MKB365 has set up a separate business model for the implementation of the Dynamics 365 portfolio.
The Ready to Start Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Program has provided us a fast way to get trained on product level and get important support during our implementations at our customers.
Watch this video blog (6 minutes) to get the most important highlights of the eXtreme 365 EMEA 2018 event in Dubrovnik.
This video was brought to you by:
Arjen Jansen – MindsUnited
Richard de Goederen – QBS group (Owner of the Dynamics 365 for Sales Acceleration program)
Guus Krabbenborg – QBS group
This Business Report covers more sessions than a single partner normally can do. We will not only cover the keynotes, but also various technical and functional sessions and of course also the business sessions. On top of that we will publish exclusive interviews that we will have in Dubrovnik with Microsoft executives.
Pre Order now or download the FREE Business Report eXtreme 2017
Healthy, profitable and successful is what companies strive to achieve, with our support your Dynamics business can get there. At QBS group, we help our Partners to achieve growth by supporting their endeavours through the delivery of specific services designed for business improvement. We provide marketing support to improve your go-to-market strategy, support with closing a deal, and even lead generation through our Take the Lead program. We also recognise the need for staff development and provide technical training on the latest releases to keep your team informed and your customers happy. Microsoft has recognised our added value and confirms that partnering with QBS group can help generate 40% more business.
Sign up webinar: Update on Dynamics 365 Business Central
eXtreme 365 is the annual event for Microsoft Dynamics CRM partners. This event started as ‘eXtreme CRM’ back in 2010. Due to the release of Dynamics 365, the organization decided to change the name into ‘eXtreme 365’. Today, there are two editions of eXtreme 365. The last US edition took place in November 2017 in Newport Beach where the EMEA edition picked Dubrovnik, Croatia as their 2018 location. The event will be organized in two parts. A partner event on March 19th till 21st and an end-user edition on March 22nd and 23rd.
This article aims to give you an overview on what Dynamics CRM partners can expect of the partner event. And where they should put their focus regarding the sessions.
See you in Dubrovnik!
Guus Krabbenborg
At QBS group we believe that our partners deserve the best. The best support, the best software and the best stories. A couple of months ago we have asked one of our UK partners, Creative Business Systems, to share their thoughts and experiences with you on their journey to the cloud. We asked Amit Wason if he could share his experience with you on the matter of a direct or indirect approach. We wrote a blog about his experience.
On the 19th of February Nelson Tavares da Silva hosted a webinar explaining what it all means when you are considering to collaborate with an Indirect Cloud Solution Provider for your Microsoft cloud offering. Amit Wason from Creative Business Systems will share during the webinar his findings with you becoming an Indirect CSP.
A smart choice, because selecting an Indirect CSP means that you can start reselling Dynamics 365 and Office 365 directly without big investments upfront. On top of that, selecting QBS group as your Microsoft Indirect CSP is the perfect match!
If you’re deciding to become a CSP partner, this is a session you don’t want to miss!
Alex Ferguson, former football Manager of Manchester United
In this fast-paced world of IT, change is a constant factor. History has shown us that companies that adapt to change and even in times of enormous success were not afraid to rebuild their company, survived. This mantra is exactly what Alex Ferguson made a great coach. Sir Alex wasn’t afraid to constantly rebuild his football team. He had a very strong instinct to assess where his team was in the lifecycle and when it was time to say goodbye to some of the star players of that moment. The rest is history. 13 English league titles and another 25 domestic and international trophies.
So how far are you in your change process? Can you hold on to your ERP or CRM or Office365 approach? Or is time to at least have an answer on changing demands of customers and prospects for a blended solution where ERP, CRM and O365 live together?
There are many roads which in the end lead to Rome, but for what I have seen in the past 18 months there are 2 crucial success factors for Dynamics partners:
Building up a CRM practice next to your existing business is not a decision you should make overnight. But whenever you decide to jump into this domain, make sure you give it a real chance. Allocating a half sales person, a half consultant and zero marketing budget is not going to bring you anywhere. Don’t even start with it!
Make sure you give your people the time, tools, budget and attention to really make it happen. In this context I like the story about a new Microsoft CRM partner called MKB365. They made the choice to set-up a new Dynamics CRM entity next to their existing ERP (Exact) and Office365 business. They joined the first Wave of the Dynamics 365 for Sales Acceleration Program in The Netherlands and now 8 months later, 7 new D365 for Sales customers further, a brand-new office and many new names in the pipeline, they are proving that change and focus can pay off.
Just a couple of weeks away from eXtreme365, I wish you all a very constructive time in Dubrovnik and whenever you would like to understand how we can accelerate your Dynamics 365 for Sales business in your region, don’t hesitate to contact me via rdegoederen@qbsgroup.com.
Happy to meet you face to face in Croatia!
Richard de Goederen
Dynamics 365 for Sales – Acceleration Program Director at QBS group.
As we close our books on 2017, we start to reflect on the numbers. There are a few key performance indicators that I found particularly interesting as they represent trends and momentum in the market that I would like to share.
First of all, we added 90 more partners to the QBS network and with almost 500 partners by the end of 2017, QBS continues to be the largest network of Dynamics Partners worldwide. The reason why I think this is significant is twofold: For one, it proves that our partners see value in being in that community and take advantage of the services we as QBS can provide. But equally it means partners in the QBS network will find their opinion and concerns being represented through QBS into the Microsoft organization – at executive level. Our continued inclusion in the Microsoft InnerCircle program also affirms our voice being recognized. In 2017 we saw great examples, where Microsoft executives not only listened to the feedback provided by the community, but they also reacted and took action. The positioning and release dates for NAV 2018 and the D365 context might be the most prominent examples where QBS and other members of the Dynamics community made a difference.
We also looked into Dynasource and how our partners are taking advantage of this marketplace for IT talent. We now have 415 partners that are profiled through this service. However, to some it might feel posting projects or asking for capabilities through a marketplace like Dynasource is a bit like booking through Airbnb for first time: there is a bit of a trust issue. Hence, I find the number of 23 projects that have been posted in the community of QBS partners in 2017 to be more encouraging. This demonstrates that our partners have started to see the advantage they get by expanding their capacity or capability through a trusted network.
Then I looked into customer adds our partners had contributed to in 2017. Collectively, QBS partners added 619 more customers to Microsoft Dynamics. I think this is quite an impressive number, not only in a sense of market potential, but also it is a strong argument against our partners competitors who argue that Microsoft has no strategic interest anymore in Business Applications or NAV in particular. Adding hundreds and hundreds of net new customers each year from a single network of partners is something any business application vendor would die for 😊. But what is even more interesting is to see that the share of new customers that are entering Microsoft Dynamics through a subscription model has grown from 38% in 2016 to 45% in 2017. By now, every second new customer is choosing to not go with a perpetual license, but to pay as a monthly fee. Not only are these customers more likely to jump on a SaaS type offering, it also reminds us that we have to change our business model. Moving into 2018 and 2019, I predict that only a minority of new customers will accept traditional, perpetual on-prem type offerings.
When talking about the cloud, I also find it remarkable that now, more than 60 QBS partners are transacting licenses for Microsoft cloud offerings through the Cloud Solution Provider Program. These partners can automatically provision and bill seats for Microsoft Office 365 or Dynamics 365 through our platform. They do not need to have upfront investment in their own systems. QBS partners even enjoy the fact that the revenue they do through CSP, is also credited to their NAV license discount thresholds. Moving into 2018 we are extending our offerings to Azure and NAV Tenerife, the NAV platform will finally become available under this modern licensing platform as well.
Which brings me to my last observation. Looking into our 2017 figures, QBS started with a very clear focus on Microsoft’s NAV platform. We along with our partners will continue with this focus and not stop offerings the NAV platform. Business applications also embrace the Customer Engagement side with Sales, Marketing, Field Service and Talent. We all will take advantage of new development platforms such as Power Apps, Power BI or Flow. We are lucky to already have more than 35 partners in our network that also have a Customer Engagement or CRM background. As part of The IT Channel Company, QBS has invested in Minds United an expert in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales and Marketing, so we can further enable our partners to extend their business application portfolio.
With this small look into our 2017 numbers, I want to thank all of our partners again for the trust that they gave QBS in 2017 and I am now looking forward to an even more exciting 2018.
If you want to be noticed and visible online (and this is not the time to go “nah – don’t think so”), then first of all you need an effective and optimized website – but let’s say you have that.
How do you then best go about attracting visitors and ultimately clients to your site? Well – the very best way is to have someone else point in your direction and say “they can help you” – as unbiased ambassadors will always beat direct commercials, but the next best thing is to establish yourself as being knowledgeable – so that people seek you out for advice. How to do that? Blogging is an excellent way to get your knowledge in eye-sight of your clients.
The added bonus is that, done correctly, publishing blog articles will earn you the title of “published author” on Google. Happy days! The more valuable articles you share through your blog, the higher you will be in the search results and that’s what you want.
With blogging you increase the chance of attracting attention – as you stand out among the many paid commercials. Blogging allows you to engage with like- minded people, build a relationship and in the world of business hopefully gain a future customer. Imagine the time (and therefore money) it would cost to share your knowledge one-to-one with prospects. Blogging is free advertising. A win-win.
How do you ensure that your blog is being read? Here are my 10 tips to ensure that your blog gets viewed and most importantly read.
1. Make titles as stimulating as possible (think of headlines, what attracts your eye first and what makes you want to read further?)
With the title of your article you draw the reader to you and you stimulate them to click through. The tantalizing title must of course fit in with the article otherwise the reader is disappointed. You can use the following tips when drawing up your blog title.
2. Make the article scannable
Make sure your reader can determine at a glance what your blog is about. You do that by choosing a clear structure
3. Use more than 300 words
Google likes longer articles and valuable information. The longer an article is, the sooner the search engine will return this article in the search results. With a long article, the chances are that there is a lot of valuable information in it.
4. Keep it simple, but do not make it simpler than it is (read: jargon is fun for colleagues but customers cannot always get that much)
As an expert, you know the terms that are often used within your field, but do not sprinkle with them all the time. Find a mode between expert and Jip and Janneke languages. Tip: Before you read it give your blog to your partner or a friend who is not in your field, and ask them to read to see if they understand everything.
5. Create conversation / interaction
Conversation / interaction is the most important thing you want to create on your blog. Do not just focus on sending your message but help and inform people with your blog. Start a conversation or substantive discussion by asking a question of your reader. Is this clear? Yet? Or do I say something weird now? Agree or disagree? What do you think? etc.
You may have written such a beautiful and interesting article but if no question is asked the only reactions you will get are thumbs and likes.
6. Ask intermediate questions in your blog
Your reader cannot answer questions that you ask. By asking questions in your article, the reader is already in the answer mode. These interim questions lower the threshold to answer the call to action (see point 10) at the end of your article. This increases the chance that your reader leaves a comment or takes action.
7. In addition to knowledge, interesting information and good news, share disappointments and less good news
That makes the image your reader has of you more real. Stories that provide recognition have the most impact. An experience does not necessarily have to be your experience, it can also be someone else’s experience, but you recognize the situation and you can empathize with it. Share your own story, your mistakes, learning moments and your successes. You also lower the threshold for people to respond and contact you. You connect faster with the other person. Just like in real life. What were the moments when you really had a connection with someone?
8. Work in your story from small to large
Start with a small example and work it out. Put it in a context. Make it funny, expand it. You can also divide your story across multiple blogs, but make sure you actually post it if you promise that to your readers. Follow up is important and you also run the risk of not appearing reliably if you do not comply with your agreements.
9. Move in your reader
There is no one type of reader, everyone uses information in a different way. Roughly you could divide them into four types:
(source: https://www.emerce.nl/cc?_r=/research/vier-typen-nieuwsconsumenten-aanpreekt)
10. Always use a ‘Call to action’ (CTA) at the bottom of your blog
With this you ask the reader to take action. For example:
Finally
I guess you are thinking ‘wow that is a lot of work’ Well yes that’s right it is! But what did you expect? If you want to get and keep the attention of your target audience, then you have to put in the time and effort. The advantage of blogging is (if you do it smartly) that your blog can last for years and thus can always be available and read by your target audience and attract them to you.
Even I find it difficult sometimesand that ‘divine inspiration’ is a myth for many people, so I have one last tip for you: Use the creativity and capacity of a pro and spend it.
This new version will contain a new set of functions and features that will be highlighted in this session, as understanding these new possibilities is crucial for your product and / or marketing plans.
This session will be presented by Sven Noomen (PTS at QBS group) and John Speulman (PTS at Microsoft).
The following topics will be addressed.
Want to be the first to be informed about NAV 2018?
Starting from 25 May 2018 there is going to be a new European regulation that will come into force that effects the way you manage data, and your need to protect the data that you hold. That regulation is General Data Protection Rule (GDPR). It will not only be good enough to take measures about protecting data you hold on paper because in addition there will be technological measures that will also be necessary to comply with the law.
It is with the utmost importance that each organization must present a clear policy to meet the required GDPR standards.
But what’s happening at the mean time (November 2017)?
There’s a tsunami of information and content available, especially when you get to excited asking google for information (own experience). I’ve been bombarded with a tremendous amount of a short terms and abbreviations.
Based on my experiences in the retrieval of this information I can understand that you as a business owner get very “saturated”, and may lose the desired focus on this topic due to the fact that it simply is too much information to process.
Can you as a company who hasn’t started yet meet the demands on the desired date? Maybe a more important question is “which parts need to be done in which order?”, but where do you start? Can you set everything so that you are 100% covered regarding GDPR? The scariest factor is the fines that can easily rise to exorbitant amounts (€20 million). Can you as a company take out insurance to cover this financial risk, what are the conditions?
Are these types of questions top of mind? But is GDPR not just something you need to do as a company? Do we underestimate the urgency by the overwhelming amount of information, is the impact on the time factor underrated? But what’s most relevant to do, and especially who should do what?
The date of May 25, 2018 is a hard set one, and will come faster than we know it. What needs to be done, and by whom? Fortunately, there is a lot of easy tools and information available, which can help you to understand the what, how and when about GDPR.
At QBS we like to give support to our partners to these issues.
Still not a QBS partner? We’ll be happy to get in contact with you!
Upgrade your Customers NOW! Or Someone else WILL.
One of the biggest risks for any business, particularly business software vendors, is the potential loss of customers. Customers are your bread and butter and they are what helps keep your businesses ticking, the lights on and gets you that recurring revenue that helps you survive.
So, if you want to keep hold of those customers then you need to make them feel special. You have to make sure that they are not tempted away by some flash looking ‘dandy highwayman’, who we’re all too scared to mention, who spends lots of cash in grabbing their attention. Especially after so many years of your hard work to build that relationship.
To keep the dandy highwayman at bay, as a software vendor you need to show that you have your customers best interests in mind. When your customer starts to experience a problem, they should turn to you FIRST – even if you aren’t able to directly provide the solution. This though is good as you can help the client select the right product that doesn’t affect their existing solution and supports their infrastructure. This builds the bond and positions you as their trusted advisor.
However, what your customer (and you) may not realise is that maybe their problems can be solved by upgrading to the latest version of their existing solution. Keeping them up to date with the latest technologies is critically important so they understand what is available to them, how they can avoid risks such as not being compatible with other software upgrades and data protection. Because if you aren’t doing this that dandy highwayman will be lurking in the bushes to jump out and just steal them.
With the release of NAV 2018 those customers that are using anything older than the latest release are at risk of going to another reseller for the upgrade or worse still moving away from your product altogether. Your biggest advantage over the dandy highwayman is that you should already understand the customer’s needs. You will be able to advise them what is best for their business. You can also explain the knowledge gaps that other vendors may not be able to fill should they switch, such as moving away from your IP.
You need to think about how you should be informing your customers about what they have available to them and how easy it is for them to upgrade to the latest version when you use QBS Upgrade services. But what makes this even easier is that your customer can spread the cost of that upgrade monthly instead of a big capital investment. With the combination of QBS Upgrade services and the access to lease/loan through QBS Finance there is no reason for them to be on anything other than the latest version.
If you don’t know it by now there is still plenty of potential for you to generate revenue from those customers, especially your legacy customers. That’s all it takes is to spend a little time making your customers aware of the future potential of the business by upgrading to the latest technology. Better you earn that income than the rogue with white striped face who doesn’t care about the customer’s best interests.
So, Stand and deliver stop making those excuses and provide your customers with some extra special services.
If you grew up in the 1980s then you should know to what I refer, if not check this out.
Since the introduction of the Dynamics 365 Business Edition in the US and Canada late 2016, the position of Dynamics NAV is under pressure! Competitors took the chance to position NAV as an old-fashioned solution and that’s a direct threat to your NAV business!
In this edition of QBS Talks you’ll learn the 7 strong reasons to keep on selling Dynamics NAV to new customers. And new ideas on how to leverage that position, making NAV a safe stepping stone today to Dynamics 365 ‘Tenerife’ in the near future.
This is a Must Attend webinar for business owners and all the people active in sales and marketing!
At Inspire 2017, we had an interview with Jeff Edwards. Jeff has been working for Microsoft since 2000 and is the director for ERP Channel Strategy and programs since 2007. We talked about the partner transformation process over the years. About the positive changes and the current challenges for both partners and Microsoft. And of course, we’ve also asked him for his best advice for you as a Dynamics partner going forward.
Jeff Edwards – Director ERP Channel Strategy Microsoft
Jeff, what are your observations around the partner transformation process in the SMB market?
“Well, let me start with the positives and cover the challenges afterwards. First of all, our best SMB partners have really embraced the Microsoft stack. They’re no longer single category ERP or CRM partners since they also implement solutions like Office 365 and CRM. And they offer Power BI, creating dashboards for their clients. The introduction of Dynamics 365 Business Edition will further increase that number of partners due to the attractive pricing and the smart packaging. The NAV partners who are not broadening their portfolio will be under risk – both for new business as for their existing customer bases. A year from now, if you’re an ERP partner not selling CRM – I don’t know what you’re doing.”
“My second positive observation in the transformation is the degree of specialisation or verticalisation. Today’s prospective customers are not interested in conversations with partners that start with “so tell me, what does your business look like? What are your problems? What do you want to achieve?” And then build, support and update that bespoke solution. I don’t think people are willing to pay for that anymore. Besides, it’s often too complicated, takes too much time and the risks are too high. And all that comes with at a never-ending cost of keeping up with new releases. Companies like Forrester and Gartner confirm that the market wants as much out of the box as possible. And if you really want to do a customization, it should only because of a specific competitive advantage. Not because “we do things different.” The customization should have a specific customer benefit.
So that’s a big change for a partner! Basically, they have to move away from expensive sales and pre-sales processes and employees. The ones with long RFI’s, several product demonstrations and multiple Proof of Concepts to win a random new customer based on customization skills at a discounted prize. They also have to move away from one-off customizations and intensive consultancy projects towards repeatable vertical products, improved digital demand generation and product marketing to become successful in their selected markets. Also, the owner of this future-proof partner needs to have a different skill-set.
I’ve seen 12 years of nominations for our Dynamics partner awards. Over time, these nominations have become so much better and vertically precise. Our best partners have made huge progress in both business knowledge and business outcomes. A significant majority of the partners that do 80 percent of our business is fully verticalised. The top 20 percent of our total channel has made astounding progress. The next 30 percent is doing okay. We also see some differences in regions and solutions. In Europe 50 to 60 percent is fully verticalised. But the partners in the North of Europe are doing better than the ones in the South. And US partners are still less specialised than partners in Europe. CRM partners all over the world are still less specialised than their ERP colleagues. But they reform fast! When it comes to IP, you don’t have to build it all by yourself. AppSource will be very helpful in this process. And partners should definitely consider combining their own IP with IP from ISV’s.”
“My third and last positive is the cloud acceptance all over the partner channel. I see a complete mental acceptance of the cloud today. However, reality is that in many countries or regions the infrastructure is not always sufficient. We see that the lead time of the transformation of our own business to cloud gets shorter all the time. To illustrate that: I think Microsoft announced CRM Online in 2009. It took us about 6 years before the cloud license revenue surpassed the onpremise license revenue. With Dynamics AX that transition time was two years. I expect that we will reach that turning point with NAV within 24 months.”
“Challenge number one is the switch from customized projects to standardised products. Partners aren’t doing a great job at that. The critical part probably is that it needs a different set of skills in terms of product management, release cycles, document and test. Plus the discipline that needs to come with that. Many partners have yet to take steps in this area.
My second one is the switch from a sales motion to a marketing motion. I think that we all have bought into the idea of this new buying behavior based on anonymous research. Yet, most partners are still poor at marketing. Many partners have been hiring marketing people recently, but rarely of the right level. Most of these new hires are young and have limited experience. Partners should focus on senior marketers and should give this person a seat in their Leadership teams. Just like they do with their sales manager. Our top partners already do this, like Power Objects, Socius and LS Retail. But that’s only like 10 percent of the channel. So that’s a disappointment. Partners that don’t improve their marketing will continue to be relatively ineffective in their sales at a way too high sales cost.
The third challenge is the expansion of the footprint of partner solutions. As I said before – our top partners have embraced the Microsoft stack. But for the total channel, the progress is at too slow a pace. And because of that, partners will miss deals. Especially if they plan to be successful with Dynamics 365. A solution like Office 365 won’t bring a partner a lot of money but in return it delivers account control. Do you want to be the IT strategy and solution provider for your customers? Then you simply need to offer the most important parts of the full stack. Either direct or as a white-labeled service via partners. I see sort of an end-point in this cloud SMB business where partners are deep solution providers in a micro-vertical, maniacally focused, offering the full Microsoft cloud stack via a kind of a portal. I don’t think that these partners necessarily need to be 100 million dollar companies with venture capitalists and IPO needs. They can be 10 to 30 million dollar companies and they will be very profitable.”
“The M&A market is here now! At almost all of our top-partners, everyone talks to everybody. Either as a potential buyer or as a potential seller. However, buyers are not prepared to pay premiums. And often the sellers end up being disappointed about the price that is offered. And mostly that is because the owners focus more on the money they need for their retirement, rather than what the value for the buyer is.
I see two important trends. First is that partners understand the need for critical mass, both geographically and skill wise, to be a more complete provider for the full Dynamics 365 solution. Or even for the full Microsoft stack. Secondly, ERP partners buy CRM practices. Clearly this gives them an easy sale at a low cost to upsell CRM to their existing ERP customer base. In general I see that recurring revenue is the game changer. So I expect prices in M&A for traditional project businesses will decrease, where the market value of subscription based businesses will further increase.”
“First of all, P2P co-operation needs trust. The investments you need to make in order to build that is substantial. As a result, there’s not much ROI on the short term, say the first 6 months. So the initial lift of co-operation is heavy and you need to maintain the discipline and be patient afterwards. Secondly, most partners don’t succeed in co-operation at scale. Maybe we should start thinking about making P2P co-operation into an official competency. In the near past, we’ve tried to stimulate co-operation in an analogue way. Maybe we should try this again in our digital world with AppSource and Partner Finder. Another good idea is to have CRM and ERP partners dating with each other at events like DIRECTIONS US and EMEA this fall.”
“So that’s an interesting question! A few years ago, the ideal size of a Dynamics partner business was calculated on 80 or more employees. That size allowed a partner for example to have a proper marketing department and someone responsible for methodology and quality. But that was based on traditional project business. With the partner channel switching now to pre-packaged, vertically focused products, this size question becomes relevant again! We definitely need to think about that, but these are my first thoughts. Marketing and a product management drive scale. Where sales, consulting and custom development do not. So the partners that have already made the switch can now grow their business relatively easy without hiring loads of extra people. On the other hand, there is the need to embrace a bigger part of the Microsoft stack that will lead to hiring additional skill sets.”
“We are reintroducing certification requirements for Dynamics 365 in the SMB market. This will come sometime in the next calendar year. We expect CSP to be the key channel for this product. You can see that we have changed the Dynamics 365 Enterprise edition requirements where now, certifications are required to sell the product in CSP. We do not want an unqualified channel to sell Dynamics 365, and we do not want unqualified partners to offer the subscription at a low cost just because they have invested nothing in marketing, sales or technical expertise. You can expect to see higher requirements for both the Silver and Gold Competency, and the right to sell in CSP. As always, we want a qualified lead to go to a partner that has the best chance of winning the deal, AND successfully implementing the software and ensuring customer success.
“Well, there are many things to do if you’re a Dynamics partners today! So, some kind of a structured approach will be very helpful. I would recommend our Dynamics SMB partners to focus on these four areas:
Never before it was so important for Dynamics partners to understand the directions that Microsoft takes with her Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 business applications in today’s fast changing cloud world!
At DIRECTIONS US in Florida and the EMEA edition in Madrid, Microsoft unfolded some bold ideas to disrupt the market and grow faster. QBS group was in Madrid with a 23 people to hear these plans from first-hand. After the event, we have once again written our unique and well known DIRECTIONS EMEA 2017 business report with a team of 8 authors.
At QBS group, we understand that informing Dynamics partners well is crucial for making the right strategic decisions. That’s why we strive every single day to make “QBS Partners the best-informed Microsoft partners.”
We have been writing business reports on the international Microsoft events since 2004. So we know what we’re doing. This report is part of our ‘around the year’ reporting service that spans all the major events for Dynamics partners: Inspire/WPC, eXtreme 365 and DIRECTIONS.
This unique report features broad, insightful and independent business reporting on the happenings at DIRECTIONS EMEA 2017. The report, which consists of 51 pages of need-to-know information, is bought and used by leading Dynamics partners from all over the world.
These partners use the report among others to:
This is what some of your colleague partners say about our reports:
Taste first?
To get a good idea of what you can expect from our DIRECTIONS EMEA 2017 Business Report, you can now download the 2016 edition for free.
Order your copy now!
Partners of QBS group receive this report at no additional cost, as it is part of their QBS membership. For non-QBS Microsoft partners, the report is available for only Euro 400 exclusive of VAT per partner company.
Do you want to know all about Microsoft’s plans with Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 ‘Tenerife’ and the opportunities these solutions create for your business? Then order your copy today!
As a Microsoft Dynamics professional, can you afford to miss on this important information?
Our team is just getting back from Directions in Madrid. It was a remarkable event in many aspects. First it has been the 10th anniversary of Directions and fact that it has been now with more than 2.000 attendees is not just a testament to the success of Directions, but also to the momentum this community of partners have built.
At same time, Directions this year signaled a significant step in the product strategy for NAV and the SMB agenda for Dynamics. While Microsoft gave up on having two editions of Dynamics 365, by basically no longer launching the Dynamics 365 Business Edition, it become clear that the NAV platform remains an important pillar to the Dynamics 365 strategy. This statement has been doubted in weeks before, after some announcements that could have led partners to believe that NAV becomes almost legacy. But if anything, no one should have any doubt that NAV will stay platform of choice for customers that want to have a suite of business process capabilities, delivered on-prem or through cloud.
That is an important message, the capabilities and in fact the code base is 100% identical, regardless if you want to deploy on-prem or cloud. So the promise, that your customers can migrate to cloud in their terms, is not just a promise. And you can then add capabilities as you go, being it in sales, marketing or field service or even human talent. Since all Dynamics applications, including next version of NAV, code name Tenerife, will use the Common Data Service, they can seamlessly work together.
As QBS Group, we extend this agenda to you, we serve you and your business regardless if you want to deploy your solution for your customers on-prem or of you want to offer it through private or public cloud. We have the trainings and programs in place to help you migrate your solution to the Tenerife platform, we will bring you new customer prospects through our Take-the-Lead program, create new capacity in your technical teams with migrations service or help you build your strategy around your all up business or marketing wih our individual workshops. In any case we invite you to talk to us about your future, either in one of our upcoming QBShares, through your local QBS teams or by contacting me or any of our staff. Finally in case you want to know more about what main themes were discussed at Directions this year, we recommend that you listen to the recoding of our recent webinar “HOT News from Directions EMEA” and keep an eye out for our Directions business report, that provides you with all important insights.
As a longtime Microsoft-observer with a perspective geared toward Microsoft Dynamics, I’d like to share some of my impressions of the important trends from this year’s Directions EMEA 2017 in Madrid.
The Microsoft Dynamics SMB partner community has never been awaited a Directions EMEA event as it did this year’s edition. There were two main reasons for that. First, they recognize the growing importance of the Dynamics 365 concept for both the Dynamics NAV and the Dynamics CRM channels. Second, they are facing confusion around the go-to-market models around Dynamics 365 that was created by Microsoft at the US edition a few weeks before.
Microsoft succeeded in clarifying the product strategies and go-to-market initiatives for Dynamics 365 in the SMB markets. Marko Perisic, general manager Dynamics 365 for SMB markets, explained to the audience why some of the initiatives as communicated at DIRECTIONS US were not that smart after all. And together with his team he delivered some fantastic product demonstrations.
So Microsoft’s overall performance at this event took away most of the confusion and was instrumental in building trust in the companies’ future product directions. Here are some of the core values and beliefs that Microsoft shared about their future direction.
The overall message to partners was the importance of change! The successful Dynamics partners of the future have an open mindset, have no fear of experimentation, and are willing to invest time, money and energy in new ideas, concepts and go-to-markets. The near future will tell us which partners are able and willing to do so.
The organizing committee of Directions EMEA had many reasons to be proud. They reported over 2,150 attendees representing 600 partners from 60 countries from all over the world. An all-time record! The 2018 edition of Directions EMEA will take place on October 31st to November 2nd in The Hague, The Netherlands.
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