Dynamics 365 for Operations and Finance application sealing is the best thing…

I will start by being straight about where this blog post is heading:

I LOVE EXTENSIONS AND THE FACT THAT THE APPLICATION IS BEING SEALED AND I BELIEVE THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE DYNAMICS AX / 365 (FOR OPERATIONS AND FINANCE) COMMUNITY FOR DECADES…

And why is that?

1. Firstly, from a purist developer’s point-of-view I have never liked overlaying. Overlaying code was never truly object-oriented and introduced all sorts of issues. I will admit that the way MorphX and X++ worked, overlaying was the easiest way to get things done and in some, cases where the class model was particularly bad, probably the only way to support certain scenarios.
2. In the past, instead of saying no to a client, we have developed overlays, which we probably shouldn’t have. Customisations to tax calculations, complex rules introduced into the MRP engine and significant breaks to the natural flow of invoicing. Ring a bell?
3. Regression testing overlayed code was nigh-on impossible sometimes and the quality suffered badly in some projects.
4. Overlaying was never truly based on best-practice patterns but very much based on the individual developer’s style.
5. With massive customisations based on overlaying, upgrading to a new major release was probably always an illusion.

So, I am not mourning the “death” of overlaying.

However, I am not blind to the challenges presented by moving to extensions. Just mentioned a few:

1. There will be customisation scenarios we are unable to deliver.
2. The pre-post eventing model may seem a bit restrictive.
3. The APIs we need may not be ready or may not quite support the scenario we are working with.

However, all things considered, I think the ISV and VAR communities will benefit from extensions.

• Projects will increasingly be based on standard functionality.
• Customisation quality will improve.
• Projects will become more predictable and therefore more profitable.
• New features introduced by Microsoft can be leveraged by clients (potentially increasing revenue streams).
• ISV solutions will be easier to leverage.

Only time will tell if my optimism is well-founded or extensions will become a menace to the ISV / VAR community, but I remain optimistic and believe those of us, who are passionate about ERP and Dynamics 365 for Operations and Finance, still have some great times to come… Bring it on!