Microsoft's spring wave of new Dynamics 365 customer experience apps includes both the long-awaited Marketing app and the lighter featured and lower priced sales app known as Sales Professional. For partners focused on the SMB, the arrival of these products is a welcome relief after more than a year of forecasts and updates. But, as is typical with brand new Microsoft business solutions, there are a lot of important details for customers and partners dissect to really understand how to turn the stock solution into something of value to a user base.

Perhaps no one has explored the possibilities and limitations of these new apps more so far than Microsoft MVP and Forceworks founder Steve Mordue. His recent blog posts on the Marketing app and Sales Professional have been tough on Microsoft at times, but they've proved popular within the community for their constructive criticism. We catch up with Steve on this episode of the MSDW Podcast to talk first impressions of the products, licensing, and how firms like Forceworks are working to take advantage of the new Microsoft offerings.

Show notes:

• 6:00 – First impressions of the D365 for Marketing launch – pricing and other early decisions
• 10:00 – What kind of partners will be selling D365 for Marketing?
• 13:00 – How to resolve the logical definitions of leads and contacts in Marketing and Sales apps
• 17:00 – What's been Microsoft's reaction to partner feedback so far?
• 19:00 – Licensing schemes – why are they so difficult?
• 23:00 – How do partners make sense of D365 licensing?
• 27:00 – The importance of the Sales Professional app for Forceworks and other SMB-focused vendors
• 28:30 – Stepping up from the Sales Profession to Sales Enterpise app
• 30:00 – Will Microsoft lock down licensing rules or wait and see?
• 34:14 – Do pricing and licensing updates change anything for the biggest competitive deals where pricing and discounts get huge?
• 37:10 – Why CDS will change everything for D365 Customer Experience partners

Coming on the heels of general availability for Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics ERP veterans and Microsoft MVPs AJ Ansari of InterDyn BMI, Rod O'Connor of BriWare Solutions, and Mark Polino of FastPath, joined us to discuss the details and reaction thus far.

After the initial announcement of the new brand name for the previously code-named Tenerife, the Dynamics community lit up with heated debate and candid opinions. Our panel discusses topics including the end of the NAV name and the quest for brand stability in the future, dischord among SMB ERP veterans, the updated roadmap, and the very real challenges Dynamics SMB partners will face in building a business model around an increasingly SaaS-based product suite.

Related articles:

• Microsoft Dynamics has a Ford Truck problem
• Getting prepared for the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central subscription eruption
• Are Microsoft Dynamics SMB partners ready for life in the SaaS era?
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central: What's in a name?
• How ERP buyers will approach Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central - and what it means for resellers