Microsoft Dynamics 365 Online: The New Hub for ERP and CRM

By - November 4, 2016

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Online was released Tuesday, Nov 1, 2016, and is packed with plenty of new features, functionalities and other neat additions to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM application. Designed to be a new hub for ERP and CRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365 combines both front-end and back-end processes into one powerful package.

In this blog, I am mainly going to discuss the new navigation/structure in Microsoft Dynamics 365.

After creating your Dynamics 365 free-trial demo, you will be able to select which apps to install in your Dynamics 365 suite. These “Apps” are mini-applications inside your Dynamics 365 instance. For now, only two apps are available for MSCRM with two more due out by the end of the year:

  • Sales
  • Customer Service
  • Field Service – Coming Soon around Dec 2016
  • Project Service Automation – Coming Soon around Dec 2016

Once inside your Dynamics 365 platform,  start navigating from the Home Dynamics 365 page.

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Next, you will see your “Task Pane”, which houses all of your APPS inside your Dynamics 365 instance.

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You can drill down further by expanding the “My apps” or search for a specific app.

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At the bottom of the page, you can see shortcuts for your already installed Apps.

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Your default app is called “Dynamics 365 – Custom”, which is created when a new Dynamics 365 instance is set up. Here, we have Sales, Service, Marketing, Settings, etc.

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However, if you just want to show only the “Sales” pane, just switch the app to “Sales”

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Notice after I change my app to “Sales”, I only see Sales and Marketing and no service or any other title.

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Other cosmetic changes include the top left navigation items.

Going from left to right in MSCRM 2016, we have

Recently View Items > Quick Create > Global Search > Advanced Find > Personal Option

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Going from left to right in Dynamics 365, we have

Advanced Find > Recently Viewed Items > Quick Create > Advanced Find > Personal Option

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Besides the above-mentioned navigation changes and apps, the CRM forms for standard entities have not changed much and still retain the same old look and feel similar to MSCRM 2016 in this Dynamics 365 version.

I hope this was helpful to get you started on the new adventure in Dynamics 365. As for what new features are heading our way for us MSCRM enthusiasts, below is a sneak peek of my next several blogs about Microsoft Dynamics 365. Stay tuned…

  • Introducing modular business apps, app designer and site map designer
  • Processes unification and enhancements
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service enhancements
  • Enhancements to Portal capabilities for Microsoft Dynamics 365
  • Mobile app enhancements
  • Relevance Search enhancements
  • Display the associated activities of the related entities
  • Editable Grid custom control
  • Power BI integration enhancements
  • Preview feature: Azure Cognitive Service integration
  • Replicate Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online) data to Microsoft Azure SQL Database using Data Export
  • Customer-initiated backup and restore
  • Access restriction with trusted IP rules
  • View metrics about your instance with Organization Insights solution
  • Preview feature: Customer Insights service
  • Assign a Dynamics 365 (online) administrator at the tenant level
  • Preview feature: Relationship Insights

Looking to deploy Dynamics 365 or upgrade to Dynamics 365? RSM US LLP offers a full range of services from implementation and optimization to development and support to help guide you through a successful upgrade. Contact our professionals for more information on our services at 855.437.7202 or crm@rsmus.com.  Or visit us on the web to learn more about Microsoft Dynamics 365

by Hien Tieu for RSM

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