Cornerstone OnDemand vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cornerstone OnDemand
Score 7.7 out of 10
N/A
Cornerstone OnDemand is a cloud-based application for talent management. Cornerstone offers suites for recruiting, training, performance monitoring and planning, learning, and HR data management. It is scaled for enterprises.N/A
Microsoft Dynamics 365
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a CRM providing sales, marketing, and service functionality. It is offered as SaaS and on-premise. Dynamics 365 is part of the larger Dynamics suite of business intelligence and ERP products.
$44
per month
Pricing
Cornerstone OnDemandMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cornerstone OnDemandMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cornerstone OnDemandMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Considered Both Products
Cornerstone OnDemand
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
The employee who implemented Cornerstone is no longer with the company. I'm not sure if we looked at others.
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
We briefly looked at other vendors, but decided to continue with Cornerstone OnDemand. The reason being is that our sister organization already had their own instance of Cornerstone. Through my initial research, Halogen also provided much of the same functionality that …
Microsoft Dynamics 365

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Cornerstone OnDemandMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
7.8
131 Ratings
7% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365
-
Ratings
New hire portal8.068 Ratings00 Ratings
Manager tracking tools7.8113 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance tracking and reporting7.5124 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.0
113 Ratings
12% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365
-
Ratings
Corporate goal setting7.894 Ratings00 Ratings
Subordinate goal setting8.197 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting8.5105 Ratings00 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.993 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking7.8108 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
7.5
118 Ratings
13% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365
-
Ratings
Performance plans7.892 Ratings00 Ratings
Plan weighting7.279 Ratings00 Ratings
Manager note taking7.568 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans7.380 Ratings00 Ratings
Review status tracking8.195 Ratings00 Ratings
Rater nomination workflow7.463 Ratings00 Ratings
Review reminders7.992 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow restrictions7.184 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency6.981 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting7.5112 Ratings00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.2
57 Ratings
17% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365
-
Ratings
Create succession plans/pools7.548 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking8.448 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate search8.351 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate development8.748 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
7.7
65 Ratings
6% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365
-
Ratings
Job Requisition Management8.144 Ratings00 Ratings
Company Website Posting8.240 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to Social Media7.237 Ratings00 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting7.137 Ratings00 Ratings
Customized Application Form8.139 Ratings00 Ratings
Resume Management7.242 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.439 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate Search7.240 Ratings00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.040 Ratings00 Ratings
Collaboration8.235 Ratings00 Ratings
Task Creation and Delegation7.737 Ratings00 Ratings
Email Templates7.858 Ratings00 Ratings
User Permissions7.959 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts7.754 Ratings00 Ratings
Reporting7.862 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
7.2
186 Ratings
2% above category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365
-
Ratings
Course authoring4.8137 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library8.1184 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal7.8171 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content8.1146 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly8.6134 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications7.6167 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments7.8180 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management7.0161 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration6.5183 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics6.3182 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning7.0115 Ratings00 Ratings
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
7.7
83 Ratings
0% above category average
Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings7.981 Ratings
Workflow management00 Ratings7.879 Ratings
Territory management00 Ratings7.160 Ratings
Opportunity management00 Ratings7.572 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings8.278 Ratings
Contract management00 Ratings7.961 Ratings
Quote & order management00 Ratings7.757 Ratings
Interaction tracking00 Ratings8.171 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings7.362 Ratings
Customer Service & Support
Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
8.0
68 Ratings
6% above category average
Case management00 Ratings7.863 Ratings
Call center management00 Ratings7.850 Ratings
Help desk management00 Ratings8.457 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
7.8
78 Ratings
3% above category average
Lead management00 Ratings7.672 Ratings
Email marketing00 Ratings8.171 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
8.0
76 Ratings
5% above category average
Task management00 Ratings8.171 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings8.054 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings8.065 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
7.6
77 Ratings
1% above category average
Forecasting00 Ratings7.667 Ratings
Pipeline visualization00 Ratings7.773 Ratings
Customizable reports00 Ratings7.476 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
7.7
80 Ratings
2% above category average
Custom fields00 Ratings7.678 Ratings
Custom objects00 Ratings7.572 Ratings
Scripting environment00 Ratings7.956 Ratings
API for custom integration00 Ratings7.861 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
8.7
75 Ratings
5% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.869 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.770 Ratings
Social CRM
Comparison of Social CRM features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
7.7
44 Ratings
5% above category average
Social data00 Ratings7.843 Ratings
Social engagement00 Ratings7.643 Ratings
Integrations with 3rd-party Software
Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
7.2
65 Ratings
1% below category average
Marketing automation00 Ratings7.665 Ratings
Compensation management00 Ratings6.834 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
6.8
56 Ratings
8% below category average
Mobile access00 Ratings6.856 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cornerstone OnDemandMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Small Businesses
Paycor
Paycor
Score 7.4 out of 10
Salesmate
Salesmate
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Workday HCM
Workday HCM
Score 8.4 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 9.2 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cornerstone OnDemandMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Likelihood to Recommend
8.3
(256 ratings)
7.4
(103 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.9
(37 ratings)
8.0
(20 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(37 ratings)
7.3
(33 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.6
(36 ratings)
8.0
(11 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.6
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(10 ratings)
7.5
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(10 ratings)
9.2
(4 ratings)
Configurability
7.1
(114 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.0
(1 ratings)
3.8
(3 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.5
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.5
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
9.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cornerstone OnDemandMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Likelihood to Recommend
Cornerstone OnDemand
I feel Cornerstone OnDemand is a great solution for companies that have a large amount of compliance training that needs to be assigned and closely tracked. The features of dynamic groups (based on specific user criteria) allows you to target very specific audiences. The assignment functionality gives you great flexibility on when the assignment runs and how often, and also provides many options for due dates (static date or dynamic date - x days from hire date, date assigned, etc.). This has allowed us to have a clear and consistent user experience for both our newly hired employees and our seasoned employees.
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Microsoft
Provides our company access to manage and customize the folds tailored to our needs. We needed to have certain paragraphs on certain paperwork per customer. MD 365 has those options to customize where needed and remove when not. The system is easy to navigate, and training can be done in a matter of days, even without prior knowledge of the system or similar systems.
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Pros
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Automatic recurring assignments are easy to get that refresher training out without needing to assign it fresh each time.
  • Reporting 2.0 makes it easy to write and share your reports with just selected filters. Making it easy for people receiving it to just change what they need to see.
  • Learning Admin Console makes it easy to peek at what is going on in your portal and open up connected reporting when needed.
  • Success Center is a great resource for getting peer answers to questions and learning about the releases and suggesting changes that should be added to the roadmap.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Best to use for AP - like in our organization, there are plenty of AP bills, so with Dynamics, we can quickly enter the same into the Excel utility, which means CSV-based upload, and then we can easily upload the same to the software. It's a time saver.
  • Best for Bank reconciliation - MS Dynamics makes Bank reconciliation easy. Banks can easily sync with software and easily get reconciled.
  • Generating invoices to customers and directly sending them to their inbox is easy with this software.
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Cons
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Sometimes finding the right answer to your support question can be a bit more difficult than it should be.
  • I would like to see more OSHA related courses.
  • At times, the administrative interface seems to need to be updated, but the tradeoff honestly might be the absolute rock-solid stability of the platform.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Small learning curve, obviously. You won't figure this out in a day, a week, or even a month. But given time, you can learn to be an expert. Or you can always get a consultant or hire in somebody. But learning the tool isn't out of the questions by any means.
  • Licensing can be confusing at times and isn't cheap, but it is cheaper than Salesforce. Plus no additional fees for data calls to better integrate your D365 CE data with other systems.
  • The Classic user interface left a bit to be desired, but now with the much-improved Unified Interface, the web client and the mobile client look the same, much more modern, and have more flexibility and power behind them for customizers as well.
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Likelihood to Renew
Cornerstone OnDemand
As long as pricing stays reasonable, we will likely stay with Cornerstone for at least one more contract renewal. It would be a large task to migrate all of our content to a new system. However, the LMS landscape is diversifying with new startups that are showing some real innovation.
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Microsoft
CRM has allowed us to keep all of our data in one place that is easy for all users within the company to view. I came into the company after they had been using CRM for about 4 years. They have all said that since we have used this it has helped us control work processes better, it has allowed us to be able to track things so much better, and has been something that has helped unite many processes that used to be all over the place. We are currently using CRM 4.0 and are planning on upgrading in the next 18 months to the 2011 version. Support for 4.0 is almost all but dried up. Understandably so. Some of the customization we have done, and a plugins we use, are now contained within the 2011 version so we are looking forward to that upgrade. We use an email marketing company as well, and they primarily support the 2011 version, but their product connects and is integrated within CRM. This is a great benefit as well so that all of our marketing information can be contained in one location.
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Usability
Cornerstone OnDemand
Easy to use, easy to learn, lots of support during the learning process. There are a few parts of the system we don't use and I'm hesitant to begin using because other clients have said they're difficult and cumbersome (certifications) or outdated (libraries)
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Microsoft
The usability is easily adopted for users familiar with other Microsoft products. Dynamics 365 has several interfaces that cross over browsers and tablets. These multiple interfaces will be phased out and updated to a single unified interface eventually to provide the same usability across all devices. The backend configurations is slowly improving with the introduction of PowerApps compared to pre-D365 Online versions
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Reliability and Availability
Cornerstone OnDemand
I haven't really had any major availability problems. The service is practically impeccable but it is true that at times, due to server and latency problems, the application has been slower. But these have been specific issues that have resolved themselves.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Performance
Cornerstone OnDemand
Pages do not load quickly. Often times any action or selection of a box, drop down, check, pretty much ANY Javascript interaction causes the whole entire page to load/reload/start doing something in the background. This makes a nightmare for having to mass edit courses or upload ILT sessions. It's the one of the archaic web designs they use that really bugs me as an admin and makes working in the portal at times intolerable and insufferable
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cornerstone OnDemand
Its always important to have support when you are facing problems and when you are the main admin of the organization. Cornerstone Support is very supporting when you have not found the answer in the help guide. its very useful to have a team support to guide you.
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Microsoft
Our partner, Ledgeview Partners has been FANTASTIC to work with. They are always timely in their response and have taken time to understand our business and our specific needs. We've made a lot of advanced customizations and they have been a great help in making those updates.
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In-Person Training
Cornerstone OnDemand
we use also to admin all our training in person events and sessions. Its easy to admin this kind of trainings and automatize some processes we have. Also de user experience and the integration with other systems helps to the employees to use more. All modules integrated oriented to develop people is the principal reason to have CSOD. The training administration is very complete and allows to automate many processes.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Cornerstone OnDemand
The online modules are pretty good. You can access them at any time, which we have done. You learn a lot in the beginning, but having the ability to retake short lessons when you are working on those items was very helpful.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Cornerstone OnDemand
The implementation was pretty difficult. We felt they (Cornerstone) didn’t properly allocate the resources to complete our implementation in the timetable we wanted.

For example, we worked on Workday and SSO integrations - work that we had specifically contracted for in advance. When we were ready to work on that project, they didn’t have the people ready to help us, so it took a lot longer than necessary. That was my biggest pain point.

The implementation approach we went with was a self-led implementation. We would speak to the implementation manager once per week, and self-trained. We met with implementation manager to discuss issues, review things that we’d learned for 1 hour. We found that wasn’t enough. Other things would come up outside that one hour window that we couldn’t get answers to. We didn’t have anyone to ask about those things and we had to wait to ask during our weekly meeting.

The advantage of the self-led implementation approach was that it was really inexpensive – significantly less than the implementation cost for the other systems that we looked at. I also liked that we could pace ourselves. There were however big roadblocks. We would have to make sure the right resources were available. We had an implementation/project manager with a lot of experience and felt that the person was knowledgeable but missed on a few things.

In hindsight, I would still go with the self-led implementation, but knowing what I know now, I would ask for the integration person to be available more. I would work that into the contract. With single sign-on, we needed deep linking to build direct links through a Single Sign-On tool, e.g. when someone gets an email, it directs them to training. But it has to go through SSO to get them to the correct link. Deep linking wasn’t turned on in our system and they had to activate it. We encountered little things like that – sequencing pre-requisites which were problematic. We tried to troubleshoot ourselves.

I recommend you consider contracting for some extra implementation hours and determine when they are going to be available. Work it into the contract that you have the ability to call tech support during implementation. In addition to weekly implementation meetings, they have technical webexes – 4 every week, but 2 didn’t apply to us – one as we were using SSO. The challenge is they were not always relevant – we had specific questions that didn’t fall into those categories
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Microsoft
We used a data warehouse to house our data, and our IT team and implementation vendor worked diligently ahead of time to construct idea implementation plans. Out of millions of records- we had less than a dozen errors, which is remarkable. My major insight is simply having a group of completely devoted individuals working towards your goal who fully understand the desired outcome. Focused resources for implementation season are critical to success.
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Alternatives Considered
Cornerstone OnDemand
The user experience is a lot better than using SumTotal as an admin CSOD makes working easy. Without having workarounds. Reporting is a lot better than both platforms. Reporting in CSOD is complex however easy to manage and create when you understand the data points collected
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Microsoft
Microsoft Dynamics was part of a system overhaul for a local school, and we looked at many products. If we had used it for a company with low turnover, then it might have been more feasible. They needed something a new person could learn quickly, someone who might also be learning marketing terms at the same time - especially if there is nobody to train the individual now expected to know the system. Similar issues occurred with all of these programs (we called it being too big for their britches), and one of the bigger things we liked was that it is more compatible with MS Office products in both technical and visual appeal. If you have a steady employees who use a CRM consistently, low turnover, and those who are very familiar with Office products, Dynamics would be the smartest option for you. Unfortunately, this was just not true for the school environment
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Cornerstone OnDemand
It is important to be familiar with the terms and annual increases in licenses and other aspects of the contract. I recommend analyzing this from the beginning and the permanence is relevant because Cornerstone updates its modules and brings out new features that may allow you to leave a module to acquire another
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Microsoft
On our purchase, I'd been interrogated about our usage. Our needs are met by Microsoft Dynamics 365, which is simple to use. With so much data and information available, we must ensure that it is presented correctly to managers. Due to a lack of use, we don't have to spend as much money on Salesforce.
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Scalability
Cornerstone OnDemand
It's a great product with some pieces that are set but many things that can be customized as needed for individual needs
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
Cornerstone OnDemand
As I have said before, I have no doubt that the services of the Cornerstone sales people were very good. In particular, our salesperson spent a lot of time in contact with us to make the process go smoothly. Perhaps being a large company in some cases the times were slowed down but it is something normal to take into account.
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Microsoft
My company's preferred program right now is Microsoft Dynamics 365. We use it to keep track of customers and important sales metrics in a streamlined manner. Anyone familiar with CRMs will find the tool extremely useful. Considering that we have a good turnover, this product will be used for its basic segments. As a result, there are few chances of error with Microsoft dynamics because it is so easy to use. Many options for recording data on these leads are available. It meets our needs and pays off.
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Return on Investment
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • We are in the process of trying to increase employee engagement through content expansion. We are in the early stages of this.
  • The Edge Import Tool, in conjunction with Reporting 2.0, has done a great job of helping to automate/semi-automate tasks for huge time savings.
  • Maintaining compliance. Achieved through dynamic/automated groups, assignments, communication, and reporting.
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Microsoft
  • For those without a centralized, all in one solution for major HR, Finance and other departments, Microsoft Dynamics 365 has vastly improved employee time utilization and profit.
  • Migrating clients from on-premise to the cloud has reaped benefits including better security, no unscheduled downtime and frequent updates to functionality.
  • Those transferring from cheaper solutions have lost money in the aim to be better integrated with other Microsoft products and AI they don't really utilize.
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ScreenShots

Cornerstone OnDemand Screenshots

Screenshot of A personalized, modern user experience and self-service capabilities to engage employees, ensure productivity, and centralize employee dataScreenshot of With Cornerstone Learning, go beyond compliance and training - truly develop an engaged and collaborative workforce.Screenshot of Cornerstone Recruiting takes care of all talent acquisition needs and provides candidates with an amazing experience.Screenshot of With Cornerstone Performance, benchmark your people's performance, align them with your strategy, and provide feedback that matters.Screenshot of Cornerstone HR offers a personalized, modern user experience and self-service capabilities to engage employees, ensure productivity, and centralize employee data.Screenshot of With Content Anytime, quickly deliver hundreds of eLearning courses covering key soft-skills such as communication, time management, leadership, teamwork, and emotional intelligence.