Dynamics Profile: Veteran MVP Josep Pagès urges investment in Dynamics NAV talent

A Microsoft Dynamics NAV MVP since 2006, Josep Pagès is passionate about technology in general, and in particular, IT management and business intelligence for decision making.

A senior IT consultant at Summar Software in Spain, Pagès' job is to teach new employees about the functionality and programming in Microsoft Dynamics NAV, as well as design and implement product development and testing methodologies to ensure the quality and lifecycle of the software.

Training is particularly important because customers today are more tech-savvy than in the past, he says. And they know how to use technology to generate value for the business and they demand successful software implementations, including the implementation of Dynamics NAV. The problem, he believes, is that there is a lack of talent in the IT sector and specifically in Dynamics NAV.

"The universities are unable to turn out the number of graduates that the market needs," Pagès says. "I think today, a VAR or ISV manager has to implement mechanisms to give better (not more) information and advice about IT to their customers, and for this they have to properly train their employees as well retain them."

Some years ago, Pagès had the opportunity to design and teach a "Masters in Dynamics NAV" course at the University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia in Barcelona.

"Teaching this course gave me the opportunity to think, order, and write all of my knowledge about consulting and programming in Dynamics NAV so the students could learn about these subjects," he says. "It was fun and I received good reviews. Unfortunately, there were not enough people ...