From CRM admin to independent advisor

Twenty years in Microsoft business applications, and what I would tell someone starting out.

Jukka Niiranen, Power Platform advisor, Helsinki

Karelia UAS guest session · 27 Oct 2026

Portrait of Jukka Niiranen

Hi, I'm Jukka

  • Studied business, not computer science: Helsinki Business Polytechnic, thesis in 2002 on e-mail marketing and CRM.
  • Working with Microsoft business applications since 2005. First as a CRM admin inside a customer company, then as a consultant at Microsoft partners.
  • Microsoft MVP for 11 years (2013–2024).
  • Co-founded Forward Forever in 2020, one of the first Finnish companies focused only on Power Platform.
  • Since 2024: Niiranen Advisory Oy, a one-person company.
  • Writing since 2008: first the Surviving CRM blog (300+ posts), now the Perspectives Plus newsletter.

Your topics, in Microsoft business applications terms

DatabasesDataverseTables, relationships and security, built into the platform.
User interfacesPower Apps, Power PagesApps and websites on top of the same data.
AutomationPower AutomateWhen something happens, do something else. No server to run.
IntegrationsConnectors, APIs, AzureConnect the systems nobody wants to rewrite.
App developmentLow-code, code, AI agentsPick per problem. Most real solutions mix all three.

Twenty years on one timeline

2005first CRM job 2008blog starts 2013first MVP 2020Power Platform bet 2024own company RolePlatformWritingMVP Business CRM admin Consultant at Microsoft partners Co-founder Independent Dynamics CRM Dynamics 365 Power Platform, AI Surviving CRM blog Thinking Forward Newsletter Microsoft MVP, 11 years
  1. 2002Business degree thesis on e-mail marketing and CRM.
  2. 2005First Microsoft CRM job: admin of the system in a customer company.
  3. 2008Starts the Surviving CRM blog to write down lessons from real projects.
  4. 2009–2012Moves to the partner side as a consultant. Same problems, many companies.
  5. 2013First Microsoft MVP award.
  6. 2016–2019CRM turns into Dynamics 365, then into a wider platform.
  7. 2020All in on Power Platform. Co-founds Forward Forever.
  8. 2024Leaves the MVP program and the agency. Starts Niiranen Advisory.
  9. NowLicensing, governance, and what AI and agents change.

I did not start as a developer

  • My first CRM job was to make the system fit how sales and service people actually work.
  • I learned the technology because the problems needed it.
  • IT needs people who understand the work as well as the tools. There is more than one way in.

Three times I changed direction

2009

One company to many

From running one company's CRM to working with many. Patterns repeat across organisations, and you only see that from outside.

2020

CRM to low-code

Put the CRM hat away and bet on Power Platform while most CRM partners were still sitting on the fence.

2024

Agency to independent

Left the MVP program and the company I co-founded, to say what I think without a partner badge attached.

What paid off over time

  • Writing in public. The blog led to readers, then the MVP award, then clients who already knew my work.
  • Peers. The MVP community was a turning point: people who know more than you, and are willing to say so.
  • Depth first, width later. Years in one product, then widening as the platform widened.
  • Courage to put your name on things. Big corporations and consulting firms look more experienced than you. Most often they aren't better. The one who dares to build, ship and write becomes the real expert.

What the work looks like

Most weeks

  • Chats and online calls with clients about platform, licensing and governance decisions.
  • Investigating release notes and documentation, then writing about what they mean.
  • Building small tools and demos, often with my coding agents.

Not in the brochure

  • Bookkeeping, invoicing, contracts, taxes.
  • Nobody tells you what to do on Monday.
  • Work does not arrive by itself. Being visible is part of the job.

Coding agents changed what one person can build

  • This site was put together with a coding agent on the morning of this session.
  • So was the demo on the next slide, over the past week.
  • The agent does not take responsibility. You still need to know what good looks like: data models, security, what breaks.
  • Copilot and agents are a new layer on the same platform and the same data.

Demo: Karelia's project list as a business app

  1. Public pagehankkeet.karelia.fi/kaikki-hankkeet
  2. Scrape82 projects in 5 themes
  3. DataverseTheme, Funder (account), Project
  4. Model-driven appViews and forms, no UI code

Built from public information. Not an official Karelia application.

What the app looks like

  • One project as a form. No UI code written.
  • Theme and Funder are links to other tables.
  • The timeline for notes and tasks comes with the platform.

Data: this public project page. The timeline notes and the funder shown are made-up demo data.

projects admin / project

A model-driven app form for the project ICT-konesali investointi ja integraatiot oppimislaboratorioihin, with name, theme, funder, schedule and source fields and a timeline of notes on the right.
What is a model-driven app?

advice / first ten years

  1. Start from the users and how they interact with technology.
  2. Write down what you learn. Blog, notes, GitHub. Public if you can.
  3. Go deep in one area, and stay curious about the next shift.
  4. Find your people. Communities, meetups, peers who are ahead of you.
  5. Ship small, imperfect things. Then improve them.
  6. Treat AI agents as normal technology, not as a replacement for human judgement.

Try it yourself

Questions? Thank you, Karelia