Power Platform Learning Resources
In the past, most Dynamics 365 related e-learning were available on the Dynamics Learning Portal (DLP). New content is now published and available for free on Microsoft Learn and Microsoft OpenEdX.You will find below a summary of the various learning content available for Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform.Platform and fundamentalsMicrosoft OpenEdX: MB-200T01: Dynamics 365: Power Platform… Continue Reading Henry...
New Dynamics 365 Certifications
As old Dynamics 365 certifications are getting retired, new ones have recently been introduced.Dynamics 365 for Sales Functional Consultant Associate Exam: MB-200 Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement CoreExam: MB-210 Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales Dynamics 365 for Customer Service Functional Consultant Associate Exam: MB-200 Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Core Exam: MB-230… Continue Reading Henry...
How-to: Delete components from a managed solution
Using managed solutions to deploy customizations from a source environment (usually Development) to other environments (Test, Production, etc.) is a best practice that has been pushed by Microsoft for a very long time now.Matt Barbour, Principal PM on the Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Platform, did an excellent job last year at Microsoft Ignite to explain why, and how Microsoft has improved… Continue Reading Henry...
Currency management in Dynamics 365 / CDS for Apps
Multi-currency management is a standard feature in Dynamics 365 (or rather in its underlying platform: the Common Data Service for Apps).Administrators configure each desired currency (USD, EUR, GBP…) and their exchange rate with the system “base” currency (there can be only one base currency per environment, and you define it during setup: it can’t be changed afterwards).Exchange rates… Continue Reading Henry...
A history of Dynamics CRM / 365 certifications
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 1.0 came out in 2003. A the time, it was named “Microsoft Business Solutions Customer Relationship Management 1.0” (learn more about the Dynamics CRM history in this article by Fiona Bond). CRM Certification Exams came out shortly after in 2004 with version CRM 1.2. Since then, certification exams were always organized in these main categories: Customization and… Continue Reading Henry Jammes’s...
How Dynamics 365 updates work
Overview and key pointsDuring the Business Applications Summit in Seattle, Luis Camino and Darshan Desai gave more details about the new release cadence and timelines:2 major updates per year: April and OctoberVersion 10.0 is coming out in April 2019It will be possible to update sandbox environments prior to production to test updatesIt will be possible to chose an upgrade date for Production… Continue Reading Henry...
Unified Interface: prepare for take off!
During the Microsoft Business Applications Summit, Shilpa Sinha, who is in charge of the Unified Interface at Microsoft detailed some key points on the current status of the Unified Interface and its roadmap:Important missing features (e.g. Advanced Find) are coming as early as August in an Hybrid Experience. This mode will prevent application “leaks” (meaning that if you click on a record in… Continue Reading Henry...
Audit User Read Access to Dynamics 365 Records
With GDPR being effective since May 25 2018, Microsoft has released a large set of tools and security mechanisms, both on Office 365 and Dynamics 365, to ensure their customers can be compliant and offer the highest level of security.I will focus in this article on the new option to audit read actions.Dynamics 365 now allows to track these actions:Display of a single CRM record.Display of a… Continue Reading Henry Jammes’s...
PowerApps and the Common Data Service for Apps
Following my article The new PowerApps and CDS for Apps run on xRM!, I’m happy to share with you my first steps in the CDS for Apps and PowerApps “Model-Driven App” world!The Common Data Service (CDS) enables customers and partners to build and deliver rich LOB applications using data from the Dynamics 365 family of services and Office 365. CDS is ubiquitously available in Dynamics 365, Office… Continue Reading...
PowerApps and CDS for Apps run on xRM
The Dynamics CRM / xRM foundations have become the beating heart of the Microsoft Business Application Platform.A little history…A long time ago, there was Dynamics CRM. A solution that integrated sales, service and marketing automation features.People quickly started talking about xRM because of the great extensibility of the platform. It became possible (and easy!) to manage new business… Continue Reading Henry Jammes’s...
Dynamics 365 for Marketing and ClickDimensions comparision
Microsoft recently lifted the NDA on Dynamics 365 for Marketing and it is now in Public Preview: you can try it yourself here. Microsoft did a very good job at documenting the solution on Microsoft Docs.You may get a little confused as to which marketing automation solution to choose for your Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement deployment between Adobe, Dynamics 365 for Marketing, and ISVs such… Continue Reading Henry...
The right questions to ask when designing a security model in Dynamics 365
Where to start when it comes to security in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement?In this post I will help you ask and hopefully answer the key questions that arise when you design a security model.I will also provide important warnings to consider and I will give you a simple method on how to lay down on paper the foundations of your security model and its business rules.What type of owner for… Continue Reading Henry Jammes’s...
Dynamics 365 Security: context, context, context!
Have I mentioned how important the context is?Whenever you address a security question in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, there are always two contexts that you must take into consideration: the data context and the user context.The data context: it is provided by the record’s owner but also (and it’s very important), by the Business Unit of its owner (whether it is a user or a team).
How CRM solutions are transforming: 8 trends for 2018
It’s now been years since CRM solutions don’t restrain themselves to traditional customer relationship management processes. This broadening of their functional scope has even led editors to rename their solutions. CRM solutions have become cloud-based powerful, scalable and extensible platforms that can welcome a great deal of new business objects and processes. While these processes are… Continue Reading Henry Jammes’s...
Basic but important considerations about the Dynamics 365 / CDS for Apps security model
The Dynamics 365 / Common Data Service for Apps security model When it comes to data, security defines who has the right to do what on a record in the respective context of the user and the data. Concerning the User Interface, security lets you adapt a number of items for users: Forms Dashboards Command bar buttons Business Process Flows The sitemap (or sitemaps, since 8.2, thanks to App… Continue...
Golden Rules to design a security model in Dynamics 365
This series of articles is dedicated to security modeling in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement / Common Data Service for Apps.The aim is to go beyond the basic principles that are already detailed in Customization and Configuration courses or on TechNet, and to provide design tips, best practice and examples to simplify a CRM security model implementation and administration.Why is it crucial to… Continue Reading Henry...
New certification: MB2-877 Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service
5 new Business Applications exams were announced earlier this month. Among them, a Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement one: MB2-877: Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service. It should count towards the MSCA and MCSE certification paths. Even though Field Service skills were already tested in the MB2-718: Dynamics 365 for Customer Service exam, it’s good to have a new, dedicated exam, as the… Continue Reading Henry...
Dynamics 365: the sessions your must watch from Microsoft Ignite
Microsoft has released on their YouTube channel a great deal of sessions that were recorded at the Microsoft Ignite conference that took place this week in Orlando, Florida. Many of them are on Dynamics CRM 365 Customer Engagement (CE for short).One of them is particularly insightful for architects and developers, as it relates to platform considerations: solution management (Microsoft is more… Continue Reading Henry...
How does Dynamics 365 for Sales, Business Edition work?
Microsoft Dynamics Customer Engagement is now available in two editions. The Enterprise Edition, which can be considered as the continuity of Dynamics CRM, and the Business Edition. The first Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Business Edition application to be available will be the Sales one. It is currently only available in preview. The Marketing application will come out later, and as of… Continue Reading Henry...
To know the future of Dynamics 365… keep an eye open on the Business Edition!
To know the future of Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, the best thing to do is to keep an eye open on the Business Edition. It was created by Microsoft to offer a simpler version of the Dynamics 365 Enterprise Edition features to Small and Medium-sized Businesses. The Business Edition creates a safe space for Microsoft to rapidly deploy and try out new features that do not need to take into… Continue Reading Henry...
MultiSelect Option Sets in Dynamics 365 / CDS for Apps
With the July 2017 Update of Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (v9.0), Microsoft introduced a long awaited feature: MultiSelect Option Set. As a matter of fact, it was not possible, until now, to select multiple values in a pick-list. MultiSelect Option Sets are available for both the Enterprise Edition and the Business Edition of Dynamics 365, although they look a bit different (more on that… Continue Reading Henry...
Microsoft Dynamics 365 + Adobe Campaign: how do they integrate?
With Adobe Campaign and Microsoft Dynamics 365, brands can bring their marketing and sales content, data, processes together to deliver engaging customer experiences across all touch points throughout the customer journey. You can learn more on the Adobe / Microsoft partnership in this article. To synchronize data between Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Adobe Marketing Cloud, you need to make… Continue Reading Henry...
Understanding the Microsoft – Adobe partnership
Microsoft professionals are looking more and more into Adobe since the announcement of a strategic partnership between the two editors. Last May, I attended the Adobe Summit EMEA conference in London, and I was impressed by the very advanced vision Adobe had on customer experience. Many C-levels & VPs (from T-Mobile, BMW, Coca-Cola, Adidas, Hostelworld.com…) shared testimonials and success… Continue Reading Henry...
All about Dynamics 365 Certifications
With each new major version of its CRM product, Microsoft does a little refresh of its certification exams. These exams are important to validate by Microsoft but also to to the market your level of competency on the Dynamics solutions. Therefore they are particularly important for service companies. What exams are available? 4 exams are available for the Entreprise Edition of Dynamics 365… Continue Reading Henry...
Dynamics CRM is dead, long live Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement
With the launch of Dynamics 365 at the end of 2016, Microsoft blurred the lines between its CRM and ERP offering.Classic Dynamics CRM modules became “Dynamics 365 for Sales” or “Dynamics 365 for Customer Service”, while Dynamics AX was referred to as “Dynamics 365 for Operations” With the July 2017 Update of Dynamics 365, Microsoft clarified its license plans names, and generally… Continue Reading Henry Jammes’s Article on...