The vast majority of all Microsoft Dynamics 365 partners have migrated their solutions to the cloud. However, substantial parts of their internal processes, their habits and their corporate mindset are still in the ‘on premise’ mode.

Let’s take as an example how partners deal with their project risks.

Traditionally, the ability of their clients to pay the bills was perceived as one of the biggest risks. So partners created a process for a formal credit check. And new deals will not be accepted if this check is negative.

Readiness of the customer organisation was oftentimes not perceived as a risk. Most partners just started the project. After all, the customer was ‘locked in’ due to the capital investment in the license. And challenges during the implementation were solved with either modifications or discounts.

In a Cloud-First world, the credit risks for a partner are limited since license costs are billed on a monthly basis.

The readiness of the customer organisation is a much bigger risk these days! After all, your customers are forced to modernise their processes to become more customer-centric. The possibilities for customisations are limited. And it is much easier for them to switch to another partner.

Smart Dynamics 365 partners have already made a start with a formal readiness check before accepting a new project.

They make sure that the customer’s management understand:

• the need to modernise their processes
• what it takes to change their teams
• and what their own role in that process is

This is just one single example. But when I’m working with D365 partners, I see many of them.

And what about you? Do you still operate the way of the good old ‘on premise’ times?

If you are interested in making your processes, habits and mindset cloud-ready, you should consider organizing my inspiring Project Excellence workshop. There are still a few slots available in the September – November timeframe.

Check the link to the agenda and the feedback of your Dynamics 365 peers here.