What is Dynamics 365 and what is it used for?

This blog is part of the series: What is <this tech> and what is it used for?

Dynamics 365 as a term

Before we start explaining the CRM apps of Dynamics 365, I thought it would be a good start to actually explain what Dynamics 365 is. In the Dynamics world you have two very different areas; the CRM apps and the ERP (enterprise resource planning) apps.

The ERP apps are tightly connected with the Power Platform, but the underlying structure is completely different, that’s why I will not be going through them explaining what they are and how they’re used. But lets quickly get the ERP highlights from Copilot.

Business Central – for small and medium businesses

Dynamics 365 Business Central is a business system that helps companies manage their everyday work in one place, like finances, sales, purchasing, and inventory. Instead of using many separate tools or spreadsheets, it keeps everything connected so people can see what’s going on across the business. It’s mainly used by small and medium-sized companies to save time, reduce errors, and make better decisions.

Finance and Operations apps for enterprise customers

Commerce

Dynamics 365 Commerce is a system used by retail businesses to manage their stores, online shops, and customer experiences in one place. It helps staff handle things like selling products, tracking stock, managing orders, and giving customers a consistent experience whether they shop in-store or online. The goal is to make it easier to run the business smoothly while giving customers a better and more connected shopping experience.

Finance

Dynamics 365 Finance is a system that helps companies manage their money, such as tracking income and expenses, creating budgets, and handling invoices. It gives a clear overview of the company’s financial health so leaders can make better decisions. It is mainly used by larger or growing businesses that need stronger control and insight into their finances.

Human Resources

Dynamics 365 Human Resources is a system that helps companies manage their employees and everyday HR tasks in one place. It’s used for things like tracking employee information, handling time off, managing benefits, and supporting the hiring process. The goal is to make it easier for HR teams to stay organized and support employees throughout their time at the company.

Supply chain management

Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management is a system that helps companies manage how they buy, make, store, and deliver products. It supports things like tracking inventory, planning production, and making sure the right products are available at the right time. The goal is to keep operations running smoothly, reduce delays, and avoid running out of or overstocking products.

Project Operations (one side of it)

Dynamics 365 Project Operations is a system that helps companies plan, deliver, and track projects from start to finish. It supports tasks like managing timelines, allocating people to work, tracking hours, and keeping an eye on costs and budgets. The goal is to help teams deliver projects on time, stay within budget, and understand how profitable their work is.

The rest of this blog series will focus on the CRM side of Dynamics 365.

All the CRM apps in Dynamics 365 are all Microsoft built model-driven apps. So if you know model-driven apps, you will understand the background of the CRM apps and how they are built. Because I’ve already gone through model-driven apps and how to use them, I’ll not be going through how you can edit the apps. I will go through how Microsoft mean you should use the apps based on how they have built them. I know a lot of people will do changes in the apps and configure them differently, but my posts will go through what’s already there.

Original Post https://malinmartnes.no/2026/05/22/what-is-dynamics-365-and-what-is-it-used-for/