Sarah Critchley - Dynamics 365 Essentials: Getting Started with Dynamics 365 Apps in the Common Data Service

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The term business applications doesnt sound very interesting. It suggests gray, dull offices, computers with lots of spreadsheets, and the politics of a large organization. While this may have been true at one time, I want you to think of something different when you see or hear the term business applications . Think of a system that sends you notifications about your monthly bank statement. Think of engaging with your energy company on Twitter and getting a resolution to your problem in less than 30 minutes. Think of a real estate agent taking a couple on a tour of a home, entering information into their device, unconcerned that they have no Wi-Fi or 4G signal. Think of your doctor prescribing you your latest medication and the system on which that had to be carried out. Finally, think of vulnerable people seeking aid in a system that can help feed them, clothe them, and provide shelter, even giving them a safe home. These are business applications applications that enable and empower human beings, organizations, and society to do more and to do better.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a suite of business applications that allow you to combine several different tools to create an infrastructure, a framework, and a core system within an organization. By doing so, it will enable organizations to meet the demands of an ever-changing industry as well as customer expectations. Dynamics 365 provides connectivity and enhancements to other applications, such as Office 365, to allow higher productivity using Outlook, SharePoint, Excel, Word, Teams, and even LinkedIn. Built on Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365 can provide world-class reliability and performance, extending the capability of business applications even further in infrastructure, scalability, and serverless computing technology.

This book has undergone some significant updates to include the changes around the Microsoft Power Platform and how the Common Data Service (CDS) works together with Dynamics 365 Applications. Within that, we will look at how to create business solutions built upon the Common Data Service (CDS) for Applications. The CDS is at the core of Dynamics 365 and the business application platform that Microsoft offers, providing connectivity as a database across all areas, including talent, finance, and operations, as well as other third-party systems. Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (CE) provides first-party apps for Field Service, Sales, Project Service, Customer Service, Portals, and Marketing. Most of these apps can be licensed separately or can be purchased together in plan licenses, allowing organizations to tailor their business applications based on their needs.

Included within these pages will be the essential information on how to get started using these standard applications and their features. It will also cover how to extend those capabilities using Model-Driven Apps and a variety of no-code processes, including business rules, Business Process Flows, action steps, task flows, and more. At the end of the book, you (the reader) will be equipped with a solid understanding of how to get started with Dynamics 365 Apps, the Common Data Service, and Model-Driven Apps, being able to customize them to match your business needs.

Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform has undergone a number of updates in the past few years. At the time of writing the first edition of this book, the version (9.02) was where a user can choose to use the classic form, referred to as the Classic UI, or the new user interface, which is called the Unified Interface (UI) . There are some substantial differences between them. For clarity, this book will continue to refer to the Unified Interface (UI) where possible. However, in some experiences, especially those that are set up and administrative, the Classic UI will be used. In this updated edition of the book, I have reviewed where it made sense to update these experiences and done so. For this reason, there may be some changes in the look and feel of the application according to what is available at the time of reading.

This book purposefully doesnt cover a UI overview due to the nature of the changing releases and versions. Many of the elements are in flux, and while during the writing of the book I have been as descriptive as possible for walk-throughs, an extensive chapter on getting used to the user interface did not seem to be the best content to include.

The Microsoft Power Platform has, in the last two years, revolutionized the extensibility platform that Dynamics has been built upon. The Power Platform includes Power Apps, Power BI, and Power Automate, including with it the Common Data Service and, more recently, Power Virtual Agents. The platform is the underlying technology that Dynamics 365 first-party Apps are built upon and used. While this book is not a primer, nor is it intended to be, for the Power Platform in its entirety, there will be a large amount of it covered relevant to Dynamics, including what it is and how these technologies work together. This includes the Common Data Service, which is at the center of Model-Driven Applications in addition, Power Automate and creating automation processes, including Business Process Flows, within Model-Driven Apps and using this knowledge to modify Dynamics first-party Apps where required.