Microsoft Dynamics 365 Partners Feel Recruitment Pressure to Hire Industry-Specific Staff

A new trend in Microsoft Dynamics 365 recruitment pressures partners to consider industry experience, as companies deploying the software look for implementation partners with sector experience prior to contract award.

This trend creates recruitment pressure among consulting firms with Dynamics 365 teams built around platform certifications rather than industry knowledge. Health care organizations, distribution centers or field service businesses are likely to request a team that understands the complexities and specifics of scheduling delays, purchase approval processes or inventory exceptions related to their industry.

The need for industry expertise is impacting team building in an obvious manner. Although technical consultants can be well versed with Dynamics 365 implementation, their skills may still be insufficient to perform certain tasks without help from a consultant who understands compliance reporting, maintenance scheduling or procurement escalation processes within the customer's industry. Consulting firms that will not be able to provide the context needed for their work face lengthy onboarding periods after contract award.

In response to the trend, some Microsoft Dynamics 365 partners have been switching to building their teams around industry verticals. Such an approach impacts internal economics, as it becomes harder to find specialists who can provide deep operational insights into a number of industries at once. It also puts consulting firms under strain when they are asked to take on large projects in industries that are less represented within the firm's core competency set.

Simultaneously, training pressure continues growing. Consultants who join Microsoft Dynamics 365 consulting firms typically get trained first in the technical aspects of the platform use; however, they now face mounting pressure to show understanding of business process dependencies and requirements in pre-deployment consultations and migration workshops. Some Dynamics 365 consulting firms have started to put additional effort into making their junior consultants attend training within clients' businesses before implementation begins.

The problem is not restricted to consulting firms. IT departments of organizations adopting Dynamics 365 often encounter similar recruitment challenges. In such cases, managers of finance and supply chain management departments may assume the role of intermediaries between external consultants and internal staff.

The approach creates significant risks of project delays, as validation of approval mapping, reports generation and workflows definition can take significantly longer if specialists involved must balance day-to-day duties and Dynamics 365 implementations. The risk makes project management difficult for those consulting firms that are expected to deliver fast and have limited access to the required resources.

Recruitment trends indicate growing interest of potential employers in consultants combining their technical expertise with industry experience. Applicants who do not bring any experience with procurement processes, warehouse management or service dispatch tend to lose out on job offers more frequently than their competitors with broader experience in such spheres.

Shorter timelines required by some organizations may exacerbate the recruitment challenges faced by Dynamics 365 partners. Clients seek implementation partners capable of analyzing business process exceptions on-site rather than spending several months getting familiar with them, which favors consulting firms operating in fewer industries but offering a higher concentration of industry-specific consultants.

Even though the solution provides a natural fit for the Microsoft ecosystem, recruitment problems in the partner community may impact their decisions when pursuing new projects. Depth of workforce may become a key differentiation factor over platform experience alone for many Dynamics 365 implementation firms.