10 Things to consider when managing Enterprise Apps - Microsoft Dynamics 365 on cloud - Part-2

 This is a continuation of my earlier blog on the same topic. (link). Here are the remaining of the 10 things to consider when managing Enterprise Apps like Microsoft Dynamics 365.

7. Operations Process Management - Enterprise App Support teams have to follow certain process and procedures. This needs to be well documented and understood. The below is a list of processes (not an exhaustive list) that one must have in place with proper training. 

1. Change and Release Management process - How the changes and release will be managed and deployed to production.
2. Incident Management process - How are the incidents reported, triaged, assigned to the support team.
3. DevOps deployment process - This is for the build and release pipelines process.

As discussed earlier in my previous blog there could be multiple teams working on the Project. All teams need to be aligned and work in coordination. This requires proper planning of processes. The process needs to be documented and proper training provided to the Enterprise apps support team. 

8. Environment planning for Apps support - During the development phase it may be only 1 team that is doing the development. This may require few environments like Dev - Test - UAT - Prod. Once the application is in operations there can be multiple teams that are working together. This may increase the need of separate Dev and Test environments for each App support and Enhancement teams. Setting up of environments can be a challenging task and may require dedicated personnel while also support the application in Production. Additionally there can be a Hotfix environment for Prod support.

Multiple Production Support environments

As shown above in Enterprise Apps support the complexity increases as there are more environments and integrations to manage and support. 

9. Continuous learning - The team is now tasked with learning multiple things. There is a need to train the support team on the business processes and operations. The team also needs to keep updated on the latest cloud and application technology enhancements. This require a rethinking of the enterprise training process. There cannot be just once a year training and done. There should be a continuous learning plan. The managers need to monitor the skills of the app support team and identify the gaps and provide the necessary training path. This way the team is able to improve and support the application. AI and innovations in apps require a continuous learning approach.

A team that is aware of its capabilities infuse confidence on taking on new development and improve the productivity for business.

The method of learning also needs to be changed with social media like Linked In and YouTube becoming the go to medium of learning. This requires innovative training management approach.

10. App Optimization and User experience  - The enterprise application is enhanced with new functionalities added over time. There is the need to optimize the performance of the business application. Also the user experience can degrade as more data and custom code gets into the application. It is a good idea to baseline the app performance and user experience. Once the baseline is done the goal is to optimize the app performance and enhance the user experience. 

The Enterprise Application once live and in production, is like a living and growing baby that needs to be nurtured and managed to get the optimal business results. 

I hope you enjoyed this list of 10 things to consider when managing Enterprise Apps blogs. Do let me know how you are managing your enterprise application. 

Thank you for reading.

@mihircrm 

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10 Things to consider when Managing Enterprise Apps - Microsoft Dynamics 365 on Microsoft Cloud

 Once an enterprise application like Microsoft Dynamics 365 goes live within an organization there is lot of excitement. The project team is happy with the results of the efforts over the year/s. It is the day after going live that the operations team is faced with the post go-live challenges. There are lots of questions on how to support, operate, manage, adopt and scale the new Dynamics 365 application. Microsoft Dynamics 365 in an enterprise cloud environment can be very challenging. There could be multiple integrations with other systems within and outside the organization, compliance and security requirements, business enhancements needs and performance management. This requires planning and coordination with multiple teams. This blog series is about how to prepare and plan for managing of an enterprise Dynamics 365 app. Here are the top 10 things to consider - 

1. Governance (decision making) - There needs to be a governance team in place. There could be multiple operations support teams working on the system for example the application support and maintenance team, the infrastructure and security management team and the application enhancement team. There has to be a defined governance team that may consists of representatives from business, IT, Project and executive management. This helps the operations team to report any blockers, get the guidance and support for the system management. The governance teams meets on a monthly cadence and reviews the teams progress and challenges. They will discuss how to resolve the blockers, improve the operational performance and opportunities for enhancing the Dynamics 365 application.

2. Security and Access control - As the Dynamics 365 application usage increase so does the need to add new users and give them proper access. There could also be challenges with the existing users who may need to modify their security roles, teams and business unit. It is an ongoing challenge to manage the users access and application security which needs to be considered and managed. Assigning a role based user security template will make the access streamlined. 

The tasks for the security team is to regularly review and update user security roles, active directory teams and business units as user responsibilities change. Also remember to remove users and reassign licenses when the users are no longer required to access the app. Finally regularly audit user access logs on a monthly or quarterly basis to identify any unauthorized or suspicious activities. 

3. Data security and integrity - Having a reliable quality data is important for the adoption and success of the Dynamics 365 app. Users should be confident that the data that they rely on to make business decisions is safe and trustworthy. Implement a data governance practice to maintain data integrity and quality. Regularly set reviews, cleanse and maintain data for accuracy, completeness and consistency. Users should be provided training in proper data entry and maintenance standards. 

The data loss prevention rules should be in place to prevent the leakage of data. Sensitive data in the Dynamics 365 app should be protected and secured using field level security. Duplicate detection should be in place and active where needed. It is essential to set-up data validation and duplicate detection rules to prevent erroneous and unreliable duplicate data. Data lifecycle, archival and storage needs to be planned as the data size grows with complexity.

4. Application Performance Monitoring - The Dynamics 365 application and related infrastructure should be continuously monitored for any issues, bottlenecks or maintenance requirements. A mechanism should be in place to trigger alerts and auto create incident support tickets for any identified issues. The error logs, system logs and performance metrics should be reviewed for measuring the performance of the application. Users should be trained in identifying and reporting issues with proper documentation. 

Microsoft provides many options to monitor and manage Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform. The Power Platform Admin Center has OOTB performance metrics that can be reviewed. Additionally Azure Monitor and Application Insights can be set-up to track and monitor the performance. Additionally you can even use Power Automate to trigger alerts and create incident support tickets.

5. Support Team  - Plan to have a dedicated multi-level support team. The teams can be set-up on a Tiered support level based on the incident complexity, severity and priority. Tier 1 and 2 support can be provided by the organization support helpdesk. Tier 3 support can be provided by the Application Manage Services Partner and Tier 4 support can be from Microsoft product support team. It is important to have the team trained on the business application and on supporting Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.

6. Product updates and upgrades - Microsoft provides 2 major updates annually for Microsoft Dynamics 365. Plan in advance to have the Dynamics 365 updates tested and implemented. 

Safe deployment of updates for Dynamics 365 by region

The business and IT needs will require regular enhancements of the Dynamics 365 application and supporting infrastructure. Ensure proper training of the support team as part of the enhancement of the Dynamics 365 application and infrastructure.

I hope this helps your organization in planning for the post go-live operations and management of the Dynamics 365 enterprise application on Microsoft cloud. Please stay tuned for my next blog where I will discuss the remaining 4 items to consider when managing Microsoft Dynamics 365 enterprise applications. Let me know your thoughts and thanks for reading.

@MihirCRM

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Azure DevOps Pipelines with Power Platform - Part-1 The Benefits

In today's fast-paced world, organizations need secure, efficient and reliable tools to streamline their software development processes. Microsoft's Power Platform has emerged as a leading low-code development platform, empowering businesses to rapidly build custom applications, automate workflows, and analyze data. To further enhance productivity and collaboration, integrating Azure DevOps Pipelines with Power Platform offers a powerful combined solution. In this blog, I will explain the benefits of using Azure DevOps Pipelines in conjunction with the Power Platform to optimize your #PowerPlatform development projects.

1.            What is Azure DevOps Pipelines? Azure DevOps Pipelines is a cloud-based service that enables you to create, test, and deploy applications with speed and efficiency. It provides a robust set of tools for continuous integration, continuous delivery (CI/CD), and release management. By incorporating Azure DevOps Pipelines into your Power Platform projects, you can automate build, test, and deployment processes, ensuring consistent and reliable software delivery.

ADO Pipeline monitoring in Power Apps

2.            Key Benefits of Azure DevOps Pipelines for Power Platform:

a. Seamless Integration: Azure DevOps Pipelines seamlessly integrates with Power Platform, offering a unified environment for managing the entire application lifecycle. From version control and code collaboration to automated deployment and monitoring, all development stages can be orchestrated within a single platform.

b. CI/CD Automation: By configuring continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines, you can automate the process of building, testing, and deploying Power Platform solutions. This not only saves time but also reduces human errors, ensuring consistent quality throughout the development lifecycle.

c. Version Control and Collaboration: Azure DevOps Pipelines provides version control capabilities, allowing multiple developers to work on the same Power Platform solution concurrently. With features like branching, merging, and pull requests, you can manage code changes effectively and promote collaboration among team members.

d. Agile Project Management: Azure DevOps Pipelines integrates seamlessly with Azure Boards, enabling you to manage and track work items, backlog, sprints, and project progress effectively. This integration ensures that the development process aligns with Agile methodologies, facilitating transparent communication and enhanced project visibility.

e. Extensive Library of Tasks: Azure DevOps Pipelines offers an extensive library of pre-built tasks that can be easily customized and configured to meet the specific requirements of your Power Platform projects. From environment provisioning and solution packaging to testing and deployment, these tasks provide a comprehensive set of tools for efficient project management.

I hope this blog helps you understand the benefits of leveraging ADO Pipelines with #PowerPlatform. In my next blog I will write more about how to use ADO Pipelines and #PowerPlatform better together.

Thanks for reading

@mihircrm

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Dynamics 365 - 2023 Wave-1 - Customer Service part-1

 We are back again, this time for the 2023 wave-1 update on Microsoft Dynamics 365. This blog will focus on some of the Dynamics 365 - Customer Service update that can be expected in April 2023.

1. Knowledge base updates . I have worked with many clients who are using the built in Microsoft Dynamics 365 knowledge base (KB). Clients service reps are using the knowledge base articles available in the Customer Service app in a call center environments. Many of the Clients also showcase the knowledge base articles on their Customer or Partner Portal.

Now the Customer Service Reps can add the KB articles to their favorite list. This helps them to refer back to the KB articles quickly.   This is shown in the pic below.

Mark KB article as favorite

Additionally now you can add external sources as knowledge base. This will help organizations that have the KB stored in for example Sharepoint to upload the KB articles and make it available for the Customer Service agents to do a search. I think this is very useful for Clients who have an existing Knowledge base site.

This is enabled by adding External Search Providers in the Customer Service Admin App > Agent experience > Knowledge section. Refer to the pic below.

External Search Provide options

 There are 3 options to add external search providers 

1. Cross Organizational Search - This will allow you to select any Dynamics 365 org within the same tenant. Thus you can add the KB articles from another org into your Dynamics 365 org.

2. SharePoint - You can add any SharePoint site URL within the same tenant. If you are maintaining a SharePoint site with information, you can add the URL and the users will be able to do a search for information on the SharePoint site from within Dynamics 365.

3. Microsoft Graph connector - If you have implemented Microsoft Graph you can add the connection ID.

One thing to note is that the Customer Service Rep doing the External Search will also need access to the external data in SharePoint or Dynamics 365 org or the Graph connector.

Below pic shows how the external data will show up when doing a KB search from within a Case record. 

External Search Results

Microsoft uses AI to analyze and show the relevant search results from both internal and external sources.

Hope this helps to enhance the KB article and search experience for your users. I will write more about other topics in Wave-1 release.

Thanks for reading.

@mihircrm

365WithoutCode