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Going further for Microsoft Partners

Delivering outstanding talent for your Microsoft Partner practice

Throughout our extensive experience working with Partners, we’ve delivered thousands of talented Microsoft professionals.
No matter how complex the project, we can help find the right professional with the right skill-set for every job—from implementation to ongoing support and training.

What makes us different?

The right candidate, every time

As a registered Microsoft Partner, having high-quality professionals in your corner means you can provide exceptional services to your customers.

Whether you’re looking for certified professionals, or new talent to help your business grow, we’re dedicated to finding professionals who fit your business—in fact, 85% of people we place in permanent jobs stay in the role for two or more years.

If you need an extra pair of hands on a project, our vast network of candidates and market expert consultants means we can deliver skilled contractors fast—in most cases within 48 hours.

Global reach, bespoke service

Our investment in marketing allows us to reach more Microsoft professionals than any other agency, and through our event sponsorship and support of product user groups around the world, we’ve built strong relationships with professionals in every division of the Microsoft stack.

With a decade of experience in Microsoft recruitment, you can be sure that we understand the obstacles that you face, and can advise you on all of the options in front of you. When you’re hiring, we make sure you’re hiring the best.

We know your time is valuable. With Nigel Frank, you’ll get a dedicated account manager who’ll work hard to get to know your practice, your culture, and your individual needs, ensuring we deliver candidates who fit your organization. We may have global reach, but we haven’t lost our personal touch; our consultants have extensive local market knowledge, so they can offer you a bespoke, tailored service wherever you are.

Dedicated to the Microsoft ecosystem

As Nigel Frank consultants are laser-focused on specific Microsoft products, they are technical experts with unparalleled access to the best talent. These candidates are high-quality contract and permanent professionals that other recruiters just don’t have access to.

Our dedication to niche technologies gives us unique knowledge of the Microsoft market. From administrators and functional and technical consultants to pre-sales consultants and project managers, no matter what role you’re looking to fill, we’ll find the right professional for the job. We go further than any other agency to make sure your next hire is a success.

In a candidate scarce market, Nigel Frank managed to provide us with highly qualified Lync consultants and engineers who are passionate about Unified Communications and with excellent technical skills. We have hired numerous professionals via Nigel Frank and would definitely recommend Nigel Frank to our industry contacts.

Modality Systems—MS Gold Partner

How we can help your Microsoft Partner practice

Delivering on time, on budget, to specification

Our offer to partners is simple: within 48 hours of agreeing terms of business with us, you’ll have a dedicated account manager and the resumes of quality candidates in your inbox. For contract roles we aim to begin the shortlisting process much earlier—the hiring process is often completed within 24 hours of a job going live, minimizing the opportunity cost for your practice.

Surpassing expectations

Nigel Frank International is backed by TPG Growth, one of the leading private equity firms in the world and investors in Uber, Spotify, and Airbnb. As part of our $16.4m investment in marketing, sponsor global industry events—such as Ignite and Inspire—as well as more localized events and user groups like Dynamics Experience, MS Tech Summit, and SharePoint Saturday. Our vacancies are hosted on over 55 job boards, as well as on our own website—the most visited Microsoft recruitment site in the world.

Trusted in the marketplace

Over 70% of businesses come back to us for their staffing needs. Our customer loyalty score exceeds the recruitment industry average, and, in our customer satisfaction surveys, organizations praised our technical knowledge, our ability to deliver quickly, and our access to the broadest range of candidates. We’re not just recruiters, we’re business partners and can add serious value to your hiring strategy. Over 70% of businesses come back to us for their staffing needs. Our customer loyalty score exceeds the recruitment industry average, and, in our customer satisfaction surveys, organizations praised our technical knowledge, our ability to deliver quickly, and our access to the broadest range of candidates. We’re not just recruiters, we’re business partners and can add serious value to your hiring strategy.

Flexible talent

Bolster your RFPs with contractor resource that doesn’t currently exist on your bench. We’ll deliver certified candidates with a proven track record of success in the industry you’re pitching to, so you can win business ahead of your competitors and other vendors.

Access to more talent pools than anyone else

Our multi-brand approach means we can provide extensive shortlists of job-seekers looking to retrain in Microsoft. With our database of 550,000 permanent and contract candidates across a range of CRM and ERP products from Salesforce to NetSuite, we are ideally positioned to identify cross-training opportunities in competitor markets. Plus, thanks to our award-winning returnship and diversity initiatives, you’ll be at the front of the line for new talent entering the Microsoft ecosystem.

How our process works for Microsoft Partners

Throughout our extensive experience working with Partners, we’ve delivered thousands of talented Microsoft professionals.
  • A dedicated account manager will define your specific needs (1—2 hours)
  • Once terms of business are agreed, your account manager will deliver a shortlist of fully briefed and vetted Microsoft experts who are motivated to join your business (12 hours for contract/48—72 hours for permanent hires)
  • Interviews with previously screened candidates will be arranged (typically within 24 hours for contract, or dependent on your requirement and candidate availability)
  • When you’ve made a choice and picked a candidate to hire, we will negotiate on your behalf; for contract hires, we’ll even take care of all of the paperwork and invoice you after 30 days in order to get them started on your project right away. (Typically within 24 hours for contract/within the standard local notice period for permanent hires)
  • Your account manager arranges a check-in with you and the candidate (1 day, 7 days, 28 days)

Nigel Frank work hard to understand the requirements of a Microsoft Consultancy and the specialist skills that we look for in candidates. Nigel Frank’s understanding of our needs and the needs of candidates coupled with their knowledge of our core technology areas makes them a true partner.

Silversands Ltd—Microsoft Gold Partner

Going further for your Microsoft Partner practice

More than a recruitment agency At Nigel Frank, we want to help you and your practice succeed in any way we can, and that means going beyond delivering outstanding professionals. We’re committed to offering value, and furnishing you with the tools and information you need to deliver the best possible service to your customers. Here are just a few of the ways we go above and beyond to support your business:

Unrivalled online presence and marketing reach

Our branded email marketing campaigns make sure your jobs get seen by relevant Microsoft professionals actively seeking new opportunities. By working with us, your business gets access to 300,000+ job-seekers in our database, 100,000 monthly visitors to our website, and 35,000+ subscribers to our daily Jobs By Email service.

Empowering partners throughout the process

Our Candidate Search allow you to be more involved with the selection process. This free service lets you build your own shortlist of pre-qualified candidates in seconds via our website. We’ll then handle the negotiations on your behalf.

Delivering practical insights

Every year, we poll thousands of professionals around the world to get the latest on sentiments, movements, and compensation in the Microsoft community. Our industry-acclaimed Microsoft Dynamics and Technology for Business Salary Surveys, available to download for free, can help you benchmark salaries in your organization and keep up to date with industry trends.

So far Nigel Frank has helped us hire 10 Microsoft professionals within the last 7 months in a very competitive market, providing excellent service and expertise in finding and building relationships with the best candidates and ensuring that these candidates chose Accigo and not our competitors. Nigel Frank gained a very good understanding of Accigo’s company culture, which resulted in a quick and efficient recruitment process and hiring of top Microsoft professionals that added a great value to Accigo’s business.

Accigo—Microsoft Gold Partner

Ready to hire?

Whether you’re ready to expand your team with a new permanent hire, or need a short-term contractor to get your project over the line, Nigel Frank has the hiring solution for you. It’s why we’re the global leaders in Microsoft recruitment.
Let's talk about your hiring needs

Insights for Microsoft partners

Whatever the Microsoft Cloud role, use our guide to benchmark your salary or contact rate, or to uncover what you should be paying employees in your team.
Download the key findings report

Attraction and retention

With cloud transformation services still in high demand, and new technological developments like AI and machine learning becoming more popular among businesses, Microsoft partners will no doubt continue to see a growing need for their services in the coming year. But with skills shortages constricting the ecosystem, and many skill sets difficult to come by, attracting and retaining the talent they need to deliver for clients will be top-of-mind for many partners and ISVs.

In this section, we’ll look at what attracts talent to careers with partner organizations, and find out what partners can do to lean into that appeal and source candidates from an industry-wide talent pool.

Motivation to work for a Microsoft partner

Almost two-thirds (59%, down from 67% in our last survey) of end user employees who responded to the survey would consider working for a Microsoft partner. Surprisingly, the potential to gain a higher salary is not the main reason these professionals would consider a switch to partner working. Instead, it was the appeal of broadening their skills portfolio that proved a bigger draw.

Factors cited as most likely to attract end user employees to a role with a partner include:

Opportunity to expand on skills, knowledge, and experience with Microsoft products

73%
Professional development

69%
Working on a diverse range of projects

67%
Higher earning potential

64%
To make better use of my skills

50%
Working with a variety of organizations

47%
Flexibility in lifestyle

41%
To tackle different challenges

40%
Other

2%

Those respondents who would move to a partner for the higher earning potential would want, on average, a 28% increase in their earnings to make the switch.

We also asked the 17% (up from 14%) of respondents who would not work for a partner why they wouldn’t make the move, with reasons including:

I'm happy in my current role
0 %
I enjoy solving business problems from within the business
0 %
I've worked for a partner previously, but I prefer the
end user environment
0 %
I prefer working on one big project 19%
I consider working for a partner to be stressful 12%
I don't want to travel for work 12%
I'm not interested in working for a partner 8%
I don't enjoy the increased interaction with clients 5%
Other 5%
I prefer working on one big project 19%
I consider working for a partner to be stressful 12%
I don't want to travel for work 12%
I'm not interested in working for a partner 8%
I don't enjoy the increased interaction with clients 5%
Other 5%
‘Other’ reasons include not liking the ‘billable working environment’ and a preference for choosing one’s own clients.

Conclusion

Though the number of end user employees who’d be open to working for a Microsoft partner may have dropped slightly since our last report, there is still ample opportunity for partners to attract potential candidates from the customer sector. Our findings show that the 59% of end user employees that would consider making the move to a partner are highly motivated to develop their skills and learn more about the products they work with.

Almost three-quarters of those amenable to such a change said it was the chance to expand their skill sets and experience with Microsoft solutions that appealed to them most. Coming in close behind was the opportunity for professional development and a desire to work on a diverse range of projects. There are clearly many professionals currently working for end user organizations that feel their ambitions may outgrow their current environment—and that is great news for any partner looking to hire ambitious talent. Partners can capitalize on this opportunity by highlighting the variety of projects they work on, and the support they offer for employee upskilling.

Investigate the motivations of partner employees considering the move to an end user.

AdobeStock_636146904-scaled.jpeg

How satisfied are partner employees?

Professionals working for Microsoft partners and ISVs are largely happy in their roles—69% say they’re satisfied with their job, down from 73% in our previous survey.

While 53% are satisfied with their salary, this is down from 62% in our last survey, and the proportion of professionals unhappy with their pay has increased from 13% to 16%.

Demand for partner services

How has demand for Microsoft changed in the last 12 months?

  • Increased
50%
  • Stayed the same
39%
  • Reduced
8%
  • Not sure
4%
  • Increased
56%
  • Stayed the same
33%
  • Reduced
5%
  • Not sure
6%

Expert Insight

David Johnson, Operations Director at 26-time Microsoft Partner of the Year HSO, shares his tips on the essential skills partners should look for in potential candidates

Cloud technology: analytics, the wider Azure platform and security and cloud application development are big-growth areas. All of those wrapped around master data management and interaction with data.

We’re seeing less demand proportionately for consultants in ERP and CE, and more around data scientists, analytics, and security to work out how we can take the best advantage of things like the drive towards AI.

However, that doesn’t mean that you don’t need that overall digital transformation that is driven by your big business applications. You are still going to need those historic skills, but architect skills and the defining of the journey will be more valuable than focusing on how to implement Dynamics 365 Finance within a specific set of process areas.

Head over to our blog to read further insights from David regarding the potential future direction of Dynamics 365

Top 5 Microsoft Dynamics 356 products that have been most in-demand with partners’ clients in the last year

1 Dynamics 365 Finance (formerly Dynamics AX) 42%
2 Dynamics 365 Business Central (formerly Dynamics NAV) 41%
3 Dynamics 365 Sales (formerly Dynamics CRM) 31%
4 Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management 30%
5 Dynamics 365 Customer Service 23%

Microsoft Power Platform products that have been most in-demand with partners’ clients in the last year

Power BI 77%
Power Apps 56%
Power Automate 56%
Power Pages 15%
Power Virtual Agents 10%

Top Microsoft Azure product categories that have been most in-demand with partners’ clients in the last year

DevOps

45%
Databases

43%
Analytics

34%
Security, Storage

31%
Migration, AI + Machine Learning, Compute

27%

Top Microsoft 365 products that have been most in-demand with partners’ clients in the last year

Microsoft Teams

67%
Microsoft Excel

52%
Microsoft Outlook

47%
SharePoint

47%
Microsoft Word, Exchange

39%

How has demand for Microsoft cloud migrations changed in the last year?

  • Increased
44%
  • Stayed the same
22%
  • Reduced
4%
  • Not sure
29%
  • Increased
43%
  • Stayed the same
29%
  • Reduced
4%
  • Not sure
24%

What are the potential project pitfalls when working with end user clients?

We asked those who work for a partner about the typical challenges they face when working with an end user client, so that you can plan for these in your next project—responses include:
Scope creep (changes in a project's scope) 50%
Lack of communication from/between stakeholders 39%
Reluctance from some employees to adopt the new technology 36%
No clear objective from the customer on what they want from their Microsoft product 30%
Data migration issues 30%
Lack of training given to frontline staff using the product 28%
Shortage of resource in the end user organization available to manage the product 25%
Lack of appropriate skills in the end user organization to manage the product 24%
Issues managing expectations around what is possible with Microsoft 24%
The end user organization isn't ready for the business change 23%
Difficulties migrating data from legacy system to Microsoft 23%
Funding ran out/budgetary constraints 21%
Lack of project goals and benchmarks 17%
Price negation 16%
Lack of stakeholder buy-in 14%
None 6%
Other 2%

Want the highlights from this year's Careers and Hiring Guide at a glance? Our key findings report contains our top level insight and salary tables, so you can compare your own salary or benchmark your teams' across the Microsoft ecosystem.

Download our salary tables

Nigel Frank
60 Great Tower Street
London
EC3R 5AZ
United Kingdom

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Nigel Frank
60 Great Tower Street
London
EC3R 5AZ
United Kingdom

Job seekers

Employers

Nigel Frank

Social

Linkedin-in Twitter

Contact

Nigel Frank
60 Great Tower Street
London
EC3R 5AZ
United Kingdom