Supply and Demand, applied to Microsoft Dynamics 365

You probably never heard of Microsoft Dynamics 365 until very recently. But you see that there is a rapid growth in the number of job postings asking for it. You see that many positions have been reposted multiple times and that they are vacant for months. Here is an overview.

Not Enough Supply

As of March 2018, there are less than 300 certified professionals for Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement worldwide. Here is a breakdown by country (according to LinkedIn):

• United States of America: 38
• United Kingdom: 29
• Australia: 29
• Netherlands: 19
• France: 18
• India: 18
• Canada: 13 (including yours truly)
• Finland: 11
• Germany: 10
• Sweden: 7
• Belgium: 6
• Portugal: 6
• Spain: 6
• Czech Republic: 5
• Denmark: 5
• Italy: 4
• Norway: 4
• Poland: 4
• Mexico: 3
• New Zealand: 3
• United Arab Emirates: 3
• Austria: 2
• Croatia: 2
• Egypt: 2
• Pakistan: 2
• Philippines: 2
• Saudi Arabia: 2
• South Africa: 2
• Turkey: 2
• Bermuda: 1
• Brazil: 1
• Hungary: 1
• Ireland: 1
• Israel: 1
• Qatar: 1

You can see that the number of professionals having Microsoft Dynamics 365 as a skill on LinkedIn is higher, but getting certified will easily put you in the top 1% of professionals. There are regular community meetups and with professionals all over the world, there could be one near you! Feel free to come by and see what Microsoft Dynamics 365 is all about.

The Demand for Dynamics 365 Professionals

This is purely anecdotal, but I kept track of indeed.ca postings for a few weeks and saw on a regular basis that there are more job postings on a single day where Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement is a critical skill than the number of certified professionals. The numbers are similar around the world as well!

Another anecdotal piece of evidence is that many professionals specifically write in their LinkedIn profile that there are not looking for new opportunities because they get too many recruiters inMails. It is common as a Microsoft Dynamics 365 professional to receive inMails for positions where you have 2 to 4 years of experience less than what the posting asks for. I also met someone who went from application specialist to practice lead in 5 years.

If you want numbers, here are a few.

According to Microsoft’s financial statements, the product line for Microsoft Dynamics 365/CRM grows on average 75% per year consistently since Satya Nadella became Microsoft’s CEO and is growing by 10% every three months. Therefore, the market for Microsoft Dynamics 365 professionals tripled since its launch in 2016.

According to Nigel Frank (largest recruiting firm for Microsoft Dynamics 365 professionals), 58% of Microsoft implementation partners remarked an increase in workload in 2017, 63% expect an increase in workload in 2018 and 37% noticed an increase in migrations from non-Dynamics products.

Conclusion? There is not enough Microsoft Dynamics 365 professionals to keep up with the ever increasing demand.