TL;DR: Community Summit is where most attendees are quietly shopping for a Microsoft partner, whether they’re actively looking or just wondering if their current one still fits. The booths that sound the most impressive aren’t always the ones that hold up under real questions.

The four questions below cut through the pitch: whether a partner’s full-stack claim is actually true, whether that coverage is in-house or subcontracted, what happens after go-live, and whether their AI story is backed by a real demo. Bring these to TMC Global’s hubs, we’d rather answer them in person than have you guess from a banner.

Heading to Community Summit? With hundreds of partners in one building, it’s easy to collect business cards and generic pitches instead of real answers. TMC Global’s senior consultant team has sat on both sides of this conversation, and the questions below are the ones that actually separate a partner who covers your whole Microsoft technology stack from one who’s strong in a single product and thin everywhere else.

What Questions Prove a Partner Actually Covers Your Full Stack?

A lot of partners at Summit are genuinely excellent at one product and thin everywhere else. That’s fine if you only need one product. It becomes a real problem the moment your ERP, your CRM, and your reporting need to work together, which is most of the time.

“We have both ERP and CRM” and “our ERP and CRM teams talk to each other daily” are very different answers, and only one of them means your systems will actually work together once you’re a client instead of a booth visit.

Ask directly:

  • Do you cover ERP, CRM, and Power Platform, or just one?
  • How do your ERP and CRM teams collaborate day to day, not just on paper?
  • Can one person on your team explain my whole stack, not just their specialty?

How Does Full-Stack Coverage Actually Compare?

A quick way to see the difference between a single-product specialist and a true full-stack partner:

Question Single-Product Specialist True Full-Stack Partner
Do ERP and CRM teams talk daily? Rarely, they’re separate engagements Yes, one team, one relationship
Is Power Platform in-house? Often subcontracted Built by the same team as your ERP
Who owns AI strategy? A separate vendor or add-on The same partner, same conversation

Is Full-Stack Coverage Actually In-House, or Subcontracted?

“Full stack” can be technically true and still mean your project gets handed off. Some partners genuinely cover ERP, CRM, and Power Platform on paper, but subcontract part of that work to a separate company once the contract is signed. Your point of contact stays the same, but the people actually building your Power Platform app or your AI integration have never talked to the team that built your ERP.

Ask directly: is this built in-house, by people on your own team, or does part of this get handed to another company once we sign? The answer changes who’s actually accountable when something between systems breaks.

What Should You Ask About Support After Go-Live?

Your relationship with a Microsoft partner doesn’t end when the system goes live. You’ll feel a partner’s real value in month six, not week one, which is exactly why the sales pitch tells you so little about what you’re actually buying.

  • Walk me through week one, month one, and month six after go-live. Who owns each part?
  • What’s your process for rolling out new features as Microsoft ships them?
  • What does ongoing training actually look like, not just a one-time session?

A real answer sounds like a process. A vague one sounds like a promise.

How Do You Verify a Partner’s Microsoft Designation Covers Your Project?

Microsoft evaluates partners under the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, and a Solutions Partner designation is earned through a Partner Capability Score across three categories: Performance, Skilling, and Customer Success. There are six separate designations, including Business Applications, Data & AI, and Modern Work, and a partner can hold one without holding the others.

The fix is one sentence: “Which of your six designations covers this specific project?” Ask it before you sign anything, not after.

What’s the Right Way to Ask About AI Capabilities?

Every partner at Summit will tell you they’re AI-first. That word doesn’t mean much on its own. What matters is whether they can show you AI actually doing something, not just describing it.

  • What’s already inside the Microsoft tools I’m paying for that nobody’s turned on yet?
  • Can you show me Copilot handling a real task end to end, not just answering a chat prompt?
  • How does AI factor into a Power Platform build, as part of the same system, or as a separate add-on?

Bring This to TMC Global’s Hubs at Community Summit

We’ll be at Community Summit all week, running two hubs built around these exact questions. The AI Copilot Hub, in the Volunteer Lobby, is where we show you what’s already sitting unused in your Microsoft stack, Copilot connected to real work, not a chat window. The Power Platform Hub, in the Tennessee Lobby, is where we build the thing your ERP or CRM doesn’t do yet, in front of you. Bring the questions from this post. We’d rather answer them in person than have you guess from a booth banner.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between a Microsoft Solutions Partner designation and actual project competency?

The designation confirms a partner meets Microsoft’s bar in a specific category, like Business Applications or Data & AI. It doesn’t confirm they’ve done a project like yours. Always ask which designation applies to your specific need.

Should I ask different questions if I’m replacing a partner versus hiring my first one?

The core questions stay the same, full-stack coverage, in-house delivery, post-go-live support. If you’re replacing a partner, add one more: what specifically didn’t work with the last one, so the new partner can speak to that directly.

How do I know if a partner’s full-stack claim includes AI?

Ask if AI is a separate product line or part of the same system as your ERP and CRM. A partner who treats AI as its own add-on will likely hand you the same fragmentation you’re trying to walk away from.

What’s a red flag answer when asking about full-stack coverage?

Vague confidence without specifics. “We handle all of that” without naming which team, which people, or how those teams actually collaborate day to day is the answer to listen for.

Key Takeaways

  • Full-stack claims need proof, not confidence, ask how ERP and CRM teams actually collaborate day to day.
  • In-house delivery matters more than the full-stack claim itself, ask if any piece gets subcontracted after signing.
  • Post-go-live support is where real partner value shows up, ask for a specific week one, month one, month six process.
  • Microsoft designations are category-specific, always confirm which of the six covers your actual project.
  • AI-first claims mean nothing without a live demo, ask to see Copilot handle a real task end to end.
  • TMC Global’s two hubs at Community Summit are built to answer these exact questions in person.

Not sure how your current Microsoft stack stacks up? Get a free Business Process Review and find out.

Where to Find TMC Global at Community Summit

TMC Global isn’t just answering these questions from a booth banner, we’re running two hubs and six speaking sessions built around exactly this kind of real, hands-on proof.

The AI Copilot Hub, Volunteer Lobby. This is where we show you what’s already sitting unused in your Microsoft stack, Copilot connected to real work, not a chat window.

The Power Platform Hub, Tennessee Lobby. This is where we build the thing your ERP or CRM doesn’t do yet, in front of you.

Throughout the week, our team is also speaking directly on these exact topics:

  • Monday, 8:10 AM: Fireside Chat: Navigating the From-to Shift of AI, Jennifer Harris and Shane Young
  • Monday, 9:45 AM: Your First Power App, No Code Needed, Just Vibe It, Fausto Capellan Jr
  • Monday, 1:45 PM: She Builds / Women in Tech Panel, Nicola Young
  • Monday, 4:45 PM: Diagnose, Optimize, Accelerate: Business Central Telemetry in Practice, Marcel Chabot
  • Tuesday, 3:30 PM: Agents & Copilot + Power General Session, Shane Young, co-presenting with Microsoft
  • Wednesday, 8:00 AM: Now You’re Live, Now What? The Reporting Reality After Business Central Go-Live, Savannah Orschell

Bring the questions from this post to any of these, or just stop by a hub. We’d rather show you than tell you.