transact and deliver services in the cloud

today. Theopportunity forour partners is

to build on that transformation to further

expand, differentiate and grow their

revenueyield through Dynamics365. That

meansmoreclouddeals.Richerdealswith

moreIP.AndmoreoftheoverallMicrosoft

Cloudplatforms.”


DoyouseeanydifferencesbetweenVAR’s

andISV’s?

“The Value Added Resellers for Dynamics

365 forCustomerEngagement havemade

atremendousleap-frogrecently.Threeyears

ago,a smallnumberofthemtransactedin

thecloud.Todaythat’salready80percent!

Andagreatmajorityofthemarevertically

focused.We believe that the ISV partners

become even more important to us in

scaling our success in growing, evolving

and transforming with an extensible

BusinessApplicationsplatform.Andwesee

AppSourceastheflywheelfor theISVand

IP partners. Fundamentally it is the

destination for business users to find

businessSaaSapplications.”

What areyour expectationson howCRM

partners will handle the competencies

challengesthatcomewithDynamics365?

“ThesolutionsthatCRMpartnerscomeup

with forthischallengewillheavilydepend

on the richness of our Customer Engage-

ment product roadmap. Overall, we all

expect that over time partners embrace

the broader set of Business Applications

andservicessuchasAnalyticsindelivering

richer solutions to customers.Having said

that, in the near term, I personally don’t

expect that many of our traditional CRM

partners will start to build out ERP

practices.Butevolutionisstartingtooccur

wheretheytendtopartnertodeliveronall

of the Dynamic 365 applications. Our

product roadmap will further accelerate

the expansion of partners beyond just

CustomerEngagementbusinessapplications.

The other way around is probably more

logicalandweseethattakingplace inthe

market. Most of the today’s Merger &

Acquisition activities in the Dynamics

channelworldwideisDynamicsAXpartners

buyingDynamicsCRM partner companies.

Anyway –Iexpectmorepartners tofavor

partner-to-partner cooperation over

acquisitions.

Finally, I expect an overlap of our formal

CRM partners that will deliver both the

Dynamics 365 Enterprise edition and the

Dynamics365BusinessEdition.”


The Microsoft cloud today grows three times faster than

the cloud market.

“

WheredoyoupredictDynamics365willbe

intheyear2020?

“Thepaceof our innovation, the richness

ofDynamics365 businessapplications,the

strength of theMicrosoft cloudplatforms

and our accelerated growth puts us in a

strong position as leaders in the market-

place. Ibelieve thatby 2020,wewillhave

significantlyexpandedourpartnerchannel

capable of selling and delivering trans-

formative customer experiences through

richMicrosoft intelligent business applica-

tions.Ontopofthat,IexpectMicrosoftby

2020tobeboththethoughtleaderandthe

worldwide market leader in intelligent

cloud solutions.Foryourorientation –the

Microsoft cloud today grows three times

fasterthanthecloudmarket.”

In your observation of the current CRM

ecosystem,whatarethecharacteristicsof

asuccessfulpartnerintoday’smarket?

“Look ... this is driven by customer

expectations. And it is easy to spot the

partners that can deliver on those

expectations. Some of the characteristics

arereflectedastheyhaveverticalanddeep

functional expertises, transform customer

experiencesthroughdigitaltransformation

services,applicationdevelopment capabili-

ties,systems/data integration andbringing

insightstotheirbusinessthroughdataand

analytics.

ThisiswhyDynamics365becomessuchan

importantplatformforourpartnersuccess.

Ialsodonotwantto loosethefactthatat

timescustomersexpectourpartnerstobe

an orchestrator in the eco-system, for

exampletheyhavetheabilitytobringother

strategic partners into the solutions to

meetcustomersneeds.”

Finally. In your opinion – what are the

mostimportantGoDo’sforCRMpartners?

Thereareofcourselotsofthingstodofor

partners, but at the end of the day this

wouldbemytop-4recommendations:

1. Build a business model for the SaaS

world;

2. Go deep in both functional level and

verticalmarket(s);

3. Lead your customer’s digital transfor-

mationprocess;

4. (asabonus)Buildyourowncompanyon

business centricity (think organization

structure,cultureand growthmindset),

akeyimpera*vetosucceedinthefirst3

aspects.”

Interestinglinks

Tony’sLinkedInprofile


https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonydefreitas/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonydefreitas/

7.ExclusiveinterviewwithParamKahlom


EXCLUSIVEINTERVIEWWITHPARAMKAHLON

“88%ofallnewDynamicsCRMcustomerschosetheOnlineedition”

“The market has really shifted towards a preference for CRM Online”

Param - How has the CRMJourney been

foryou?

“I started atMicrosoft about 5 yearsago.

DynamicsCRM2013 wasthefirst releaseI

activelyworkedon.Itwasourpushtomove

tothecloud.It’sbeenquiteajourneysince

anda lothaschanged.Likethebigshiftto

cloud-first release planning. Today we do

two mayor releases per year ‘cloud first’.

We continue to support the same set of

capabilitiesandaunifiedcodebaseacross

our on-premise and cloud versions. We

releasethe‘on-premiseversion’onceayear.”

What isMicrosoft’sstrategy incombining

OnlineandOn-premise?

“Themarkethasreallyshiftedtowardsthe

cloud.Wehaveseenthatanoverwhelming

majorityofournetnewcustomerschoose

our online offering over our on-premise

edition.Inthelastquarter,nolessthan88%

made that choice! Yet, there are still

customers who prefer the on-premise

version - often forced by internal or

external regulations and policies. In most

cases,theyhavearoadmaptothecloudas

well and will not use that on-premise

version forever. We facilitate an easy

migrationwhenthetime isright for them

astheproductcapabilitiesandextensibility

framework is the same. That’s the reason

why we keep the two editions identical.

Thisgivesour customers the flexibility of

deployment choices with the ability to

switchover time.Wefeel thatat the end

thisstrategywillpayoffsinceitwillmakea

decisionforDynamicsCRMeasier.”

What is your take on the partner

challenge?

“Microsoft’s move towards a Cloud First,

Mobile First world has of course a big


ParamKahlon is thegeneralmanagerof ProductManagementforDynamics

365. HejoinedMicrosoft in 2012afterworking forSAP for6 years. Paramis

responsible for the Dynamics 365 customer engagement apps for Sales,

Marketing, Service, Field Service and Project Service. We met him for an

exclusiveinterviewforthisreportinLisbon.Maintopics forthis intervieware

thepartnerchallengesintoday’sCloudFirst,MobileFirstworld.Andofcourse,

theannouncementsaroundtheMicrosoftDynamics365Businesseditions.

impact on our partners. Looking at the

partnerlandscape,IbelievethatVAR’sand

SI’swillbe successful if they actively lead

their customers in the process of digital

transformation. For the ISV of the future,

the biggest opportunities are in the

industryverticalisationarea.Andofcourse,

Appsourcewouldbethebestplatform to

leveragetheir solutions.Appsourcesmake

it easier for customers to discover new

innovationandthesimplifiestheprocessto

onboard and activate new business.

Microsoft isheavily investedinthepartner

eco-system. We feel that this is the

advantage, especially because of partner

attachment. We will always suggest a

partner.”

What is your vision on the upcoming

introductionoftheBusinessEdition?

“Microsoft wants to capitalize on the

success of Office 365 and repeat that

concept with business applications. We

want to make these combined solutions

available for businesses of all size. We

alreadydidthatforthecombinationofERP

and Office 365. And now we’re going to

add CRM. ERP and CRM should not be

silo’d!Any sales employeeshould be able

to check the logistical backlog before

makingtheir sales calls. Justasit is smart

and logical that Account Receivable

employees can check the pipeline before

they start collecting outstandingbalances.

Dynamics 365 will break down these

traditional information silos and that will

helpbusinessestogrow!”

In your opinion, what is the impact of

Dynamics365onindividualDynamicsCRM

partners?

“Today,theMicrosoft partner channelare

alignedwithourproductoffering.Wehave

Office365partners,ERPpartnersandCRM

partners. Over time however, customers

will prefer buying Dynamics 365 from

partners who offer the full solution. We

already see an increase in customerswho

buy those products combined and want

their partners to be skil led in all

correspondingareas.So,partnerswillhave

to widen their businessfocusto combine

ourproductsintosolutionsforcustomers.

HowwillthetransitionfromEnterpriseto

BusinessEditionbehandled?

TheDynamics365 EnterpriseandBusiness

editionaretargeted todifferent segments

of the market. These customers have

different requirements. Unlike financials,

wehavenotofferedcustomerengagement

app for the Business Edition segment. At


Dynamics 365 will break down traditional information silos “

24

this time, we do not see the need to

transitionEnterprisecustomerstoBusiness

Edition.

Can you already unfold what will be

releasedandwhen?

Wewill continue tomakenew announce-

ments for our product releases twice a

year. At this time, we are super excited

about the Business Edition that we will

bringtomarketlaterthisyear.TheBusiness

Edition will focuson SalesandMarketing

needsofsmallandmediumsizebusinesses.

ThiswillaugmenttheFinancialscapabilities

thatwealreadyofferforthissegment.

Interestinglinks

Param’sLinkedInprofile

The next morning Param showed us in the keynote what’s in store with the Business

editions. Most prominent were the Business edition sales and marketing editions.

Everythingisfocusedoneasysetupandadministrationexperience.


https://www.linkedin.com/in/param/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/param/

AfewinsightsweregivenontheupcomingDynamicsBusinessEditionSalesandMarketing.

Marketing: There will be an entirely new built SMB focused Dynamics 365 Marketing

application, featuring event management, email marketing, and customer journey

orchestration.


8.ExclusiveinterviewwithSatishThomas

“AppSource enables ISV’s to engage with our 100+ million active users and

grow your business”

Satish–PleasetellusalittlebitmoreaboutAppSourcefirst

“Thanks for having me. Microsoft AppSource (appsource.com) is our business apps

marketplaceanddestinationforuserstodiscover,tryandgetline-of-businessSaaSappsand

add-onsfromMicrosoftandourpartners.”

HowhastheDynamics365andAppSourcejourneybeenforyou?

“Well, its been quite a ride! We launched AppSource at Worldwide Partner

Conference in Toronto in 2016, andwe’vemadetremendousprogress reaching

millions of users and helping our ISVs, who build/integratewith ourMicrosoft

Cloud, grow their business. We have had lots of interaction with ISV’s and

customerssincelaunch tohelp understand evenmoredeeply their needsand

made sure that our roadmap reflects that very closely. We have also

iteratedquicklysincelaunch–addingmoreapps,bringingbetter

contextual search capabilities for users looking for apps to

help solve a business challengeor gap, providing better

enriched leads, and making it even more seamless for

userstotryappsevenbeforetheypurchase.”

WhichAppSourceapproachhasshowntobethemost

successfulone,sofar?

“Whatweseeinourusageisthatthemostsuccessful

strategyliesinCustomerLedTrials–whichmapsto


EXCLUSIVEINTERVIEWWITHSATISHTHOMAS

SatishThomasisprincipalgroupprogrammanagerforMicrosoftAppSource,

thebusinessappsmarketplaceanddestinationforend-userstodiscover,try

and provision line-of-business SaaSapps fromMicrosoft and her partners.

SatishhasbeenworkingforMicrosoftsince2006.

almostinstantgratificationforourusersin

termsofbeingabletotryandcheckoutan

app’s capabilities. Currently we have two

approachesaroundtrialexperiences:

1. Partner LedTrial– herean end-users

lead issenttotheISV,andtheISVwill

qualify the lead, and get back to the

usertoguideyouthroughthetrial

2. Customer Led Trail – in this case, the

end-usercan click “Try”onAppSource

and within a few seconds land into a

fulltrial experienceoftheappthrough

AppSource

Our users have a strong preference for

appswithcustomer-led trials – leading to

higherengagementfromusers,moreleads,

and better business outcomes for these

appsasaresultofbeingonAppSource.”

WhattypeofISVdoyouthinkwillbemost

successfulinthecomingyear?

“As an ISV, you have to really invest in

buildingdifferentiatedappsandcompelling

trial experiences. In addition to that, you

needtoconsiderthe impactofAppSource

on your businessmodel and other go-to-

market aspects. Ratings and reviews are

going to be extremely important – so

ensuringyouseekoutandrespondtouser

feedback is key. Future updates for

AppSourcewill contain more functionality

to connect SI’s to ISV’s. This enables

customers to directly engage with an SI

whocanhelpusersroll-outandimplement

these apps in their organizations. This is

also another opportunity for ISVs to

improvetheirbusinessoutcomesleveraging

AppSource.”

What will happen if the number of apps

growstobeingthetenfoldofthecurrent

number? How can a potential customer

findmyapp?

“Again, ratingsandreviewswilldetermine

the ranking, just like in other app stores,

combined with contextual search of

course. New apps will get additional

exposureinbeingona‘newapps’list.”

Click-try-buyisseenbymostastheeasiest

waytoonboardandactivatenewbusiness.

Whatareyourthoughts?

“Ibelievethat‘testdrive’onAppSource is

evenbetter.Theprospectdoesn’t haveto

install or configure anything but just run

thetestdriveinthecloud.”

Willtherebeacertificationframeworkfor

ISV’swhowanttogoonAppSource?

“Thisisstillworkinprogress.Butitwillbe

moreabout customer reviews, usage and

ratings.Andofcoursethetechnicalcriteria

anapphastocomplywith.”

Interestinglinks

Satish’sLinkedInprofile

AppSource


https://www.linkedin.com/in/satishthomas/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/satishthomas/

http://www.appsource.com

http://www.appsource.com

9.Conclusionsandrecommendations

It'saninterestingquestionofcourse,whatyouasaMicrosoftDynamicsCRMpartnercan

dopracticallywithallthesechanges,trendsandnewinsightsaspresentedateXtreme365.

That'swhyweofferyou a seriesofconcretebusiness recommendations. Asfar aswe're

concerned,thesetopicswouldfitwell ontheagendaofyournextmanagementmeetingor

walkinthewoods.

1. Validateyourstrategy!

Thecontinuouschanges in partner policy,new possibilities in Dynamics 365 and the

rapidly changingmarketdemandforceeveryDynamicsCRMpartner totakea serious

look at theirbusinessmodel. How doesyourSWOTanalysis look today?Howdo you

earnmoney today?And what do you haveto change to keepearningmoney in the

comingyears?Whatdistinguishesyoufromotherpartners?Andwillthatdistinctiveness

be relevant next years to the markets in which you want to be active? Change or

disappear!

Recommendation:checkevery3to6monthswithyourboardwhetheryourcompanyis

still on track from a strategic standpoint. Have outsiders present for this. After all,

outsidershavenoemotionalbondswithyourcompany.Itallowsthemtoseemoreand

toexpressthemselvesmoresharply.

2. Dynamics365BusinessSolutions

Microsofthasalreadymadetheswitchfrom“stand-alone”DynamicsCRMsolutionsto

Dynamics365.Your specific Dynamicssolutionshouldnow beoffered incombination

withotherpartsof thestrongMicrosoft stack.Remember -thesestack solutionsare

moreattractivefor yourcustomersthan stand-alonesystems.Theywillhelp youwin

thebattlewithyourdirectcompetitorsforsure.

Recommendation:makea listofthosecontiguousMicrosoftsolutionsthatofferadded

value in your target market. Look carefully at the concept of Dynamics 365 to

understand how you can best prepare. Alternative possibilities for gaining this

knowledge include cooperation with specialised Microsoft partners or acquiring


specialised companies. The simplest first step is of course the internal adoption of

Office365.

3. Transform(morerapidly)tothecloudyourself!

Microsoft iswagering convincingly on the cloud.But how far along are you in your

transformationtotheworldofsubscriptionpricing,clouddeliveryandnewpurchasing

behaviour?Haveyoualreadystarted?Areyougoingforwardquicklyenough?Makesure

youdon'tgetleftbehind!

Recommendation:freeup time for thistransformationprocess.Thismay just bethe

biggestandmost importantchange thatyouwillencounterduringyourworking life.

So, you haveevery reason to focus time,money and attention on this structurally.

Attendseminars,taketrainingcourses,talktocolleaguepartnersandtoMicrosoft,and

visitthewebsitesofleadingproviders– includingthoseoutsideyourowncountry or

vertical market. Be a mystery guest in webinars and web demos given by cloud

suppliers to see how everyoneelse is doing. Most of all don’t forget to implement

Dynamics365inyourownorganisation.

4. Improveyourpositioning!

In the world of cloud solutions, borders are dissolving rapidly. You will often be

comparedwithsuppliersyou'veneverheardof.Tokeepoutoftheviciouspricespiral,

you must position your proposition (even) better! For most partners, that means

specialising. For others, itmay mean the step frommacro-verticals to micro-vertical

markets.


Recommendation: make haste in preparing your company for the continued

“verticalisation round.” Do you already work vertically? Then challenge yourself to

refine this process further. Cloud verticals often tend to be “narrower” and more

specificthanwhatiscustomaryintheon-premiseworld.Shiftyourfocusfrommacroto

micro verticals. Free up time and budget for this process. Register for training and

participateinseminars.Embedtheresponsibilityattherightplaceinyourorganisation.

5. Makeyourmarketingperfect!

Increasingly, marketing is developing into the central role in a Dynamics partner

business! Potential buyers will be able to find you only if your marketing is well

structured. Relevant business content must support and accompany your prospects

during theirbuying journey. Prospect education is rapidly gaining in importance,asis

digital marketing and social media. Nonetheless, that domain remains a mystery to

manypartners.

Recommendation: perform an analysis of your current marketing operation and

establishwhat'snecessary tosatisfy thenew “marketrequirements.”Thengetdown

to business quickly - you have no time to lose! Hire the best marketing person or

externalmarketingservicethatyoucanafford.Considerapositionforyourmarketing

managerinyourLeadershipTeamandbeachallengerinthis,too:fast,different,daring.

Experimentandwin!

6. Createintellectualproperty!

In the cloud model, it's all about added value! This is expressed in thebundling of

intellectualproperty (IP) - often focused on a specific targetmarket - and associated

services.

Recommendation:startmakinganinternallisttodayofallthecodeeverdeveloped,no

matterhow small,ofthe IPandofanystandard servicesalready available.Thisis an

important starting point for bundling IP and services.Putyourself in thecustomer's

shoes and, from thatperspective, think about theuseful and relevant functionsand

services youcan add to this. Thebroader and moreattractiveyourproposition, the

biggerthechancetowindeals.Thegreaterthefootprintyouleavebehindwith your

customers,thelargerthemonthlyrecurringrevenueandthemoredifficultitwill befor

yourcustomertosayfarewelltoyouatanygivenmoment.


10.Abouttheauthors

Guus Krabbenborg has been active in the

worldofbusinesssoftwareforover25years.

Since2007,Guusisco-founderandpartnerin

Partner Master Class, the Dutch Partner

DevelopmentCenter.Thiscompanyprovides

business training and partner business

coaching toMicrosoft Dynamicspartnersall

over the world. In addition, Guus is co-

founderandpartnerinQBSGroup,theValue

Add Distributor for theMicrosoft Dynamics

SMB partnerchannelin Europe.Today,QBS

serves400Dynamicspartnersin17countries

alloverEurope.

Guus has been writing business reports on

themostimportantMicrosoftpartnerevents

like the Worldwide Partner Conference

(WPC)andDIRECTIONSsince2004. For this

report, Guus worked closely together with

co-author Arjen Jansen from strategic

partner MindsUnited. A special thanks to

MarkBlackmorefromQBSUKforreviewing

andimprovingthereport.

Arjen Jansen has more than 25 years of

experienceinvariousfieldsintheITindustry,

creating and building numerous businesses

andproductofferingstohelpbothcustomers

and partners in achieving optimal business

value. Arjen is active in the Microsoft

Dynamics (CRM) channel for about 15 years

andhasbuilt severalDynamicsCRMpartner

companies,thelastonebeingMindsUnited.

MindsUnited is an independent ISV for

Microsoft Dynamics and the creator of

JumpStart365andCloudChains365,solutions

to quickly onboard, extend and connect

Dynamics solutions in the cloud. Sinceearly

2017, MindsUnited is a strategic partner of

QBSGroup.


GuusKrabbenborg ArjenJansen

Youcanreachtheauthorsbyemail:

[email protected]

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]




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