Cornerstone OnDemand vs Microsoft Dynamics 365

• Custom email configuration allows us to communicate not only the expectations but help our team members understand what is asked of them. The ability to target messages based on completion of items allow team members to take the next steps and stay focused on their learning and development.
• Robust reporting - coupled with experienced LMS admins with excellent analytical skills, you can track progress with a high level of accuracy.
• We have a LinkedIn Learning integration which has been a grand slam, in less than a year we have over 10,000-course completions. I personally have developed a "thirst to learn" because of this tremendous partnership and the easy to access content on my mobile device.
• Custom Pages, we have over 50,000+ team members without company email and we use Custom pages as a Bulletin Board to layout all details for our career development program. This keeps our team members in the loop at all times.
• If you have a dynamic, talented team which I am fortunate to have, who is eager to use this LMS with an excellent attitude you can make a great impact on your organization and truly develop a culture of learning and accountability.

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• Some useful out-of-the-box features, like mass uploads of Leads from trade shows or when qualifying a Lead, CRM automatically creates the Opportunity, Contact, and Account for you, etc.
• Really powerful customizations through the user interface to improve user experience. Things like Business Rules, for example, if Field A = 1, then Field B = 2 and Field C = 2, if Field A = 2, then Field B and Field C don't apply, so automatically hide them.
• Or other functionality that improves user experience, like Business Process Flows. These walk users step by step through our business process, helping them know when certain actions should take place, and at what point other data is now required. We've used this extensively with our Lead to Opportunity to Quote to Order process, helping users understand the business process each step of the way.
• Customizations built on top of the platform now called model-driven PowerApps. You can have connections to "typical" data, like Accounts, Contacts, or Opportunities, for example, but then connect that data to custom entities, records that only apply to your specific business. This is all done through the user interface and allows you to customize and automate specific line-of-business applications for your specific needs.
• Behind the scenes, D365 CE is built on SQL. So the data conforms to industry standards and makes it much easier to interact with. Your developers and IT team will thank you.

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• It's an off the shelf package, so while you can add in custom fields (a big plus), it's very rigid in terms of how it is designed to be used. Not every company works in the same way, and I've found that a lot of the recruitment functionality is more suited to high level or blue chip hires, rather than seasonal or bulk hires.
• Specific issues we are having revolve around the references functionality. We ended up having to develop something in-house, as the system doesn't let you verify referee details o relationships prior to triggering the reference request. In addition, the form for capturing referee details only requests a name and email address. As a company working with children and young adults, we need to ensure the references we obtain are professional and tie in with a person's work history.
• The self-scheduling of interviews is a great feature, but it could be so much better. It's impossible to see what slots you have offered to someone, and it's also impossible to see what slots each recruiter has free. As such, you end up inviting people to book in an interview...only for them to discover that all the slots are already filled.
• Notifications. Generally, this is poor in Cornerstone. If, for example, a candidate requests alternative interview dates, there is no notification that goes to the recruiter or person who initially created the invite. Likewise, if you use the email functionality within Cornerstone (which we'd like to do, as this helps to maintain a full history) when a candidate replies to the email there is no easy way of knowing they have replied unless recruiters go into the user's profile. As a high volume recruiter, this just isn't workable.
• There are a number of other areas in the system that are 'OK' but with some development could be great. They include: Offer Letters, Editing/Deleting Data (if you want to update a field on an application form or delete a document you've uploaded...you need to put in a service request with Cornerstone), Reporting, and the overall 'bigger picture/ view' of a candidate and their application/work history.

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• Microsoft Dynamics 365 storage & license cost can prohibit some large deployments or even cost-sensitive small projects from using the platform (although I'm certain most deployments would realize a positive ROI if implemented correctly with process automation).
• The cost and licensing document for Dynamics 365 is 61 pages and will take a rocket scientist to understand it. It's better to just have your Microsoft help estimate the cost if they are willing to help you that.
• The documentation on how to first fully understand the Out of the Box default solution and settings is lacking or even non-existing. This has the potential to derail Dynamic 365 launches and implementations from the gitgo. Want to use an out of the box entity?.. well it's probably related to 5 other entities that require configuration and full understanding of it to successful implement. And you ask where is the laymen guide or instructions?... User groups and forums. In Summary, Microsoft can up its game in deployment training and supporting documentation.
• Microsoft needs to incentivize more external platforms to build app connectors for easy integration, such as ZenDesk, Slack, Tableau, etc. Even the current connector apps such as Salesforce, MailChimp, Docusign are useless or don't work at all.
• Several limitations inhibit successful Dynamics 365 deployments such as: limited number of Rollup field calculations (summarizing fields on child/related records), limited number rows that can exported to Excel via advanced find, Dynamics 365 files, log and database storage size limit is extremely small and will always require purchasing additional storage (for Online deployments).
• New user buy-in or acceptance or system platform changes can be difficult if a solid change management plan isn't enacted.
• Don't expect much help from Microsoft on implementation or solutions unless it's a technical flaw with the platform. Microsoft relies on their MVP partner network to consult for implementations at a hefty cost. Hiring a knowledgeable and savvy Dynamics 365 System Administrator can reduce the need for consultant support; of course, this is dependant upon many many variables.

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• One of the main reasons we switched to Cornerstone OnDemand was to deliver video training seamlessly. Cornerstone OnDemand has been able to support most of the video training we do. This has allowed us a single source delivery point, lowering the costs of having multiple delivery providers for SCORM and non-SCORM compliant content.
• Cornerstone OnDemand is far more difficult to administer for our trainers. This has taken up more time from training operations. Cornerstone OnDemand takes approximately 20% more effort to maintain, enroll, and communicate with our users and regional support staff across our nine offices.
• Cornerstone OnDemand has a robust reporting system that is too difficult to use. We spend 65% more time getting reporting than we did with our previous LMS.

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• It is hard to say, the reason why we are using Microsoft Dynamics CRM is because it is provided to us for free.
• It could be worthwhile to investigate whether an alternative CRM (even though paid) can be used to boost the ROI

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