The Dynamics arena is rapidly evolving and Microsoft have delivered great NAV and AX solutions with NAV 2013 R2 and AX 2012 R2 with further advancements promised in the years ahead. On the NAV side there are increasingly fewer solutions that challenge it in the SME environment and AX is gaining a greater foothold in the Enterprise market winning business from SAP, Oracle Financials, JD Edwards and Peoplesoft. Most Partners are exceedingly busy, most Partners are selling Dynamics ERP solutions and they are looking to attract the best talent to deliver solutions. This results in pressure on salaries and contract day rates. At Conspicuous we are seeing contractor’s day rates and permanent salaries creep upwards. However Britain and Western Europe remains in an economically difficult place. Most countries are forecasting less than 0.4% annual growth in 2014 after a difficult past 5 years and so there has been a squeeze on the day rates that the Partners have been able to charge. On a straw poll the NAV Partners are charging between £750 (€900) and £1,200 (€1,450) per day and the better AX Partners between £900 (€1,100) and £1,500 (€1,800) This compares to a Partner charging NAV day rates in 2002 at £1200 (€1,450) which although on the higher side in 2002, it shows how the general market economy is having a significant effect upon the margins of the partners, their profitability and their ability to drive their own businesses forward. The pressure on day rates has resulted in Partners looking to recruit permanent staff that are profitable from day one and has resulted in a lack of desire to invest in more junior Dynamics professionals and especially to recruit trainees or graduates. The Partners day rates is a general problem affecting the majority of the Resellers, however in the contract market over the last 5 years we have seen an increasing range of contract day rates. At times this range may have no direct relationship to the ability of the contractor. Within Dynamics NAV the majority of our contractors with over 5 years’ experience will take home a day rate of £250 to £400 (€300 - €500) per day and within this range you should be able to find a suitable contractor for your specific project. At the top end we do know of NAV Consultants with good skills who charge £600 per day but they spend most of their time looking for roles rather than getting their hands dirty and applying their skillset. Dynamics AX offers a slightly higher day rate to contractors and rates will be from £400 (€500) per day upwards. AX in the UK is a slightly less mature market. In general you will get what you pay for but we have seen a trend of increasing numbers of contractors entering the market with very limited ability but charging extortionate rates. Conspicuous have been recruiting Dynamics professionals since 2000. We recruit on an international basis and offer the most cost effective agency fees. With a straightforward fee structure our aim is to offer employers the best contract solution to fit your budget. For both NAV and AX as an employer you do not want to be the training ground for a costly contractor! Permanent recruitment at 15% of base salary Contract agency fees at £50 per day or 15% - whatever is the lower