Why does Business Central need you?
In our progressively digital-first age, having the right software in place to support business operations and boost productivity to maintain a competitive edge is essential for any organization. But as powerful as solutions like Business Central are, they still require a human hand on the wheel to deliver maximum value for their organizations.
Currently, one in three job postings for Business Central talent go unfilled, presenting huge opportunities to anyone who wants to cross-train in this exciting field.
What’s more, Microsoft partners are not necessarily looking for talent with exceptional tech skills—what they really need are candidates with prior relevant industry experience, such as accountants, warehouse operatives, supply chain managers, logistics specialists, and so on.
Why? Because people like you understand their customers’ paint points and the language they speak, having been in their shoes and faced similar challenges to them. As such, you’ll have a good sense of what issues the clients who wish to implement Business Central are trying to overcome by adapting this technology. In other words, you can relate to the customers which makes you better placed at articulating how the software can help them meet their business goals.
In this article, we’ll explain exactly what Business Central is, why it’s a great career choice for anyone with a finance, manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, or programming background, and how to get started.
Want to skip straight to the information or role you’re interested in? Use the links below:
To help you select the right role for you, here‘s a summary of two of the most in-demand Business Central specialisms, complete with expected salaries for certified and experienced individuals.
What is Business Central?
Part of Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 family of cloud-based business software, Business Central is an Enterprise Resource Planning (or ERP) solution.
ERPs like Business Central help organizations automate and streamline their critical, back-end business processes, like finance and accounting, purchasing, supply chain, warehouse management, project management, HR, and payroll.
There are a huge number of ERP products out there, designed to suit all kinds of business sizes, types, and industries. However, within this highly competitive market, Business Central has earned itself a reputation as a powerful yet agile and adaptable solution, particularly suited to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
Find out more about the impact of Business Central, including key market stats, in this article.
Why choose a career in Business Central?
Thanks to its reputation, Business Central is attracting more and more customers every year.
There are more apps available for Business Central than any other Microsoft product, illustrating not only its popularity but also the huge range of use cases it can be applied to.
Available in more than 155 countries and boasting more than 30,000 customers, Business Central is a leading choice among the huge number of SMBs seeking to digitally transform their processes. And all of those businesses need budding Business Central experts like you on their team, making this technology a fantastic and lucrative career choice.
For instance, prospects for ERP-related roles like Software Developer are great, with demand for such roles on the rise and the number of available roles predicted to grow by 25% between 2021 and 2031. Not to mention the attractive salaries for Developers working with ERPs!
How to get started with Business Central
Whatever your current level of experience with ERP or technology, Business Central offers fantastic career opportunities. What’s more, Microsoft is actively looking for net-new talent who can offer fresh perspectives and bring much-needed industry experience to its partners and clients.
In order to get started, you can either do it on your own by taking a course or be supported along your journey by joining the ReSKILL program, co-designed with Microsoft to bring new talent into this growing partner channel.
Option 1: Get started on your own by taking a free course
Microsoft Learn is an invaluable tool for upskilling in Business Central. This free, self-directed learning platform offers tons of pathways, so you can choose the right course depending on your current level of understanding or the specific job role you’re looking to upskill into.
The Business Central learning content is broken down into more than 330 bite-sized modules, allowing you to learn at your own pace. You can even create custom courses by adding individual modules to your pathway.
Option 2: Start your career in Business Central by joining ReSKILL
Upskilling in a technology as wide-ranging as Business Central can be overwhelming. If you’re struggling to find a place to start, want to gain valuable soft skills and tech know-how, and are looking to earn while you learn, then a practical training program like ReSKILL is a great choice for you.
The ReSKILL program has been developed in partnership with Microsoft to ensure you receive the best training on the market and are fully supported as you develop the skills you need to start a rewarding career in Business Central. You will have a permanent job with a leading Microsoft partner from day one. Once you join, your training will start, allowing you to become a fully-fledged Business Central specialist.
As part of this, you’ll receive all the training and support you need to earn an official, globally recognized Microsoft certification—either the Business Central Functional Consultant (MB-800) or the Business Central Developer Associate (MB-820). This will bolster your knowledge and verify your skills as a Business Central specialist.
Want to see ReSKILL in action? Check out this video from Zain who recently transitioned from a completely different field to become a Business Central Functional Consultant for the global Microsoft partner 4PS Group, UK, fulfilling his dream of working in technology within construction.
Microsoft Business Central jobs and salaries
While there are many different jobs you can take on while working with Business Central, let’s explore two of the most popular and exciting roles:
What does a Business Central Functional Consultant do?
A Business Central Functional Consultant’s job is to speak to stakeholders across their customer’s organization, find out what they need from Business Central, and how the system can be utilized to achieve their business goals.
After gathering information and analyzing the client’s requirements, Functional Consultants put together a plan outlining the Business Central modules and functionality needed. This plan includes information about how best to configure the application, how to manage data effectively, and whether any customizations are needed.
Once Business Central has been implemented, Functional Consultants ensure that any configurations they previously outlined meet the client’s requirements in practice. They may also provide training to help different people across the organization understand how to use Business Central, which makes good communication skills vital in this role.
Primarily, Functional Consultants work for Microsoft partners (i.e. organizations associated with and approved by Microsoft that provide software, training, and other services to businesses directly). Whenever a company approaches a Microsoft partner to implement Business Central, the Functional Consultant will work with them to ensure they get maximum value from their ERP implementation.
What skills does a Business Central Functional Consultant need?
An experienced Business Central Functional Consultant will have a mixture of technical product know-how and crucial soft skills that help them work effectively with clients and various stakeholders. They also need to be good at problem-solving, gathering requirements, and translating business needs into real, thoroughly documented solutions.
Ready to get started?
Don’t worry; you don’t need to meet all these requirements to cross-train in Business Central. If you have prior experience in manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, finance & accounting, alongside some exposure to ERP systems, our program will teach you all the technical and soft skills you need to succeed in building a rewarding and lucrative career in Business Central.
Check out the Functional Consultant role for ReSKILL for more details.
How much does a Business Central Functional Consultant earn?
Take a look at the Careers and Hiring Guide: Microsoft Business Applications Edition from our sister brand Nigel Frank to find out what type of salary Business Central Functional Consultants can expect to make at various points in their careers across different regions.
What does a Business Central Developer do?
A Business Central Developer’s job is to customize the application and extend its capabilities, so that it aligns with the business needs of the customer they serve. This usually involves using code to create new functionality, modify existing features, or integrate Business Central with other apps and services used across the organization.
A Business Central Developer’s day-to-day role may also include building and configuring forms, dashboards, workflows, plugins, web resources, and scripts to ensure that users have all the tools they need to exploit the application to its full potential.
As such, they might be responsible for overseeing other technical aspects of the application too, such as debugging, troubleshooting, upgrading, and optimizing the system to ensure top performance at all times.
What skills does a Business Central Developer need?
An experienced Business Central Developer will need to have a robust knowledge base of the programming languages used in the Dynamics 365 product suite, especially AL (Application Language), which is the primary language used in Business Central. Using AL, these Developers can perform complex computations, connect to external web services, and manipulate data. It’s worth noting that AL has a set of predefined functions to help make programming quicker and easier, including event triggers and function riggers.
As well as tech expertise in areas like automation, SQL, and DevOps practices, fully fledged Business Central Developers will also have strong analytical and problem-solving skills and the ability to write high-quality specifications and technical analysis documents. In addition, they require communication and stakeholder management skills, as they’ll often be in a customer-facing role, working closely with Functional Consultants and clients to gather their requirements for Business Central, then design, implement, and test systems and configurations that meet their needs.
Ready to get started? Don’t worry; you don’t need to meet all these requirements to cross-train in Business Central.
If you have a base knowledge of writing code and programming (either through work experience, a course, or a coding bootcamp) and some commercial experience (particularly in manufacturing or distribution), our program will teach you all the additional skills you’ll need to succeed in building a rewarding and lucrative career in Business Central.
Check out the Developer role for ReSKILL for more details.
How much does a Business Central Developer earn?
Take a look at the Careers and Hiring Guide: Microsoft Business Applications Edition from our sister brand Nigel Frank to find out what type of salary Business Central Developers can expect to make at various points in their careers across different regions.
Let Revolent help you kick-start your career in Business Central!
Ready to start your Business Central journey? Register for the ReSKILL program, co-designed with Microsoft to help you start a career in the fantastic Microsoft ecosystem with no prior experience in Business Central. Ran by our expert trainers, this one-of-a-kind program features the most up-to-date training specification to enable you to learn Business Central and stand out from the crowd.
Here’s what you can expect by joining ReSKILL:
A permanent job working for an official Microsoft partner. You’ll be paired up with one of Microsoft’s global partners, starting a full-time role from day one. Once you join, your training will commence.
Technical training. You’ll be provided with all the content, training, and support you need to develop your technical knowledge of Business Central. It is expected that after three months you will be able to pass your MB-800 or MB-820 certification, adding a fantastic Microsoft badge to your résumé.
Crucial consultancy skills. You’ll also receive consultancy training to equip you with essential soft skills to help you succeed in your new role, including stakeholder management, effective communication, project management, and more.
Expert coaching. You’ll be fully supported with regular check-ins to help you settle into your new role and further refine your Business Central skills.
Access to an amazing community. You’ll be embedded into the wider #BCTalent Microsoft community, so you can keep developing your career by networking and learning from other Business Central specialists and domain experts.
Ready to take your career to new heights?
