Dispelling a few myths about Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations

In my conversations with clients, existing users of Dynamics AX and partners, I have come across a few myths (or statements, if you like) that I think are worth discussing. In this post, I have picked on a few of them and done my best to explain, what I believe to be the reality.

Myth #1: It is not possible to customise Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations because it is a cloud solution.

Reality: Albeit, Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations is managed and operated in Microsoft Azure, it is, to all intents and purposes, a private deployment with its own configuration and customisations.

Myth #2: Microsoft is sealing the application, so the system can no longer be customised.

Reality: Far from it. With extensions, the eventing model, common data service and custom services, Dynamics is probably more open than at any time in the past. Yes, you need to follow certain patterns and no you will probably not be able to directly mess about with the code that calculates VAT, but is that a bad thing? Customisations of a certain nature may also become more expensive, but let’s be honest: some pretty shabby customisations have been developed in the past because it could be done on the cheap (overlaying).

Myth #3: Running in the cloud will be more expensive.

Reality: For some, maybe that is the case. But often we are comparing apples to pears. The security and compliance measures surrounding Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations are second-to-none and probably far better than anything your current hosting partner can provide (with all due respect). Moving the licence from CAPEX to an OPEX subscription model will make it more visible, especially for customers, who have given up their BREP, but I doubt it will make it more expensive, but obviously each customer is different.

Myth #4: My data is not safe.

Reality: I will not pretend to be an expert on the regulatory issues relating to whether a company can let Microsoft store and process their data in a certain geography, but for most customers this question is irrelevant. I work mainly with European clients and when deploying Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations under Microsoft’s standard online services terms, the primary and secondary data centres are both placed in Europe (Ireland and Holland to be precise). You can read more on the subject here. You can also read more on how Microsoft protects your data in the Azure Trust Centre.

Myth #5: It will be hard to get my data out.

Reality: If you decide to terminate your subscription, Microsoft standard terms guarantees that data is available for a 90-day period (after the subscription is terminated) where you can download data to your own data centre or a new cloud partner.

There are probably a lot more myths, uncertainties and questions out there, but these five I have come across a lot recently. Feel free to comment, if you disagree with some of my conclusions. Only through dialogue and fact-based information can we dispel myths and untruths.