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Douglas County Builds In-House Dynamics 365 and Power Platform Skills with DCG Training

DCG equipped Douglas County teams with practical Dynamics 365 and Power Platform skills to manage and extend their systems independently, support legacy system consolidation, and reduce reliance on external vendors.

About Company

Douglas County is one of the largest counties in Colorado. The county government is based in Castle Rock and provides services that include property assessment, elections, public health, land use and public safety. Douglas County Information Technology (DCIT) supports these departments and builds county applications on Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform and Azure.

Business Overview

Douglas County plans to consolidate about 50 legacy applications into Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform by 2027. The Microsoft platforms were already in place. County staff did not yet have the skills to build on them, support them or use them confidently in daily work. The county engaged DCG to design and deliver a role-based training program for technical and non-technical employees. DCG built the program on the methods it uses in Power Learn Academy, its accelerator for preparing consultants in Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and practical business scenarios.

Business Challenge

Several related problems slowed adoption and kept Douglas County dependent on outside help:

  • Skills gap in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform: Many employees had not been trained on the platforms, so adoption and day-to-day use lagged.
  • Legacy habits: Staff were used to older systems and their workflows, which slowed the move to Dynamics 365.
  • No structured training path: The county had no role-based program covering everyone involved, from developers and analysts to department staff who use the applications every day.
  • Reliance on outside vendors: With limited internal expertise, routine changes and fixes still went to external vendors. That added cost and slowed turnaround.
  • A 2027 consolidation deadline: Retiring the legacy portfolio on schedule requires county employees who can design, build and support solutions in Dynamics 365.

Douglas County needed a training partner with deep Microsoft experience, and a program where employees could apply to their own work right away.

Two colleagues reviewing work together on a laptop at a conference table

Technology & Approach

  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 logo
  • Microsoft Power Platform logo

How DCG Powered Recovery

DCG started by measuring what employees already knew. The team then built the curriculum around Douglas County's own processes and the consolidation roadmap. Content was adjusted at quarterly stakeholder reviews as county priorities changed.

Critical Implementation Milestones

  • Ran a skills gap assessment to set a baseline for technical and non-technical staff
  • Built a curriculum covering Dynamics 365, Power Platform and Programming for Non-Developers, a track that gives employees without a development background a way into technical tools
  • Delivered regular sessions in phases over six months, using county scenarios and hands-on labs
  • Added instructors for larger classes to keep sessions hands-on
  • Collected structured feedback after sessions and held quarterly reviews with county stakeholders
  • Provided post-session resources, Q&A sessions and optional advanced tracks

Strategic Wins

  • More than 80% of attendees reported greater confidence using Microsoft tools.
  • Employees became proficient in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform and can manage county systems internally.
  • The county has a defined roadmap for moving about 50 legacy applications into Dynamics 365 by 2027.
  • Skills practiced in hands-on labs carried directly into daily work and produced immediate workflow improvements.
  • Stronger internal expertise reduced the county's reliance on external IT vendors and the costs that came with it.

Key Benefits

  • Workforce Confidence

    Employees across technical and non-technical roles use Dynamics 365 and Power Platform with confidence in their daily work.

  • Internal Ownership

    County staff manage and extend their own systems, so routine changes no longer wait on outside vendors.

  • A Workable Consolidation Plan

    A trained workforce and a defined roadmap give the county a realistic path to its 2027 consolidation goal.

  • Wider Access to Low-Code Tools

    Employees without a development background can start building apps and automations.

  • Training That Keeps Pace

    Quarterly stakeholder reviews keep the training aligned with county priorities as the roadmap moves forward.

Build the in-house Microsoft expertise your team needs to take ownership of its systems, reduce vendor dependency, and move modernization forward.