The Success by Design methodology

Success by Design (SBD) is Microsoft's published implementation methodology for Dynamics 365, replacing the older waterfall-flavoured Sure Step. It is the framework FastTrack engineers use to engage with qualifying customer projects, and the de-facto standard most experienced partners now follow. Whether or not the project is officially FastTracked, the SBD content is freely available and worth applying.

Core stance

SBD starts from a hard principle: fit to standard before fit to custom. Map every customer requirement against what Dynamics 365 does out of the box, configure to close the gaps, customise only when no acceptable standard exists. Customisation cost compounds across upgrades; configuration largely doesn't.

The phases

SBD organises a project into five phases, each with characteristic outcomes:

1. Initiate — establish governance, scope, business case, FastTrack relationship.
2. Implement — iterative configuration and customisation, with regular alignment checkpoints. Often run in time-boxed sprints.
3. Prepare — UAT, training, cutover planning, integration testing at scale.
4. Operate — go-live and stabilisation.
5. Optimize — post-go-live continuous improvement, including release wave readiness.

Each phase is iterative, not gated; the phases overlap and feedback flows between them continuously.

Solution Blueprint Review (SBR)

The headline ritual. Roughly mid-implementation, the partner and customer present a solution blueprint to Microsoft FastTrack: the conceptual architecture, customisations planned, integrations, data migration, performance, security, and risks. FastTrack reviews against a published rubric and provides written guidance — go, go-with-changes, or hard concerns to address. Many projects do informal SBRs even outside FastTrack.

Go-Live Readiness review

Closer to deployment, FastTrack (or the partner) runs a readiness review against a checklist: data migration tested, integrations validated at scale, UAT signed off, training delivered, support plan ready, cutover dry-run completed.

FastTrack

A Microsoft program providing free advisory engagement for qualifying customers — typically large or strategic, but eligibility has broadened. FastTrack engineers attend SBRs, review designs, and connect customers to engineering when the platform itself is the blocker.

Templates and tools

Microsoft publishes SBD templates, checklists, and reference architectures on the SBD website and the FastTrack site. They're free.

What partners do

Mature partners blend SBD with their own engagement IP — accelerators, vertical templates, run-book scripts — but the SBD vocabulary, deliverables, and checkpoints are increasingly the industry-common ones.

Why it works

Iterative cadence catches misalignment early. Mid-project SBR forces honest scoping conversations before commitments turn into commitments. Fit-to-standard discipline keeps total cost of ownership bounded.

Where to go next

The methodology it replaced is Sure Step and the Microsoft programme that applies it is FastTrack. Its key artefacts have their own guides: fit-gap analysis, requirements gathering that feeds the Implement phase, and cutover planning for the Prepare phase. The governance layer that sits alongside every phase is project governance, backed by stakeholder management, a risk register, and budget management — and before committing to Initiate, a change readiness assessment is worth doing honestly. Whether a partner actually practises it is a question in choosing a Dynamics 365 partner.