Experience as a Business Central end user can provide valuable knowledge of how the platform works in practice. But making the move from using the technology within one part of a business to advising customers across the platform requires a much broader set of skills.
For Luke Mullery, Junior Functional Consultant at BC4, #BCTalent has helped support that transition.
Luke had been using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central since 2021, primarily across retail, product creation, reporting, and store allocations. He knew that he wanted to move into the Microsoft Partner ecosystem, but his experience had given him limited exposure to areas such as finance and warehouse management.
Joining BC4 gave Luke the opportunity to make that move while developing his knowledge through #BCTalent. Since then, he has expanded his understanding across Business Central, applied that knowledge directly with customers, and started exploring how he can use his existing retail expertise to create new solutions.
We spoke to Luke about making the transition from end user to consultant, developing expertise beyond his original specialism, and what he has learned about understanding the business need behind a customer request.
Can you tell us about your role and your background in the Microsoft ecosystem?
“My role at BC4 is Junior Functional Consultant. I work across the service desk, provide consulting advice, and support reporting and hierarchy products, with a particular focus on best practice across the retail side of the business.
In terms of my background, I have been using Business Central since 2021, but as an end user, so I had quite a niche, small role covering product creation, reporting, and allocations to store, essentially the retail side of things. I had no exposure to finance, warehouse management, or the other parts of what Microsoft offers.”
What led you to take part in #BCTalent?
“It was mainly about moving from an end user role into the tech and Microsoft Partner side, which is something I had wanted to do for a while before joining BC4.
When I was applying for roles and speaking to recruiters, a lot of them said I needed more experience or exposure to a service desk environment. The #BCTalent opportunity at BC4 gave me the chance to learn on the job, build on the knowledge I already had, and make that move from an end user to a functional consultant.”
What stood out to you most about the learning experience?
“In some areas, it was how much I already knew. Parts of the training around product creation, transfer orders, purchase orders, and product ownership felt very familiar, since I had been working with those for years.
Other parts, particularly the finance side of Business Central, stood out more. I have an accounting and finance degree, but I had never actually set up or used a finance system before, so being able to progress into that part of Business Central, beyond my usual experience, really stood out to me.”
How have you applied what you learned through #BCTalent in your day-to-day role?
“One of our clients has a purely finance-based Business Central setup. They do not use any of the retail or product side, it is finance only, which is outside what I would normally work on.
Before #BCTalent, I would have gone into that kind of work without much idea what I was doing. Now that I have done the training and had exposure to the finance side of Business Central, I have been able to support that client a lot more than I expected to.”
Can you share an example where something you learned through #BCTalent made a difference to a customer?
“With that same client, it is something I would previously have had to pass over to one of our senior consultants, but I felt comfortable enough with the knowledge I now had to help the client directly, without needing to escalate it.
That has been really beneficial, and it is a good example of the training paying off very recently.”
Has #BCTalent helped you support customers, increase delivery capacity, or pursue new opportunities?
“Yes, being able to support that client directly is one example. I have also had conversations with a couple of other clients about what Business Central can offer beyond their usual setup.”
One of them is now looking at bringing part of their finance system into Business Central with an integration, and I was able to advise on that, which was really helpful.”
Which areas of the learning have been most valuable to you?
“The finance part of Business Central. It was completely new to me in terms of understanding the screens and how everything works, but it has put me in a good position to support customers with that going forward.”
What has been your biggest takeaway from your #BCTalent experience?
“Having full exposure to everything in Business Central. Alongside the technical training, there was also a consultancy course covering more professional skills, things like understanding what a customer is really trying to achieve, rather than just meeting the requirement as stated.
For example, if a client asks for a report, it is worth asking why they need it and whether there is a better way to deliver it, rather than just producing exactly what was asked for. It was about understanding the customer’s needs properly and working out what is actually best for them.”
From your experience, what are some of the biggest challenges facing Business Central professionals and partners today?
“Probably the growth of AI. Development on Business Central is happening so quickly that it is becoming harder to keep up with new functionality, both from partners and from Microsoft itself.
It will be impossible to know every part of the system, so I think Microsoft professionals will become more specialized in particular areas as the ecosystem keeps growing. That is already true for us to some extent, different colleagues are experts in different areas, with some overlap between them, and I think that will only become more the case.”
As Business Central continues to evolve, how important is ongoing learning?
“Very important. As development in Business Central and the wider Microsoft space keeps growing, and speeds up with AI, you need continuous learning to know what to offer clients and where different tools fit into their businesses.
It is mainly about knowing what to offer and what is right for a client, and the only way to do that is by keeping up with what is new and what is still missing. We can build our own development where needed, but where Microsoft offers something out of the box, it usually makes sense to go with that, since it will keep being developed over time.”
What support did you receive from BC4 while working through #BCTalent?
“From BC4’s side, the main support was being given the time to do it properly. It was not just added on top of my normal workload, my manager made sure we had the time we needed without extra pressure.”
How has #BCTalent supported the career direction you were already working towards?
“It has mainly reinforced the direction I was already heading in. I already had a good idea of the career path I wanted, and #BCTalent has helped me continue building towards it.”
Looking ahead, what skills or areas are you keen to develop next?
“Off the back of the #BCTalent training, I have started developing my own tool specific to merchandising, a range planning tool that would save customers a lot of time on product creation and product mapping, and give them a better understanding of their future planning at a category level.
The next step is looking at how to market and roll this out more widely as a BC4 merchandising tool.”
What would you say to someone considering #BCTalent?
“I would say go for it. If you have the opportunity to do it within a company, and you are looking to move from an end user role into tech, it is a really good stepping stone into a consistent role within a team, where you can keep building your knowledge, support customers properly, and become a real asset to the business.”
Turning end-user experience into consulting capability
Luke’s journey highlights a different opportunity for Microsoft Partners looking to develop Business Central capability: the potential that already exists among experienced end users.
Before joining BC4, Luke understood Business Central through the lens of the work he performed every day. He brought practical retail and merchandising knowledge, but had limited exposure to many of the other areas a functional consultant may encounter when supporting customers.
Combining his role at BC4 with structured development through #BCTalent has helped him turn that existing knowledge into broader consulting capability.
The impact can already be seen in his customer work. Luke is now supporting finance requirements that he would previously have escalated to a senior consultant, while also having conversations with customers about how Business Central could support areas beyond their existing setup.
His development in consultancy skills is equally important. Moving from end user to consultant requires more than knowing how functionality works. It means understanding why a customer is asking for something, considering the wider business context, and identifying the approach that best addresses the underlying need.
BC4 has played an important role in creating the environment for that transition. By giving Luke dedicated time to learn alongside his day-to-day experience, the business has enabled him to develop without treating learning as something that simply needs to fit around his existing workload.
Now, Luke is starting to bring his journey full circle. The retail and merchandising experience he had before joining BC4 remains an important part of his expertise, but he is exploring how to combine it with his growing Business Central knowledge through the development of a potential BC4 merchandising tool.
It is a good example of how developing talent does not mean starting again. With the right opportunity and structured support, existing industry and end-user experience can become a foundation for new Business Central capability.
Develop the potential of Business Central experience
#BCTalent helps Microsoft Partners develop professionals with the technical, consultancy, and customer-facing skills they need to contribute across the Business Central ecosystem.