Why I choose Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE

My decision to become a Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE consultant started during corona period. Previously, I worked as a training consultant for a company that organized events and training courses. This is where I first used Dynamics 365. Everyone recognizes the corona period; we couldn't do anything anymore. As a result, the events and training sessions could no longer take place.

During the period of silence, I started focusing on Dynamics 365 and how I could improve its operation within the organization, both for my direct sales colleagues and myself. Dynamics 365 gave us more insight into what needed to be done and, more importantly, what we had already done. But it also gave insight to colleagues in other departments.

Setting up Dynamics 365 properly is very important, and I played an important role in that. When we just started using Dynamics 365, colleagues regularly came to ask about the status of leads, which we kept track of in Dynamics 365. However: many sales staff were not very familiar with Dynamics 365, so they started turning out Excel lists. A big disadvantage of this, is that these don't stay up-to-date, so additional work went into refreshing these Excel lists.

As mentioned, I set to work during the corona period to improve our own Dynamics 365. Despite not having an IT background, this went fairly easily. I found Dynamics 365 so interesting and versatile, that I made a career switch from training consultant to Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE consultant.

Why I choose Microsoft Dynamics 365?

I am very positive about using Dynamics 365, especially because it is easy to use when it is set up properly. This applies to the user, but also to the consultant. As a consultant, you can make it as easy and as difficult as you want. In other words, you do not need any coding knowledge to adjust the system. However, if you are interested in this, there are opportunities to do so.

You can also continue to develop yourself within Dynamics 365. For this purpose, Microsoft has created a learning environment, where you can find all information about Dynamics 365 (and other Microsoft products). Both theoretical texts and practical assignments can be found within Microsoft Learn. By using Learn, I have become handy in customizing and using Dynamics 365.

Besides being easy to use, Dynamics 365 is versatile. The biggest advantage of Dynamics 365 is that it is connected to an underlying layer in the cloud such as Microsoft Flow, Power BI, PowerApps & Office 365.

In addition, all Dynamics 365 apps (or modules), think of: Sales, Customer Service, Marketing, Finance & Operations, are connected through the Common Data Model. With this, information is exchanged between the different apps. Because all apps are in one ecosystem, Microsoft can easily add new technologies. Think of Microsoft Copilot (AI) or Internet of Things (IoT). This makes Dynamics 365 unique and guaranteed to be a powerful application to deploy for digital transformation.

Microsoft is also continuing to develop the Dynamics Platform. For instance, Microsoft gives a quarterly 'release update', giving insight into the upcoming features and enhancements they will roll out for Dynamics 365. What I personally still like, is that Microsoft has been named a leader by Gartner in the Magic Quadrant for several years now. This indicates that Microsoft is not standing still and sees what the market is doing and is moving with it.

Why you should use Dynamics 365

Using Dynamics 365 offers several benefits and added value for businesses:

• Integrated platform: Dynamics 365 provides an integrated platform for various business processes, including sales, marketing, customer service, field service and project management. This means that all relevant information and functionalities are available within one system, ensuring seamless collaboration between different departments and offering better insight into overall business performance.
• Improved customer relationships: with Dynamics 365, companies can effectively manage their customer relationships by providing a 360-degree view of customers, from initial contact through the sales and service processes. This enables companies to provide personalized experiences, better understand customer needs and increase customer satisfaction.
• Increased productivity: Dynamics 365 automates many repetitive tasks and processes, allowing employees to focus on more valuable activities. Through automated workflows, smart reporting and analytics, and a user-friendly interface, employees can work more efficiently and get more done in less time.
• Better decision-making: the platform provides powerful analytics capabilities that allow companies to gain insight into their data. It also allows companies to identify trends affecting their business performance. With real-time dashboards and reporting, decision-makers can make quick and accurate decisions based on up-to-date information.
• Scalability and flexibility: Dynamics 365 is a scalable platform that can grow with a company's needs. Whether it is a small company just starting out or a large enterprise with complex needs: Dynamics 365 can be adapted and expanded to meet each company's specific requirements.
• Cost savings: by consolidating different systems and processes in one platform and reducing manual work and duplicate input, companies can save costs on IT infrastructure, maintenance, and operational costs.

In short, I think using Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE provides companies with a powerful platform to streamline business processes, improve customer relationships, increase productivity, and make better business decisions, resulting in competitive advantages and growth for the company.

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