13 Jan What is Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM?
Microsoft Dynamics CRM (now known as Dynamics 365) is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software solution that manages all interactions with customers, prospects, stakeholders, and all other contacts for your company.
What does Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM?
Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM delivers the latest generation of intelligent end-to-end business applications in the cloud. It unifies your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Relationship Planning (ERP) using a range of purpose-built apps.
Each app has been created to help manage core business functions such as Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Project Service Automation, Finance and Operations, Talent (HCM), Customer Insight, and Field Service, all with seamless integration with Outlook and Microsoft Office 365.
What you can do with Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM?
With Dynamics 365, you can license the apps you need to improve business efficiency. Apps can be added to each user at any time. The system works hand-in-hand with Office 365 apps and their integration is getting tighter and tighter with each release.
What is the Microsoft Dynamics 365 suite?
The Microsoft Dynamics 365 suite consists of the following business apps which can seamlessly integrate with your existing systems:
1. Dynamics 365 Sales
Dynamics 365 Sales enables salespeople to build strong relationships with their customers, take actions based on insights, and close sales faster. This is the most used by sales teams and sales managers. It allows leads to be managed into opportunities. Keeps track of interactions with customers. The system allows sales teams to be measured against sales goals and enables sales leaders to manage their forecasts.TOP TIP Enhances this capability with its Sales Add-ons
2. Dynamics 365 Marketing
Dynamics 365 for Marketing nurture relationships and turn them into engaged customers.
Marketing processes are supported by this app. It can deliver multi-channel marketing campaigns to attract the right prospects at the right time using email, web, text messaging, events, and custom channels.
TOP TIP Integrated Marketing: There are many other options to use, some have been around longer and prove really good value for money. With ClickDimensions, which is part of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Enterprise Edition, you can roll out different marketing campaigns across multiple channels based on a single customer view. This integrated approach provides a distinct customer experience.
Want to find out more about it? Get in touch with one of our expert consultants.
3. Dynamics 365 Customer Service
The Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Customer Service app, allows you to provide your service staff with a platform that gives them any time access to accurate and comprehensive customer information. All customer data including orders, complaints, queries, history, purchasing behavior, etc., from various platforms, is displayed in one single system.
Customer service teams can use the system to add and track issue progress. Knowledge management systems can be used by customers via a service portal or internally by agents to help resolve issues quicker. Larger implementations are supported by case routing and service queues. Agreed SLAs can be tracked and pre-paid support entitlements can be deprecated as the service desk is used.
4. Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation
Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation is now part of Dynamics 365 Project Operations. Dynamics 365 Project Operations connects sales, resourcing, project management, and finance teams within a single application to help win more deals, accelerate project delivery, and maximize profitability. Extend Project Operations using the Microsoft Power Platform and integrate with your existing systems.
TOP TIP The system is great for very large organisations, smaller organisation are better served by a simpler project solution to see our project service solution page
What are the Dynamics 365 ERP Solutions?
Dynamics 365 ERP solutions are focused on your core accounting, manufacturing, and distribution needs, but extend to much more. Overall, their value to your business is to increase your automation, efficiency, control, and scalability. At the highest level, there are two main Dynamics 365 ERP solutions to choose from Business Central and Finance & Operations.
Dynamics 365 Business Central
Business Central is a business management solution for small and mid-sized organizations that automates and streamlines business processes and helps you manage your business (Previously know as NAV or Navision). Highly adaptable and rich with features, Business Central enables companies to manage their business, including finance, manufacturing, sales, shipping, project management, services, and more. Companies can easily add functionality that is relevant to the region of operation, and that is customized to support even highly specialized industries.
Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations
Dynamics 365 for Finance & Operations connects all of your processes and departments including procurement, sales, logistics, productions, projects, financial, service, and business administration in the cloud to enable you to make better decisions quickly.
Previously known as AX or Axapta, this powerful cloud-based ERP solution offers a complete set of adaptable manufacturing, supply chain, retail, and finance capabilities with built-in predictive analytics and intelligence for real-time actionable insights into business performance.
Within Finance & Operations there are two different apps:
1. Dynamics 365 Finance: Includes budgeting, project management, financials, and accounting for large, international companies2. Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management: Includes engineering, manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution. Excels at multi-level warehousing and complex discrete & process manufacturing.
DYNAMICS 365 “COMMON DATA SERVICE” WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Making an organisation's system talk to each other has tremendous benefits, it helps information flow around the organisation speeding up business processes. For instance, the ability to close a quote as WON and then see the data appearing in the finance system ready to invoice provides tremendous benefits to the quote-to-cash process.
To make this example work, product databases, company and contact data plus order details and payments statuses need to be synchronised. To help with this problem as well as many others, Microsoft solutions use a common data service; in effect, it’s a common way in which data can be transferred between systems.
The common data model works across apps, such as Office 365 or any other business app with a standardised API - Microsoft Office 365, Power BI, Microsoft Power Automate, and many more. Partners can build solutions using this platform to improve integration.
CONCLUSION
Microsoft is adding more and more capability to its platform of business branded Dynamics 365 apps. The capabilities of these apps can support your business needs, but it would be wise to get some help and guidance on how the app can be best used. Some apps might on the face of it provide what you need but the devil is in the detail. Sometimes other third-party apps can be used to get a better result.