Steps to deploy Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations from a High-Level-Perspective Part I (Deployment Considerations)

If you are interested or have decided to implement Dynamics 365 Project Operations, there are some steps to plan best before the implementation and are good to know before execution. In this blog post you will therefore get an overview of a possible deployment per instance of the application and what to notice during this process. Please be informed that this is no manual and no consultancy for a Dynamics 365 Project Operations implementation and the installation process can differ due to more specific variables and constellations not observed here. The blog contains mostly European related behaviors.

Start of Deployment

Dynamics 365 Project Operations is the successor of Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation with more capabilities. This leads us to the first step of choosing the best way of licensing for your Dynamics 365 Project Operations application. Basically, you are a new user for Dynamics 365 Project Operations or you are an existing user of Project Service Automation defines the way of licensing as the following image shows:

Figure 1: Dynamics 365 Project Operations by license type.

By choosing Dynamics 365 Project Operations as a new application, we will have a look at the new introduced licenses of Microsoft Dynamics 365. The application therefore includes three different types of deployment (each deployment type contains different functions and business processes) which can be used with the license. The deployment type therefore determines if the Dynamics 365 Finance and/or Dynamics 365 Supply Chain application/s and functions is/are used, too. In general counts, that the Project Operations license do not include any licenses for the Dynamics 365 Finance and/or Dynamics 365 Supply Chain resp. Finance and Operations applications and the way around.

So, with the new licensing we can conclude to use Dynamics 365 Project Operations without the Dynamics 365 Finance/Supply Chain resp. Finance and Operations capabilities or with it. The following image demonstrates an overview of the different deployment types and the relationship between Dynamics 365 Project Operations and Dynamics 365 Finance/Supply Chain resp. Finance and Operations which counts for any licensing:

Figure 2: Dynamics 365 Project Operations deployment types in relation to High-Level-Business-Process functionalities by application type.

As the image above shows, the Lite-Deployment Scenario is applicable with just the Dynamics 365 Project Operations licenses while the Resource/Non-Stocked Scenario and the Stocked/Production Order Scenario is applicable with Dynamics 365 Project Operations and Dynamics 365 Finance/Supply Chain resp. Finance and Operations licenses (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/project-operations/).

By having existing Customer Engagement licenses the possibility of adding the Dynamics 365 Project Operations application is given and lead us to the paragraph above as it is handled as new application.

By having existing licenses of Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation the possibility of an upgrade to Dynamics 365 Project Operations is given. This possibility will be enabled by Microsoft with the Release Waves est. in September 2021 and is therefore not discussed in this blog post anymore. More information is available e.g. under: : https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/project-operations/psa/upgrade-project-operations-non-stocked - :~:text=%20Upgrade%20from%20Project%20Service%20Automation%20to%20Project,As%20a%20starting%20point%2C%20import%20all...%20More%20 .

For existing Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations licenses which includes the Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation application counts the same. The possibility therefore will be enabled by Microsoft with the Release Waves est. in September 2021 and is not discussed in this blog post anymore. More information is available e.g. under: : https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/project-operations/psa/upgrade-project-operations-non-stocked - :~:text=%20Upgrade%20from%20Project%20Service%20Automation%20to%20Project,As%20a%20starting%20point%2C%20import%20all...%20More%20 .

For more information about Project Operations licensing have a look to the actual Microsoft licensing guide at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/product-licensing/dynamics365.

Type of Deployment

Before setting up the Dynamics 365 Project Operations application you best should know which deployment type should be used. The deployment type of Dynamics 365 Project Operations defines the functions and features of the application and the connection to Dynamics 365 Finance and/or Dynamics 365 Supply Chain resp. Finance and Operations. Dynamics 365 Project Operations offer three deployment types to use:

1. Lite-Deployment
2. Resource/Non-Stocked Scenario
3. Stocked/Production Based Scenario

The Lite-Deployment is used for Project Sales and Project Management functions and therefore contains no connection to Dynamics 365 Finance/Supply Chain resp. Finance and Operations. It can be seen as a standalone App. The application is based on the Microsoft Power Platform.

The Resource/Non-Stocked based Scenario Deployment contains Project Sales, Project Management and Accounting functions in combination of Dynamics 365 Project Operations and Finance/Supply Chain resp. Finance and Operations. The application is based on the Microsoft Power Platform (PO) and Microsoft Lifecycle Services (FO). The connection is done via the Power Platform Integration and Dual Write.

The Stocked/Production Order Scenario Deployment contains Project Sales, Project Management, Accounting and Inventory functions within Dynamics 365 Finance/Supply Chain resp. Finance and Operations. The application is based on the Microsoft Lifecycle Services.

By starting from zero the Project Operations Deployment questionnaire can be used to determine the needed deployment type and therefore the functions from the beginning. It is available under: https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com/projectoperations

As the licensing is at least bounded to the needed features resp. deployment type both sides must be evaluated regarding the requirements.

In my next blog post about Dynamics 365 Project Operations I will display the topic of the installation process in coherence to possible and different constellations e.g. starting with "new licenses" or starting with "existing licenses" on a high-level basis.

For more information or an integrated consultancy please contact www.inno-solutions.de or contact some other expert.

Sources:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us

https://learn.microsoft.com

Microsoft AG

Inno | Solutions, Inh. Alexander Nassl