Jack Gibson
ERP programmes have a reputation for going wrong. Budget overruns, extended timelines, stalled go-lives - the stories are common enough that most senior leaders have either lived through one or inherited the aftermath.
For businesses running Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations programmes, the pattern is familiar and from what we're hearing across our Dynamics practice, the root cause is nearly always the same. The project was set up to fail before the first consultant logged on.
For this article, Jack Gibson, European CRM Lead at Empiric breaks down where setups go wrong, why freelance programme leadership is gaining traction and what we've delivered across three recent D365 programmes and spoke with Lasse Skovsmose, Program & Project Manager at Dynamics Consulting ApS for his wisdom and input on How Should Organisations Set Up a D365 F&O Programme?
TLDR: Key Takeaways
- Most D365 F&O programmes fail because of poor setup, not poor technology.
- Governance, decision rights and SI selection should be locked in before the project officially starts.
- Under-scoped SI contracts push hidden costs to later stages where the option to walk away disappears.
- Freelance programme leaders bring immediate experience, independence from the SI and no long-term overhead.
- The gap between Dynamics 365 platform growth and available programme leadership talent is widening.
- Recent Empiric placements show how freelance-led delivery has rescued stalled programmes and delivered global rollouts on time and in budget.
What Goes Wrong in D365 F&O Programme Setup?
This article follows on from our earlier piece on Dynamics 365 Commerce and the talent shortage surrounding it. Where that blog looked at the challenge of sourcing Commerce-specific skills, we're addressing a wider issue: how organisations prepare for - or fail to prepare for - large-scale F&O implementations.
The Dynamics 365 ecosystem is growing and the platform's footprint is expanding across finance, supply chain and operations. The talent pool is not keeping pace and the programme leadership gap continues to widen.
Most F&O programmes bring in a system integrator (SI) early, sign a statement of work and hope the SI will run the show. The business loses control of its own programme, governance gets designed around the SI's methodology rather than the organisation's needs and scope, risk and cost become difficult to challenge once the contract is live.
How Should Organisations Set Up a D365 F&O Programme?
[PHOTO: Lasse Skovsmose headshot with caption "Lasse Skovsmose - Freelance ERP Programme Lead - Microsoft Dynamics"]
Lasse Skovsmose, Program & Project Manager at Dynamics Consulting ApS has spent over a decade leading Dynamics programmes across international organisations and his diagnosis of where they break down is consistent: "ERP programmes rarely fail because of the system - they fail because organisations start them before they are ready to run them. Without governance, clear decision rights, proper resourcing and early data preparation, the programme begins structurally weak. What looks like cost savings early on - smaller teams, no backfill for super users or delayed data work - almost always surface later as delays, change requests and significantly higher programme costs."
Rather than jumping straight into vendor demos, he establishes business capability requirements, a strategy decision clearing process - what, why and how - and vendor requirements for methodology and delivery, including whether to go headcount-based or fixed engagement.
He then designs and runs the SI selection: RFP structure, evaluation scoring model, governance model for the SI collaboration and commercial comparison including risk allocation. This avoids under-scoped fixed-price traps, where the commercial leverage to challenge scope or renegotiate terms has already gone.
Before the project officially starts, governance goes in: steering committee structure, decision rights and escalation model, PMO setup, role descriptions for business leaders, process owners, super users and consultants, and a resource ramp-up plan. The project starts structured rather than chaotic - and the sequencing is the point.
Why Choose Freelance Programme Leadership Over Permanent Hires?
[PHOTO: Jack Gibson headshot with caption "Jack Gibson - Associate - Empiric Dynamics 365 Practice"]
When organisations are implementing something as high stakes as Dynamics 365, one of the biggest decisions is whether to hire internally or bring in freelancers. Hiring permanently can feel like the safer option, but major ERP programmes require very specific and proven experience.
Freelancers bring that immediately. With experience delivering multiple end-to-end implementations, they understand the pitfalls and they step in without a long ramp-up. They also give you flexibility - you bring in the exact skill set you need when you need it, whether that's a finance consultant, a technical architect or a programme manager, without long-term overhead.
From a CFO perspective, the maths works too - immediate access to senior transformation experience, no long-term fixed cost, independence from SI interests and the ability to scale down after stabilisation.
Experienced freelancers also bridge the gap between the business and the IT side. A leader from the business side ensures you are consistently using the right professionals to deliver high-priority work on time and within budget, while acting as a clear bridge for communications across all stakeholders.
Programme Leadership in Practice: What We've Delivered
We've placed freelance programme leaders and functional consultants into D365 programmes where this model has delivered.
European technology services provider - D365 F&O rescue
F&O Functional Finance Consultant and F&O Technical Architect placed into a stalled programme. The system was failing on integration and financial reporting. Other consultancies on the project were wasting budget and creating problems. Within three months, the system was running, reporting and integration were complete and go-live was back on track.
Global maritime logistics operator - D365 F&O rollout (Nordics and US)
F&O Finance Consultant and Project Manager placed for Finance and SCM process delivery. Initial Nordic roadmap delivered within a nine-month deadline on a minimal budget, ensuring full migration from the legacy system. This led to the full global rollout of D365 F&O with the consultants managing the international footprint including the US.
International consumer goods business - Business Central implementation Programme Manager and Functional Consultant placed for a full BC implementation. Run by freelancers end to end, delivered in budget and in scope.
What Should Hiring Managers Be Thinking About Now?
If your organisation is planning a D365 F&O programme - or is mid-way through one that has gone off track - do you have governance and decision rights established before your SI starts billing? Is your programme led by someone accountable to the business rather than the integrator? Do you have the right functional and technical talent in place, or are you relying on the SI to fill gaps that end up costing more than planned?
Programme setup, governance design, SI selection, freelance vs permanent leadership - we work through all of it with hiring managers and programme sponsors running D365 F&O and Business Central programmes.
Empiric's Dynamics 365 practice works with hiring managers and programme sponsors to source freelance and contract ERP talent across F&O, Business Central and the wider Microsoft stack.
Get in touch with our Dynamics 365 team to discuss your requirements, or browse current Dynamics 365 roles on our job board.
