Addressing CRM Challenges Through Greater Efficiency - Microsoft Dynamics 365 Power Platform Center

October 4, 2021

The capabilities of CRM solutions have expanded tremendously over the years. Today, Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers so much more than tracking customer details and account management. Your business probably already uses multiple integrated Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM applications to track interactions, identify opportunities and manage campaigns. The Microsoft Power Platform, for example, now takes the creation of apps, flows, forms, and chatbots and puts it into the hands of anyone who wants to become a “citizen developer” or “maker.” Another advantage of Dynamics 365 CRM is the ability to accomplish most if not all operations from the same system, providing access to the latest, consistent information across all departments.

While most people are familiar with the more traditional Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM applications, fewer are aware of the Microsoft Power Platform Center of Excellence (COE) and Dynamics 365 Business Central and how these solutions provide the perfect complement to support your business’s efficiency.

Below we highlight the Microsoft Power Platform Center of Excellence and Dynamics 365 Business Central to help you determine if these solutions may be a good option for you.

Microsoft Power Platform Center of Excellence (COE) Starter Kit

Microsoft Power Platform combines Power BI, Power Automate, Power Apps, and Power Virtual Agents in one platform for more robust reporting, workflow, app and form creation, and chatbots. Due to its low coding requirements, average/everyday users can now create apps, forms, and workflows without the help of IT.

While developed with the best of intentions, no solution comes risk-free. As more businesses encourage their teams to become makers of their own apps and forms in Power Platform, it can create unique challenges in the form of risk of data exposure, reporting issues, inconsistencies, and other issues.

The Microsoft Power Platform Center of Excellence (CoE) Starter Kit gives IT teams the reins of control and governance to set the standards for consistency. Three modules that make up the CoE, including:

1. Admin

The Admin module is where IT has oversight of your Power Platform deployment through visual dashboards that show the status of all the activities of your makers, admins, etc. Features include:

• A Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Editor app that monitors existing policies and gets insights into potential impacts of planned policy changes.
• A Power Platform admin view provides insights into active makers, workflows, and more. It searches all the environments in your tenant.
• App and flow permissions settings with additional apps.

2. Govern

The Govern module provides additional admin tools to establish audit and compliance processes, govern your Power Platform deployment, and manage your apps and flows. Deep insights can help you to better manage resources and support your risk assessments. The Govern module features a Developer Compliance Center that enables proper auditing by listing the apps that are compliant with Microsoft out of the box and allows you to:

• Define compliance for flows and apps.
• Archive your unused apps.
• Turn governance on / off.
• Email notifications to all users indicating which apps are compliant with Microsoft.
• Initiate audit processes when apps and flows are created.

3. Nurture

The Nurture module is designed to accelerate adoption by providing an internal community featuring resources for training, best practices, and templates to support the onboarding of new makers. Features include:

• Training that can be completed in just a day.
• Maker Assessment Tool App that provides makers with guidance on what they are trying to build (e.g., necessary licenses).
• Innovation Backlog provides an outlet to submit feature enhancement ideas and ability to vote on other ideas.

Select JourneyTEAM specialists gathered together to discuss Power Platform and Business Central topics in a Dynamics 365 learning forum. Watch the video below to learn more from our consultants.

Business Central Microsoft Business Central ERP integrates all the Dynamics 365 apps across your operations from sales, service, finance, operations, and more. Note that while Business Central provides vast capabilities, all available within one centralized location, customers who require a lot of customization typically are better suited for CRM due to its flexibility. Here are just some of the operational features:

• Company Hub – pulls together data and tracks KPIs across multiple companies in one centralized location.
• Project Management – similar to CRM.
• Warehouse Management – create and track addresses, zones, and bins and provide assembly help with kits for simple manufacturing.
• Administrative – user setup, workflow, and services.
• Purchase – vendor set-up, POs, invoices, attach agreements, manage inventory and costs.
• Finance – payables, cash management, journal entries, cost accounting (parallel ledger), receivables, RMAs, fixed assets, depreciation books, and schedules.
• Resource – resource management, timesheets.
• Human Resources – employee set-up, employee records.
• Sales & Marketing – sales order processing, marketing campaign creation, and tracking and managing sales and marketing data including contacts, inventory, and pricing.
• Manufacturing – tracking production output, progress reporting, and inventory updates.

If your business uses Power Platform, it should be used in conjunction with Business Central and vice-versa to maximize the potential to visualize all your sources of data.

Get Started with JourneyTEAM

JourneyTEAM was recently awarded ,Microsoft US Partner of the Year for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (Media & Communications) and the Microsoft Eagle Crystal trophy as a top 5 partner for Dynamics 365 Business Central software implementations. Contact us for more information on how the Power Platform Center of Excellence and Dynamics 365 Business Central can benefit your organization’s business processes and operations. Contact JourneyTEAM today