No really, what is Dynamics 365?

Every business uses technology.  This is business management software, or business applications. These business applications can be quite simple or quite complicated.

Microsoft’s Business Applications include a suite of products and services called Dynamics 365. Dynamics 365 applications can be organized into a few different groups.

Sales and marketing

Service

Finance

Commerce

Supply chain

Within the sales and marketing group you will find Dynamics 365 Sales, Dynamics 365 Marketing, and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights.

Within the service group you will find Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Dynamics 365 Field Service, Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, and Dynamics 365 Customer Voice.

In the finance group you will find Dynamics 365 Finance, Dynamics 365 Project Operations and Dynamics 365 Human Resources.

In the commerce group you will find Dynamics 365 Commerce, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Dynamics 365 Sales, Dynamics 365 Fraud Protection, Dynamics 365 Intelligent Order Management, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights and Dynamics 365 Marketing.

Within the supply chain group, you will find Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Dynamics 365 Intelligent Order Management, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Insights, and Dynamics 365 Guides.

You probably noticed that a few of the products I mentioned were repeated.  That’s because these products are versatile and can support businesses in different ways.

Additionally, these products are built to work directly with other Microsoft products such as Microsoft Teams, Power Bi, LinkedIn Sales Navigator and more. 

Dynamics 365 products also work well with products made and maintained outside the scope of Microsoft.  These are called integrations.  Some of these integrations require a simple plug-and-play connector and others require a professional developer to write code to allow communications between the systems to share data and actions.

These Microsoft Business Applications are robust and solve many business problems.  They are also configurable to allow businesses to offer users the applications they need to do their jobs.  They are also customizable to allow professionals to pick and choose what to offer users with a strong foundation of the Dynamics apps.

Careers in Dynamics 365 are quite varied.

Let’s think about what it takes to make and support business software.

First you have to plan and design the solutions. This requires industry experts who understand what the business needs.  You’ll need someone to capture and document the needs and solutions.  And you’ll need a solution architect to orchestrate the overall solution to be made.

Then you need to build the solution that was just planned.  If this is with Dynamics 365, you will need professionals skilled in configuration of the apps, who also understand the requirements of the business.  Sometimes you need professional developers to write code to build these applications.  You need team members proficient in automation.  You need a team to test the solutions.  You need someone to train users.  And so on.

This is of course an over-simplified narrative.  But the point is that with Dynamics 365 you can find great career opportunities for skilled professionals. 

Looking to learn more about Dynamics 365?  Join our user group for learning.  https://aka.ms/BAPCommunity  


Getting geared up for conferences again

Wow, it's been a hot minute since we've all met in person, no?

I am immunocompromised and as vaccinated as vaccinated can be.  My doctor and I decided I can travel again, even speak at events.  So, come October, I'll be out there with you all.

I had written a post about being prepared for an event (CRMUG Summit 2016 to be precise).  And it is all still good advice.  But now we have to add a a few more items to the list.

  • We all missed in-person events, but many of us are still terrified of germs and have spent the last few years avoiding them.  Please don't be the person that gets me (or other vulnerable people) sick.  If you suspect you have an active contagious anything, stay home this round.

  • Don't be offended when someone like me is wearing a mask, or asks your vaccination status before giving that hug (can we establish a V hand signal, like V for victory and V for vaccinated??).  There are still people dying from COVID and flu.  I'd rather not be one of them.

  • Remember what we all loved about being in person.  Talking about the cool things we've been doing.  Sharing our stories from the field. Learning from each other.

  • Be forgiving.  We've all had an isolating couple of years.  We may have lost some of our social skills, we may have gained a few pounds, many have lost loved ones.

  • Be smart. Wash your hands often.  See a sanitizer station- use it.  Don't sneeze or cough toward others.

    I'm really getting excited about seeing my community again.  I really did miss you all.



    Original list:
  • Minimize distractions back at the office. Work extra hard now to avoid the trap of trying to work AND attend the conference. If you find yourself replying to emails three times in every session you attend, you aren’t really going to get much out of the session. If you have to keep up with the folks back at work, set aside time and plan for a session to spend working in a quiet corner instead of being partially engaged in several sessions.
  • To ease the stress of leaving behind people at the office that would rather be at the conference with you, get their questions to take with you. What are their burning questions or concerns? Make sure you find the answers and resources to take back with you. Share the schedule with them in advance and then set up a lunch-and-learn the week you return and share your new knowledge and skills.
  • Dress for comfort. Now, I will say no jammies for sure. But also, not a suit. Good shoes are the best thing you can bring. Promise.
  • Stash some good snacks in your bag. You may find yourself in a great discussion and miss a conference meal or break. So grab some granola bars, some durable candy, whatever helps you make it to the meal later on. And drink water. You will be walking more than you plan, avoid dehydration.
  • Every speaker, planner, expert is approachable, so approach them. Raise your hand in the session. Wait after the talk to ask your question. Find them at lunch and sit at the same table. Go to the medics’ station. They are there to share their knowledge. So let them.
  • Plan your sessions in advance, mostly. Be open to last minute choices.
  • Get yourself a fresh CRM trial before you go so you can immediately try that new cool thing you learned. Ok, get at least THREE new free trials. I suggest one that is bare, one that specializes (like sales or service) and one with a solution like Field Service or Project Service in it. Different things work different ways with added customizations or data.
  • Take notes. Doesn’t matter if you’re a pen and paper person (me too!), if you like to scribble on your tablet or if you type it all organized. Take notes. I promise you won’t remember it all the next day.
  • There will be booze. Don’t be THAT person that acts a fool and gets everyone to pull out their cameras and you find yourself rather embarrassed.
  • Make friends, make memories.

How did I get here?

I recently posted a tweet, asking you how you got to Power Platform.  The responses were great, full of so many different answers.  I love how diverse they were, and how it really solidified for me that any path can be the right path.

For me, my path here was anything but intentional. Anyone that knew me as a young adult would have had me editing a big glossy magazine and living in Manhattan.

But a broken leg changed my path. When I was stuck with nothing to do, I started working as a software tester. Then I was writing requirements. Then I was architecting solutions. And now here I am. 

Back when we called Power Platform plain old XRM, I was amazed at how much I could build without a single line of code.  Now, we have an entire ecosystem to empower anyone.  Wow.

I was always interested in tech, curious about how things work, how can we solve problems in the most logical way. When I had the chance to teach others how to do the same thing, I knew I found my place. The opportunity to help people find a better version of themselves is quite a motivator.

My work has brought me around the world.  Seeing great things, meeting great people, eating great food. 



A decade of XRM

It took us ten years to get here.  But many of us already were “here”.  We’ve been using the platform as a platform for a very long time.  In 2008 we published our first XRM book for developers, CRM as a Rapid Development Platform.

So much has changed, so much as stayed the same. Microsoft CRM 4.0 gave us so many of the core platform capabilities we still use today.

I have two quotes to set the stage.

The first is from a book review posted on Amazon.

“The perception is that Microsoft have put out a 'CRM product' but what most people don't realise is that Microsoft CRM is actually an application development platform that happens to come pre-configured with CRM functionality. “ (from Guy Riddle)

And the second is from the book itself. More specifically, Chapter 2 on making line of business applications.

“I think that it cold be argued that what Microsoft should have done with CRM 4.0 was separate its application development platform from the implementation as a CRM application. By doing that it could have established the CRM 4.0 platform as a solid development platform for building line of business applications. Then they could market CRM 4.0 as being built on this application development platform. Then developers would be able to license just the platform portion and be charged a license fee that is appropriate for using only the application development platform capabilities.”

 

CDS 2.0 is essentially exactly these two things from ten years ago.

In 2008 we were talking about the cool new features of platform functionality that we now had with CRM 4.0. Some of the things we could not even imagine going without today.

CRM 4.0 gave us user-defined workflows. You no longer needed a developer to automate the system. The birth of Citizen Developers!

And now you could trigger workflows based on more events without needing to engage a developer. Suddenly record changes were triggers. For users to define automation.

Both CRM Online and multi-tenancy were introduced.

With the addition of multi-currency and multi-language capabilities we now had the basis for an implementation that had users all over the world working together in a single tenant.

For me the relationship changes for that release are the unsung hero. Sure CRM 4.0 gave us many-to-many relationships. But it also gave us multiple relationships between entities (system and custom), and self-referential relationships. We could make create hierarchical data with this stuff. We also now had the ability to display columns of data from related entities in our views. We could see the address of the parent account while looking at a contact grid. Come on, how can we brush aside the R in CRM? Think about how you use the platform today? These items are just taken for granted.

Email integration improvements. We got email tracking that no longer required the tracking token. And we could now track emails from POP3 and not just Exchange configurations.

We also saw a host of other random platform updates that we now take for granted.

· Automatic resolution on lookup fields

· User defined duplicate detection

· Report wizard

· Callouts became plugins

· Backward compatibility.

I had the lofty goal of a blog series written by me covering feature by feature, chapter by chapter the then verses now. And now I have instead begun asking some of the super smart folks around me of writing guest posts with their take on these things. Stay tuned.


Custom learning plan for accidental admin in #Dyn365 (akaCRM)

The is the next installment of the occasional series to offer custom learning paths. Access to the Dynamics Learning Portal is required to use this plan. https://mbspartner.microsoft.com

What happens if one day you come to work and suddenly you are left in charge of your company’s Dynamics 365 (for customer engagement) system. It’s a small company, last week you were just the power user, a champion of the system. But now, the dedicated “CRM guy” has suddenly left. What do you need to know to administer the system once they give you the keys?

Fear not! I have made a custom learning plan for you to follow o help guide you through this potential disaster.

https://mbspartner.microsoft.com/MyLPShare/006df59d-9503-40ff-823b-d3cdc902f8f0

There are four sections, Lessons, Integrations, Demos and Miscellaneous. Let’s look at each one.

Lessons

These are videos that for the most part are less than an hour. They have been extracted from larger courses just for this Learning Plan. If you are totally new to the admin role, start at the top and work your way down the list. If you have some experience and need to backfill the gaps, choose the one(s) that help you the most. These are focused on what to do and how to do it within your Dynamics 365 CE itself.

Integration

In all of my time in this Dynamics bubble I have never seen a CRM implemented on its own. There is always something else. ALWAYS. So in here you will see lessons on using other business solutions, Outlook, Microsoft Social Engagement and so on. There is also a link to documentation for portals.

Demos

Yes, demos. You say to yourself, I don’t do sales, I don’t need a demo. But you do. This is a great way to watch someone use the system. That makes you better at administering it.

Miscellaneous

There are some webinars, new release details and a link to an actual instructor led workshop.

If you need a lesson in using the Dynamics Learning Portal, have a read here http://julieyack.blogs.com/my_weblog/2018/01/decoding-the-dlp-part-one-your-first-90-days.html


Looking for Technical Blitz for Dynamics 365?

It’s been re-named!

See you there.


Attend Showcasing Dynamics 365 Demos - 2 Dates Only!

Monday, February 12 @ 8 pm PST l Tuesday, February 13 @ 8 am PST

As a follow up to the November 2017 Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Blitz, we invite you to attend Showcasing Dynamics 365 Demos. Product specialists are excited to share the demo strategy, resources available, and how to deliver the content for the following Dynamics 365 business applications:  Sales, Adobe Experience Cloud, Customer Service, Field Service, Finance and Operations, Talent, and Retail.

Please join us at 8 PM PST on 12 February or 8 AM PST on 13 February. Subject matter experts will be on hand to answer your questions and on-demand sessions will be available on-demand following the live-streamed event.

Register Now!


My omni-channel customer service travel experience

I’m currently on the road, gone for most of the month of October. And truth be told, I’m actually CURRENTLY delayed and stuck in Nashville. I’m heading to Sydney, and with the fires around San Francisco, there is a bit of uncertainty about making it in time before my class tarts Monday morning.

But, let’s go back to my story.

All the travel from my month was booked online, no surprise there. It was the experience I expected, and included a couple of hours to find a good seat to go from Sydney to Munich.

Since I left home, some of the plans have changed and I have had to edit/cancel the reservations; and interact with representatives of the providers.

I needed to cancel an itinerary with Iceland Air (Amsterdam to Reykjavík to Denver). I was able to determine that the fare I had booked would be somewhat refundable, but might have had some penalties/fees. I was not able to cancel automatically from the site, I had a choice to call in or use Facebook Messenger. I went the Facebook Messenger route. I’ve pasted the entire conversation below. It took just over one hour from start to finish.

image

I also wound up needing to cancel my Sydney to Munich (Sydney to Jakarta to Singapore to Munich). That I booked via Expedia on Garuda Indonesia Air. I was not able to locate my itinerary via the airline direct; but I was able to find that my booked fare class was cancellable, but with unknown penalties. Same exercise with Expedia, reservation easily found, but zero info about the fare class, cancel options, or really anything beyond this is your reservation. No cancel options online, you must call customer service. In their favor, the call was fairly quick, the flights cancelled easily after a quick confirmation of penalties. The ticket was cancelled and all refunded except for a penalty of around $98.

Most of this month-long journey I’m staying at Marriot properties. They have a mobile app that I’ve used before for check-ins. But once checked in you can still use the app for great things. I will find out in Sydney if it’s a different experience based on location, assuming I get to Sydney. In the app you have options for things like more towels or toiletries and wake-up calls. There’s also a chat option. I used that a ton in Nashville at the Gaylord/Opryland hotel. It was awesome. Here’s a sample of the interactions.

image

image

And now my current experience; trying to fly Nashville to San Francisco to Sydney. My original itinerary had me out of Nashville around 5pm, and arriving in San Francisco with a two-hour connection. I got the message below yesterday, more than 24 hours before my scheduled flight (I got it both in text and email).

image

That’s good service and prompted me to change to an earlier flight from Nashville to San Francisco, hoping some padding in the day would help.

The delays started right after I arrived at the airport. The delays are not United’s fault, I get it. But it is their job to keep me informed. That is not happening.

I have not received a single text or email regarding the flight.

When I log in to the site, this is what I see:

image

Notice the arrows. On the right is a message telling me that I’m delayed; and that I’m booked on my flight and the next one as a buffer. Sounds like good service. Notice that I’m hovering over the “View updated reservation details”. In the bottom left, you can see it will direct me back to the United home page. I am now a delayed and confused (loyal) customer. Now we have bad service. So now I have to call to find out when I’m going where. Agent at the premier desk swears I’m not double-booked. We chat and decide the best path is to stay on the itinerary I have, there are not many options for getting to Sydney this is my best bet.

Now here at the airport, the gate agent brings out a snack cart for those of us waiting for the delayed flight. Super good service. The delay is not United’s fault, but they are doing what they can to make it a bit more palatable. I tweet about it. United replies.

clip_image012

clip_image013

Did they just ask for my flight number? Not that it’s a secret, but don’t they have that already? My reply is a let-me-google-that-for-you link. Sure enough, it comes right up with my delayed flight.

And ironically, I just got a flight delay notice for the later flight to San Francisco. The one I’m not on.


Best marketing email of the year! We’re the Spork People from Ignite

What is the goal of a marketing email? To get my attention? To make me remember? To show interest in your company? To buy something from you?

We’re the Spork People from Ignite

The subject line is awesome. It made me remember who they are, exactly who they are. (truth be told, it also made me feel a tiny bit guilty that I took the sporks and didn’t really know about their products; but now I know!)

The email text was also pretty clever. I remember them!

Trying to eat a steak with a spork is possible, but it’s a real challenge. Sure, your SPorganizer sporks have a serrated knife edge, but it’s going to take you a long time to cut into the meat. Just like eating a steak with a spork is a challenge, managing your SharePoint environment without SPorganizer is possible, but it’s a tedious undertaking. Check out the SPorganizer datasheet to learn more about how this product can streamline your SharePoint environment. We are also hosting a webinar on Wednesday, October 12th to demonstrate and discuss how SPorganizer can benefit any SharePoint environment, I’d love if you could join us.

Here's some info, click here for a datasheet and if you’re interested join my webinar. Says what it needs to say, respects my time, leaves it up to me to take the next step.

And in this case my next step is this blog post. What a great job!

Happy to offer a shoutout to Cate Godley and the team at DocAuto!  Keep up the good work.

A8CF3D9A


Are you ready for #CRMUGSummit?

As we get into the last few days before we meet in Tampa, I’ve made a list helpful hints and tips to help get the most out of your time at CRMUG Summit.

  1. Minimize distractions back at the office. Work extra hard now to avoid the trap of trying to work AND attend the conference. If you find yourself replying to emails three times in every session you attend, you aren’t really going to get much out of the session. If you have to keep up with the folks back at work, set aside time and plan for a session to spend working in a quiet corner instead of being partially engaged in several sessions.
  2. To ease the stress of leaving behind people at the office that would rather be at the conference with you, get their questions to take with you. What are their burning questions or concerns? Make sure you find the answers and resources to take back with you. Share the schedule with them in advance and then set up a lunch-and-learn the week you return and share your new knowledge and skills.
  3. Dress for comfort. Now, I will say no jammies for sure. But also, not a suit. Good shoes are the best thing you can bring. Promise.
  4. Stash some good snacks in your bag. You may find yourself in a great discussion and miss a conference meal or break. So grab some granola bars, some durable candy, whatever helps you make it to the meal later on. And drink water. You will be walking more than you plan, avoid dehydration.
  5. Every speaker, planner, expert is approachable, so approach them. Raise your hand in the session. Wait after the talk to ask your question. Find them at lunch and sit at the same table. Go to the medics’ station. They are there to share their knowledge. So let them.
  6. Plan your sessions in advance, mostly. Be open to last minute choices.
  7. Get yourself a fresh CRM trial before you go so you can immediately try that new cool thing you learned. Ok, get at least THREE new free trials. I suggest one that is bare, one that specializes (like sales or service) and one with a solution like Field Service or Project Service in it. Different things work different ways with added customizations or data.
  8. Take notes. Doesn’t matter if you’re a pen and paper person (me too!), if you like to scribble on your tablet or if you type it all organized. Take notes. I promise you won’t remember it all the next day.
  9. There will be booze. Don’t be THAT person that acts a fool and gets everyone to pull out their cameras and you find yourself rather embarrassed.
  10. Make friends, make memories.

 

See you there!