In this chapter, you will learn everything you need to know about Microsoft Dynamics 365 and what are the different types of applications to better understand the Microsoft Dynamics 365 apps ecosystem.
Try Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP & CRM Applications for your business.
Microsoft has tens of different solutions that at first glance might seem the same. It can be also very confusing for newbies to learn about Microsoft and Microsoft Dynamics 365. So, this chapter view to give you a high-level overview of different Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions in ERP, CRM, AI, Mixed Reality as well as different addons Microsoft and ISV offer that are built on top of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Applications.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a set of connected modular SaaS Applications and Services built on Microsoft Azure designed to transform your core customer, employee, and business activities. It combines CRM and ERP capabilities and integrates your data, business logic, and processes. And it is natively integrated with productivity apps in Microsoft 365 such as Excel, Word, Outlook, and others.
Dynamics 365 revolutionizes CRM and ERP by applying intelligence to all forms of data. It enables organizations to evolve from reactive business decisions to proactive insights that allow your employees to accelerate business results.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 consists of CRM, ERP, AI, Mixed Reality, and modular intelligent business applications that offer a complete set of solutions across Marketing, Sales, Commerce, Service, Finance, Operations, and Talent.
For example, this is the difference between having separate siloed sales and marketing functions versus creating automated, integrated, and intelligent sales and marketing capabilities that efficiently connect, prioritize, and convert your sales leads into paying customers.
And central to Dynamics 365 is the common data service and its common data model schema. This provides a foundation for data integration across all Microsoft applications, services, productivity, and collaboration apps in Microsoft 365, as well as your in-house and even third-party SaaS applications.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM applications works based on the modular type of application, where your business can choose one application and then add more applications based on your needs as your business grows.
This allows businesses to quickly scale and adapt whenever necessary without disruptions as data from one application are automatically connected to enable streamline the process of data sharing, storing, and analyzing without costly data migration process.
Microsoft is taking seriously its role as a leader in ERP and CRM applications and twice a year Dynamics 365 users can look forward to upgrades that are bringing new features and updates to further improve the system.
According to Nucleus Research, Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a Leader in their ERP Technology Value Matrix, in which they assessed more than twenty Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions on functionality and usability.
Some might get confused about all the differences between Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM applications so let’s discuss more in detail what differentiates these two types of software in the Microsoft Ecosystem.
However, let’s explain first the fundamentals of Microsoft Dynamics 365. So, to better understand Dynamics 365 applications, let’s first look at Microsoft 365 (used to known as Office 365) as you are probably more familiar with it.
When you subscribe to Microsoft 365 (Office 365) you will get access to a suite of applications depending on the pricing you choose. In the standard plan, you will get access to applications like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Outlook, One Drive, and Teams.
All these productivity applications are fundamentally different, providing different capabilities and features, and are used for different purposes as you probably know.
And depending on your needs, you can subscribe to a license called Microsoft 365 and pay a monthly or yearly subscription and get access to the suite of Microsoft productivity applications or you can just purchase Microsoft Word itself for a one-time fee.
Now, Dynamics 365 Applications work on a similar principle where you have different applications with different features and capabilities that are used for different purposes.
Fundamentally Microsoft divided their Dynamics 365 applications into two different categories. The first category is their ERP applications, and the second category is their CRM applications.
The Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP applications consist of applications:
And Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM applications consist of applications:
These Microsoft Dynamics 365 Applications are conveniently named in a way to understand what type of solution it is to help you quickly navigate among the different solutions Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers.
However, the difference is that unlike in Microsoft 365 where based on the subscription type you get access to multiple applications, in Dynamics 365 there is no plan where you can subscribe to multiple applications, thus, you have to subscribe to each individual application you want to use for your business. However, Microsoft does provide discounts to additional applications. For more information, contact us.
Both CRM and ERP applications are seamlessly integrated along with other Microsoft applications allowing you to share your data across departments whenever needed, improving productivity and efficiencies.
In the chapter Dynamics 365 Modules, we will discuss in more detail each category and application that is part of the category. However, for now, this should help you to get a better understanding of what is actually Dynamics 365 and what differentiate Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM applications
Except for Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP & CRM applications, Microsoft also offers other applications for your business. Some of these applications are standalone applications and some of them are extension applications.
So, let’s learn more about these:
Apart from the “basic” Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP & CRM applications, Microsoft is also one of the leaders in AI development and applications.
Microsoft developed AI applications that empower organizations to take informed actions and converting their data into insights with the intelligence of Microsoft AI. These out-of-box insights applications Enhance core business processes with AI functionality.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 AI offers eight Artificial Intelligent applications:
Microsoft Dynamics 365 AI apps add-ons leverage the power of Microsoft’s AI research, tools, data, and powerful platform to help companies turn your data into insights and actions, give you a unified view of your customers, products & people to uncover new opportunities and take your business that next step into the future.
Microsoft is also extending its Dynamics 365 Applications into Mixed Reality. These applications are seamlessly connected with the main Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP & CRM applications.
Mixed Reality allows you to work with people and objects as if they were really there. You can learn, teach, design, build, repair, and experiment in a completely new way. For example, with a little configuration, field resources could access a calendar service, view products, and equipment, launch interactive guides, and provide remote support assistance.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Mixed Reality solutions include:
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Mixed Reality solutions offer great potential across a variety of industries and professionals enabling businesses to be closer to their customers than ever before and act. Such tools will continually improve the way how we operate and help our customers.
Another important part of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 suite of applications is modular applications.
These modular applications offer a suite of capabilities that extend the power of Dynamics 365 to enable organizations to customize their solutions. Also, some of these modular solutions are free of charge.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Modular Applications includes:
And Microsoft is continually developing new modular solutions to furthermore customize your solution and streamline your tasks to improve efficiencies and save time.
On top of all these solutions, Microsoft Dynamics 365 can be customized by installing addons from Microsoft AppSource.
Microsoft AppSource is an online store that contains thousands of business applications and services built by industry-leading software providers. You can use AppSource to find, try, buy, and deploy the business software and services that help you run your business.
These addons allow you to furthermore customize your solution based on your needs without hiring experts to custom code your solution. Also, these addons are maintained to ensure they can be run on the latest versions of Dynamics 365 products. Thus, ensure your addons work even when you update your system.
This gives you almost unlimited possibilities to customize your solution without investing a big budget into customization and integration, making Dynamics 365 solutions truly adaptable to every business need with friendly pricing even to SMBs in Malaysia and other ASEAN countries.
And lastly what you should know about Dynamics 365 is that they are seamlessly connected with Microsoft Power Platforms such as Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, and Power Virtual Agent.
These powerful tools allow you to automate your processes, build custom apps and reports, enhance your customer communication, and everything in between.
Microsoft Power Platform applications are seamlessly integrated with Dynamics 365 applications allowing businesses to customize their solutions for their needs.
Microsoft Power Platform applications include:
Microsoft coming up with many tools to enhance business and personal productivity and collaboration which are Microsoft 365 (Previously known as Office 365) and Dynamics 365 and because Microsoft is using a lot the term 365 which is for marketing purposes it causing misunderstanding.
So, to avoid confusion about what is Dynamics 365 and what it is not Dynamics 365 let us further explain what Dynamics 365 is not.
This is the list of solutions that are not Dynamics 365
So, these are the common misunderstanding of what is Dynamic 365 as those tools are not Dynamics 365, but they are part of the Dynamics 365 series or included within the Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM systems.
Do you want to bring something with you and read at our convenience? Microsoft has prepared an ebook for you to download for free and learn more about ERP systems. Download now ERP System ebook for free.
Are you searching for a suitable ERP or CRM application for your business? Book a Dynamics 365 free demo with our experts to get a personalized approach for your business. We recommend the most suitable Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications based on your needs, help you to understand the licensing, and as well as provide guidance on deployment, implementation, and change management processes to go live with confidence. We are the leading Gold Microsoft partner helping businesses to digitally transform with Microsoft Dynamics 365 intelligent business applications.
Beyond the Basics with Dynamics 365 Business Central
Four Pillars of the Digital Supply Chain
How technology benefits the customer experience
Growing Without Pain: How Modern ERP Helps CFOs Manage Growth Challenges
Elevate Customer Experiences
The Digital Commerce Imperative
