The global partners conference in Washington saw Microsoft award the Inner Circle Award to defacto marketing GmbH, which is based in Erlangen and forms part of the defacto.x holding, for the first time. This means that defacto marketing GmbH is now one of Microsoft Dynamics CRM's 60 most successful and strategically important partners. Thomas Brodowski, CIO at defacto marketing GmbH, is delighted with the recognition: "Over the last few years we have relied very heavily on Microsoft products as the basis for and integral elements of our business solutions. This award is confirmation and proof for us that this was the right decision. It is testament to the fact that the quality of our work is valued not only by our clients, but also by Microsoft."

The criteria for the inclusion of service providers within Microsoft Dynamics' inner circle are, alongside significant growth of Microsoft products and projects that have been successfully executed, an above-average level of customer satisfaction, which is continuously monitored and evaluated by Microsoft. A further requirement is that the Microsoft partner company develops its business solutions in conjunction with Microsoft on an ongoing basis. In return, Microsoft includes its most important partners in decisions and new developments while these are still at the early stages.