Featured News

Enhancing end-to-end customer experiences with AI and Dynamics 365 Copilot

• AI takes center stage in this release wave, with new Dynamics 365 Copilot capabilities that help to streamline processes—from audience research to content development.
  • Learn more in this fireside chat with automaker Lynk & Co by visiting the bonus content during the Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event.
• Dynamics 365 Customer Insights: use natural language capabilities in Copilot to query, group, and measure data
  • Explore the release plans for Dynamics 365 Customer Insights.
• Dynamics 365 Marketing delivers Copilot capabilities to help marketers learn more about their customers, create targeted customer segments, and generate personalized content.
  • Explore the release plans for Dynamics 365 Marketing.
• Dynamics 365 Sales delivers enhancements to streamline seller tasks and improve effectiveness.
  • Rather than manually tracking next steps, Dynamics 365 Sales helps sellers to automate the creation of follow-up tasks.s that compile discussed topics. 
  • See the release plans for Dynamics 365 Sales and Microsoft Viva Sales.
• Dynamics 365 Customer Service includes enhanced case creation, channel-based swarming with Microsoft Teams, and robust real-time analytics with customization, in addition to availability of the voice channel in more regions: Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service

New Ways to Accelerate Development

• With Power Apps, we continue to support the scaling of organizations by empowering makers and developers of all skill levels to be more productive and to build apps, and manage data and logic.
  • See the release plans for Power Apps.

• Power Pages supports low-code and no-code makers, as well as professional developers, with more out-of-the-box capabilities, like new solution-based application life cycle management and migration of website configurations from one environment to another. With virtual tables and cloud flow integration, Power Pages can now connect seamlessly to your external data and service and enable both low-code makers and pro developers to build amazing user experiences.
  • Explore what’s new for Power Pages.

• Power Automate is reimagining the process of creating flows with natural language authoring capabilities that allow you to simply describe the flow you want to create. It has never been easier for new users to start creating and authoring flows.
  • Explore what’s new for Power Automate.

• Power Virtual Agents is the Microsoft single conversational AI studio and unified authoring canvas for all bot-building needs. We’re making it easier for developers and makers to build bots with Copilot in Power Virtual Agents, greatly accelerating bot development via natural language authoring.
  • Explore what’s new for Power Virtual Agents.

• Power BI infuses AI-driven insights into everywhere that people get work done.
  • For Teams, we’re bringing enhancements to meetings and multitasking to help users work with their data wherever they may be.
  • And, for individuals, we’re enhancing the creation experience, bringing more parity on the web, and adding the Power Query diagram view into Power BI.
  • Explore the release plans for Power BI.

Dynamics 365 Sales and Marketing and AI

• You can do more with less, utilizing the power of AI to optimize experiences for your sellers, marketers, and data analysts so they can deliver better experiences for your customers.
• TAKE A GUIDED TOUR
• LEARN MORE>>

Release Wave 1 Expands Agility, Automation, and Innovation

• We are rolling out 2023 release wave 1 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, a rollout of new features and enhanced capabilities slated for release between April and September 2023.
• Based on the deployment schedule, All regions are deployed.
• The updates include Copilot for Dynamics 365 and Copilot for Microsoft Power Platform, bringing the power of next-generation AI capabilities and natural language processing to business processes.
• Release wave 1 also introduces hundreds of new and updated user experiences to collaboratively solve challenges, streamline workflows, and help individuals and teams focus on what matters most.
• Release planner
  • Explore Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform features coming soon or available to try now in the release planner.
  • Create your personalized release plan in release planner.

Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event - On-Demand

We encourage you to watch the launch event on demand for more details and demos of new capabilities across Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform. In addition, you can explore our AI transformation journey in business applications.

The Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event is a great way to get up to speed on the release wave and learn how organizations are already using these capabilities to transform end-to-end business processes today.

Upcoming Microsoft Events

Microsoft Build

Date: May 23–25, 2023

• Be part of the next wave of developer innovation.
• Join the Microsoft engineers and developers from AI to Teams, to Windows and everything in between.
• In Seattle
  • Pre-day workshops: May 22, 2023
  • Event dates: May 23–25, 2023
• Online: May 23–24, 2023 PDT
• Register

Microsoft Power platform Conference | In-Person Conference

Date: Oct-3^rd-5^th, 2023 in Las Vegas

• This in-person conference will feature pre-conference workshops, keynotes, sessions, breakouts, and more—all dedicated to Microsoft Power Platform products: Power Automate, Power Apps, Power BI, Power Pages, and Power Virtual Agents.
• Kicking off on October 1 & 2 with pre-conference workshops, the event runs October 3-5, 2023.
• Come and get inspired by Microsoft's senior thought leaders, software engineers, and community experts who are focused on uniting humanity and technology. You'll also have the chance to hear from users that solve real business problems daily.
  • Register
  • Conference Website
  • Speakers

Microsoft Ignite

Date: November 15-16, 2023

• Explore the latest innovations, learn from product experts, level up your skillset, and create connections from around the world.
• Sign up below to be one of the first to know when registration opens.
• Register

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Deprecations and Retirements

oData v2 service - Removal Date: April 30,2023 POSTPONED

WE HAVE DECIDED NOT TO REMOVE THE Dataverse OData v2.0 Service ON APRIL 30, 2023. NEW REMOVAL DATE NOT COMMUNICATED YET.

• We are going to defer the removal of this service to allow people more time to complete the transition of their code to use the Web API.
• GUIDANCE:
  • If you have detected that you are still using this endpoint, you must prioritize transitioning this code to use Web API so you will be prepared when the final removal date is announced.
  • Use Solution Checker to help mitigate D365 odatav2 calls http://aka.ms/DataverseODataV2EndpointRemoval
  • New article with further details: Detect odata v2 usage in Dataverse Detecting OData v2.0 Usage in Dataverse - Microsoft Dynamics 365 Community

Learn more>>

jQuery 2.1.1 to be removed in model-driven apps

As part of a service update designed to improve security within Microsoft Power Apps we are removing jQuery version 2.1.1 from model-driven applications. In October 2023 we are removing the library located here: /_static/_common/scripts/jquery-2.1.1.min.js.

• If custom code in web resources has a dependency on this library it will stop working when this library is removed.
• We do not support use of any model-driven application client-side code, including libraries that model-driven apps depend on.
• These libraries might change without warning. More information: Unsupported customizations.

 Are you impacted? To determine if you are impacted, search your web resource code for this line: /_static/_common/scripts/jquery-2.1.1.min.js.

•  What to do if you are impacted?
  • If your web resources have a dependency on this library, you should replace the reference with a newer version of JQuery.

 Note, there may be breaking changes between versions. For information about upgrading, see jQuery Core Upgrade Guides.

Learn more>>

Dynamics 365 Connector is Deprecated

• Dynamics 365 Connector used for data integrations, flows, Azure Logic Apps, and canvas apps is officially deprecated.
• In August 2023, we'll announce the timeline for final shutdown of the connector.
• This connector is shut down for new Power Automate flows; all newly created flows must use the Microsoft Dataverse (legacy) connector (also referred to as the CDS 2.0 connector) or the Microsoft Dataverse connector (GA date will be provided in August 2023).

Learn more>>

Dynamics 365 Customer Service Deprecations

With the release of the Customer Service admin center app that consolidates admin experiences across the Customer Service suite, we announce that the following admin experiences will be deprecated and support will end in April 2023.

• Service Management area in the Customer Service Hub app
• Omnichannel admin center
• App profile manager: Will also be removed in April 2023.

Omnichannel Administration app is deprecated and will be removed in July 2023

Omnichannel for Customer Service agent-facing app to be deprecated

Learn more>>

Other Deprecation Articles

Important changes coming in Power Apps portals.

Deprecated features in Dynamics 365 Sales
Deprecated features in Dynamics 365 Customer Service
Deprecated features in Dynamics 365 Field Service
Deprecated features in Universal Resource Scheduling
Removed or deprecated features in Finance and Operations apps

Product Updates

Building Power Apps | Improvements to the Modern App Designer

• The Modern App Designer has been generally available since May 2022, and since then we’ve have been closely monitoring feedback from makers.
• Therefore, we are pleased to announce the release of a series of significant improvements to improve maker productivity when building in the Modern App Designer. 
  • A newly improved maker navigation
  • Component designers now open within the Modern App Designer
    

Learn More >>

Update Forms and Views with Table Designer

• We are pleased to announce the public preview of Update forms and views feature in table designer.
• With this new experience, makers can now add columns to their forms and views on the fly, instead of navigating away from their table to update their forms and views manually.
• This also means when working with table in the modern app designer, makers can see the forms and views in their apps updated in real time once they finish working on their tables.

 Learn more>>

GA of Comments in Power Apps and Power Automate

 Streamline collaboration with the General Availability of comments in Power Apps and Power Automate

• If you are a Power Platform user, you know how important collaboration is when it comes to building custom solutions with your fusion team. We continue to hear from our customers about the need for additional capabilities that improve maker collaboration, and we are dedicated to meeting this need.
• We are pleased to announce the General Availability of comments for Power Apps and Power Automate.
• You and your team can comment with ease when building canvas apps, model-driven apps, and Power Automate flows.

Learn more>>

Makers | Updates to simplify using JSON

• We’re pleased to announce some exciting updates to how makers can use untyped objects. ParseJSON() and untyped objects are very flexible, but we’ve heard your feedback that improvements are needed to require less code and make untyped objects easier to use.
• So today’s announcement is all about implicit type conversion, or coercion. For untyped objects it means the automatic conversion of untyped objects to the actual type required based on the context. We will do this for all simple scalar types: booleans, numbers, text, GUIDs, colors, dates and times.

Learn more>>

Power Pages | Explore new capabilities

 Learn about the new features and capabilities being released across Microsoft Power Pages, recently announced for the 2023 release wave 1, including:

•  Application lifecycle management (ALM)—Makers can now migrate site configurations between environments through a dedicated solutions area for Power Pages components. The simplified and enhanced visual experiences offer consistency with other Power Platform applications. 
• Virtual table support—Connect external enterprise data with Microsoft Dataverse without duplications and build low-code websites in the necessary formats without compromising security. 
• Cloud flows—Developers can securely call cloud flows using an API from webpages, authorize specific cloud flows, and configure security through the Setup workspace. A connector available in Microsoft Power Automate can be triggered on demand from events in Power Pages to drive bidirectional data exchange.
• Governance controls—Administrators can now enforce additional security measures through governance controls to block anonymous access. Establish organization-wide data security and avoid accidental data exposure with a data policy via a tenant setting.
• Detect and resolve conflict reliability—This new capability within Microsoft Visual Studio Code for the web promotes reliable coauthoring and reduces the risks of accidental deletions and overwrites by detecting and notifying developers of changes on the same file by multiple users.
• Multifile support—Allow developers to edit Power Pages site code from Visual Studio Code for the web without switching the context to Visual Studio.
• FAQ templates—Easily create FAQ websites from a customizable template.

Learn more>>

Power Automate | Explore new capabilities in Power Automate

Learn about the new features and capabilities being released across Microsoft Power Automate, including:

• Advancements in natural language processing, including new automation tools to support additional activities, connectors, and geo-availability.
• Investments in desktop flows to provide authentication for Windows desktop applications, drive organization-wide adoption of automation at scale, and enable ISV integrations for more options to build RPA solutions.
• More cloud flow integrations with Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Microsoft Power Platform to provide automation for workflows across your organization.

Learn more>>

• Improving the Azure OpenAI models in Power Automate to save people time. Learn more>>

Power BI |  Microsoft Teams collaboration experiences improvements

• Check the latest Power BI April 2023 update Video here

Learn more>>

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Learning Corner

Customer Stories

Lumen optimizes processes by 90% and scales innovation across the organization with Managed Environments

Lumen Technologies have cultivated an active community of “Lumen Makers” – over 800 professional and citizen developers across the company building Power Platform solutions, some of which have increased efficiency of their business processes by over 90%. 

• They used the recently announced Managed Environments and Pipelines capabilities in Power Platform, in conjunction with the CoE kit, to establish robust governance, administration, and application lifecycle management (ALM). This has enabled their IT team to effectively manage low-code innovation at scale – currently spanning 800+ apps, 11k+ cloud flows, 450k+ desktop flow actions – while experiencing a rapid growth in numbers of new makers and new digital solutions.
• Learn more on how Lumen Technologies have used Microsoft Power Platform technologies for added value and optimize business scenario:
  • Using automation to reduce discount processing time by 90%
  • App developed by field supervisor slashes 80 days from claims wait time
  • Managed environments unleashes the power of citizen makers with easy ALM
  • Developing the internal community

Learn more>>

Blog Articles

Detecting ODATA v2.0 Usage in Dataverse

 Overview

• Dataverse OData v2.0 Service removal date has been shifting but the most recent decision is not to remove it on April 30, 2023.
• The Product Group post has indicated these requests make up a small portion of the overall API traffic to Dataverse.
• Although, small in quantity the impact to your origination may be large. I've encountered many customers unknowingly using customizations making requests to Dataverse OData v2.0 endpoint.
• In this post we'll explorer some methods to find these requests in your environment.

• View the detailed article here.

Power Pages | Save your data when pressing the previous button on a multistep form

• Multistep forms (a.k.a: advanced forms or web forms) are an easy way to capture data from your users when there is a lot of information to grab. Advanced forms allow no-code/low code developers to define steps, which basically convert into single screens, where users can enter information, like basic forms chained one after the other.
• To navigate among those steps, Power Pages will add next and previous buttons that allow you to go to the next form or go back to the previous form when needed.
• The current behavior of these buttons is to save the current form data when you go to the next form, but it won’t save when you return to the previous form. This has been the standard behavior since I can remember.

• Learn in this post, the steps to save the current form data before going back to the previous one.

Learn more>>

April 2023 Update Briefing Recording

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