Reply to: MS Dynamics AX - Next step for me?

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Why not become a deep SQL Server / Analysis Services / Data Mining guru with DBA certifications on top?

You might not earn £700/day but you will pretty much work every day you want and bench time will be few and far between.

Problem with these niche MS products is they tend to just go away one day when MS is bored with it.

Relational databases and data mining isn't going away any time soon and is a growing and booming area.

Just my 2p worth.

Cheers for the advice. I have considered going down that line but most of that work is down in London which is the last place I want to be working. I did see a role in York asking for that kind of stuff paying over £500/day so the work does exist.....

[DimPrawn]

Why not become a deep SQL Server / Analysis Services / Data Mining guru with DBA certifications on top?

You might not earn £700/day but you will pretty much work every day you want and bench time will be few and far between.

Problem with these niche MS products is they tend to just go away one day when MS is bored with it.

Relational databases and data mining isn't going away any time soon and is a growing and booming area.

Just my 2p worth.

[Ticktock]

And it is precisely that kind of "it's all the same" misconception that means you will never break into Dynamics.

Erm, no. That's bollocks.
I didn't say "it's all the same", I said the theory is the same, and the theory of what a CRM system does is the same, no matter who the vendor is - each may have different capabilities and benefits, but the core is the same, with perhaps a slightly different focus.

How each company uses the software, and what they are trying to get out of it changes, and that drives custom deployments.
You seem to think that customising a CRM doesn't involve coding, which seems like an amateur comment, since customisation generally involves the development of custom pages, overlays, plug-ins, integrations, etc, not just renaming an object or a field.

Training on a CRM system is more to do with how a user and a company benefit from it's use, understanding that and being able to relat that to users, rather than simply the button-pressing. If software is well designed then it's fairly intuitive. It's the business processes that complicate things.
I've used Dynamics CRM, I've tested it, and I can demonstrate that I have an understanding of it. What I don't have is experience of training on it, and that's the stumbling block.

[cybersquatter]

My CRM experience is mainly with Salesforce (as a trainer), but I've been looking to break in Dynamics CRM to broaden my range.

Of course, the job adverts all insist on prior experience, and agents knock me back for not having it, despite the fact that the theory behind training users on Saleforce and Dynamics is fairly standard, and learning the button-pressing bit is straightforward. If anything, training on Dynamics would be easier as it's more standardised, whereas Salesforce is always fairly heavily customised by clients. I think I need to rejig my pitch for these types of jobs to try to get around the experience objection.

And it is precisely that kind of "it's all the same" misconception that means you will never break into Dynamics.

To answer NWP2C's question: Dynamics CRM is an easier skill to break into than AX from your current skillset - the coding is C#, JS, HTML5 and CSS, whereas AX is a fundamentally different product with a different architecture and its own language (X++). Most importantly AX is a product in which the most valuable skill you can bring is functional/domain experience, and you can't learn that from a textbook.

(And to address another misconception, there is plenty of coding on decent-sized Dynamics CRM projects, the customisation-only gigs are for the amateurs)

[Ticktock]

I am having fun "learning" MS Dynamics CRM, there also seems to be a shortage of experience around the North at the moment going by the quality of the code monkeys we have here

My CRM experience is mainly with Salesforce (as a trainer), but I've been looking to break in Dynamics CRM to broaden my range.

Of course, the job adverts all insist on prior experience, and agents knock me back for not having it, despite the fact that the theory behind training users on Saleforce and Dynamics is fairly standard, and learning the button-pressing bit is straightforward. If anything, training on Dynamics would be easier as it's more standardised, whereas Salesforce is always fairly heavily customised by clients. I think I need to rejig my pitch for these types of jobs to try to get around the experience objection.

[eek]

I would probably say the same to others if I was on £700/day.....

£700 a day is after you've done 1-3 complete implementations and have years of experience in the appropriate section (say enterprise finance) and tool AX finance say.

And without that experience you won't get your foot in the door. Its the same in the oracle world. Explicit knowledge with that tool in that sector is required.

As an aside I worked in a consultancy that has a sideline specialized in Oracle ERP (Manufacturing) and Life Sciences. When one client finished they tried to get into a different sector within Manufacturing (where they were already a main supplier) and didn't get a look in. For that sort of money you need to be the correct fit as the company will wait for the right person / company as slight expertise is likely to do more harm than good.

[SimonMac]

I would probably say the same to others if I was on £700/day.....

I am not a code monkey so you aren't my competition.

From what I have seen about CRM the "coding" is more customisation than anything, and getting it to work how you want it rather than anything exciting

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Honestly from what I know about Dynamics I would recommend running away as fast as you can!

I would probably say the same to others if I was on £700/day.....

[SimonMac]

Cheers

So do you recommend CRM or the ERP family?

Honestly from what I know about Dynamics I would recommend running away as fast as you can!

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

There is a shortage of quality code monkeys around here. It is however a very limited market (look at jobserve) so you are entering a market which could be very famine and very feast.....

Have my current skill set to fall back on, so the odd feast sounds good to me!

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

I am having fun "learning" MS Dynamics CRM, there also seems to be a shortage of experience around the North at the moment going by the quality of the code monkeys we have here

Cheers

So do you recommend CRM or the ERP family?

[eek]

I am having fun "learning" MS Dynamics CRM, there also seems to be a shortage of experience around the North at the moment going by the quality of the code monkeys we have here

There is a shortage of quality code monkeys around here. It is however a very limited market (look at jobserve) so you are entering a market which could be very famine and very feast.....

[SimonMac]

I am having fun "learning" MS Dynamics CRM, there also seems to be a shortage of experience around the North at the moment going by the quality of the code monkeys we have here

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

So you haven't done JavaScript and C# (and the JavaScript is horrendously complex BTW).

I wish you luck getting into the Dynamics world I think you'll need it.

Know both JavaScript and C# very comfortably.

Could you expand on the highlighted statement please.....

[eek]

Genuine Topic

A couple of years ago I started contracting as a SQL developer and I came onto this forum before I started:

My first thread:
http://forums.contractoruk.com/gener...ntracting.html
(please note SAS's response!)

Ah the nostalgia.....

Anyway, back to topic. I started as pure SQL and then worked my way into the BI/Data warehousing world. I am pretty darn good at what I do (so everybody keeps telling me anyway). I have now reached the point where there isn't a great deal to learn. Done everything including ETL, DW, SSIS, SSRS, SSAS, DBA, T-SQL and the list goes on.....

It makes sense for me to stay within the MS space rather than go somewhere else, at the same time I want to learn something different and give myself some motivation/challenge (nothing to do with rates obviously...)

Should I do a course or just stick to the way I have done things before, namely just learn them in my own time? Is it worth going into or is there something else I can do to advance my contracting "career"?

Cheers guys!

So you haven't done JavaScript and C# (and the JavaScript is horrendously complex BTW).

I wish you luck getting into the Dynamics world I think you'll need it.