We’re fortunate to have some of the best software and business solutions talent in our team.
In this Q&A blog series, we’re giving you a behind-the-scenes glimpse of who our employees are and what a typical day’s work looks like for them.
We’re kicking off the series by speaking to Zach O’ Brien. He’s one of our Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform and Native Applications developers, who’s been with us for more than three years.
Q. What time do you usually start work?
At around 8.45am.
Q. What’s the first task you tend to carry out every day?
I usually attend our morning stand up meeting with the rest of the team. It’s an opportunity for us all to catch up on outstanding work actions from the previous day, focus on what we hope to achieve today and discuss any blockers and anything we need help with.
When everybody else is chatting about their day, I like to use the time to open up all of the programmes, such as Visual Studio Code and Tidio, I need to use for the day ahead.
Q. What does a typical day look like for you?
It’s often filled with plenty of different projects. Most days, I work on front-end projects with lots of Typescript and SCSS.
I also get involved with any marketing and design-related work that needs a designer’s eye to review and work on it. (I studied graphic design at HND level and interned as a graphic designer for a digital design agency in Ireland when I first left college).
Most days, there’s always some Dynamics 365 customisation and coding tasks for me to complete too. I like to break down my tasks down into smaller chunks throughout the day. It enables me to cover a little bit of everything from my ‘to do’ list.
Q. What do you find most challenging about your work?
Time management. While I’ve definitely improved over the years, it’s all too easy to let time get away from you when you’re concentrating on certain tasks.
Q. What do you find most rewarding?
The joy of finally breaking through a difficult bug or issue I’ve been stuck on, sometimes for days at a time, and finally seeing everything come together.
Q. What are you currently working on?
I’m currently developing a client-based portal with Microsoft Power Pages. It’s being set up to enable our client to upload and document information, relating to acquiring licenses and applications. They’ll be able to use it to nominate colleagues to populate it with information and manage data for others.
Q. What’s your proudest achievement so far and why?
The skills I’ve developed while working at XRM. Before I joined, I had a generally good grasp of front-end development and some experience in other technologies.
But over the course of my three-and-a-half years here, I’ve really honed my skillset. It applies to both my hard and soft skills too – I’ve had much more exposure when it comes to meeting clients face-to-face and building a rapport with them, which is something I’d naturally shy away from!
Q. What’s the last thing you always do before logging off the day?
I complete my timesheet. As much as I like to keep on top of my timesheets throughout the day, there are always days where I’ll be a bit too busy or the last few hours are spent solely dedicated on a task. So before I log off, I go through and make sure my timesheets are up to date and have a good description of the tasks I carried out that day.
Q. Describe your job in one word
Diverse.
Are you interested in following in Zach’s footsteps and becoming a Dynamics developer? Take a look at these FAQs:
Q. What does a Dynamics 365 developer do?
Customising Dynamics 365, which is all-encompassing and often involves building business applications, custom controls and components for platforms.
From Zach’s perspective, his day-to-day work ranges from building apps with custom workflows and connecting entities to create seamless functionality, to writing up custom JavaScript functions that leverage in-built APIs.
Q. How do I become a Dynamics 365 developer?
The route Zach took to becoming a Dynamics 365 developer was shaped by the wealth of learning materials provided by Microsoft.
These resources can be found within Microsoft’s MS Learn online platform, which contains numerous exams and learning paths for new users. The PL-900 exam is recognised as being an excellent starting point for getting to grips with some of the functionality and fundamentals of D365 and the Power Platform.
Q. How long does it take to learn d365?
As is the case with learning anything new, the time it takes to master Dynamics 365, varies from individual-to-individual and how quickly they grasp it.
Generally speaking, it takes a couple of weeks for somebody to get up-and-running with using Dynamics 365 at a proficient level and many months to years to establish a deeper understanding of customising the system. In Zach’s case, he felt comfortable using Dynamics 365 after getting four months’ experience under his belt.
We hope you’ve found this blog interesting. For further insight about who we are and our capabilities, take a look at: https://www.xrm.je/why-xrm/
Written By: Simon Jackson
Over ten years of Microsoft Dynamics CRM experience blended with twenty years of business solutions consultancy, gives Simon the edge when it comes to delivering CRM solutions. Working with financial and fintech focused clients of all sizes, he is well sought after and that’s no surprise. He is experienced with databases and software integrations, security models, and multi-country models.
