As 2010 gets off to a roaring start (well at least compared to the anemic start of 2009) it is time for all good business applications partners to evaluate what knobs need adjusting to “trim out” their performance for this year.  I think it is fair to say we are off the bottom of the worst recession in years, but it would be overstated to say we are going to return to 2007 growth rates anytime soon.

So with that in mind it means that cash to fund growth must be extracted from ongoing operations, and this is the place to look.  Let me first say that having covered the world last year for Microsoft we can clearly identify the top three issues that are plaguing partners bottom line today. They are: Continue Reading…

The month of July has just whizzed past us here at Salesworks, and for good reason. We were busy attending and presenting at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Houston at the beginning of the month. When we weren’t preparing or presenting at WPC, we were working to help our most active clients plan and prepare for the busy fall season, and we were also busy strategizing for our next quarter. With all the hustle and bustle, we barely found anytime to create blog posts, or fill our newsletter with the information you so eagerly await every month.

But like I said, we have a good excuse. Continue Reading…

In 2009 many companies, driven by the uncertainty in the economy, have decided to delay their decision to invest in new business application software.

While this may appear prudent at first, most of the companies that are in this cycle are already suffering from the weaknesses of their current systems.

By weaknesses I mean that the very issues that keep CEO’s and CFO’s up at night – such as forecast accuracy, cash flow, inventory velocity etc.

These issues will remain until such time as Continue Reading…

I have been traveling around the United States working with some top flight Microsoft Dynamics Partners, and debating about the topic of how Partners deliver services and value to their customers.

I am challenging the thinking of Partners today, forcing them to evaluate how and why they have fundamentally stayed with the same business model for more than 19 years.

Very little has changed in the way they sell and estimate their offering to prospects, or how they deliver services and add business value to the customers.

This scares me.

The rest of the world has changed in innumerable ways, so why haven’t Partners kept up? Continue Reading…