Ideas for D365? Tell Microsoft!

This blog post is a public service announcement. If you have an idea for how Dynamics 365 for Operations can be improved, Microsoft has a website where end users can tell them what they'd like to see as well as vote on ideas that other users have suggested. Get out there and post your great ideas! Also, there are already several great ideas that have been posted. If you see a life changing idea, be sure to vote it up!

The website where ideas can be submitted to Microsoft and voted on is: https://ideas.dynamics.com/ideas/dynamics-operations

The Marathon of Implementation

I wrote this article for the AXUG magazine (link to original article here) and felt that it was appropriate to share it again on the eve of yet another half marathon. As many companies are actively considering moving to Dynamics 365, it still maintains its relevance. Here it is, slightly edited to maintain applicability.

The Marathon of Implementation

After being live in AX for over three years now, I can look back on my company’s implementation process and laugh about some of the craziness that occurred during that time. Of course, I now have some space from that process and I have gained a bit of perspective. At the time though, I would not have laughed, and I can empathize with the pain that those of you are feeling that are in the process of implementing AX, Dynamics 365, or any ERP for that matter.

D365 Tech: AX 2012 Upgrade Path

By far, the most informative session I attended was about the AX 2012 Upgrade Path. This hasn't really made the rounds yet and it's still pretty high level, but the plan seems solid and was very encouraging!

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: The upgrade tools won't be available until July 1, and will start with AX 2012 R3 and move backwards to include functionality for AX 2012 R2 and then AX 2012 RTM.

As of right now, the informally named Upgrade Analyzer is the core of your upgrade from AX 2012. This product effectively helps to analyze, execute, and validate the code and data that you wish to migrate from your 2012 environment through an LCS diagnostic service. The nice thing about it is that it can be used on a backup of your database at any time, so if you want to analyze your data to see what kind of issues may lie ahead, it will be available for you to use!

Getting Started

D365 Tech: Licensing and Pricing for Dynamics 365

This topic seemed to cause more confusion than clarification, but it was a session that generated a lot of discussion! Here is what I gleaned from the Licensing and Pricing session I attended.

User types

There are two types of users that get licenses in Dynamics 365, light users and full users. I made the comparison to functional and enterprise users, but I am not convinced that they are the same!

Light users: Get access to Dynamics 365 for Team Members, Enterprise Edition. This means that they get access to all basic functionality. They can execute basic processes and use embedded business intelligence.

Full users: Get access to all Apps - Operations, Sales, Field Service, Customer Service, Project Service Automation, and PowerApps. These users have access to everything, then have to deal with the constraints of security beyond that point.

Pricing

Here is the Pricing that was shown to us:

D365 Tech: Deployment options

When Dynamics 365 for Operations was introduced to the world, it was a stunner because it was meant to be a cloud-based ERP system. Period. This caused quite a bit of commotion amongst the AX user community due to a lot of concerns about the security of data in the cloud and industry regulations regarding location and accessibility of data. When the AX user community balked at the notion of a cloud-only ERP, Microsoft finally agreed to develop a local business data, or on-prem, version of Dynamics 365 for Operations after initially saying that if the users wanted on-prem, they could use Dynamics AX 2012 R3.

During the keynote at D365 Tech and during an in-depth session on deployment options, I was able to get a clearer picture of the offerings that will soon be available. It appears that the cloud version of Dynamics 365 is ready to go as several companies have already implemented this and are moving forward. There is a hybrid model for deployment in addition to the local business data (on-prem) version of Dynamics 365, but neither one is completely ready yet. Keep reading for more info on the deployment options available for users.

I snapped this photo of a slide shown during the keynote. Great information!

The D365 Tech Conference

Yes, I am in Seattle this week for the D365 Tech Conference! Don't worry though, I am not completely abandoning my AX followers for Dynamics 365 for Operations. I know that there will be people using AX for years to come and I will continue to provide content for AX users as long as I am using AX. But this week, I am all about Dynamics 365.