With the increasing offer of online versions, the business of Microsoft is also changing. While the on-premise versions are traditionally sold and implemented by Microsoft partners, Microsoft operates the online versions itself and assumes responsibility for the flawless operation of the solution, while sales remain with the partners.
Microsoft positions itself as a "platform supplier". This means that Microsoft offers a functionally comparatively "lean" basic software that concentrates on industry-independent functions. Although Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance & Supply Chain Management (formerly: AX) offers deeper industry-specific functionality in the form of industry templates for the manufacturing, trade and service industries, it does not detach itself from the overall strategic concept, which is: Microsoft supplies the standardized core and tools, the Microsoft partner is responsible for the detailed functional design according to the requirements of his customers.
Microsoft Business Solutions
More than 150,000 companies around the world use Dynamics ERP.
Since its release in 2019, Dynamics 365 Business Central can only be used via web client or Windows app. For the cloud version of Business Central for SaaS operation, Customer adaptations are now only possible by means of so-called extensions, while the on-premises version can still be adapted conventionally.
With the renaming to Dynamics 365, the end of support for the on-premises versions NAV and AX is also coming closer and closer. For Dynamics NAV 2018, the standard support ends in January 2023, for AX 2012 R3 it ends even two years earlier.
Microsoft's CRM products have been operated for some time now under the name of Customer Engagement. It covers the areas of sales, customer service, project service automation and, in conjunction with Linkedin, an application called relationship sales. 'Online' is the predominant mode of operation in the CRM segment, and Microsoft's product is no exception. The products cover the core functionalities quite adequately, the partner ecosystem provides numerous functional additions and the close connection with Linkedin provides a unique selling point.
Partners as Industry Specialists