Your D365 Implementation is Just an Expensive Contact List. That's a Vetting Failure.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) is the central nervous system for thousands of enterprises, unifying CRM and ERP capabilities into a single, intelligent cloud platform. It promises a 360-degree view of the customer, streamlined operations, and powerful business insights. But the true value of D365 is only unlocked through deep customization and integration, tailoring the platform to the unique and complex processes of a specific business.
This is where the role of the D365 developer is critical—and where most nearshore vendors fail. They vet for administrators who can configure forms and views. They do not vet for the engineers who can write custom plug-ins, design complex Power Automate flows, and build secure integrations with external systems. When your D365 implementation is staffed by the wrong people, you don't get a transformational business platform. You get an expensive, out-of-the-box CRM that your team has to work around, not with.
An engineer who can create a new field is not a D365 expert. An expert understands the event execution pipeline, can write performant plug-ins that don't violate governor limits, and can design a security model with business units and field-level security that meets complex enterprise requirements. This playbook explains how Axiom Cortex finds the developers who possess this deep, platform-specific engineering discipline.
Traditional Vetting and Vendor Limitations
A nearshore vendor sees "Dynamics 365" on a résumé and assumes it's a simple configuration skill. The interview process rarely delves into the complex, code-heavy realities of a large-scale D365 customization project.
The predictable and painful results of this flawed vetting are common:
- Performance Nightmares: A custom plug-in on the Account entity is inefficient, causing every save operation to be painfully slow. The sales team complains that the system is unusable, and adoption plummets.
- Integration Chaos: A custom integration with an external system is brittle and fails silently, leading to data inconsistencies between D365 and other critical business systems.
- Security Gaps: A developer, needing to get a feature working quickly, assigns overly broad security roles to users, accidentally exposing sensitive customer or financial data across the organization.
- Un-maintainable "Spaghetti" Logic: Complex business logic is implemented as a tangled mess of JavaScript web resources, classic workflows, and Power Automate flows, with no clear architecture or separation of concerns.
How Axiom Cortex Evaluates Dynamics 365 Developers
Axiom Cortex is designed to find the engineers who think like enterprise architects within the constraints and opportunities of the D365 platform. We evaluate candidates across four critical dimensions.
Dimension 1: Dataverse (Formerly Common Data Service) and Data Modeling
A deep understanding of the underlying data platform is non-negotiable. This dimension tests a candidate's ability to design a robust and scalable data model.
We provide a business problem and evaluate their ability to:
- Design a Data Model: Can they design a clean data model with the correct tables, columns, and relationships (one-to-many, many-to-many)?
- Implement a Security Model: Can they design a security model using a combination of business units, security roles, and field-level security to meet complex data access requirements?
Dimension 2: Pro-Code Customization (Plug-ins and Custom APIs)
This dimension tests a candidate's ability to write performant, secure, and maintainable backend code using the D365 SDK and .NET.
We present a complex business logic requirement and evaluate if they can:
- Write Performant Plug-ins: Can they write a plug-in that is efficient and bulkified? Do they understand the event execution pipeline and how to correctly register a plug-in (e.g., pre-validation vs. post-operation)?
- Handle Errors and Transactions: Can they write code that correctly handles exceptions and manages transactions to prevent data corruption?
- Build Custom APIs: Do they know how to create a custom API to expose complex business logic to external systems?
Dimension 3: Low-Code and Automation (Power Platform)
An elite D365 developer knows when to write code and when to use the platform's powerful low-code tools.
We evaluate their knowledge of:
- Power Automate: Can they design a complex, reliable business process automation using Power Automate Cloud Flows? Do they know how to handle errors and retries?
- Power Apps: Can they build a custom Model-Driven App or Canvas App to provide a tailored user experience?
Dimension 4: Integration and ALM
An enterprise-grade developer understands how to integrate D365 with other systems and how to manage the application lifecycle.
Axiom Cortex assesses a candidate's understanding of:
- Integration Patterns: Are they familiar with different patterns for integrating D365 with other systems (e.g., using the Web API, custom connectors, or a data integration platform)?
- Application Lifecycle Management (ALM): Do they have a disciplined approach to managing customizations using solutions and deploying them between environments (Dev, Test, Prod) using a tool like the Power Platform Build Tools for Azure DevOps?
From a Simple CRM to a True Business Platform
When you staff your team with developers who have passed the Dynamics 365 Axiom Cortex assessment, you are investing in a team that can transform your D365 instance from a simple out-of-the-box tool into a deeply integrated, custom platform that becomes a true competitive advantage for your business.