Looking for a Microsoft Gold Partner for Dynamics 365?
That badge was retired in 2022. Here's what replaced it, what it actually measures, and what to look for instead.
Short answer: Microsoft retired the Gold and Silver competencies on September 30, 2022. The Dynamics 365 designation today is Solutions Partner for Business Applications, and 65 of its 100 points measure how much Microsoft licensing and usage a firm adds and grows, not who works in your environment. Our position: DesertCRM is not a Microsoft Solutions Partner and does not resell licenses, so we have no reason to sell you more of them.
Nobody can be a new Gold Partner today
Microsoft retired its Gold and Silver competencies on September 30, 2022. They were replaced by Solutions Partner designations in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program. The one that covers Dynamics 365 is Solutions Partner for Business Applications.
A firm that still describes itself as a Gold Partner is using a label Microsoft no longer issues. That is worth knowing before you treat it as a reason to hire anyone.
70 of 100 points, re-measured continuously
To hold Solutions Partner for Business Applications, a firm needs 70 of 100 points across three areas. The points are re-measured on an ongoing basis, not awarded once.
| Area | Metric | Points | What it counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | Net customer adds | 15 | New licensed workloads attributed to the partner |
| Customer success | Usage growth | 30 | Growth in licensed consumption across the partner's customers |
| Customer success | Deployments | 20 | Deployments attributed to the partner |
| Skilling | Intermediate certifications | 20 | Certified people at the intermediate level |
| Skilling | Advanced certifications | 15 | Certified people at the advanced level |
The takeaway: 65 of the 100 points measure licensing and usage growth across a firm's customers: net adds, usage growth and deployments. The other 35 measure certified headcount. For smaller firms Microsoft uses a separate track that maxes out at 5 and 2 certified people.
Source: Microsoft Learn, Solutions Partner for Business Applications.
A badge for selling Microsoft at volume
The designation is a fair signal that a firm sells and expands Microsoft products across many customers. It is not a signal about the things that decide how your own environment gets treated.
- Who is assigned to your environment, and how senior they are
- How fast they respond when something breaks
- Whether the work is fixed-price or billed by the hour
- Whether the firm earns more when your license count goes up
There is also a common pattern worth naming, without pointing at anyone: at large partners, smaller customers often become lower priority after the sale. Responses slow down, work gets deferred, and more junior staff are assigned. That is a feature of the model, not a flaw of the people in it.
Not a Solutions Partner, and that's deliberate
To be plain about it: DesertCRM is not a Microsoft Solutions Partner and does not resell Microsoft licenses. That is the reason we have no incentive to upsell seats. We are built for teams a large partner treats as small: fix the environment you own, then keep it running.
No license resale
We don't sell Microsoft licenses, so we have no reason to sell you more of them. Keep buying wherever you buy today; we work in the environment you already own.
Senior-led delivery
On every engagement, the experience that scopes the work is the experience that does it.
Fixed scope, fixed fee
Agreed in writing before any work starts. No hourly billing and no change-order surprises.
Findings in 5 business days
The Dynamics 365 CE Health Check ends with a written report, a risk register and a prioritized roadmap.
Month-to-month support
Support Plans are a flat monthly fee sized to your environment, with no annual lock-in.
Built for smaller teams
Start with a Health Check, fix what matters in a Stabilization Sprint, or bring us in on a project that has gone off track.
Websites have published prices. Dynamics 365 work is quoted as a fixed fee, in writing, after a short intro call, never billed by the hour, and nothing starts without an agreed price.
Questions to ask any Dynamics 365 partner (including us)
Whatever badge a firm holds, these five questions tell you how your engagement will actually run. Ask them of everyone you talk to, and get the answers in writing.
- Who exactly will work in our environment, and how senior are they?
- Is the price fixed before work starts?
- What is your response time on a Support Plan, in writing?
- Do you earn anything from our license count?
- Can we leave month-to-month?
Partner status questions, answered straight
Choose on who does the work, not on a badge
A fixed-fee Health Check gives you written findings in 5 business days, from the people who would do the work.
Fixed fee, agreed before we start · senior Dynamics 365 CE expertise