There's a version of this conversation that goes badly. A company in the St. Louis area picks a Microsoft Solutions Partner based on a polished website and a competitive price, and eighteen months later they're halfway through a painful re-implementation with someone else. When you're selecting a Microsoft Solutions Partner in St. Louis for something as critical as your ERP system, experience isn't a nice-to-have credential — it's the thing that makes everything else work.

The Problem With 'We've Been Doing This for Five Years'

Five years sounds like experience. In technology consulting, it's barely enough time to see a full cycle of platform evolution. Microsoft Dynamics has changed dramatically over the past three decades — from Great Plains and Navision, to Dynamics GP and NAV, through Dynamics AX, and now the modern cloud-based Dynamics 365 suite. A partner who has only been around for five or ten years has never seen what happens when a long-term implementation runs into legacy complexity, compliance pressure, or a major platform migration.

The partners with 20, 25, 30 years in the Microsoft ecosystem? They've seen all of it. More importantly, they know how to handle it without manufacturing a crisis.

Turnkey Technologies Has Been Doing This Since 1994

Turnkey Technologies was founded in 1994 in the St. Louis area — before most current ERP software even existed in its current form. For more than 30 years, the company has focused exclusively on Microsoft Business Applications: Dynamics GP, Dynamics AX and NAV, and now Dynamics 365 Finance, Supply Chain Management, Business Central, and Customer Engagement.

That kind of single-platform focus over three decades isn't accidental. It's the result of a deliberate choice to go deep rather than wide — to become the most knowledgeable Microsoft partner in the region, not the most generalist one. The result is a team that has seen virtually every configuration challenge, every data migration problem, and every go-live scenario a Dynamics implementation can produce.

Why Tenure Translates Directly to Better Outcomes

The practical value of experience isn't abstract. It shows up in specific, measurable ways at every phase of an implementation. An experienced partner recognizes the configuration pattern that will create reporting headaches in six months — before it gets built, not after. They know which data migration assumptions are always wrong. They've learned which change management shortcuts inevitably backfire.

A 2024 Forrester study found that Dynamics 365 ERP implementations can deliver a 106% ROI and $8.1M in net present value over three years — but that assumes a successful implementation. Microsoft's own Solutions Partner program evaluates partners on their Customer Success record precisely because experience and outcomes are directly linked. Experienced partners significantly reduce the risk of cost overruns and delays that erode the value of any ERP investment.

Deep Industry Knowledge That Only Comes With Time

Turnkey has spent three decades building industry-specific expertise across sectors that have real complexity: medical device manufacturing with traceability and FDA compliance requirements, government contracting with DCAA compliance in accounting and finance, discrete manufacturing, distribution, professional services, and more.

That industry depth isn't something that can be acquired through a training course or a new hire. It comes from working inside those environments for years — learning where the textbook ERP approach breaks down, and what actually works. As independent experts note, the real differentiator among Microsoft partners is the ability to translate business objectives into scalable solutions that generate measurable outcomes. That requires industry experience as much as technical certification — and it takes years to build.

What 30 Years in St. Louis Means for Local Businesses

Turnkey Technologies isn't a national firm that opened a satellite office in St. Louis. The company started here, grew here, and has served businesses across the St. Louis metro — from Chesterfield to Clayton to South County — for over three decades. The team is based out of their Chesterfield, MO headquarters and is rooted in the local business community in a way a distant firm simply cannot be.

When your system goes live and something unexpected happens at 4pm on a Thursday, you want a team that knows your business, understands this market, and can respond fast. Local presence, local accountability, and a 30-plus year reputation in this region — that's what a long-tenured partner brings that a newer one can't.

The Questions to Ask About Experience Before You Sign Anything

When evaluating a Microsoft Solutions Partner's experience, here are the questions worth asking: How long have you been implementing Microsoft Dynamics specifically — not just Microsoft solutions generally? Have you handled migrations from legacy platforms like Dynamics GP or NAV to Dynamics 365? Can you provide client references in my specific industry that you've supported for more than five years? What does your post-go-live support model look like after the project closes?

The answers will tell you quickly whether you're talking to a partner who has genuinely built expertise over time — or one still building it on your project.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long has Turnkey Technologies been a Microsoft Solutions Partner?

Turnkey Technologies has been focused exclusively on Microsoft Business Applications since 1994 — more than 30 years — making them one of the most tenured Microsoft Solutions Partners in the St. Louis region and across the Midwest.

Why does a Microsoft partner's years of experience matter?

An experienced partner has navigated multiple generations of Microsoft Dynamics platforms, managed a wide variety of implementation challenges, and built industry-specific knowledge that newer partners simply haven't had time to accumulate. This directly reduces project risk, cost overruns, and the likelihood of a difficult re-implementation.

Does Turnkey Technologies serve businesses outside of St. Louis?

Yes. While Turnkey Technologies is based in Chesterfield, Missouri and has deep roots in the St. Louis business community, they serve clients nationally across industries including manufacturing, distribution, government contracting, and professional services.

What Microsoft solutions does Turnkey Technologies implement?

Turnkey Technologies implements and supports the full Microsoft Dynamics 365 suite — including Business Central, Finance & Supply Chain Management, Customer Engagement, and Power Platform — as well as providing ongoing support for legacy Dynamics GP, NAV, and AX systems.

See What 30+ Years of Experience Looks Like in Practice

Thirty-plus years isn't just a number on a website. It represents thousands of implementations, hundreds of long-term client relationships, and an accumulated depth of knowledge that simply cannot be fast-tracked. When your business operations depend on a Microsoft ERP working correctly, you want the people behind it to have already solved every problem you're about to face — more than once.

Schedule a consultation with Turnkey Technologies and find out what three decades of Microsoft Solutions Partner experience actually looks like in practice.