Hi There - There are no defined metrics on how you should be selecting a MS Partner. I rather disagree with your inquisitiveness to find "MS Partner of the year in UAE" - trust me it won't help you get the "BEST". It's like assuming that the topper in the university is NECESSARILY a hardworker/good student.
Best is to cross verify with the end-customer references your vendor (MS Partner) provides you along with their pre-sales presentation deck. You'll always hear the truth from the horse's (end-customers) mouth
According to me this should be your checklist while selecting partners:
1. Evaluate how each partner responds to your RFP (How detailed their answers are. Try not just skimming but reading through their answers. The devil is in the details, you'll understand from their answers if they're bluffing or making any sense)
2. Evaluate which partner is pitching in to map your business processes with least amount of customizations/add-ons (There is a fair chance they know the system too well to be able to pitch you 80% OOTB Business Central & 20% Customized or on the flip side they don't have an idea of what the system does, either way ask them questions on how they'll plan to implement feature A by using OOTB features, when someone else in their competition suggested a customization, based on their answer you'll understand how confident they are or if they are making any sense. When you quote the word Competitor, they'll know for sure that you're vigilant and informed)
3. You can hire the best in town, they'll charge you best of $$$$ too. How much willing are you to spend on your implementation? Decide a budget and see which vendors fit your criteria. One can spend a millions and request that Microsoft should implement their BC System, but would Microsoft even do it for a Million dollars? NO!
Very important to understand that - Cheap does not necessarily mean it is NOT GOOD nor does expensive means it is the BEST.
4. Check with vendor how diverse a team they have (Functional Consultants to handle Functional/Setup Queries, technical/developers to get things customized, Industry SMEs to help you navigate the intricacies of the industry & Project Managers/Leader to drive the project)
5. Also, raise a request to talk with their Project team, just a conversation with them will give you a first impression which may help
6. Check/Compare in how many phases is each partner willing to implement your requirements and what window are they giving you to do Training/UAT. Trust me you need a lot of user training & UAT when it comes to Manufacturing, it's a diverse thing.
You are looking to implement Manufacturing, by no means that's a piece of cake, nor is it impossible. It takes a certain amount of skill-set to help you setup an efficient manufacturing process in your brand new BC system. I won't ask you hire the cheapest or the costliest, that's not a valid metric nor is selecting someone winning an award from Microsoft is a valid metric. You should be looking at best-of-all-worlds.
Create a matrix with 4 columns, write down top 4 parameters for you which summarize the whole purpose of implementing BC. Map how each MS Partner fits in that. See which MS Partner (whom you've interacted with) comes closest to 100%
I have recently seen that some customers hire 2 partners to implement 2 different modules of the same system - I won't suggest you do it. It'll be a nightmare for all 3 of you and you'll start hating BC from Day 1
I hope it helps & good luck. Feel free to raise questions with the community if in future you feel like asking BC Questions too, the experts here are nothing less than welcoming!
Cheers
