Supporting Altea Federation and Alterna with Specialist Microsoft Technology Talent

02 Nov, 20265 minutes

Altea Federation brings together 20 companies providing overarching services covering management consulting, system integration, digital solutions, and managed services. Alterna is the Federation’s Microsoft-specialised branch, supporting organisations with business applications and overall digital transformation.

Montreal Associates began supporting the Federation in 2017, supplying specialists across Microsoft Dynamics NAV, AX and CRM, business intelligence, software development, Salesforce and project delivery. The relationship later expanded into focused recruitment support for Alterna, with its first placement recorded in May 2022.

Across the two entities, MA has delivered 50 placements: 40 under Altea Federation and 10 under Alterna. Combining proactive candidate sourcing with knowledge of Italy’s Microsoft recruitment market, the partnership has developed beyond hiring support to include guidance on salaries, employee benefits, competitor activity, and recruitment conditions.

Placements Delivered

Permanent Hires

Years of Continued Partnership

The Challenge

Altea Federation and Alterna operate in a highly specialised and competitive market. Their ability to deliver client projects depends on securing the few professionals specialized in the market.

Microsoft Dynamics professionals were a particularly high-demand hire, specifically covering NAV, AX, CRM, Dynamics 365, Business Central, and Finance and Operations. Recruiting them through standard channels was often difficult, as many were already in permanent roles and rarely willing to submit their profiles to recruiters.

Altea needed a recruitment partner that could reach this limited talent pool and efficiently assign the candidates to the right projects.

Our Approach

Montreal Associates combined recruitment support across Altea Federation with focused, success-based permanent recruitment for Alterna’s Microsoft Dynamics practice.

Proactive recruitment was established to assist the client. Drawing on established relationships within the Italian technology sector, MA mapped a substantial part of the Microsoft Dynamics market and developed a network that included approximately 450 Dynamics NAV professionals and between 500 and 550 Dynamics AX professionals.

Candidates were selected against the client’s technical requirements, business needs, and project responsibilities. Recruitment covered:

Microsoft Dynamics NAV, AX and CRM
Dynamics 365, Business Central, and Finance and Operations
ERP development and business intelligence
SharePoint and modern workplace technologies
Software development and Salesforce
Technical leadership, project management and service delivery

This system not only managed to obtain the required talent but also managed to efficiently incorporate it into the clients' systems. For a recent Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations consultant search, MA completed the sourcing process of two Milan-based candidates within 24 hours, both of whom later progressed to interview and a contract.

As the relationship developed, Alterna also turned to MA for advice on salaries, employee benefits, competitor activity and recruitment market conditions.

How the Partnership Developed

2017–2021: Establishing the Partnership

MA supported Altea Federation with 22 placements across Microsoft Dynamics, business intelligence, software development, technical leadership, project management and Salesforce.

2022–2023: Expanding Microsoft Recruitment

This year was marked by further expansion of delivery, with 22 placements and expanded MA support across Dynamics 365, ERP development, finance consulting, business intelligence and project delivery. This period also marked the start of direct support with Alterna, beginning in May 2022.

2025–2026: Targeted Delivery

Six additional placements supported evolving requirements across Business Central, Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, SharePoint, modern workplace technologies, and senior operational consulting.

Results

Montreal Associates delivered 50 placements across Altea Federation and Alterna, comprising 49 permanent hires and one contract placement.

Recruitment Delivery

40 placements under Altea Federation
10 placements under Alterna
Specialist recruitment across Microsoft business applications, software development, business intelligence, project management and related technology environments

Candidate Pipeline

Across the partnership, MA submitted 315 candidate profiles and recorded 197 interviews, equivalent to an overall profile-to-interview ratio of approximately 63%.

Altea Federation: 274 profiles submitted and 166 interviews, equivalent to a 61% ratio
Alterna: 41 profiles submitted and 31 interviews, equivalent to a 76% ratio

Key Outcomes

Nine-year recruitment relationship
49 permanent hires supporting the client’s ongoing talent requirements
Progression from recruitment across the wider Federation to focused support for Alterna
Established access to specialist Microsoft Dynamics talent in Italy
Additional support on salaries, benefits, competitor activity and recruitment conditions
No use of the three-month rebate guarantee during the partnership

Looking for Specialist Microsoft Talent?

Looking to hire Microsoft Dynamics specialists or strengthen your technology teams in Italy? Speak to Montreal Associates about your recruitment needs.