Transforming into a Trusted Advisor: Addressing Key Challenges for Today’s FP&A Teams

Microsoft Dynamics solutions partners are tasked with refining their offerings and competing for business while facing intense competition from other software development tools in the financial planning and analysis (FP&A) tech infrastructure. To provide the most effective solutions for their clients, these firms must understand the main challenges of today’s FP&A teams, which involve data integration, cloud migration, security, and regulatory compliance. 

By recognizing these obstacles, partners can more effectively choose tools that align with their clients' strategies. The tools should integrate well with Dynamics ERPs, facilitate cloud migration, automate data management, and be easy to use. Only then can businesses truly empower FP&A teams and help Dynamics partners establish themselves as trusted industry advisors. 

The Complexities of a Multi-Partner, Multi-Vendor Approach 

While Dynamics ERPs offer a robust foundation, the ever-expanding needs of modern finance teams extend beyond their core functionalities. A majority of Dynamics-driven finance teams work with multiple solutions partners and have invested in tools from multiple companies. insightsoftware’s 2024 Research Report (registration required) studying the top priorities of Dynamics users found that most (87%) currently work with two or more Dynamics solutions partners and 81% use tools from two or more financial software development companies. 

While purchasing multiple financial solutions may have addressed specific needs, over time this pattern created a complex and fragmented financial data landscape that now hinders comprehensive analysis and agile decision-making. 

Despite the popularity of this approach, the multi-partner, multi-vendor approach can also lead to technology debt that comes due through future rework, ongoing integration and maintenance costs of these disparate systems. It also leads to other long-term burdens related to training and support. Finance teams struggle with managing multiple solutions partners due to onboarding complexities, communication burdens, and integration challenges that create data inconsistencies, security risks, and workflow disruptions. 

It should come as no surprise that ninety-five percent of Dynamics users believe there are disadvantages to purchasing through more than one partner. As a result, Dynamics-driven finance teams are setting their sights on new FP&A technology that can consolidate these point solutions into a unified platform. This consolidation has the potential to streamline workflows, improve data visibility, simplify support, and empower finance teams to deliver more strategic insights. It also enables solutions partners to become the trusted advisors that customers seek for all their Dynamics needs. 

Solving Data Integration Issues in Complex Cloud Environments 

The complexities of hybrid and multi-cloud deployments are a major pain point for FP&A teams. To address this, users seek solutions to bridge the gap between their different data environments. Nearly all (93%) of these users operate at least partially in the cloud. On top of this, a quarter are entirely cloud-based, and 68% operate in a hybrid environment. 

At the same time, the Microsoft Dynamics landscape is also changing. Recently, Microsoft announced they are discontinuing sales of certain products in the next few years, opting instead to shift focus to cloud-based offerings. 

In addition to these shifts, many Dynamics-driven FP&A teams struggle with the cloud migration gap, a hurdle created by the mix of on-premises Dynamics systems and cloud-based applications. 77% of users say that cloud migration is a key market challenge affecting their software purchasing behavior, mainly because this gap leads to data silos and inefficiencies, hindering a holistic view of financial data. 

The initial data integration process can be fraught with unforeseen customization costs, adding a new financial task to the project. These challenges combined create a complicated web that can lead to mistakes. To bridge this gap, FP&A teams need solutions that integrate with Dynamics while offering robust cloud migration capabilities. By prioritizing such solutions, they can leverage the scalability and agility of the cloud while still working effectively with their existing infrastructure. This empowers them to unify their financial data, regardless of location, and confidently make data-driven decisions. 

Navigating Today’s Security and Compliance Landscape 

Today’s finance teams also have an increased focus on privacy and security. A whopping 83% of users indicated that the top technology challenge they currently face is cybersecurity, and 73% prioritize robust security measures to protect sensitive data when evaluating their partners’ available products. This number can be attributed to two major 2024 market factors: an increased focus on privacy and security within these teams. 

First, the evolving threat landscape with increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks pushes companies to tighten their security defenses. Since Dynamics 365 is a cloud-based platform, customers need to implement strong access controls and data protection measures to protect users and the organization. Secondly, stricter regulations like GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and other potential updates raise the stakes for data breaches. Since finance teams are responsible for sensitive financial information, they must be extra vigilant in securing environments to comply with these regulations. Otherwise, they may face hefty fines.

Our data show that Dynamics customers are laser-focused on security, with 42% believing the most in-demand feature for finance software is strengthened security measures for data protection. The security issue is even more prevalent when businesses simultaneously work with multiple Dynamics solutions partners. Even having robust access controls and data encryption can mean the difference between keeping prying eyes out of clients’ sensitive financial information and it being leaked. 

For Dynamics partners, serving security-minded clients requires the ability to demonstrate an understanding of industry regulations and security best practices in the context of financial tools. Organizations expect guidance on how to handle data responsibly, pass security audits, and keep critical information safe.

The market for Microsoft Dynamics partners serving FP&A teams is demanding. Today’s FP&A professionals face an ever-changing list of day-to-day challenges. As a result, modern finance teams' roles extend beyond their core functionalities, and the vast majority are planning tech investments to help meet them: 82% are planning to buy in the next year, and three-quarters are increasing their budgets to do so.

Microsoft-driven finance teams are now ready to adopt an exciting array of solutions that promise to streamline workflows, help with cloud migration, and strengthen cybersecurity posture. By understanding pain points and delivering a comprehensive, single-source product range and partnership experience, businesses can become trusted industry advisors while addressing the FP&A team’s data integration, cloud migration, security, and regulatory compliance challenges.

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