D365 End User Training: Costs, Options, and What Actually Works

If you are a manager or the project lead responsible for getting your team up and running with Microsoft Dynamics after go-live, you know that the real challenge starts once the consulting team has left the room.

User training often starts once the team has used the new apps every day, and it's not the same as the training they did during the implementation. Even the best implementations end up with minor data errors or small functional gaps that were left behind, because business as usual does not care about the project plan.

What do we do when a warehouse worker registers a pick with incorrect quantities, or how do we manage a large volume of transactions during the first weeks after go-live when productivity takes a hit? Most importantly, how do we make the most of the company's investment? The answer is user training.

The cost of ignoring end-user training after go-live is often ignored until you find out your team has gone back to running MRP in Excel. This happens when deadlines approach, but - being new to the system - the team chose speed over the app.

Before you know it, the new expensive software you spent months implementing with your Microsoft partner and that cost the organisation a small fortune, is used as a database.

To help your team be productive from day 1, use all the features and modules and get better at using Dynamics every day, you need a training and upskilling plan. Here we will learn the various options and costs.

Why user training is where most D365 projects fail

Research shows that nearly 40% of employees who don't get proper training leave their jobs within a year. Imagine what that could mean for a small or medium enterprise that has just completed a Dynamics 365 implementation.

The other less-obvious effect of a lack of training is productivity and compliance. An AP clerk who received generic training will inevitably use self-learning, trial and error and try to fill knowledge gaps by finding info online.

The problem with this approach is that generic info found online, or AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot, give responses based on best practices and ignore the organisation's policies, procedures and even the configuration.

The risk of breaching internal compliance and making errors grows exponentially when employees are not trained to use the system based on their role, the exact configuration of the Dynamics applications, and by following the organisation's standard operating procedures.

What does D365 end-user training cost?

End-user training - also called corporate training - is a small investment compared to the return you'll get in terms of productivity. Training for Dynamics applications comes in four different forms:

• Self-Paced via Microsoft Learn: Microsoft Learn is a free portal with thousands of learning paths and modules for all Dynamics applications. It is generic and often too technical, but it's the perfect place to start user training when the team is new to the system. Find out more at learn.microsoft.com.

• Instructor-Led via Microsoft Training Partners: Microsoft Training Services partners like D365training.com are authorised to deliver official training for Dynamics applications and help delegates prepare for the official exam and obtain a certification. Costs vary depending on the application and the level, which goes from Fundamentals to advanced, but a typical range goes from £800 for Fundamentals to more than £3,000 for the Expert level. To learn more about certifications, check here.

  Train-the-Trainer: This method is often the most effective in small to medium organisations where a training expert is hired to create a training program based on the organisation's procedures and unique configuration. Team leaders and managers are trained to teach their team how to use Dynamics at work. The cost of this approach is between £2,000 and £5,000, and it covers the creation of the training strategy, plan and the training of the management team. Ongoing costs are only internal. We, at D365 Training, create and deliver train-the-trainer programs for organisations that use Dynamics. Find out more here.

• Consultant-delivered training: Training during an implementation is often delivered by the consultants who are delivering the implementation. This is the most expensive form of training because it is priced using consulting rates, which can go from £1,200 per day up to $2,000, and it is typically only available during the implementation, not after go-live.

The four training models and when to use each

Each model has a different purpose and application. Use Self-Paced training in two cases: your team is new to Dynamics, and they need a quick way to learn the basics before they can move to more advanced topics. Self-paced is also perfect for Microsoft professionals with experience in one application or area, who want to learn a specific feature of a Dynamics application without studying the complete curriculum. For example, I often use Microsoft Learn to learn about Dynamics customer engagement applications because my core expertise is in Business Central and Finance & Operations.

Instructor-led training is the most effective way to learn all about one application in the shortest period of time. Instructors are Microsoft Certified Trainers, with years of experience in the subject they teach, which means you or your team can interact, ask questions, all while using demo environments and labs with pre-configured applications for a truly hands-on tutoring experience. Perfect for IT professionals who want to learn fast and get certified.

Train-the-trainer is for managers who lead teams. This approach covers training strategy and how to be an effective trainer, not just the technical and functional side of Dynamics applications. Organisations of all sizes chose this approach, typically a few weeks after go-live, once the new processes are settled and the team needs to get up to speed.

Consultant-delivered training is done before go-live and tends to be for the project team, not for end users.

How to build a training plan by role

End-user training starts with a plan. This is how you lay out the plan:

1. Identify roles, responsibilities, knowledge gaps and desired skills: The first step is your team's starting point. Build a skills and knowledge matrix for each team and employee. Don't forget to map roles with process responsibilities. For example, AP might be responsible for creating new vendors, but in your company, it's a task for finance. Processes define roles, and roles drive training.

2. Factor in career goals, growth targets, and even employees' interests. Training is as effective as the user's interest in being trained. Ask your team what they want to learn and about their career goals.

3. Build a training strategy that solves two problems: professional development and skill gaps. Training serves the business and the users. Plan for a training strategy that supports your team's aspirations as well as your company's productivity targets and compliance requirements. This step closes the training assessment phase.

4. Apply the chosen methods. Once the assessment is done, you can apply the right methods in the right sequence.

5. Find a trustworthy training partner. If your company has fewer than 50 users, you can plan and manage user training in-house and skip this step. But organisations with more than 200 users see real ROI by working with a training partner.

6. Choose the right technology, like an LMS. Training management is a discipline; the right technology can make even the most complex training plan easy to manage. If you need to train hundreds of employees, a learning management system is an investment that will pay for itself in months.

   
   

The mistakes that kill adoption

Over the years, my team and I have seen enough Dynamics implementations where the same three mistakes killed adoption:

• Train too Early: Consultant-delivered training works well before go-live, but that cannot replace end-user training when Dynamics is used daily. Train your team too early, and they will forget.

• Generic Training: The free, self-paced learning paths available online do not go deep enough. Once the new system is live, users need to learn while following specific processes, and generic training does not help.

• Rely on self-learning: The leadership team must also be able to lead adoption, find better ways to work and drive change from the ground up. No amount of self-learning will help a shopfloor manager set up MRP just by watching YouTube tutorials.

Regardless of your preferred method or approach, end-user training mistakes can turn a perfectly configured system into an adoption failure if the team does not use it to be more productive.

Where to start

If you are planning D365 end-user training for your organisation and want a structure to start from, our User Training Starter Kit covers the training plan template, role mapping, and delivery options in one place. Download it here.