The independent Dynamics 365 Partner Selection Guide
How to choose between Finance & Operations and Business Central partners.
An independent guide to the Microsoft Dynamics partner ecosystem — F&O vs BC, Inner Circle vs CSP, ISV proliferation, and the negotiation playbook.
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A 12-section playbook, not a brochure
Partner Selection Guide
- 01Programme tiers, decoded
The April-2025 PartnerEdge restructure, competencies vs tiers, what Gold actually signals.
- 02Market structure from our directory
Live geography, tier distribution, industry depth — who has bench where.
- 03Four-filter shortlisting framework
Compress a longlist to 3-5 partners. Capability signals, red flags, cultural fit.
- 04Weighted RFP scorecard
Eight dimensions, point allocation, the day-rate-disclosure trick.
- 05Negotiation playbook
Where partners have margin to give. Risk-share clauses. SAP-specific leverage.
- 06Implementation expectations
Timelines, headcount, cost ranges from $800K to $50M+ programmes.
- 07RISE vs GROW vs traditional
Black-box risk, renewal cap, DAAP, BTP side-by-side reality.
- 08Vendor-specific quirks
Public Cloud customisation limits, 2025 Business Suite rebrand, top SIs decoded.
- 09Geographic dynamics
Where the channel is dense, where offshore quality varies, regional dynamics.
- 10When to use an independent
Where a single specialist beats a full SI.
- 1190-day partner selection plan
Day-by-day playbook from preparation to award.
- 12Verification checklist
One-page guardrail for the executive sponsor before signing.
Market structure from our own directory
The guide includes proprietary breakdowns of Dynamics 365 partner geography, tier distribution, and industry depth — drawn from our directory of 1,419 tracked partners. Refreshed nightly.
One preview: where the partners live. The full breakdown — geography, tier, industry depth — is inside the guide.
Gartner-honest. Buyer-funded. Partner-independent.
ERP Research is independent of every ERP vendor. We earn revenue from implementation partners who pay for enhanced directory listings and qualified leads. None of that revenue influences our editorial — including this guide.
“The market for honest partner-selection research is under-served. Filling that gap is what makes our directory useful — to buyers who trust us, and to partners who win business on merit.”
Where we cite numbers, we cite the source inline — Panorama Consulting, Gartner via The Register, UpperEdge, Redress Compliance, SAP Licensing Experts, support.sap.com, the major SIs' own press releases. Where the data is our own (partner-directory statistics), we re-mine the directory each quarter so the numbers stay live.
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