What is a functional consultant in Dynamics 365 implementations?

Functional consultants are key to finding the right business solution for an organization. Most often, they work for a Microsoft partner that helps an organization implement a new business solution or tweak the existing solution. They know the business, and they know how to map business needs to product capabilities. But how did they learn all that?

In the remainder of this article, we provide tips to help you get started with Dynamics 365 as a functional consultant.

Microsoft Learn

The Microsoft Learn website hosts content to help 'new to Dynamics 365' professionals join projects as a business analyst, designer, or customizer. There's a library of end-to-end business processes, and free training modules that conclude with assessments, knowledge checks, and other suggested learning opportunities.

Jump to the Find training section to find the right training material. Find the docs you need at Dynamics 365 documentation.

Get guidance from an experienced consultant

Watch this video to get an introduction to relevant material from a person who is a successful functional consultant with experience from many Dynamics 365 implementations.

Find training

Get started on your journey as a functional consultant with free online training from Microsoft.

Microsoft provides the following online learning paths to help you get started as a Dynamics 365 functional consultant:

• Learn the fundamentals of Dynamics 365 projects

  This learning path takes you through the following modules:

  • Introduction to becoming a business applications professional
  • Digitally transform with Dynamics 365
  • Get to know the project team for Dynamics 365 implementations
  • Determine the implementation approach for your Dynamics 365 project
  • Discover the Dynamics 365 landscape

• Design Dynamics 365 Solutions

  This learning path takes you through the following modules:

  • Get to know your Dynamics 365 customers
  • Design for accessibility in Dynamics 365
  • Evaluate requirements for Dynamics 365 projects
  • Business process mapping for Dynamics 365
  • Work with requirements for Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365

• Implement Dynamics 365 projects

  This learning path takes you through the following modules:

  • Design the Dynamics 365 deployment
  • Present Business Applications designs to stakeholders
  • Document your Dynamics 365 solution for the customer
  • Test your Dynamics 365 implementation
  • Application lifecycle management for Dynamics 365

• Review the Business applications skilling collection

Get certified

Put your skills to work to obtain certification that can help you advance your career and earn the recognition you deserve.

A Microsoft Certification validates to the world that you have these skills—whether you’re just starting out and growing your career, looking to use your skills to advance, or wanting to change to a new, in-demand consulting role.

Take exams and earn a Microsoft Certified badge. Find the relevant certifications in the Available certifications for different roles in Dynamics 365 article. Each certification article provides links to relevant training content to help you grow new skills.

Learn the fundamentals

Functional consultants in business apps gather and analyze business requirements to build solutions that modernize processes. They can help increase the return on investment (ROI) while conforming to industry-recommended practices. They serve as a key resource in implementing and configuring applications to meet business requirements. Functional consultants understand application implementation processes including system configuration, data migration, testing, and support.

Functional consultants typically specialize in customer engagement business areas, or in finance and operations business areas. Within each business area, they often specialize further into one or more feature sets. The end-to-end business processes call out which Dynamics 365 apps support the different business processes. You can also get an overview of the capabilities of each app in the product-specific documentation.

As a functional consultant, you use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Lifecycle Services, Power Platform admin center, Microsoft Azure DevOps, and other Microsoft tools and platforms to manage the application lifecycle management (ALM) process. Dynamics 365 integrates with Power Platform solutions, external systems, and tools that you must apply to the Dynamics 365 implementation project.

Learn from others

Microsoft shouldn't be your only source of knowledge. There's a world of expertise out there. In this section, we bring a few examples.

Community learning rooms

Join our learning rooms. Here, you can connect with experts and peers.

Learning rooms are designed to offer you a dedicated and safe environment where you can directly engage with an expert and dive deep into topic-specific questions. Learning rooms support asynchronous discussions and virtual sessions.

Industry groups and thought leaders

Depending on your area of interest, you can find learnings, best practices, guidance, case studies, and much more at organizations such as the following examples:

• APQC (American Productivity & Quality Center)
• Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM)
• APICS Supply Chain Council (APICS SCC)
• Six Sigma Global Institute (SSGI)
• International Society of Six Sigma Professionals (ISSSP)
• Balance Scorecard Institute (BSI)
• Product Development and Management Association (PDMA)
• European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM)
• eTOM Process Framework

And many more... If you think something is missing from the list, do let us know by submitting feedback about this article.

Next steps

• Overview of business processes in Dynamics 365
• Introduction to the implementation guide
• Dynamics 365 documentation

Related content

• Business applications skilling collection
• Available certifications for different roles in Dynamics 365
• Overview of business processes in Dynamics 365
• Microsoft Learn Career Connected