Why Fixing CSP Billing Made Infinity Group a Microsoft Frontier Partner

The Frontier Partner Shift Is Not About AI Alone

When Microsoft talks about Frontier Partners, it’s easy to assume the conversation starts and ends with AI.

But according to Rob Young, CEO of Infinity Group, that’s not where real transformation begins. During our recent leadership talks on being a frontier partner with our CEO Ismail Nalwala and 10x MVP Rick McCutcheon; Rob Young said- 

“It’s not just about the technology you use. The value is in your people - how they understand the business, the processes, and how intelligent automation supports them.”

Infinity Group’s journey, from a traditional MSP to Microsoft Global Business Central Partner of the Year 2025, proves a different truth:

AI only works when your data, billing, and operations are already unified.

This is the story of how Infinity Group became a Frontier Partner and Customer Zero by going platform-first, with Work 365 at the centre of CSP billing and automation, and customer lifecycle management.

25 Years of Evolution: Why Infinity Group Had to Change

Infinity Group didn’t start as a Business Central powerhouse. They began like many Microsoft partners:

• An MSP delivering infrastructure and managed services
• Gradually adding CRM, voice, and line-of-business solutions
• Accumulating multiple tools, PSAs, spreadsheets, and silos over time

As Rob explains, success created its own problem:

“We’d accumulated a lot of data across siloed systems. Different tools, different platforms, and no single place to access it.”

This became a hard blocker when AI and Copilot entered the picture. Infinity saw what many partners now face:

• AI needs structured, connected data
• Exporting files from PSAs into ChatGPT is not a strategy
• Fragmented systems increase security risk and slow decision-making

So, Infinity made a deliberate decision: Go all-in on Microsoft. Become a pure-play Microsoft platform partner.

Why Platform-First Meant Dataverse + Business Central

A critical architectural choice Infinity made was where core operational data should live. They asked a question many partners struggle with:

• Should subscription and billing logic live in ERP (Business Central)?
• Or in Dataverse, alongside sales, service, and customer engagement?

Rob’s answer was clear:

“We wanted that core data in Dataverse because it’s accessible across every part of the business, not just finance.”

This is where Work 365 became essential. Infinity needed a platform that could:

• Handle complex CSP and subscription billing
• Support direct and indirect CSP motions
• Integrate natively with Dataverse
• Feed clean, trusted data into Business Central

Work 365 met all of those requirements and more.

“It ticked every box. Direct CSP, indirect CSP, Dataverse-native, and capable of transforming how we run the business.”

Fixing CSP Billing Was the Turning Point

Before Work 365, billing was a constraint. After Work 365, it became an enabler.

Infinity Group:

• Automated CSP provisioning and invoicing
• Centralised subscription, contract, and customer data
• Removed dependency on manual reconciliation
• Eliminated the need to replace their billing manager when she retired

The measurable impact:

• £1M per year saved in operational overhead
• 35% growth without adding headcount
• Billing operations that can now scale far beyond current revenue

This wasn’t just about finance. It unlocked everything that came next.

Breaking Free from the PSA: One Platform, One Truth

Like most MSPs, Infinity once relied on a PSA at the centre of operations. But PSAs created new problems:

• Data trapped in closed systems
• Complex integrations
• Poor AI readiness
• Security and governance challenges

Rob describes the shift clearly:

“To get the best out of AI, you need structured data. The more contextual the data, the better the outcome.”

By moving sales, service, projects, billing, and portals onto Dynamics 365 + Dataverse + Work 365, Infinity finally achieved the long-promised 360-degree customer view.

Not as a slogan but as an operational reality.

Customer Zero: Using AI Internally Before Selling It

Infinity Group didn’t adopt AI to create slideware. They adopted it to run their own business better. This is what Customer Zero looks like in practice:

First-party Microsoft agents

• Sales qualification and research agents aligned to MEDDICC
• Case classification agents to improve support efficiency
• Time and expense automation in Project Operations

Third-party and custom agents

• Project risk (pre-mortem) agent that listens to sales calls and flags risks
• Talent evaluation agent reducing hiring cycles by 3×
• Agents reused across delivery, HR, and sales

“The best ideas aren’t coming from IT, they’re coming from across the business once people feel empowered.”

This cultural shift is why Infinity now positions itself not just as an MSP but as a Managed Intelligence Provider.

Why This Matters for CSPs and Business Central Partners

Infinity’s story mirrors what many Microsoft partners are experiencing right now:

• CSP revenue is growing but operational complexity is growing faster
• AI is coming but data foundations aren’t ready
• Customers want self-service, transparency, and speed

Work 365 plays a critical role here because:

• Billing automation is foundational
• Subscription data feeds Copilot, agents, forecasting, and customer experience
• Without fixing CSP billing, AI initiatives stall

Or as Ebrahim Nalwala, Co-founder of Work 365 puts it:

“AI doesn’t work without data. And data doesn’t work without a platform.”

The Frontier Partner Blueprint (What Infinity Did Right)

If you’re a Microsoft partner, Infinity’s journey offers a repeatable model:

1. Go platform-first
   • Reduce tools
   • Centralise data in Dataverse
2. Fix CSP billing early
   • Automate provisioning, invoicing, and contracts with Work 365
3. Use Business Central as the financial system of record
   • Not the operational bottleneck
4. Be your own Customer Zero
   • Use Copilot and agents internally first
5. Bring your people with you
   • AI adoption is a cultural change, not just technical

Conclusion: Frontier Status Is Built, Not Announced

Infinity Group didn’t become a Frontier Partner by chasing AI headlines. They:

• Invested in platform foundations
• Automated CSP billing with Work 365
• Unified data across Dynamics 365 and Business Central
• Empowered people to build and use intelligent automation
• Used their own journey as proof for customers

That’s why they didn’t just grow. They scaled. And why they’re now recognised as one of Microsoft’s most forward-thinking Business Central partners globally.

Want to follow the same path?

Start where Infinity did: Fix CSP billing. Fix data. Then let AI work.