Articles about Page: Dynamics & infrastructure

If you have a legacy ERP or you’re considering an ERP, you may be considering Microsoft Dynamics 365. We believe it is truly a gamechanger, so we put together this evaluation of the platform so you’re well prepared to decide if it’s right for you. A little background A new day dawned in the ERP market when Microsoft released the new Microsoft Dynamics 365, a comprehensive software suite that facilitates the fusion of CRM and ERP cloud services focused on a specific business process in late 2016. This integrated, cloud-based CRM and ERP solution offers intelligent Software as a Service (SaaS) applications that seamlessly integrate with Microsoft Office 365 and other Microsoft cloud-based technologies such as Flow, Power BI, Power Apps, and Cortana Machine Learning.  MS Dynamics CRM 365 incorporates leading-edge, module-based business processes in the Field Service, Sales, Project Service Automation, Customer Service, Marketing, Financials, and Operations suites. The Operations suite incorporates advanced ERP functionality such as manufacturing, HR, project accounting, supply chain management, procurement and sourcing, retail operations, point of sale, and e-commerce. Now you have a technical explanation of functionality, but why should you dig in and understand more? One huge reason: Dynamics 365 is a game-changer in the ERP world.  The difference between Dynamics AX and Dynamics 365 Dynamics 365 represents an entirely new model for delivering a combined ERP and CRM solution in a way that aligns with today’s world of digital transformation. More importantly, it helps your organization more rapidly and cost-effectively fit into this new world order, competing at an accelerated level.  Takeaways include understanding: The tremendous cost savings that can be realized  The competitive value Dynamics 365 will bring to your organization (and how) The efficiency gained through seamless integration with apps How the benefits of cloud services can impact your business  The old way of doing things Before Dynamics 365, the choice was to implement Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM on-premises. Let’s look at an example of how this played out for a fictitious company with $1 billion to $2 billion in annual revenue.  From a project perspective, it took an average business three to six months to get the ERP and CRM installed and ready to set up the company for configuration. The typical cost was: $150,000 to $250,000 on hardware and the virtualization platform (most often VMware VCloud or Hyper-V) $250,000 to $500,000 in server OS, database servers, application servers, SharePoint server, and ERP licensing $200,000 to $400,00 in professional consulting services Just to get to the setup stage, the company had already invested a significant amount of time and money, yet not one ounce of business value had been delivered − because the work wasn’t done. The remainder of the project took around 1 to 1.5 years to configure, customize, train, and migrate the data. At the end of the project, the business walked away with complete, end-to-end management of processes through the ERP, from financials to supply and inventory, to sales and delivery of product, which is a win.  But those weren’t the only costs. The consulting professional service fees tacked on an additional $3 million to $10 million, depending on the modules, level of customization, system integrations, and reporting.  All told, it took about 1.5 to 2 years and $3.5 million to $10 million in costs before rolling out the system into production and realizing the business value/ROI.  Though the software delivered what was needed, it’s easy to see why that model no longer works in this age of transformation. Digital technology has enabled customers to demand and receive what they want when they want it − instant gratification. At a time when customers’ expectations are high, organizations must find ways to cut costs and do more with less in order to compete. Changing times call for a new model of delivering ERP solutions. Enter Dynamics 365. How Dynamics 365 works: a solution for today’s market The beauty of the new Dynamics 365 is in the accelerated pace you gain in getting a return on your investment.   The installation and initial server configuration can be completed in one week because everything is hosted in the cloud as SaaS. No complicated hardware, server, and database installation or configuration nightmares to contend with. The speed to get an environment ready and the component-based agile implementation capabilities eliminate a tremendous amount of cost versus the traditional on-premises installation. Dynamics 365 is no longer just an ERP. It’s a cloud-based business platform that enables companies to quickly revitalize their business processes and enable a fast path to digital transformation. Dynamics 365 is Microsoft’s new approach to end-to-end intelligent business applications in the cloud.  The benefits of Dynamics 365 Let’s break down what you get from Dynamics. The business applications enable companies to do the following. Start with what you need − Dynamics 365 apps are designed to be easily and independently deployed. That means you can start small with the right fit for your role, industry, and business. You pay only for what you need. Dynamics 365 apps work together seamlessly and fit with your existing systems, so as your business demands, you can grow into additional capabilities with ease and run your entire business in the trusted Microsoft cloud. Productivity where you need it – Deep integration between Dynamics 365 and Office 365 connects the structured workflow of business applications and processes with the unstructured work of collaboration and productivity. So your employees are empowered with productivity tools surfaced in the context of their business processes. For example, a salesperson receives an email and can respond directly in Office with a quote created based on information from both the Finance and Sales apps, stored back to the right app, with right pricing, discounting, etc. All this is done without the user leaving Outlook. Another example: a sales rep works on an opportunity in Dynamics 365 Sales with embedded access to multiple productivity tools to more effectively progress the opportunity. The rep can collaborate with team members by sharing real-time updates in Yammer and across groups, compiling team notes and input on the opportunity in OneNote, and seamlessly generating a quote in Word – all without leaving the context of the opportunity.  Intelligence built-in – With Dynamics 365, Microsoft is the only provider of business applications that infuses big data, advanced analytics, and IoT into processes out of the box to proactively guide employees and customers to optimal outcomes with predictive insights, prescriptive advice, and actionable next steps. Data and insights transformed into action for intelligence where it is needed. For example, Cortana Intelligence will enable cross-sell recommendations to help sales reps predict which products and services a customer will need. Access to IoT data inside Dynamics 365 for Field Service will enable preemptive action from field service agents by connecting asset monitoring and anomaly detection so they can take action before failures occur avoiding costly customer service issues. Ready for growth – Dynamics 365 enables companies to adapt and innovate in real time with nimble, adaptable applications so you can compose, modify, and extend processes. Business users are empowered to change and adapt without IT. And you can reimagine your business model with a common data model and flexible, extensible business application platform. What Dynamics 365 does for businesses Why Dynamics 365 is a gamechanger The phrase “gamechanger” is thrown around loosely, but Dynamics 365 is truly just that. It reduces startup and licensing costs and accelerates the agile implementation of business processes, enabling only the modules you need when you need them. Plus, the possibilities gained from leveraging the extensibility of the Microsoft Azure Cloud platform will result in driving your business forward and creating value for your customers. In short, you will no longer waste time focusing on IT tasks and instead focus on positioning your IT investment to drive value faster than ever before. Looking for a next step? As a Microsoft Gold Partner, we specialize in Dynamics 365, Office 365, Power Apps (including Power BI, Power Automate & Power Virtual Agents), and Azure cloud services, covering everything from licensing and migration to ongoing support and infrastructure.  Learn more about our partnership and Microsoft services here.

The risk of outdated ERP systems With a lack of IT support to maintain siloed and outdated ERPs, businesses end up paying more to maintain an already obsolete system. Increasing IT costs and reducing productivity ultimately causes companies to fall further behind their competitors.  Microsoft’s release of Dynamics 365 packages their entire Dynamics ecosystem (AX or NAV, and CRM) into one enterprise solution, enabling access to modules you need, only when you need them. The new model also provides fine-tuned control over each user, ultimately increasing productivity.  With Dynamics 365’s reduced startup and licensing costs and agile implementation of business processes, upgrading an ERP system has never before been so viable.  What is Dynamics 365? With the release of Dynamics 365, Microsoft has managed to package their entire Dynamics ecosystem (AX or NAV, and CRM) into a compelling enterprise solution, delivering a suite of intelligent business applications.  The main purpose of Dynamics 365 is to unify the capabilities of CRM and ERP. Dynamics 365 ships with several different applications:  Operations (enterprise edition) Financials (business edition) Sales Customer Service Project Service Automation Field Service Microsoft PowerApps Microsoft Flow  In addition to this cohesive platform, Dynamics 365 has a new SaaS-based licensing model that may appear confusing at first, but once understood, you will see that it provides fine-tuned control over each user and can help reduce overall business costs. Dynamics 365 versions Dynamics 365 ships with two editions. A business edition is optimized for smaller companies of 10-250 employees and contains Dynamics 365 for Financials. An enterprise edition is suited for businesses of 250+ employees and includes Dynamics 365 for Operations (formerly Dynamics AX). For the purposes of this article, we will focus on the Enterprise edition. How Dynamics is licensed Dynamics 365 can be accessed either externally or internally. An internal user utilizes the system through the Dynamics 365 graphical user interface (GUI). An external user (third party) accesses the system through other means, usually a custom, public-facing portal or an application programming interface (API). External users do not require a subscription license (SL), as it is included with all 365 subscriptions. Any internal user must have an SL tied to their Office 365 account.  There are two different classifications of SLs, User, and Device. User SLs are assigned to named users and are managed through the Office 365 Portal. Device SLs are assigned to a specific device and are designed for shared login. Every user using the device does not need a login. For example, a POS or handheld warehouse mobile device would not need a login. A typical Dynamics 365 subscription contains a mix of both User SLs and Device SLs. User SLs are classified under two different types, Team Members (Light Users) and Full Users. Team Member SLs are for users who consume data or reports from Dynamics 365 and perform minimal tasks, such as time/expense entry and HR record updates. Team Member SLs cost significantly less and are preferred if a user falls under the criteria. Full User SLs are for “power users” who require full functionality. Plan vs. app licensing Full Users can be licensed on an application basis or as a plan.  Plans bundle multiple Dynamics 365 applications together. Bundling the SL in a plan will provide more functionality and will is available at a reduced rate. There are two plans available, Enterprise Edition Plan 1 and Enterprise Edition Plan 2.   Plan 1 includes Power Apps, Sales, Field Service, Customer Service and Project Service Automation. Plan 2 contains everything in Plan 1 plus Dynamics 365 for Operations. Tiered pricing Confused yet? Now let’s introduce tiered pricing. Microsoft offers a reduced rate for customers who purchase a large amount of user SLs.  Tiered pricing rates are only available to Enterprise Edition Plan 1 SLs, for both full users and team members. Plan 2 does not qualify for tiered pricing. To make matters more confusing, the Plan 1 and Plan 2 seats both count toward Plan 1 tier qualification.  Below is the breakdown of the different Enterprise edition tiers: Tier 1:  0–99 users Tier 2:  100–249 users Tier 3:  250–499 users Tier 4:  500–999 users Tier 5:  1,000+ users Note that tiered pricing is not available to customers purchasing licenses through Microsoft Online Subscription Program or for academic and charity programs. Default subscription environments A set of standard instances comes with every subscription of Dynamics 365 by default. Additional storage and instances can be purchased if needed.  It is worth noting that Plan 1 Business Apps and Dynamics 365 for Operations come with a set of distinct environments and use a different tenant. Plan 1 Business Apps use the same tenant and infrastructure while Dynamics 365 for Operations leverages a different tenant. Plan 1 business applications default environments By default, every Plan 1 contains a production instance, non-production instance, Dynamics 365 Admin Portal, and 10 GB of database storage. The database storage increases based on the number of users using the system. Storage is increased at a rate of 5 GB per every additional 20 full users. The chart below shows the rate of growth as the users increase. Operations default environments Dynamics 365 for Operations operates on a different tenant from that of the Plan 1 Business Apps. If Plan 2 is purchased, the customer will obtain access to Plan 1 Business Apps and the Dynamics 365 for Operations App. By default, every Operations App contains a production instance, two non-production instances, and default storage capacity. The production instance comes with disaster recovery and high availability and is monitored around the clock by Microsoft for overall health and availability.  The first non-production instance is a tier 1, all-in-one sandbox environment. This environment requires the purchase of database storage, as it doesn’t come with any by default. The tier 1 instance is also referred to as a developer instance and is provided for the life of a subscription. The second non-production instance is a tier 2 standard acceptance testing instance. This instance is a multibox instance and includes 10 GB of default storage. If more instances are required, they can be purchased at a monthly cost. Dynamics 365 for Operations comes with 10 GB of database storage. Additional storage is accumulated as the number of users increases. For every additional 20 full users, database storage is increased by 5 GB. Every subscription additionally receives 100 GB of Azure BLOB storage. Fusion knows Dynamics 365 As a Microsoft Gold Partner, we can help you grow and evolve with Microsoft business solutions. We specialize in Dynamics CRM & ERP, Office 365, and Azure cloud services, covering everything from licensing and migration to ongoing support and infrastructure.  Want to talk? Let us know.