Microsoft Dynamics 365 – 2019 Round Up

Wave 2 Release – October

Back in October, Microsoft released the Wave 2 update to Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform. This was a major update to the platform and meant hundreds of new capabilities across the applications.  

Some of our favourite features of the update were: 

Business card scan – Dynamics 365 for Sales

This feature enables users to scan business cards, which is then read by AI technology to analyse the information on the cards and populate fields in a Dynamics 365 contact record. 

Layout editor – Dynamics 365 for Marketing

Within Dynamics 365 for Marketing, Microsoft released the layout editor, making it easier for users to design and modify email content, complete with multi-column layouts. This is a key feature for marketers and makes altering the appearance of emails much quicker and easier than before. 

Power Apps Portals

Users are now able to build websites that external users can access via a wide variety of identities (such as personal accounts and LinkedIn) or anonymously, with Power Apps Portals. The revamped interface enables makers to quickly create a website, customise it, add forms, and more, before publishing to others. These are just a select few of the features that were rolled out during the Wave 2 Release.

The next round of updates for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform is due in April 2020. Before this, Microsoft will release the plans and a preview schedule for both partners and customers; The release plans will be available from January 27th 2020. 

Introduction of the Power Platform

2019 saw the introduction of the Microsoft Power Platform. Although Power BI, Power Apps and Microsoft Flow (now named Power Automate) have been around for longer, this year Microsoft created the Power Platform to encompass these tools. Each service has its own specialties; however, the platform connects these to build end-to-end business solutions.   Another benefit of the Power Platform is that it sits on the Common Data Service, allowing data to be securely stored, managed and used by business applications. Dynamics 365 applications also use the Common Data Service to store data; meaning bringing data together between tools has never been easier. 

Licensing Updates – October

In October, Microsoft introduced new changes to the way Dynamics 365 is licensed, moving away from the previous multi-application approach to the new ‘Base + Attach’ model. This gives businesses more freedom to purchase only the applications they need for their user base.  On the new model, customers will purchase a Base License for each D365 user, then add one more Attach License to each base if required. The base cost will be at full cost, then the additional licenses will be cheaper.  

Unified Interface / Depreciation of D365 Web Client 

Microsoft has been pushing for some time for businesses to make the switch from the legacy web client to the Unified Interface. The D365 legacy interface is scheduled for depreciation in October 2020, but some businesses have been given transition dates as early as January 2020; This transition can be delayed but only up to 60 days from the date that Microsoft originally set. 

Get in touch

These are just a few of the highlights and key announcements from the last 12 months, with plenty more featured on our blog; Keep looking out for updates as we move into 2020 with many more exciting things happening within the Dynamics space. If you would like more information about Microsoft Dynamics 365, please get in touch via the contact form below, or email us at info@pragmatiq.co.uk / call us on 01908 038110.