Premier support is now available to customers of Microsoft's Dynamics line of business applications, which could appeal to large organizations with broad deployments of Microsoft technology by eliminating the need for separate support contracts and speeding problem resolution. In addition, Kirill Tatarinov, the new head of the Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) division, announced that the Dynamics product line will follow the same life cycle as Microsoft's enterprise products, including the Extended support phase, which allows customers to obtain hotfixes and patches for up to 10 years on a for-fee basis. However, the presentation was light on details about MBS's long-term roadmap.

Premier Support for Dynamics

Customers can purchase Premier support for the Dynamics CRM customer relationship management (CRM) application and the AX, GP, NAV, and SL enterprise resource planning (ERP) products. Premier is Microsoft's high-end support program for medium and large customers, and includes the following basic components:

Account management. Microsoft staff help customers develop a service plan to address their specific support needs, escalate problems that need more Microsoft resources, and provide reports to customers on their use of the service.

Problem resolution (also called "break-fix" support) to fix problems that are likely related to the customer's Microsoft software.

Proactive services, such as technical workshops, system health checks, advisory services, and code reviews, that help customers use Microsoft software more effectively and prevent problems before they occur.

Information services, including a special Web site tailored to each Premier customer's requirements, the TechNet library of technical resources, and the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN).

As part of the program, a pair of Dynamics-specific services is available to customers: supportability review provides customers assistance with first-time deployment and upgrade planning; business expertise helps with ongoing management and maintenance issues, such as localization and dealing with legal and regulatory changes.

Microsoft has always provided some limited Dynamics-specific support services, but the main support services for the products historically have required customers to contract with one of Microsoft's Dynamics implementation partners. For customers with Premier support for their Dynamics products, Microsoft will become the main provider of support.

This arrangement will probably be most interesting to large organizations with broad investments in Microsoft technologies, eliminating the need for separate Dynamics support contracts with Microsoft and its partners. Furthermore, Premier's account management and break-fix services could eliminate inefficiency and speed resolution of problems, which will likely become harder to sort out as the Dynamics line becomes increasingly integrated with and dependent on other Microsoft products, such as SQL Server and SharePoint Server.

Because customers of the program will directly contract with Microsoft for support, some of the company's Dynamics partners will find the program cutting into one source of potential revenue. However, the program will tend to target large enterprises, so it will probably not have much effect on the many Microsoft partners that offer support services to small and midsize customers of the Dynamics line.

Regular Releases, Product Roadmaps

In his first major address since taking over the lead spot in the MBS division, Corporate Vice President Kirill Tatarinov announced several other support and roadmap updates at Microsoft's Oct. 2007 Convergence Conference in Copenhagen. The announcements seemed designed to signal that no major shifts in the organization's strategy are in the works. Notably, Tatarinov made no mention of eventual ERP product convergence (a mainstay at previous MBS events), a decision likely meant to reassure customers and partners that their investments in the existing portfolio are safe.

Instead of focusing on MBS's long-term technical roadmap, Tatarinov discussed the following:

Longer release cycles. Tatarinov reiterated announcements made by his predecessor at the company's previous Convergence conference in Mar. 2007. According to the keynote address, existing Dynamics products will continue to be updated on a regular basis. The company plans to release new versions of each of the four Dynamics ERP products and the Dynamics CRM application every 24 months. MBS has historically released its ERP products on a 12- to 18-month cycle. In addition, the company will release at least one service pack or feature pack for each of the products in the period between new releases. The keynote highlighted the next major release of each product but did not specifically address versions beyond that. A move to longer release cycles is likely driven mainly by the practical realities faced by the MBS development organization, which is tasked with developing and maintaining four overlapping products while modernizing their underlying technology foundations, programming interfaces, and user interfaces, all of which presumably paves the way for eventual product consolidation. Undoubtedly these challenges have contributed to recent slips—all recent and planned Dynamics ERP releases have had their original ship dates pushed out.

Product roadmaps. Microsoft will release a "statement of direction" document for each of the four ERP products and Dynamics CRM at least a year ahead of any new release. These documents will provide an overview of technical changes and new features planned for the release, which could help customers and partners plan and prepare for any impact (such as upgrade or compatibility problems) those releases could have on existing deployments and custom applications built on them. However, even when Microsoft provides such documents they are often sketchy and represent the company's intentions rather than firm commitments.

Extended support added. The Dynamics product lines will follow the same support life-cycle guidelines as other Microsoft business and developer products. Specifically, the company will now provide Extended support for all Dynamics products in addition to Mainstream support, which was previously available. Mainstream support lasts for at least five years after a product first becomes available and offers a full range of updates, including security updates, nonsecurity updates, and service packs. However, unlike other Microsoft products for which Mainstream support is free, Dynamics customers must be on the Dynamics software maintenance plan (called the Enhancement Plan) to get most Mainstream support benefits (security updates do not require that customers have a maintenance plan). Extended support adds an additional five years of support beyond the Mainstream phase for customers with an active Enhancement Plan. Security updates are covered under the Enhancement Plan, but customers must purchase an additional contract to get nonsecurity updates, and new service packs and feature packs are no longer released.

Availability and Resources

Premier support for Dynamics products is available as of Sept. 2007. Although Microsoft has not provided pricing details for the Dynamics program, pricing will probably follow the usual schedules for Premier support, in which customers pay for the hours of account management, proactive support, and problem resolution that they expect to need, along with any other information services that they purchase through Premier.

The Dynamics home page is www.microsoft.com/dynamics/default.mspx.

More information about Microsoft Premier Support is at www.microsoft.com/services/Microsoftservices/srv_premier.mspx.

A transcript of Tatarinov's Convergence keynote address is at www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre/convergencecopenhagen07/pressmaterials.mspx.

Microsoft's Premier Support program is detailed in "Premier Support Offerings Refined" on page 37 of the July 2006 Update.