Here’s a highlight of the trends that organisations with – or are interested in - Microsoft Dynamics 365 can expect in 2019.
Prepare for the April update
October 2018 marked the first of Dynamics 365’s new bi-annual updates.
The release was broad, adding a wide range of new features across all areas of Dynamics 365, with a particular push on Service, Finance and Operations, and Business Central.
While many organisations have only just got up to speed with these updates, news of the April release is starting to circulate.
So far, improvements to Customer Engagement, Sales, Service and Marketing have all been promised. As per general Dynamics 365 trends, further improvements to the Unified Interface can also be expected.
A preview of the April release will be available to trial within organisation’s sandboxes from February.
Embracing AI
Artificial intelligence has been a Microsoft buzz term for the past year. Towards the end of last year the company started to prove it is more than just jargon.
We’ve already covered how Microsoft has used some AI features within Dynamics 365, but now Microsoft is pushing hard on improved customer service through conversational AI, better processes through application AI and smarter decision making through AI for business intelligence.
It’s fair to expect that Dynamics 365 for Talent will also be a recipient of AI benefits in time. Likewise we would expect to see more AI solutions for sales and marketing in the April update. Until then, it’s worth investigating the AI solutions already available for Dynamics 365.
Deeper integrations
Innovative integrations with other platforms is another of Microsoft’s ongoing Dynamics 365 trends.
Last year, the big news story on the integrations front was LinkedIn Sales Navigator. This invaluable sales and marketing tool can now be configured to allow for the tracking of information from Sales Navigator across to Dynamics 365, including messages and contacts. This year, the focus will be more on combining the functionality of Dynamics 365 with Microsoft Teams.
Teams is positioned as group chat software. However it has a range of possible applications relating to remote working and project management. Part of the Office 365 suite, Teams became a surprise success when Microsoft released a free version that could outperform many of its competitors.
This year’s focus will be on shifting the perception of Teams away from being a project management solution to an interaction and collaboration tool. Combined with Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement, Microsoft’s aim seems to be to make Teams a solution for interacting and sharing documents with customers. This raises the possibility of using Teams as an extranet for on-boarding or supporting customers.
For sales applications, it’s hoped that Teams’ chat functionality will allow more cooperation between sales people when preparing pitches and proposals, all of which is linked to Dynamics 365’s knowledge depository.
Undoubtedly, more ideas for Teams – Dynamics 365 integration possibilities will emerge through 2019, offering some exciting new collaboration potential.
If any of these Dynamics 365 trends have you interested in the platform, please get in touch. We'll be happy to discuss how Dynamics 365 can meet your requirements, or provide you a demonstration. Get in touch for more.
