Everything Partners Need to Know About AIM from Microsoft

For businesses still reliant on traditional on-premises applications, the gap between them and their cloud-empowered peers continues to widen. That is why Microsoft has introduced a new initiative, AIM: Accelerate, Innovate, Move.

AIM’s goal is to encourage as many Microsoft users as possible to migrate their crucial business processes to the cloud, including customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) services.

The key motivator behind AIM is the release of Microsoft Copilot. Copilot is Microsoft’s latest offering, a generative AI agent offering support services within Microsoft Dynamics and other offerings within the Microsoft cloud ecosystem. Copilot is designed to enhance workflows, unearth valuable insights, recommend optimal actions, and significantly reduce users’ time spent on tedious administrative duties.

Embracing newly AI-powered CRM and ERP services in the cloud is no longer an option. It is essential for many organizations hoping to stay competitive in a cloud-first digital world.

Why Do Partners Need to Care About AIM?

Because digital transformation is in the air. While Microsoft is out in front, they are not the only provider pushing new cloud-based innovations. Their competitors want to join the race and snag as many on-premises Microsoft customers as possible. So, if Microsoft partners are not going to speak to their own clients about migrating to Microsoft Dynamics 365, then competitors will be happy to talk to them about their migration solutions.

That is why for a limited time, Microsoft is offering funded pre-sales assessments and post-sales subscription incentives for partners to increase the number of on-prem clients who move to Dynamics 365 Business Central.

They are structuring this initiative as AIM: Accelerate, Innovate, Move.

Accelerate Your Partner Business

Before migrating your clients’ business applications to the cloud, understand the business value and expected outcomes they seek. Also, understand the technical process and the dependencies you and your client need to care about. Remember, this is not just a software upgrade. It is a business upgrade. A cloud transformation will have a truly transformative effect on how your client’s operations perform.

Innovate to Stay Ahead

AIM gives you access to expert implementation guidance and partner services. In particular, Microsoft’s Success by Design program, a systematic approach to cloud deployment, offers you prescriptive guidance for designing, building, and launching Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions while seamlessly transitioning from on-premises environments to the cloud.

AIM also equips partners with other tools and guidance, including the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Implementation Portal, a resource designed to provide customized implementation advice for a successful cloud migration. Here, Microsoft solution architects collaborate with eligible customers to ensure the architecture of your solution is validated, risks are mitigated, and deployment roadblocks are expertly navigated. This collaborative effort guarantees a smooth transition.

Move your Clients to the Cloud in the Best Way Possible

Despite what some clients expect, cloud transformations are never single sweeping events. Experienced partners know they need to be incremental processes to do them right. AIM offers exclusive opportunities for optimizing migration processes, so they work best for your clients. Microsoft’s expanded Bridge to the Cloud 2 (BTC2) promotional offer gives you new options to migrate on-premises clients with discounted subscription pricing as they leap to the cloud.

Target On-prem Clients for Migrations to Dynamics Business Central

AIM from Microsoft focuses on moving clients with on-prem CRM and ERP software to the cloud. Three of the most common on-prem deployment partners likely still deal with are Microsoft Dynamics NAV, GP, and SL. These have a straightforward upgrade path to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Partners looking for easy wins under the AIM program should focus on these clients first.

What Is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a comprehensive cloud-based business management solution integrating ERP, CRM, and Office 365 into a unified business platform. Dynamics 365 is primarily tailored for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) seeking to upgrade from outdated ERP software or limited-function systems. It is especially well-suited for organizations that have outgrown their existing accounting software, including those currently relying on solutions like QuickBooks.

It includes many different modules available across multiple licenses.

Financial Management

Your clients gain real-time insights into financial performance by seamlessly connecting data from processes across accounting, purchasing, inventory, and customer interactions. Dynamics 365 also helps them develop precise financial forecasts through advanced data modeling and analysis.

Supply Chain Management

Dynamics 365’s supply chain management module helps clients automate stock level calculations, predictions, and replenishments. It also provides intelligent recommendations for setting vendor payment schedules and discount utilization and helps implement approval workflows to prevent unnecessary or fraudulent purchases.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

This module allows your clients’ sales and marketing teams to monitor customer touchpoints throughout their journeys, opening many new opportunities for upselling and cross-selling. Dynamics 365 CRM improves service quality by gaining better insights into service tasks and workloads, enabling more efficient resource allocation and quicker ticket resolutions. It also accelerates the quote-to-cash cycle to boost sales productivity.

Project Operations

Dynamics 365 Project Operations allows your users to create and manage customer projects using integrated timesheets seamlessly. They can develop and maintain project budgets and conduct comprehensive project performance analyses.

Human Resources (HR) Management

Dynamics 365’s HR tools help users easily maintain detailed employee records. All operations occur on the secure Microsoft cloud, so you can easily secure personal data, contracts, and other confidential information.

Warehouse Management

If you have ever dealt with your clients’ warehouse operations, you know just how much planning is involved in production, shipping, and receiving. Dynamics 365’s warehouse management module helps them gain high-level inventory visibility for streamlined order fulfillment. It also helps them optimize manufacturing capacity, resource allocation, and utilize detailed production schedules to meet customer demands effectively.

Service Management

Every partner client needs to provide some form of service to their customers, making Dynamics 365’s service management module an easy sell in many cases. Service management helps them efficiently oversee service orders, pricing, and contracts, plan technician routes, and easily dispatch service teams.

Partner with Stratos Cloud Alliance if you want to accelerate your clients’ cloud migrations

We are the Microsoft Indirect Provider of the Year with extensive experience in helping organizations move to the cloud. Partnering with us, a proven indirect cloud provider who understands the Microsoft ecosystem end-to-end can help you move your clients to Dynamics 365 Business Central in the cloud more easily and effectively.

Schedule a quick call today to learn how Stratos Cloud Alliance can help you move your clients to Dynamics 365 BC.