Microsoft: Dynamics 365

Dynamics 365 is Microsoft’s business application suite, combining in a single system its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) capabilities. It includes four main applications: Customer Engagement, Finance and Operations, Talent and Retail.

Microsoft allows organisations to pick and choose the specific applications they want to use to achieve their needs and objectives. This allows organisations to use only the applications that they need, rather than purchasing licenses to applications that may be left unused.

Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement

Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement is Microsoft’s CRM system. It contains a collection of separate applications that make up its CRM system, including: Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Field Service and Project Service Automation.

Dynamics 365 for Sales

This application enables organisations, and the users within these organisations, to track sales across the entire sales lifecycle from beginning to end, build and maintain close customer relationships through effective management of customer accounts and gain valuable insights on the sales process. The application also includes tips, suggestions and insights which help to maintain customer relationships with ease.

Functionality includes:

• Contacts/Accounts
• Leads
• Opportunities
• Quotes
• Orders
• Invoices

Dynamics 365 for Marketing

Dynamics 365 for Marketing is an application which seeks to optimise the way in which organisations generate sales opportunities and turn them into business relationships. The application seeks to bring together sales and marketing strategy to create a unified approach for managing the whole sales lifecycle. Companies can use the Marketing application to create a personalised marketing strategy which uses data on previous activity to target specific individuals and deliver personalised advertisement messages.

Functionality includes:

• Event Management
• Portals
• LinkedIn Integration
• Lead Management
• Surveys
• Email Marketing
• Behaviour tracking
• Customer Journeys

Dynamics 365 for Customer Service

This application provides companies with the ability to provide personalised, high quality customer service on a range of platforms. The Customer Service Hub within the application provides a centralised GUI and includes many tools that companies can use to improve and optimise the service they provide to customers. These tools provide a complete view of customer cases and enable companies to provide personalised support for customers. Users can create and view customer cases, record and monitor progress, view previous customer interactions and see an overview of all open cases, which can be broken down into categories, such as product, priority and incident type.

Functionality includes:

• Contacts/Accounts
• Queues
• Cases
• Contracts
• Knowledge Base Articles
• SLA’s

Dynamics 365 for Field Service

The Field Service application focuses on businesses’ operations in the field and provides companies with tools they need to successfully operate and deliver high quality service to customers when on-site. The application optimises the efficiency of resources through improved scheduling, increasing the effectiveness of staff on-site and utilises Internet of Things to identify and diagnose customer issues early on.

Functionality includes:

• Resources
• Bookings
• Work Orders
• Inventory
• Agreements & Billing
• Universal Resource Scheduling

Dynamics 365 for Project Service Automation

Project Service Automation is an application targeted towards companies that provide project-based services and includes tools to increase productivity, efficiency and the quality of the work being delivered. The application includes tools to assist these organisation through the whole project lifecycle and allows users to plan projects, track progress, forecast price and profitability, monitor the scope, review and assess costs and time, optimise resource scheduling, amongst other things

Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations

Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations is Microsoft’s integrated ERP system. It includes a variety of features such as supply chain management, intelligent analytics, financial management, operations support and human resources management. One of the central features of Finance and Operations is its financial management capabilities. This platform allows organisations to use features such as general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, banking, budgeting and forecasting, fixed asset management and tax management.

Finance and Operations also includes a number of capabilities which aid organisations to manage and optimise their supply chain operations. Some of these capabilities include sourcing and procurement, inventory and warehouse management, materials requirements planning (MRP), and manufacturing management. These capabilities enable organisations to optimise and automate their supply chain at every point throughout the process.

Dynamics 365 for Talent

Dynamics 365 for talent, Microsoft’s human capital management application, provides organisations with the tools they need to optimise the way in which they manage and engage with their workforce. Talent is made up of three central parts:

• Attract
• Onboard
• Core HR

Attract focuses on the all parts of the recruitment process, from finding suitable candidates to submitting offers to successful applicants. Once successful applicants become new employees, the Onboard part of Talent helps to assimilate new joiners into the organisation. Finally, Core HR is designed to enrich the experience of employees and managers in organisations by creating a self-service portal. Within this portal employees can request time off, set and track performance goals, receive feedback and monitor skills and capabilities.

LinkedIn is the world’s largest talent database and often the primary system that recruiters use to find, communicate with, and source candidates for the jobs that recruiters are looking to fill. LinkedIn Recruiter integration with Dynamics 365 for Talent (Attract) makes it easier for users to hire, and to keep the data in sync between the two systems

Dynamics 365 for Retail

Dynamics 365 for Retail works to bring together both front and back office function to assists businesses in optimising inventory, merchandising, store operations and hardware to create a unified multi-channel sales approach that delivers a high-quality shopping experience.

Retail shares functionality with both Finance and Operations, and Talent.

Dynamics 365 for Business Central

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-based, all-in-one business management solution which enables customers to upgrade from their entry-level accounting software or legacy ERP system to one single, comprehensive solution to manage finances, operations, sales and customer service. Helping organisations streamline their processes, improve customer relations and enable growth through:

• Business without silos—connecting businesses and boosting efficiency with automated tasks and workflows, all within the familiar Microsoft interface of applications such as Word, Outlook and Excel.
• Actionable insights—achieving more and gaining a complete view of the business with connected data, business analytics and guidance delivered by Microsoft’s leading intelligent technologies.
• Solutions built to evolve—get started quickly, growing and adapting in real time with a flexible platform that makes it easy to extend beyond Business Central based on evolving business needs.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Essentials includes the following functionality:

• Financial Management—general ledger, workflows and audit trails, bank management, budgets, deferrals, bank reconciliation, dimensions, fixed assets and currencies.
• Customer Relational Management—contacts, campaigns, opportunity management and built-in integration with Dynamics 365 for Sales.
• Supply Chain Management—sales order management, basic receivables, purchase order management, locations, item transfers, and basic warehousing.
• Human Resources—employees and expense management.
• Project Management—resources, estimates, jobs and time sheets.
• Other—multiple languages, reason codes, extended text, Intrastat reporting, scheduled tasks and Outlook integration

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Premium will include the above functionality, plus:

• Service Order Management—service orders, service price management, service item management, service contract management, planning and dispatching.
• Manufacturing—production orders, version management, agile manufacturing, basic supply planning, demand forecasting, capacity planning, machine centres and finite loading

Microsoft: Communication and social networking

Teams

Microsoft Teams is a communications tool that enables the growth of interaction and collaboration by enabling text and video chat between team members. In teams, users can participate in group chat room threads, send and receive instant private messages and video call with two or more users. However, Team is more than just a messaging tool, uses can also view, edit and share documents on OneDrive without leaving the application. Users with Enterprise, Business Essentials or Business premium can access Teams.

Team is available through an internet browser, desktop application and mobile app.

It is possible to use to use teams externally as well as internally. Meetings can be set up and held with people who are external to a company, simply by sending through Team Meeting link. Attendees can then connect to the meeting through whichever device they prefer, or can call in from a phone (in which case there won’t be any option for video).

Native integration with Microsoft Office services include Word and Excel, but also SharePoint, OneNote, PowerPoint, Planner, Power BI, Delve and cloud storage. Among the benefits of the latter is that all team members can view the latest version of data, as content is synced and stored instantly. This can allow members of a team to instantly view and collaborate on documents together – this can also be done whilst on a Team meeting call.

Key benefits of Teams:

• One centralised hub
• Office 365 integration
• Customise Teams through APIs and bot frameworks
• Enterprise security & compliance
• Azure Active Directory integration
• No extra cost to Office 365 users

It was announced that from October 2019, Teams would absorb the capabilities of StaffHub, which will be discontinued. StaffHub is a scheduling and work planning application which helps organisations with the onboarding of new staff, deliver training and assign tasks.

Yammer

Yammer is an enterprise social network which allows social networking and communication within organisations. It present a less-formal alternative to email communication, and it creates a space for engagement where employees can respond to the announcements made by management.

Whereas Teams is used for instant messaging in relatively small teams, Yammer can be used for engaging with organisations or departments as a whole. Yammer can be used to send out task reminders, announce recent successes or changes to the business, praise employees and introduce new joiners, for example. Another key feature is that external individuals can be added to the organisation’s Yammer, aiding greater collaboration and engagement with external stakeholders.

Yammer can be described as an organic knowledge repository of information and idea sharing. It’s not uncommon for people to send emails (this is how we traditionally conducted business) but it is also not uncommon for things to get lost in email.

Skype for Business

Skype for Business is a communications enterprise software that can be used on the cloud, known as Skype for Business Online, or on premise, known as Skype for Business Server. It enables users to communicate via instant messaging, as well as audio and video calling.

In September 2017, Microsoft announced that Skype for Business would be replaced by Teams.

Microsoft: Power Platform

The Microsoft Power Platform is a system of applications which work together to enable users, from managers to employees, to have a positive impact on the business and its customers. There are three parts to the system: Power BI, Flow and PowerApps. Although each application can be used individually, it is the combination of all three which produces the greatest benefit for organisations.

Power BI

Power BI is a business intelligence software which allows users to analyse and visualise data to produce useful and actionable business insights without the need for technical skills. Data can be imported into Power BI from a number of different sources, such as excel spreadsheets and on premise or cloud-based datacentres. Power BI can be used on the desktop application called Power BI Desktop, the online software-as-a-service application called the Power BI Service, or through the mobile application.

There several central components of Power BI: Power Query, Power Pivot, Power View, Power Map, Power BI Service and Power BI Q&A.

Power Query

Power Query is used to extract, clean and transform data from a range of different sources, such as databases including SQL Server and MySQL, files such as Excel, JSON and CSV, and other applications such as Azure and Outlook.

Power Pivot

Power Pivot is a data modelling tool which allows users to create data models where data is structured in a way to show the inter-relationships and hierarchies between different data elements. For example, if two different datasets contain common data in their columns, users can use Power Pivot to easily create relationships between the two datasets by using the drag and drop feature.

Power View

Power View is the main data visualisation tool within Power BI and it allows users to create interactive data visualisation in a number of different formats, such as graphs, charts and treemaps. Users can use slicers to slice and dice the data to explore insights in greater detail.

Power Map

Power Map is an interactive data visualisation tool that enables users to discover and explore insights in 3D which may not have been possible with 2D charts and tables. Due to its integration with Bing, users can explore the data broken down by geographical location.

Power BI Service

Power BI Service is a component which allows users to keep up-to-date with information about their organisation. A central feature of Power BI Service is that users can share dashboards which present insights through interactive data visualisations. Dashboards are made up of tiles, with each tile showing a different data visualisation. Tiles pull data from on premise and cloud-based datasets as their source and will update as the data changes.

Power Q&A

Power Q&A is a natural language tool for asking questions about data in English, rather than in a programming language. Users can ask questions about the data model they have built and imported into Power BI and receive answers quickly and easily. This feature allows users to explore insights that they may not have discovered otherwise.

For example, if the data contains a number of columns with the titles “region”, “quarter” and “sales”, a user can type the following question into Q&A: “sales by region in the last quarter as a bar chart”, and Q&A will produce a bar chart showing that information. If users do not specify which type of visualisation they want the data to be presented in, Q&A will choose the best type based on the data. Q&A also includes keywords contained in the dataset to help uses ask meaningful questions about the data. Another way in which Q&A helps uses is that it comes with an auto-complete feature, which predicts the question the user is going to ask.

Flow

Microsoft Flow is a cloud-based software that allows users automate tasks between applications without the need for any technical skills. To do this, users create workflows, known as flows, by specifying the action that should occur when an event happens. Flow can be used to automate a vast number to different tasks, using applications within the Microsoft Suite, such as Dynamics 365, Office 365, and applications outside of the Suite, such as Dropbox, SQL Server, Twitter, Salesforce and GitHub.

Benefits include:

• Streamline day to day tasks
• Easily share and access business data
• Collaborate on a common platform
• Improve workforce productivity

One way in which Flow can be used is to automate the process of sending an email after an event has occurred. For example, when the status of a lead is updated on Microsoft Dynamics, a flow can be created to automate an email to be sent around specifying the details of the update to the appropriate staff. Although users are free to create their own flows, the application contains an extensive range of flow templates, allowing users to quickly choose the flows they need to automate processes.

It is also possible to build connectors to systems, such as bespoke-developed applications.

PowerApps

PowerApps is a platform-as-a-service application development software in which users can create and share mobile apps for business use that run on a variety of operating systems, such as iOS, Android, Windows and most internet browsers. Rather than having to develop an app for each OS individually, the apps users create run on the PowerApps app. This cuts down the time and cost involved in development drastically.

The aim of PowerApps is to enable users to create business solutions without the need of technical expertise. It does this by presenting an intuitive, user-friendly interface in which users to utilise drag and drop functionality to create apps. Although PowerApps does require the use of formulas, these formulas are based on those used in Excel to optimise ease of use. The key benefit of this is that it makes solving business issues accessible to those who would not necessarily have been involved in a traditionally technical task, bringing new ideas that add value to the business.

Much like Flow, PowerApps can be used with a number of different applications, such as Dynamics 365, SQl Server, SAP, Oracle and Dropbox.

There are two methods for creating PowerApps:

• Canvas Driven
• Model Driven

Canvas Apps is a visual canvas to help you design and build apps – the aim is to provide a comfortable environment to create what is needed. Rather than using complicated coding or programming tools, users can drag and drop various elements into the canvas from whatever is required. Throughout, it’s possible to format the right conditions and settings that are needed to make the application work. Existing data sources can be integrated natively without any issues.

Model apps can run as either a standalone or as the backend to a canvas app. One of the core benefits of Model-driven apps is their ability to generate data models. When inputted, the data is defined as a structure which allows the app to conform to your information. Similarly, developing an application utilises consistent business processed. Once this is all finished, the app designer would then be used to develop the final product. No matter how complex or easy, what matters are the steps that provide the basis for its completion. The simple application architecture allows the app to be customised, without creating new code.

Microsoft: File storage and collaboration

Microsoft has a several different file storage and collaboration solutions which can be deployed within organisations to allow sharing, interaction and collaboration between employees.

SharePoint Online

SharePoint Online is Microsoft’s cloud-based tool which is designed to foster an environment of sharing and collaboration within organisations. One of the primary ways organisations use SharePoint is to manage and share resources within organisations by storing them on the cloud. Rather than storing documents in a single location, storing resources on the cloud allows users to access documents from any device, and interact and collaborate with others across the organisation.

Organisations can also use SharePoint as an enterprise content management system, in that it can be useful as a means to efficiently store and organising data and information on a system that can be accessed by the internet. However, there are also many other ways in which organisations can deploy and use SharePoint, such as the creation and management of websites, customer relationship management, networking facilitation, business intelligence and workflow management.

Organisations wishing to maintain control over their data and have a greater ability to customise SharePoint to meet their needs can deploy SharePoint Server, which is installed on premise. This may be preferable for organisations that hold sensitive and classified data.

Some uses of Sharepoint are:

• Intranet Portals,
• Document & File Management,
• Social Networks,
• Websites,
• Extranets,
• Advanced Search Functionality
• Increased Business Intelligence solutions

Collaboration abilities allow more than one team member to access, edit, and annotate a document simultaneously. Team members can collaborate to formulate the document by breaking down tasks or sections, and SharePoint will cohesively stitch together a complete document on the fly as they work.

It’s also possible to use Sharepoint as a document storage repository when using other Microsoft applications, such as Dynamics365. There is seamless integration between these products, and implementations of this can have major benefits in terms of storage pricing (Sharepoint storage is somewhat of a fraction of the cost of Dynamics storage – the benefits of this are seen when implementing solutions that will need to scale up over time). It can be used for attachments, emails, etc

OneDrive for Business

OneDrive is Microsoft’s cloud storage service that allows users to store files and access them from anywhere on any device. Due to its integration with Office 365, OneDrive enables users create and edit documents on the cloud, and share these documents to collaborate with others. Local copies of documents can be downloaded from the cloud to view and edit offline (with then synchronising back online when re-connected). The service can be used for both personal and business/school use, but the latter service is managed internally in the organisation and is referred to as OneDrive for Business.

Following on from the information for Sharepoint above, OneDrive for Business with Dynamics 365 is a great way to expand on SharePoint integration by allowing users to associate documents to SharePoint-enabled entities from their own OneDrive for Business folders. This does need Sharepoint to already be in place and integrated with Dynamics365 in order to work

Delve

Microsoft Delve is a cloud-based solution powered by Office Graph, which is a repository of user content and activity, and the inter-relationships between them. Essentially, Delve provides users with up to date information on what they are currently working on and who they are working with, and helps increase interaction and collaboration between employees within organisations.

The purpose of Delve is generally to be able to present in front of us what we need before we even ask for it. An example of this could be an upcoming meeting – Delve should be able to show you the related documents for the meeting (subject to security controls – if you don’t have security access to view the files, they won’t be displayed)

On Delve, all users can create and update their Office 365 profile with their professional interests, current projects, skills and certifications. Users also receive a personalised home page, which enables them to discover important information from across the Office 365 Suite, such as emails, events, contacts and documents. The home page provides users with links to their recently accessed documents, other user’s profiles and a content feed. This content feed uses machine learning and artificial intelligence which tracks user activity and interaction to present content that may be of interest to the user.

Microsoft: Visio

Visio is a piece of software which enables users to create a variety of different both 2D and 3D diagrams, and is designed to make this process as easy and intuitive as possible. Visio can be used to create any sort of diagrams users need, from simple organisation charts to more complex process maps with multiple swim lanes and decision points.

Other examples of the kinds of diagrams that can be created include building and office plans, timelines, Gantt charts and brainstorming diagrams.

General benefits include:

• Easy access to shapes and stencils, and a new status bar that helps you move more efficiently within and between your diagrams.
• Add and align shapes easily and accurately with features such as the Quick Shapes Mini Toolbar, enhanced dynamic grid, automatic layout adjustment, and page Auto Size.
• Simplify large and complex diagrams using Sub-processes and Containers to group related shapes visually and logically.
• Check diagrams against business rules and logic to ensure accuracy and consistency in diagrams. With a one click, you can validate a diagram to make sure if it’s logical and property constructed.
• Create and monitor SharePoint workflows more easily than ever with a new advanced template that contains SharePoint workflow rules and logic.

To build these diagrams, users can either select one of the pre-built templates, customising it as they wish, or they can start from scratch and use some of the several hundred shapes that are available. If users cannot find the templates or shapes they required, they have the option of downloading more templates from the internet or creating and importing their own shapes. Users also have the option of importing data and information from other application in Microsoft Office, such as Excel and Access.

Visio is available through the cloud and on premises. For cloud usage, users have two plan options, named Visio Online Plan 1 and Plan 2. The former is a better option for those wanting to create simple diagrams, whereas the latter is more suited for the creation of professional diagrams with data integration. Included in Plan 2 is access to the on premises application, whereas Plan 1 is cloud-only.

For using Visio on premise, two different licenses can be purchased: Standard and Professional. The Standard license has basic functionality and enables users to create and share diagrams. The Professional license, on the other hand, enables users to do much more. Multiple users can collaborate on the same diagram simultaneously and diagrams can be linked to data, with the diagrams updating automatically as the data changes. Professional users also have access to more templates. The Professional license comes as part of an Office 365 subscription.