1 - Partner does their own hosting – Unlike running a website hosted CRM takes specific knowledge to make sure it runs effectively.  Many partners resell someone else's services so when there is an issue it takes a long time to fix because your point of contact is not the people running the hardware.  A good way to sniff this out is to ask who has the SPLA (service provider license agreement) with Microsoft.

2 - Experience – Look for someone who has done this many times.  Expertise is not gained through a class or certifications but rather hitting the road bumps and solving the problems that are unique to a hosted solution.

3 - Focus – Look for a partner that has a business built around Dynamics CRM and it is not just something else they offer because it is on the price list.  CRM is not like ERP and experience on configuring an ERP system does not equate into the skills to customize a CRM solution.

4 - Flexibility - Look for a partner that has the networking ability to handle your flexible needs.  Today your system may be relatively stand alone, but can they add a VPN line into your environment to synch data with an in-house ERP system?  Can they answer the tough exchange or performance questions that could come up?

5 - Bring more value out of the box – Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a great application, but it lacks in little ways that unless you live and breathe it you would never know.  A true hosting partner needs to add more value than being able to just get the system running – do they know what to tweak in IIS to make it run efficiently?  Do they add any value to make the navigation better? Do they know the best practices in configuring the duplicate detection rules?  Do they add real time address verification?.....these are just a few things off the top of my head and a true hosting partner should be able to give you many more!

Happy CRM'ing!