So if you are reading this you should know I have actually been a Microsoft CRM Consultant in my past, in fact, I have had multiple roles with the CRM product since 2005 when CRM 3.0 was released.
I wanted to share exactly what a CRM Consultant should be for your organization as well as making sure that you have the right resource on the job for your particular CRM project or task needs.
So what is a Microsoft CRM Consultant? A Microsoft CRM Consultant is a resource that can help with the design, planning, implementation and training of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Platform.
It is also important to remember that you can find CRM Consultants that work with a large Microsoft Partner, or in many cases, other CRM consultants that are freelancing on smaller short term projects which are usually 3-6 months in length.
Finding the right CRM Consultant for your project
When it comes to getting a CRM Consultant to assist with your implementation it is important that you not realize there are many different types of Consultants and the term CRM Consultant is extremely generalized.
A CRM Consultant may have a very specialized skill such as integrations, or migration of your organization’s data. Or the Consultant may have experience in the custom development of the CRM platform.
In short, it is important to understand the typical roles of each CRM consultant to simply make sure that you have the right resource in your implementation project or your costs could vary greatly in deployment and ongoing maintenance.
Dynamics CRM Functional Consultants
You will see this title used with Microsoft CRM Partners and service providers. If they haven’t explained exactly what they know about the CRM platform this will help give you an idea.
In short, they can handle most of the walkthrough demos and training information provided by Microsoft. They will also have a great foundation around the product’s functionality and can answer most questions about the interface.
They can speak well about the value add and features that the product provides, and can even do some light configuration and tailoring of the CRM Application (Permissions, Roles, Dashboards, Advanced Finds, etc.)
A CRM Functional consultant may also have responsibilities and might be in control of the project management tasks associated with a deployment (usually referred to as Lead Consultant) on a project.
This type of consultant is also very helpful with training, day to day processes, documentation, and general support of the Dynamics CRM Platform.
Dynamics CRM Developers
This role is similar to other traditional roles of application development except that the focus is all around the customization and tailoring of the CRM, XRM, or CDS platforms for your organization’s specific needs.
CRM developers can write custom logic that extends outside of the out of box tools capabilities through custom plugins, workflows, or even custom apps to extend your user experience and capabilities with CRM.
CRM Developers usually additionally besides traditional web skills have a deep understanding of the .NET Framework and knowledge with SQL, systems integrations via web services and reporting skills through SSRS, PowerBI, or through native CRM.
Dynamics CRM Specialist
This role is typically for newer support staff or administrative staff that are still going through training and getting project experience with the overall CRM platform.
However, they could also be very specialized in a particular facet of the product.
For example, you could have a specialist who is really focused on the server and infrastructure aspects of the CRM Deployment for on-premise deployments of the product.
They may know all about scaling, redundancy options, how to deploy the services into different datacenters, and how to securely implement the web services for CRM.
Dynamics CRM ISV
Lastly, I thought it was worth mentioning the traditional ISV roles that you see as well out there.
An ISV simply means (Independent Software Vendor). So the ISV essentially will create its own product for a specific vertical or niche that runs on top of the CRM Framework.
Typically CRM Consultant resources from the ISV are going to be heavily trained on the product and will work to get your business very familiar with the aspects of CRM and their specific customizations that have been made to the product.
There is usually nothing wrong with going the ISV route, however, I would advise before you go through any training with the ISV to get some training in the CRM solution out of the box.
This will serve a few key purposes:
Although this may seem counterproductive but if you are going the ISV route it is super important that you understand what you are getting out of the box with CRM vs. what you get through the ISV solution.
The last thing you want is a year from now to say…heck I could have done better just going out of the box and adding a few screens for what I need vs. investing in the ISV Solution. Something that is actually easy in CRM.
ISV solutions can be awesome and a real time-saver, but the advice here is just to make sure that they are offering real value add.