Choosing an implementation partner is as important as choosing the software. The same Dynamics 365 product, implemented by different teams, can produce very different results: on time and trusted by your finance team, or a year late and worked around in spreadsheets. This guide sets out the questions worth asking a Microsoft Dynamics 365 partner in Canada, including the ones partners don't always volunteer answers to, with a separate section for Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (F&O) projects.
Start with the right product
Before you compare partners, be clear about which product you are buying, because it narrows the field.
- Dynamics 365 Business Central suits small and mid-sized businesses that want finance, sales, purchasing, inventory and projects in one application. Implementations are typically measured in weeks.
- Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations is the common name for Dynamics 365 Finance and Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, the successors to Dynamics AX. It suits larger, multi-entity or multi-national organizations, complex manufacturing and high transaction volumes. Implementations are typically measured in months.
A partner that only sells one of the two will tend to recommend it. Ask each partner to explain, for your business specifically, why one fits better than the other. Our Finance & Operations vs Business Central selection guide walks through the main differences.
1. Product depth
- Which Dynamics 365 products does the partner implement, and how many projects has the proposed team delivered on that product?
- Can they show you the standard product doing your key processes, rather than slides?
- Which modules have they configured in practice? For F&O, ask about the modules you need, such as consolidation, budgeting, production control or warehouse management, not just "Finance".
2. Microsoft status: check it, don't assume it
Every partner's website says "Microsoft Partner". Ask exactly what that means and check it yourself in Microsoft's partner directory.
- Partner membership in the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is the baseline.
- Solutions Partner designations, such as Solutions Partner for Business Applications, and specializations are earned against Microsoft's performance and skills criteria. If a partner claims one, it appears in the directory.
- Indirect Reseller (CSP) status means the partner can sell and manage your Dynamics 365 licences directly.
- ISV status means the partner builds its own products for the platform. Ask whether those products are listed on Microsoft AppSource.
- Individual certifications matter as much as company badges. Ask which certifications the people on your project hold.
None of these labels guarantees a good project, but a partner should be able to explain each one plainly and show it is current.
3. Relevant experience
- Projects in your industry, or with processes like yours.
- Experience with your starting point: Dynamics GP, NAV, AX, QuickBooks, Sage or another ERP.
- References you can speak to directly. Ask the reference what went wrong and how the partner handled it; every real project has an answer.
- Projects of a similar size: number of legal entities, users, sites and integrations.
4. The team
- Who will actually work on your project, and how much of their time is committed?
- Will the people in the sales meetings be involved in delivery?
- Who is the solution architect, and how many projects like yours have they led?
- Will the same team support you after go-live, or is support a separate department?
5. Methodology
- How does the partner run discovery, design, build, testing and cutover? Ask to see a sample project plan.
- How many trial data migrations are planned before go-live, and how is migrated data reconciled?
- How is user acceptance testing organized, and who writes the test scripts?
- What does the partner need from your team, and when? Most delays come from both sides underestimating this.
- What is the cutover plan, and is there a defined rollback point?
Choosing a partner for Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations
F&O projects are larger and more technical than most ERP projects, so add these questions to the ones above.
Multi-entity and global setup
- How have they designed legal entities, intercompany accounting, consolidation and currencies on previous projects?
- How do they handle tax and regulatory reporting in each country you operate in?
Customization discipline
- F&O does not allow changes to Microsoft's own code, so every customization is built as an extension. Ask how the partner decides between configuration, a standard feature, a Power Platform solution and custom code.
- Who owns the custom code and its documentation?
- How is code reviewed, versioned and deployed? Expect source control and build pipelines in Azure DevOps, not files copied by hand.
Integrations and reporting
- Which integration patterns do they use: data entities and OData, the Data management framework, dual-write with Dataverse if you also run Dynamics 365 Sales or Customer Service?
- How will you report? Embedded Power BI workspaces, Fabric Link or Azure Synapse Link (which replaced Export to Data Lake), or a data warehouse.
- How are integration failures monitored and alerted? See our guide to ERP integration architecture and monitoring.
Environments, updates and testing
- How do they plan environments for development, testing, training and production?
- Microsoft releases regular service updates for F&O. How does the partner test each update before it reaches production? Ask whether they use automated regression testing, such as Microsoft's Regression Suite Automation Tool.
- Will they run performance testing if you have high transaction volumes?
Upgrades from Dynamics AX
If you run Dynamics AX today, ask which route applies to you: AX 2012 R2 and R3 have a Microsoft upgrade path for code and data, while AX 2009 moves by data migration with Microsoft's Data migration tool. A partner should explain the difference and what it means for your customizations and history. See moving from AX 2009 or 2012 to Dynamics 365.
Licensing
Microsoft sets a minimum purchase for Finance and Supply Chain Management (20 full users per product at the time of writing), and checks that licences match the access users' security roles give them. Ask the partner to size licences against your actual roles, not a headcount.
6. Commercial terms
- Fixed price, time and materials, or a mix? A fixed price is only meaningful once scope is defined, so ask what the fixed price covers and what it excludes.
- How are changes priced and approved?
- What happens if timelines slip, on either side?
- Are licences, the implementation and support quoted separately, so you can compare them line by line?
Implementation partner or support partner?
Many organizations use one partner for the implementation and keep the same team for support. That gives continuity: the people who built your system support it. Others change partners after go-live, or bring in a new partner when a project has stalled.
- Staying with your implementation partner works when the project went well and the team stays the same.
- Moving support to a new partner makes sense when response times, knowledge of your setup or the quality of fixes have slipped. Ask a prospective support partner how they take over: a review of your environment, customizations and open issues before they accept responsibility.
- Recovering a stalled project needs an independent assessment first. Our guide to rescuing a stalled Dynamics 365 implementation covers the warning signs.
Whichever you choose, ask about support hours, response targets, escalation paths, coverage for critical issues outside business hours, and monthly reporting on tickets.
Red flags
- A fixed price before anyone has looked at your processes.
- Promises that you won't need any customization at all, or that everything can be customized.
- No named team, or a team that changes after the contract is signed.
- No trial data migrations in the plan.
- References only from projects much smaller or simpler than yours.
- Vague answers about Microsoft status that you can't verify in the partner directory.
Canadian specifics
- Experience with GST/HST and provincial sales taxes, including BC PST and Quebec QST.
- Canadian banking formats and payment files.
- Payroll: Business Central has no standard Canadian payroll, so ask which payroll integration the partner recommends.
- Time zone coverage for your offices, from Pacific to Atlantic.
- Data residency: Business Central and Finance & Operations can run in Microsoft's Canadian datacenter region.
About Tech Sarwar
We are a Microsoft Partner, Indirect Reseller (CSP) and ISV based in Surrey, BC, implementing both Business Central and Finance & Operations for more than nine years. We have taken 16 projects to go-live and recovered 8 stalled implementations. Our Finance & Operations clients include AA New Zealand, the Government of Saint Martin and Valve Serve, which we moved from Dynamics AX 2009 to Dynamics 365.
See our Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations services and Business Central services, or contact us to ask any of the questions above. We'd rather you ask them of us than not ask them at all.