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What should I look for in a Microsoft Dynamics partner?

How do you go about picking a partner for your Dynamics implementation, or for your managed services? This is a long-term relationship and should be treated as such. There will be long discussions about charts of accounts; late nights talking through the fine detail of how your business runs; weekends getting implementations live. There are times when you will be thinking that you see your Microsoft Dynamics partner more than you see your family. 

With this length and depth of relationship, you need to make sure that you choose a Dynamics partner that matches your needs closely. Below I set out some of the areas that should be the basis of your decision. You need to have considered this before you start reaching out to the market to engage, and stick to it even when the glossy PowerPoints flood in.

 

Capability

Take a broad list of the elements of any implementation or managed services engagement:

 

  • Business case definition
  • Architecture
  • Configuration, development & testing
  • Data migration
  • Integration
  • Data & analytics
  • Change, training & comms
  • Support

 

Every client differs in the degree to which they can offer services in these areas, and your expectations must match with theirs. I’ve worked with a client in our project assurance business who wanted help devising a training strategy, but their Microsoft Dynamics partner saw themselves as having responsibility for configuration, development and nothing more. The client had to go outside for access to training expertise which they had not been expecting.

The wrong time to find out that your Dynamics partner doesn’t have the capability or capacity to help you with data migration is at the point that you need to start working on it. You need to approach your Microsoft Dynamics partner selection with clarity within your own organisation as to where you have the expertise and plan to use it and where you need support.

 


 
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Size

It’s important to be the right size for your provider and them for you. I worked once at a large FTSE 250 organisation. The main provider of the operational system that their staff used day in, day out, was a small software house whose other customers were tiny organisations of two to ten employees. Most of their clients lost out because the large customer had all the power. The provider lost out because they couldn’t move their product towards their client base without alienating their big client. My organisation lost out because their provider wasn’t seeking opportunities that would improve their investment.

In the Dynamics market, the same rule applies. You don’t want to be the outsize client for an organisation that is not set up to cater for your needs. Likewise, you don’t want to be the smallest customer, struggling to get attention against the major players. Look for a Microsoft Dynamics partner that focuses on your market share – ask about previous clients of your size, ask about the size of their current clients and remember that bigger may not be better.

 

Culture

Culture is a difficult thing to judge. You will know this from recruiting into your organisation and trying to find a ‘cultural fit’. You need to be honest about yourselves, looking at values, principles, behaviours. You then need to match this up to what you find in your potential Dynamics partners. 

Let’s be honest, we have all got this wrong a few times in the past. Maybe you’ve picked a partner organisation because of their structured approach only to find that the rigidity is stifling and what you really want is free flowing creativity. The opposite could also be true, opting for a Microsoft Dynamics partner with a casual approach and finding that their laissez faire attitude was too grating when you needed incisive action.

Whole books have been written about culture and I won’t attempt to reproduce them here, but if some cultural values can be considered as a spectrum, you could consider:

 

Agile – Structured

I have worked with partners for whom the methodology is everything. They would not allow the project to move to the next phase until they had completed every element. My client didn’t get on with this way of working as they were looking for a faster pace. On the other hand, some people struggle with the need for involvement and the pace of change on an Agile project, preferring structured reviews on a regular timescale.

 

Creative – Focussed

Some clients want to stand in front of a white board and consider the range of business opportunities in order to map out a broader strategy for implementation. Others have picked out a product set and just want help to get it put in place. They don’t want to consider alternative solution paths or what the future may hold. 

In the same way, Dynamics partner organisations will have their preference of how to work and may find it hard to fit to the alternative. Some may also have a focus on a specific area of the Microsoft stack and not have the internal capability to move outside of that.

 

Interested in seeing how we approach Microsoft Dynamics implementations? Download our eBook to learn more

 

Inciper

Inciper are a full stack mid-market agile/creative Microsoft Dynamics consultancy

Let me unpack that statement. First, we believe in starting with our customer’s business vision, helping them to explore the art of the possible. We work across the Microsoft business applications space to find solutions to business problems. 

We can provide resources to help across all elements of an implementation and we particularly believe in managing change to ensure successful projects. Our key market focus encompasses the small to medium sized enterprise in the UK and out into Europe.

Culturally, we believe strongly in generating an atmosphere of collaboration on a project, with strong business involvement from the start. Our projects run on an Agile basis with frequent opportunity for course correction and re-prioritisation. 

Because we work across the business applications range, we will work on creative solutions to business needs, ensuring that we are working on the leading edge of the Microsoft technology to future proof our customer’s solution. Our goal is to be a long-term partner for all our clients, no matter what their future holds.

Does this sound like the type of Microsoft Dynamics partner you’re looking for? Click the button below to download our Managed Services Catalogue and find out more about the servcies we offer:

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