For anyone observing the Microsoft Dynamics ERP Providers (Partners) eco-system in India, the changes over the past decade would be very interesting to analyze. Starting in 2001, Navision India started aggressively recruiting partners. At the time of Navision’s (India) acquisition by Microsoft in 2004 about 50 partners had been recruited, and Navision invested substantially in partner readiness. The next couple of years saw a big churn. Over the next 5 years – almost 80% of this initial set of partners dropped off – but at the same time – a substantially large number of new Microsoft Dynamics partners were recruited by Microsoft. At one stage – the total number of Dynamics partners in India crossed 125.

Given the size of the market at that time, this was too large a number to sustain. The entire eco-system was comprised of (at that time) small and mid-sized companies. Cutthroat competition in a relatively small market once again led to several of these partners – either shut down operations or shut down this practice.

Responding to the market situation, Microsoft responded by dividing partners into different categories. The top tier of ‘Managed Partners’ now has just about 25 partners, and chances are that Microsoft might push this number even lower. Another important change that happened during this period was – the Tier 1 IT companies in India, and some of the Global System Integrators, started becoming interested in developing the Microsoft Dynamics practice. This change of heart (for the Tier 1 and GSI companies) was driven by the increased traction and user adaption that Microsoft Dynamics NAV, AX and CRM started having globally.

The current Microsoft Dynamics ERP Providers (Partners) eco-system interestingly is comprised of companies with widely diverse profiles. From amongst the very initial set of Navision partners (between 2001 and 2004) – who were all small or mid-sized companies – and those who (survived and) grew over time, are the ones that remained focused on Microsoft Dynamics and also built industry solutions. Microsoft has now aligned with these companies for specific industry solutions. All e Technologies (Alletec) was the very first Navision partner in India, developed AX and CRM competence over the >18 years of its operations since 2000 – built compelling solutions for Travel, eCommerce, Manufacturing, Healthcare, DMS and EPC – and consistently stayed amongst the top 3 partners for Microsoft Dynamics in India since 2004. The company has acquired more than 600 Dynamics customers over these years – across NAV, AX, and CRM – which is perhaps the largest for an Indian partner.

Microsoft moved several small Dynamics partners under a Master VAR program – appointing ‘All e Technologies’ (through its subsidiary ‘All e Consulting’) – the Master VAR. Alletec has over 25 Affiliates under the Master VAR program.

Despite the enhanced interest levels of Tier 1 and GSI players in the Microsoft Dynamics space, most of the Dynamics business still gets driven by the pure-play mid-sized Dynamics partners like Alletec. It would be very interesting to see if this trend remains in the coming years, or if the market experiences consolidation in the Microsoft Dynamics partner eco-system.

On April 2, 2018, Microsoft introduced a new enhanced version called ‘Business Central’ discontinuing Dynamics NAV. Business Central empowers organizations to connect and manage their financials, sales, purchase, inventory, projects, service, and operations from a single solution. The all-in-one ERP solution is a flexible, adaptable and scalable, growing and expanding with the needs of the business. Dynamics 365 Business Central is available both Online and On-premise deployment mode, tailored to the needs of businesses.