Microsoft DynamicsCon 2025 is in Chicago this week and the buzz is exciting. 

The power of knowledge shared is so incredible. In this world of faster and faster change and more and more to learn, sharing knowledge allows you to learn organically while also doing formal learning through various channels. It also helps to reinforce what you learn through peer conversations. 

If you are unable to attend this year, I am very much hoping that some of the speakers will repost their sessions on YouTube or through other channels of learning.

In today's world of fast paced change and increasing reliance on data it is important to focus on the other side of complexity. Make sure your data is aligned and accessible using the least complex and yet highest quality solution.

Seamless integrations that are technically put into place with considerations such as. 

1) Is the data secure?

2) Is there quality and data review processes in place so that the data is clean and accurate?

3) Can you access the data at the desired speeds?

The Microsoft Stack of technologies continues to deepen and is sometimes hard to explain. Take for instance the "Common Data Universe", Dataverse. More than a Microsoft SQL Server database with layers and layers of role-based entitlement, external security tying deeply into the entire infrastructure using Entra (formerly Active Directory) and so many choices. Choices such as being able to split the database using Business Units which can significantly increase performance. 

If you take Dataverse and then consider that Azure extends the options, you end up with so many technically beautiful possibilities 

• Azure Data Factory: Ingest and transform data from Microsoft and non-Microsoft sources. Azure Data Factory is a managed cloud service that's built for complex hybrid and non-hybrid extract-transform-load (ETL), and data integration projects. Introduction to Azure Data Factory - Azure Data Factory | Microsoft Learn to read more.

• Azure Synapse Analytics: A bit of a learning curve for the technical folks (seen that first hand more than once), but Azure Synapse can be used to create a customer data lake and analyze large datasets.  "Azure Synapse brings together the best of SQL technologies used in enterprise data warehousing, Spark technologies used for big data, Data Explorer for log and time series analytics, Pipelines for data integration and ETL/ELT, and deep integration." retrieved from What is Azure Synapse Analytics? - Azure Synapse Analytics | Microsoft Learn What more do you need? 

ACCESS TO APIs, Of course! 

• Azure API Management: Securely expose data services. Azure API Management. "Azure API Management is made up of an API gateway, a management plane, and a developer portal, with features designed for different audiences in the API ecosystem. These components are Azure-hosted and fully managed by default." Azure API Management - Overview and key concepts | Microsoft Learn Not always required, but really good to know about as the technology options either are layered or are in parallel.

In the Common Data Universe (Dataverse) there are features that came from painful experiences. I remember a number of these gaps that are now happily resolved with choices. One of these features includes all of the different options around the type of date fields that can be created in the Dataverse.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales (and other Microsoft Model Driven Apps) are built to be localized. This means that a person sitting in London and looking at the same database that their peer is looking at in Chicago can see the same data represented in their local area time zone. This is the power of personalized settings, and this is awesome in many situations; however, there are times when you do not want a date to be localized.

Critical in the Insurance industry

The ability to track a date on a claim based on the actual location and date and time at that location that a claim occurred and I want to view that information from anywhere in the world as the location specific information. If I am in London, I don't want that date and time represented in London date and time. I actually want to see the date and time in Chicago date and time, where the claim and incident occurred. 

Partners have the ability to setup Date/Time fields in many different ways. Date Only, Date and Time, Time-Zone Independent ("Not Localized"), and more.

If you want to test your junior resources, ask them about the date and time zone settings in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and the Power Platform / Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement apps. 

If they don't know the answer, the following information can be helpful.

The following table contains information about the date and time field behavior and format.

 " Retrieved from Manage date and time data type in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (on-premises) | Microsoft Learn

and for additional information on localization settings Set personal options in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (on-premises) | Microsoft Learn

Delivering all of the awesome of a Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Project - It is nice to have a full team and ChatGPT did a pretty good job of summarizing some of the roles, definitions and responsibilities. I also popped in and added even more experienced love. 

🔹 1. Product Owner

• Definition: Represents the business and end-users, responsible for defining the product vision and prioritizing features.

• A role held by the customer, aka the SME experts in the industry.

• Responsibilities:

• Defines business requirements and goals.
• Brokers relationships to other business teams whose solutions integrate or need alignment with the project
• Maintains and prioritizes the product backlog (on a regular cadence).
• Clarifies business questions or aligns with the people who can clarify the business questions
• Makes decisions on scope and features in coordination with the budget.
• Owns the project budget and is a key decision maker in change orders
• Acts as a bridge between stakeholders and the delivery team.

🔹 2. Project Manager (PM)

• Definition: Oversees the entire project lifecycle to ensure it is delivered on time, within scope, and on budget.

• A role held by the consulting firm, aka the SMEs who delivery thousands of projects

• Responsibilities:

• Creates and manages project plans, timelines, and budgets.
• Coordinates team efforts.
• Manages risks and issues and mitigation options
• Communicates progress with stakeholders.
• Develops and presents change orders as necessary

🔹 3. Functional Consultant / Functional Lead

• Definition: Translates business requirements into system functionality using Dynamics 365 configuration and customization.

• Responsibilities:

• Gathers and analyzes requirements.
• Designs business processes and customizes and configures the application.
• Conducts workshops and training sessions.
• Serves as the subject matter expert (SME) on Dynamics 365 Sales features (or specific model driven app features including xRM).
• Shares and Enforces team customization standards for long term success
• Communicates Fit/Gap on features in alignment with business requirements
• Estimates level of effort and provides choices

🔹 4. Solution Architect

• Definition: Designs the overall technical and functional architecture of the solution.

• A role held by the consulting firm, aka SMEs on overseeing the delivery of hundreds of projects

• Responsibilities:

• Defines system architecture and integration strategy.
• Document system architecture in business and technical detail
• Aligns technical design with business goals.
• Oversees configuration, customizations, and extensions.
• Guides developers and functional teams.
• Overall responsible for the functional performance of the system and the alignment to business requests

🔹 5. Technical Architect

• Definition: Focuses on the technical components like infrastructure, integration, and data migration.

• Responsibilities:

• Designs technical architecture and environments.
• Plans integrations and security models.
• Coordinates with IT teams and manages system dependencies.
• Participates in peer review and supports the development lead in code reviews
• Overall responsible for the technical performance of the system

🔹 6. Developer (Dynamics 365 Developer or Azure Developer)

• Definition: Implements extensions, plugins, workflows, Power Automates, and integrations using code. An extension is above and beyond what the Microsoft Development team plans to build and is not unexpected from Microsoft. 

• Responsibilities:

• Develops custom logic (C#, JavaScript, Power Automate).
• Builds integrations with other systems via Connectors, APIs or custom.
• Implements custom UI components using Power Apps or PCF or other UI/UX tools.
• Performs developer specific testing
• Supports deployment of extensions and solutions possibly being involved with ALM automation or testing automation.
• Develops Azure Function Apps or Azure Logic Apps leveraging Azure Service Bus (if also trained in custom development on Azure)
• Works with middleware tools 
• Can potentially also have skills in Azure Synapse, Azure Data Factory and Data Migration technologies such as Microsoft SSIS

🔹 7. Data Migration Specialist

• Definition: Responsible for extracting, transforming, and loading data into Dynamics 365.

• Responsibilities:

• Works with legacy data systems.
• Coordinates with the business to understand transformation requirements
• Provides options for cleaning data or transforming data, but always in coordination with the business Solution Matter Experts
• Maps and migrates data.
• Has a deep understanding of the Dataverse and Data Modeling and Schemas
• Ensures data integrity and provides checksum validation.
• Coordinates with the business on SME data testing after migration

🔹 8. QA/Test Lead

• Definition: Ensures the solution is thoroughly tested and meets quality standards.

• Responsibilities:

• Creates and manages test plans and test cases.
• Manages the Test Team
• Performs/Coordinates functional and integration testing and works with the business on UAT Testing.
• Validates acceptance criteria to confirm that it is testable
• Identifies bugs, issues and new user stories and ensures bug fixes are prioritized and implemented.

🔹 9. Change Management Lead / Adoption Specialist

• Definition: Drives user adoption and manages the human side of change.

• Responsibilities:

• Mitigates change impact
• Works with the business users on potential pain points
• Developers SME Champions
• Develops training materials and user guides.
• Conducts training sessions and user onboarding.
• Manages communications and stakeholder engagement.
• Ensures user feedback is gathered and addressed.

🔹 10. Business Analyst

• Definition: Bridges the gap between business needs and technical implementation.

• Responsibilities:

• Analyzes and documents detailed requirements.
• Documents workflows and processes and builds out current and future flow charts
• Supports functional consultants in refining user stories.
• Supports the business in writing testable acceptance criteria for requirements
• Assists in functional and user acceptance testing (UAT) testing and validation against testable acceptance criteria.

🔹 11. Integration Specialist

• Definition: Focuses specifically on connecting Dynamics 365 to external systems.

• Responsibilities:

• Designs and develops middleware and API-based integrations.
• Ensures secure and scalable data flow between systems.
• Develops and aligns on data volume and related performance needs based on volume
• Works closely with architects and developers.

🔹 12. Support / DevOps Engineer and Administrator

• Definition: Provides operational support and manages deployments.

• Responsibilities:

• Manages environments and CI/CD pipelines.
• Monitors usage, performance and logs.
• Manages ticketing and Power Platform Administration
• Coordinates the administration of onboarding users per environment
• Sets up automation for Role Based Entitlement security role alignment
• Supports go-live and post-go-live phases.

Taking a dive into Sora (https://sora.chatgpt.com/) today to see what it can do when it comes to translating words to pictures or videos. It did an interesting job with a vague topic. I asked it to create a picture of change management and what continues to be critically important is the way you put your prompts together. A slight change in the prompt created two very different experiences. The first is the futuristic version and the second was the simple ask. 

We can live in PRESENT, but the Past or the Future is also sometimes a choice that people don't realize they are making.

There are two project areas that often get overlooked in the excitement of rolling out a new system.

The first is the journey and roadmap from where you are today to where you want to be tomorrow. Most understand the vision, the excitement and the potential, but they forget about the stepping stones and the road to success. As part of your latest project, take a few minutes to outline the steps along the road. It is rare for individuals to jump the gap, usually people prefer to walk along the right path making minor adjustments as they move forward. 

Another hard part of this initial area and journey is that you might not know all the options that are available until you take a few of the first steps on the road towards tomorrow. Microsoft offers so many choices, give yourself the Phase I, Phase II, Phase X time to learn, master and make the choices.

The second project area is change management. A change management consultant focuses on the road from current to future. Really understanding the individual groups of people who are working hard today in specific patterns and thinking about how to manage the impact of changing those patterns.  There are usually pain points that get resolved, but also potentially new pain points that are introduced. These might be temporary but are better managed with mitigation. Who has time for learning curve frustration or temporary pain point yuck projected all over the company? 

After 21 years of living and breathing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and the Power Platform as CRMLady, I’m taking a moment to explore what’s next. It is an incredible journey—working alongside amazing partners, teams, and clients to solve real business challenges with the Microsoft Stack of offerings, Business Apps, CRM and a swagger of digital transformation.

I’m now open to new opportunities where I can bring my experience, creativity, and passion for helping organizations get the most out of their Microsoft investments. If you know of a team looking for someone who understands both the tech and the people side of CRM and has the learnings from real life involvement with Partners, Customers and Microsoft let’s connect!

Individuals will always have a preferred method for working.

Some individuals will push their comfort zones and always dive into the latest and greatest tooling and options and others take the stance of if it is working for me, I am not changing unless I have a huge reason to change or if I don't have a choice.

We are living in a world of more and more choices.

One of the hidden ROI benefits of Copilot is that the various consistent Copilots roll across all of the Microsoft products and stack of available technologies. This not only includes products within Modern Workplace (Excel, Word, Teams, etc.) or Business Applications (Dataverse, Dynamics 365 Sales, Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Power Platform), but also a wave across all of the various "more developer or IT centric" tooling (Visual Studio, Github, Azure DevOps, etc.).

• Copilot has the ability to silently break down silos while also maintaining individual choice.

Data here, data there, data everywhere. Everyone is creating data on a daily basis, good data, bad data, helpful data, temporary data.

• In the world of noise, Copilot can be the saw that cuts through to the answers.

Speaking of data, the culture of a company contains a huge amount of proprietary data. Tribal Knowledge is a company asset that is rarely harvested and yet this knowledge can be the differentiator for a company. The difference between a "WOW" experience where issues are quickly discovered and successfully resolved and an "average" experience where people do their jobs and go home. Using AI to tap into Tribal Knowledge is an untapped goldmine. 

• Tribal Knowledge, the gold that is often untapped.

There are most likely areas of the business or processes that happen like clockwork every month or quarterly or even daily. Employees go on autopilot and get the work done that always needs to get done. They don't have to think too hard about this if they have been at the company for a long time.  Most probably don't like this type of work. It is mundane, repetitive and yet drives other dependencies so has to get done. 

• Agents might make your Employees happier. 

Speaking of employees. You might be surprised to learn that they might be using AI already. ChatGPT is right at their fingertips and although helpful might not be where you want proprietary customer or company specific questions being asked. Many a risk was taken in pure innocence. I just needed a quick image, the question was pretty generic, I didn't use any names.

• Providing people with the right AI options, that give them even more, mitigates people using tools that might introduce company risk.

In the world of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement projects, you have three choices. Configure, Customize or Extend. 

1) Develop Standards: Like any art form from coding to painting, individuals have their own style of delivering specific needs. This offers diversity in options but also can quickly become an unsupportable nightmare. 

• Configure Standards: The question might have a companion question, answer in pairs, understand the bigger picture that your answer drives.
• Customize Standards: Define how you name, update all components of a table, decide on form consistency, add UI/UX design love, label what is not in use ZNotinUse - [xxx].
• Extend/Development Standards: Document (someone will have to support this code in the future), don't get into cut/paste mode, organize to optimize, plan for the future, always consider performance, follow the Microsoft SDK.

2) As you are working on Phase I, plan for Phase II, Phase III, Phase IV etc. The idea is that the deliverable lives for many happy years to come. Include more than just BizApps, consider all of the Microsoft Stack.

3) Memorize, Read, Re-Read the Microsoft Roadmaps so that you don't build something that needs to die tomorrow. Include some review of the other Microsoft Stack product roadmaps. 

4) We rarely have just a BizApps project (Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (CE Apps)), adopt the Microsoft Stack mindset. Modern Workplace integration (MS Teams, Phone, Excel, SharePoint, Outlook, Word, OneNote), Azure Components (Azure Key Vault, Azure Service Bus, Azure Synapse, etc.), Copilot across all data (All of the 140+ Copilots in or for and all the Agent possibilities with Copilot Studio), the world of Data and Big Data (MS Fabric, Azure Synapse, Power BI, Predictive Analytics, access to data).

5) Know Who's Who in the Zoo: Relationships provide more than just opportunity. They offer bridges to success. Get to know your Microsoft team members and their goals within the many, many different teams focused on the Microsoft Power Platform including the Microsoft CRM/CE Blackbelts, the Microsoft CAT Team, the Microsoft FastTrack teams for CE, Azure, SQL, etc. The Microsoft Support teams and so many more above and beyond the individual Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE app development teams. 

6) Community: Stay in touch with the Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE and Power Platform communities. They are the ones that will communicate the latest issues, alert you to the pitfalls to avoid until fixed, scream at you the latest and greatest fits and why they are excited about it.

I have had some really interesting conversations as I reach out to see what various contacts are up to and as I have new conversations with people who reach out to me - Through these conversations, I realized something today.

There are companies who buckle down the hatches and hold onto their hats to ride out the storm and wait.

• We need to wait and see what happens.
• We need to reduce change and limit risks.
• We need to steer the ship straight in these stormy waters battling against the waves. 
• We will be fine, we can grow later

AND then there are those companies that realize that the storm is churning up potential opportunities that they would not get at other times.

• We have the opportunity to hire some really experienced resources (not usually available).
• We can introduce those much wanted and much discussed changes now, change is everywhere.
• We can steer the ship with the stormy waters pushing us forward.
• We can jump ahead of our competitors and position for even more success while they catch up.

In my humble opinion each of the above has its merits, pluses, negatives and alignments.

Neither is "Wrong" or "Right" - They just exist.

One of the key needs on any Microsoft Business Applications (BizApps) project is the ability to quickly understand the industry in which the project is focused. This does not only include documenting business processes (possibly) but also recommending slight shifts to processes for efficiencies or increased profits.

The Functional Lead and Functional / Solution Architect has a number of key skillsets that are not always found in the focuses of the Technical Architects. 

1) There might be a configurable answer to the need. 

Consider that Microsoft has 1000s of Microsoft developers working on the Microsoft Power Platform every day. All Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement apps are built on the Microsoft Power Platform and are considered Model Driven Apps. If the feature doesn't do exactly what you want it to do, there might be a configuration or customization that can meet the need. 

2) It is hard to think "business" first if you also live in the complexity of Code and Extensions.

There is a reason why we do technical design and translate business needs into the language of the developer. When an "extension" to the Microsoft Platform is of interest, then the developer needs to consider the 1000s of Microsoft Developers changing code daily, the Microsoft Software Developer Kit (SDK) and recommended practices and the latest technologies and versions in the world of development languages. They have their hands full of detailed awesome and are MUCH needed.

3) Development is an Art, Solution / Functional / Business Focused work is also an Art 

AI has already added to these Art Forms, but despite the radical news our worlds have always been in transition. This is the nature of technology. In some of my greatest projects the synergy between technical, business and teamwork has been incredible. These are the projects that make me smile. The ones that were life changing. 

4) Do you know the long-term cost of the option being selected?

It is easy to get mixed up in the ideal solution to the immediate problem, but are you always aligning to the constant change and the effort to maintain?

5) Performance matters! 

Sometimes the easy solution is going to cost you in the long run. An API Call is not necessarily the right answer to heavy load. Leverage the power of the architects to understand all of the variables surrounding your choices. Performance is often one that is forgotten until it is too late to make an easy shift.

6) It might look really pretty, but is it Accessible? 

We have incredibly diverse audiences. Color blindness (Are you using Reds and Greens?), adaptive keyboards, different sized monitors and 1000s of other unique configurations. UI/UX DOES matter, but so does accessibility. The two don't always align in the same way for every person. The Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Modules meet 100s of compliance regulations. 

In the Enterprise world of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, we often use Azure Service Bus with custom code to manage heavy lift integrations and the queuing of incoming messages.

"Messages in queues are ordered and timestamped on arrival. Once the broker accepts the message, the message is always held durably in triple-redundant storage, spread across availability zones if the namespace is zone-enabled. Service Bus keeps messages in memory or volatile storage until client reports them as accepted." retrieved from Introduction to Azure Service Bus - Azure Service Bus | Microsoft Learn

Azure Service bus also offers the "pull mode" 

"Messages are delivered in pull mode, only delivering messages when requested. Unlike the busy-polling model of some other cloud queues, the pull operation can be long-lived and only complete once a message is available."

Azure Service Bus also has more advance features for more advanced needs including, but not limited to 

• Message sessions
• Auto-forwarding
• Dead-lettering
• Scheduled delivery
• Message Deferral
• Transactions
• Filters and actions
• Auto-delete on idle
• Duplicate detection

If you want to learn more about Azure Service Bus, Microsoft has kindly made available a ton of information on Microsoft Learn and it is all free. You can get started here Introduction to Azure Service Bus - Azure Service Bus | Microsoft Learn

Microsoft has recently introduced a new Power Platform Architecture Center  

Not only does it cover numerous areas of the Microsoft Stack of Technologies and the technologies that overlap and interact with the Power Platform, but it also shares other common integration architectures such as automation integration with SAP.

As Microsoft continues to organize and share more and more great information, centers such as the Power Platform Architecture Center help to align critical resources so that customers, partners and independent software vendors can get detailed documentation quickly and more importantly we can all stop reinventing the wheel whenever we need a great diagram to show and explain how everything fits together.

After many, many years REVOLVER MAPS has been shut down, so I am trying an alternative. MapMyVisitors (MapMyVisitors.com)

This also means that my visitor count has been restarted so tell your friends to pop in for a visit so that we can update the latest picture.

A quick little tip - 

The Customer Field in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement is a special field. It can be either an "Account" or a "Contact" and for these reasons it would be used in only special circumstances. 

I have to give a big shout out to Typepad, a tool that has proven itself to be incredibly helpful, reliable and long term. A technology that has grown with the times but also stayed error free and helpful.

I have used Typepad for over 20 years as the backbone of my blogs. I started blogging about Microsoft Dynamics CRM in 2004 (no, I did not forget the extra 2). In the early days I blogged a couple of times a day and then over the years my blogging has varied.  

Throughout these years, Typepad has offered me the ability to quickly change my theme, to add widgets, to tap into SEO options and social tooling, among just a few of the many benefits. 

A small, but BIG well deserved thank you to all of the team members behind typepad. 

As customer brains filter out the noise and try to jump on the moving train to tap into AI, there are still deep needs to align the foundation for future greatness. 

One of the biggest areas of opportunity is in diving into cleaning up the house.

Consider:

Do you have a unique way to understand that a company and/or a contact within the data that you manage is the same company or the same contact? This seems to be such a simple concept, but I suspect that more than one reader has pain in this area. 

There are now a number of third-party ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) who are offering deduplication tools for the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Dataverse. 

These vendors can either extend or use what is available out of the box with the Power Platform or use other toolsets in building out their offerings. Finding duplicates is not necessarily the business or technical challenge.  The challenge comes when you need to decide what needs to be done with a set of duplicate records.

If the records have no children, then an easy merge. A user can pick field, by field, the most accurate data and the out of the box tools will inactivate the secondary record. Perfect fix! 

But if records have numerous child and grandchild records the use of merge can make things a bit messy and more intelligence is needed to rearrange the hierarchies and spiderwebs of related data. 

What are your favorite ways to de-duplicate data?

Every record entered into the Dataverse contains a unique identifier (a GUID). This number is not user friendly and not helpful when a user wants to look up and associated another record to the record they have in context. 

Needless to say, the tables in Dataverse have the "name" field. The name field provides an opportunity to create a friendly name for each record.

On EVERY project when working with people who have never used Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement or Dataverse, the NAME field becomes something that each struggle to get their head around.

• Why is it needed?
• Do I need to enter it?
• Can we default the name field? 
• Does it need to be unique?

Always questions and often questions that are difficult to explain.

Some tables within the Dataverse set the name field to a "common sense" value, for instance the name fields for most all of the "Activities" tables are the subject line. 

Is it needed? yes

Do I need to enter it? yes or 

Can we default the name field? yes, many use a quick workflow to set it to a concatenated value

Does it need to be unique? no

Is it helpful for it to be unique? yes!

When you look at a list of records, it is always nice to have one column that is unique and that provides context and value to the end user.

If you are creating custom tables in the Dataverse, always consider the "NAME" field which is automatically created when you create any new table. 

"The Primary Name Column in Dataverse is a human-readable field that acts as the default identifier for a record in the user interface. It represents the record in views, searches, and other UI interactions¹. The field can be changed during table creation and is best set to something relevant such as Name, Title, Subject, or Label². It is not the primary key field and can have duplicate values³."

Every record entered into the Dataverse contains a unique identifier (a GUID). This number is not user friendly and not helpful when a user wants to look up and associated another record to the record they have in context. 

Needless to say, the tables in Dataverse have the "name" field. The name field provides an opportunity to create a friendly name for each record.

On EVERY project when working with people who have never used Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement or Dataverse, the NAME field becomes something that each struggle to get their head around.

• Why is it needed?
• Do I need to enter it?
• Can we default the name field? 
• Does it need to be unique?

Always questions and often questions that are difficult to explain.

Some tables within the Dataverse set the name field to a "common sense" value, for instance the name fields for most all of the "Activities" tables are the subject line. 

Is it needed? yes

Do I need to enter it? yes or 

Can we default the name field? yes, many use a quick workflow to set it to a concatenated value

Does it need to be unique? no

Is it helpful for it to be unique? yes!

When you look at a list of records, it is always nice to have one column that is unique and that provides context and value to the end user.

If you are creating custom tables in the Dataverse, always consider the "NAME" field which is automatically created when you create any new table. 

"The Primary Name Column in Dataverse is a human-readable field that acts as the default identifier for a record in the user interface. It represents the record in views, searches, and other UI interactions¹. The field can be changed during table creation and is best set to something relevant such as Name, Title, Subject, or Label². It is not the primary key field and can have duplicate values³."

It is so easy to take for granted that I get to work with the latest technology every day. 

It also doesn't stop, each week there is something new to grow with. Yes, I have to give feedback at times, and I don't always love what is new, but 97% of the time I am so happy with the updates.

2025 is the time for you to request a technology platform that grows with you, that is built to work together and that is consistently embracing the rapid changes. 

Consider the Microsoft 365 Power "Platform" for its depth of offerings, the quality of technology foundations and for the width of solutions. 

It wasn't that long ago that we all predicted the technologies of 2025. It is such a nice number and one that summarizes so many thoughts. 

We thought that everyone would have a flying car and although not widely available, we do have a drone that can carry a human, thanks to continued innovation and support. Student, 16, Develops Human-Carrying Drone, Takes Inspiration From China’s Air Taxi - News18

In college, one of my professors was deep into the world of AI, but that was a good number of years ago (ancient technology history), but now "AI" is taking on everyday needs and problems. A long growing seed that is now exploding. 

The much-loved "Spreadsheet" is nothing new from the early days of Super-Calc to the embedded use of Microsoft Excel for everything except cooking bread, we have yet to get away from columns and rows. Will 2025 be the year?

The biggest question of 2025 will be, can we capture the power of AI to solve some of the toughest business, planet and human problems? 

Really understanding what is needed to support the fast-moving pace of business and then delivering on that need.

Deeply tackling with innovation and problem resolution mindsets, that work around the limitations of human greed, need and ego, to solve global trends of huge weather changes and impacts to many economies?

Basic care for all individuals including food, shelter, health, and even more importantly, opportunity to contribute. A tap into the wealth of human diversity and thought.

Will someone resolve the historically long, long, long running battles of human against human? or will more humans create more conflicts? 

Can the best in all people be found, nurtured, grown, inspired, driven?

I believe that all of the above is possible and can happen. 

Have you had enough Y conversations this week? 

whY

If you are a senior sales executive, you know how to sell.

• You can close,
• you are organized,
• you have a full sales pipeline and sales funnel,
• e-mail is prioritized and
• you are rocking your world. 

Where would AI tools such as Copilot make a difference? 

We have access to the Sales 101 use cases for AI.

• Summarize my activities for or with a prospect
• extract data from the last 3 months from all channels of communication with the key prospect contacts (e-mail, teams, chat, channels, groups, etc.)
• Let me know if I have not followed up in the last 6 months on a subset of prospects
• and so many more.

    BUT what about the more sophisticated needs for that senior experienced sales expert? 

• What strategies do you use to identify the best fit prospects and most profitable opportunities for your industry niche?  

Do your sales executives spend trolling time? Rather than closing time? 

The sales executive ->  I use a combination of research and data analytics. First, I create a customer profile based on the demographic information I have access to. Then, I use data analysis tools to identify buying patterns and trends in order to better target my outreach efforts. Finally, I leverage social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to get more real-time sentiment and understanding. I also really appreciate having recent articles where my prospect and/or their parent account has been represented, presented or perhaps was a contributor.

• How do you communicate accurate and predictive forecasting information on your prospects to sales management and to the executive management team? 

Do your senior sales executive have to take valuable selling time to have management meetings or worse, repetitive management meetings? or can management easily understand the predictive analytics, the forecasts and the detailed information from data that sales team members capture? 

"In my current role as a senior sales executive, I ensure effective communication between the sales team and management by setting up regular meetings between the two groups to discuss progress and any issues that have arisen. I also make sure that our daily check-ins are productive by having the sales team provide detailed updates and discussing any potential roadblocks. Additionally, I compile weekly reports to provide management with an overview of the team’s performance. This system has been effective in helping the team stay on track and identifying areas of improvement.”

When you really want to know how to make a difference using "AI" in the world of a "Role" consider looking at the top 20 Interview questions that senior and experienced resources answer. 

20 Interview Questions Every Senior Sales Executive Must Be Able To Answer - InterviewPrep

Did you know -

In the new Microsoft Outlook, you can ask Copilots to define a new custom theme based on where you live or other variables. 

Select Settings

Select General

Select Appearance

Select Copilot Themes

Are you struggling to get your head around the various branding of AI? Consider that functionality can be built using the power of "AI" and that each functionality bundle can have a very different usage. The way it works, the way it is designed, the data that it uses, the reach and security that it leverages. Companies are working on communicating this, because for some audiences it matters.

In the world of "Business Think" the technology doesn't matter as much as what is being provided and how. If I have a specific need and that need is the same as another company, then perhaps, I just want to purchase something that meets that need. I don't necessarily need the technical details of how it is built, I just want the telephone system that allows all my employees to make calls, BUT just like buying a car, there are all the "you could also have" and "you might also need" or preferences such as color or in the case of a phone system, transcription, video, integrations, empowerment, security and the list goes on.

 Microsoft has an interesting dilemma as the world gets nosier. They empower teams, business people, technical people, partners, independent software companies and others with the power to configure their offerings and not only configure, but choice of configurations depending on need and if there many choices are not enough, they also support, deeply support extensions to their code bases. Just like walking down the cereal aisle at the grocery story. 25 choices that are slightly different and you can pick your own ingredients and make your own granola (oats, raisins, brown sugar, nuts, bake). 

Do we want choice?

Most of the time we do want choice. Try to be patient when considering that at times choices can be a bit overwhelming. Find your trusted souls, build your trusted network of gurus and most importantly have multi-person conversations on options. 

The human knowledge wells are deep, if you can tap into these without egos, fears, games, societies current anxieties, you will have more power and more information than needed to make the right long-term choices.  

I have seen a few community posts leaning into Ageism. The small seed of passive aggressive doubt. The one that implies that perhaps your more experienced resources are not bringing the best and the most bleeding and current edge offerings to the table. 

In the world of Technology and Technology + Business Consulting, we (people who lean into this area, consult on this area, solve business problems with technical solutions)  have never had the opportunity to rest on our laurels. We know that on a daily basis we must have habits and techniques to keep current, change is constant and has only moved faster and faster in our spaces.

One of my favorite learning techniques is to adjust my personal work habits and processes with each new release from Microsoft. I re-evaluate the way I work with technologies to get my work done when given the chance. Technologies such as Microsoft Outlook, OneNote, Teams, Task management, Notes management, collaboration with team members and so many other tools and business habits.

I also love, love, love that Microsoft has enhanced and accelerated their efforts to keep Microsoft Learn current and updated and free. (Microsoft Learn: Build skills that open doors in your career) There are a lot more badges to be tackled and trophies to be won, but this is only one avenue of learning. 

In the world of Avanade, we also have Avanade University and Accenture University and partnerships with other training programs that we can align and join. We all regularly take classes and are encouraged to learn. These partnerships are not only technical training, but also master classes in so many subjects from Advanced Consulting techniques to emotional intelligence to Story Telling and more.

I also sprinkle all of the above with my long-term habit of knowledge shared, knowledge gained. Community. I had the HUGE opportunity to network this week with an industry expert in Life Sciences. What a treat to not only learn about technology in the world of Life Science, but also industry variables and cool stuff happening. It is hard to explain how valuable that one call was to me. A soul with a long-term secret passion and family history with all things "scientific" and "medical". 

There are other ways that I learn, following LinkedIn posts, Sharing internally on Viva Engage and Microsoft Teams, watching videos, ...

What are your favorite ways to learn?

Just a few fun terms to get you thinking about all you can build (Note: I did use Copilot (Microsoft Teams Copilot) to extract the definition for each of the below terms)

• Trigger Phrases: These are specific phrases or keywords that, when detected in a user's input, activate a particular topic or response in Copilot. They help in identifying the user's intent and directing the conversation accordingly.
• Nodes: These are the building blocks of a conversation in Copilot studio. Each node represents a specific part of the conversation flow, such as a question, a response, or an action. Nodes are connected to create a structured dialogue.
• Response Variation: This refers to the different ways Copilot can respond to the same user input. By having multiple variations of a response, Copilot can provide a more natural and engaging conversation experience.
• Quick Replies: These are predefined responses that users can select to quickly reply to a message. They help streamline the conversation and guide users through the interaction.
• Entities: These are specific pieces of information that Copilot can recognize and extract from the user's input. Examples include dates, names, locations, and other relevant data points.
• Variables: These are placeholders used to store and manage information within a conversation. Variables can be used to personalize responses and keep track of the conversation context.
• Power FX: This is a formula language used in Copilot studio to create complex expressions and logic. It allows for advanced customization and control over the conversation flow.

Power BI Embedded is now the standard for most of our Enterprise projects. This tool offers powerful, modern and current options for advanced reporting, BUT also offer so much more.

"Imagine if you could review the latest output of your
organization’s fraud model on demand, or analyze the
sentiment of social media users who tweet or post about
your products. Power BI brings the predictive power of
advanced analytics to allow users to create predictive
models from their data, enabling organizations to make
data-based decisions across all aspects of their business."

Advanced Analytics
with Power BI, Microsoft White Paper retrieved from here

Oh the Challenges of Marketing ................................ 

• Customer Service Professional
• Customer Service Enterprise
• Customer Service Premium <- Includes Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center

but you can also just start with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center ....General Contact Center Pricing | Microsoft Dynamics 365

So, in general, make sure you work with your Microsoft Partner and Microsoft Sales Team to ensure that your alignment of licensing and products is correct and the best fit for your company.

"I don't need to know about the technology of AI, I just want to get my business needs met with the Power of AI" 

1) Is the data being retrieved and used in the Large Language Models (LLM) Known or Unknown? 

Unknown data might be data from the World Wide Web. 

2) Is the data your data?

    2a) Are you comfortable with the quality of your organizations data?

And this my friends are why it is helpful to have some understanding of the AI technologies and what they are doing. It is also helpful to understand these three areas if you are using these technologies for predictions.

1) The Data

2) The formulas for prediction (if using it for predictive analytics)

3) The display of the information

Check out the great sessions on WeDoAI 2024

AGENDA

• OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Copilot(s)
• The Power Platform
• Microsoft Power Platform Model Driven Apps built by Microsoft
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Journeys/Marketing
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center
• Microsoft Copilot Studio
• An Agent versus A Copilot

Is Azure OpenAI different from OpenAI? Yes

Azure OpenAI Service frequently asked questions - Azure AI services | Microsoft Learn

"Azure OpenAI Service provides REST API access to OpenAI's powerful language models including GPT-4o, GPT-4 Turbo with Vision, GPT-4, GPT-3.5-Turbo, and Embeddings model series. These models can be easily adapted to your specific task including but not limited to content generation, summarization, image understanding, semantic search, and natural language to code translation. Users can access the service through REST APIs, Python SDK, or our web-based interface in the Azure OpenAI Studio." Retrieved from What is Azure OpenAI Service? - Azure AI services | Microsoft Learn

• "Does Azure OpenAI support custom API headers? Current APIs allow up to 10 custom headers, which are passed through the pipeline, and returned."
• Does Azure OpenAI support GPT-4? Azure OpenAI supports the latest GPT-4 models. It supports both GPT-4 and GPT-4-32K

and there are so many more goodies here Azure OpenAI Service frequently asked questions - Azure AI services | Microsoft Learn

As a first thought keep in mind that OpenAI and Azure OpenAI are slightly different. Azure OpenAI brings and wraps role-based entitlement, more controls and more options (such as private cloud) to the table.

The 100s of Copilots use Azure OpenAI to enrich and empower applications within the Microsoft Stack of offerings. This includes everything from Azure DevOps and developer tools to the Microsoft Business Applications. 

In the Microsoft Business Applications Copilot add an entirely new layer of awesome. It cuts through the noise, adds executive summaries, can be configured to find the right knowledge article from YOUR sources of knowledge and can bring filtered and controlled automation into areas that make sense to automate.

Although a direct API would be preferred, you also have the following power 

Microsoft Outlook

• An e-mail is received
• The e-mail has an attachment of an Excel Spreadsheet
• The spreadsheet is received every week and contains key data that validates information
• An Outlook rule moves this e-mail to a folder 

Welcome Microsoft Power Automate (flow)

• Pick-up the e-mail
• Save the Attachment
• Process the Attachment data and injected the data into Dataverse (Model Driven Power App)

Microsoft Power App

• Dashboards
• Comparisons
• Calculations
• Reporting errors 

There are many choices when it comes to business processes and eliminating manual steps. 

Reid Havens on Youtube

Reid Havens on Linkedin

How easy is the data model to use as a User? 

• Name, Synonyms, Descriptions, Display Folder and Visibility (or hidden)

When building Symantec Models for Power BI who is the audience? Always key to consider.

• Report Authors
• Developers
• Report Consumers

Great example: If you search on date, is the date field well defined, well named and obvious as to which date field should be used in your visualizations?

New Options for Automated testing for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, Supply chain and the Customer Engagement model-driven apps. 

At the last user group meeting I saw Leapworks and today we have x+ xplus presenting their options. 

And the NA Summit kicks off with Copilot Studio. Good thing I was working on Adaptive Cards this morning and now in the presence of all the people who can answer my questions :) 

Yes, I am not afraid to ask question. (although not always in my best interest) 

For those who have access to Microsoft BUILD 2024 (or who sign up for access): Go watch BRK148: Extend Microsoft Copilot using Copilot Studio. This was the #1 watched session from the Business Applications group at Microsoft Build 2024. It is packed with great information.

Key Kickoff Tip: Cut through the noise - people want specific information, not a wave of information when they need an answer, and they don't want to do work redundantly. (<- my interruption)   

Copilot Studio: A Hydration of Bot Framework/SDK, Bot Service Channels, Azure AI Studio, Azure Cognitive Services, Power Platform Connectors and AI Builder

and then the ability to build and extend across the Microsoft ecosystem

The lines are getting very blurry and exciting. Enabling new actions and customized knowledge and published throughout the organization. 

Greatest question from the audience: What is "HYDRATE" and the answer "it is like watering a plant to allow it to grow and grow and grow"

And when it really gets fun, 

• Connectors (pulling data from different sources and business knowledge)
• Plugins (Extending what is offered from Microsoft)
• and Copilots that Copilot can use as extensions (the library of building blocks ;)

Mixing and Mingling with the wider Microsoft Business Applications Community today.

I find it fascinating to meet the new vendors and seeing what they are offering. This year I am seeing more and more "Test Automation" tools which is exciting. This translates into improved data quality and adds more empowerment for the business analysts.

 If you don't know about Dynamics Communities and you like insight and perspectives from the field, check them out. 

OR are your business applications working for you? 

Once upon a time, when I was in Enterprise Sales, I had to manage hundreds of different companies and thousands of different contacts. At the ring of a phone call, I needed to know not only who was calling with more context than their "name", but also who they knew, who they respected, who influenced their decision making, who they didn't like. I needed to know when their budget renewed and how the current climate impacted that budget. I needed to know what frustrated them and what was available that they might not know about or who was available that could create a win/win.

I was also finding out new tidbits of information on an ongoing basis that was easy to forget. 

The world is small.

I would go to a conference or local user group meeting, and I would meet someone who knew someone who I knew.  They were at the same company, on the same baseball team or had recently published an article that everyone was talking about. 

I could keep track of the hundreds of companies (or a few hundred), but when I started adding in the hundreds of contacts associated with those companies. I just couldn't do it.

As such I focused my career on technologies that could make my job easier, and I selected Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and the Power Platform.

Here we are a few (okay more than a few) years later and I continue to still see that technology need at many companies. People using Outlook and Excel to try to remember the tiny details and to meet the goals that they need to meet. At one point you could go to a conference twice a year and get a good refresh. Yes, LinkedIn offers the alerts on who has changed jobs, but do you really have a great system that can show you your world and how it intermixes with the companies you work with? 

All of that great organic data that drips in here and there from just living your passion or from just making a living. (hopefully they are the same for you) Do you really know? 

PS: The above drawing took me less than 2 minutes to create. Waffle on that one ;) 

Although we have TWO big releases each year (Spring and Fall), the Microsoft Power Platform Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications are all running in a SaaS model.

This means drip updates, keep an eye on the blog to learn more each month. 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales -> Microsoft Copilot for Sales Blog - Microsoft Community Hub

Did you know that with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales you can pick your choice of methodologies? The Power Platform Model-Driven App is highly configurable offering three areas of refinement.

1) Configuration: A set of questions that can change the way the application works. These questions, no matter the answer, are all supported by the Microsoft Development team. 

2) Customizations: An ability to add fields, tables, views, forms for data entry, business rules, charts, label changes, table name changes, business process flows and relationships to other tables. Customizations are also expected by the Microsoft development team and all customizations grow with the software as it continues to deepen with the Microsoft product teams efforts.

3) Extensions: Extensions come in when an Enterprise (or small or medium size business) works with a developer to add additional functionality to the platform. An extension is taking the standard code base and what is written by the Microsoft Development team and extending it to do even more that the thousands of features that come out of the box. 

So back to Sales Methodologies and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales. There are numerous different sales methodologies that can easily be met with Configuration and Customizations. Wording changes, Form changes, adding business process flows. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales can be your Sales Methodology App. 

What? You don't have a sales methodology? EVEN an ORGANIC Sales can be supported. Look over your sales team members shoulders, what do they do to close the deal? Even if you don't have a formal methodology, if you are selling, there are processes in place. 

Example of Formal or Informal Sales Methodologies and Processes

• Sandler Sales
• N.E.A.T Selling
• Conceptual Selling
• MEDDIC / MEDDPICC
• BANT
• SPIN
• Richardson's Consultative Selling
• Challenger Selling 
• The Command of the Sale Approach
• Relationship Selling
• SNAP
• Value Selling
• Inbound Selling

When working on a really intense PHASE I MVP project, it is easy to get distracted with all the demands of the foundation. Just as with a house, the foundation is often hidden from the end users, but is hugely important.

Given that it is "hidden" from the end users don't much care that the cement is grey. 

Make sure to add BLING to your MVP.

Did you know that there are over 100+ Copilots from Microsoft?

How to add value as a partner, we are beyond "Module" expertise and now deep into leveraging the entire Microsoft Stack of options. 

Employees don't care which technologies are delivering what functionality, what employees want is a seamless experience where each of the applications that they are using or are required to use deliver business value and work consistently like every other application. 

Welcome to the Microsoft Stack!

Short and Sweet 

All Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE (Customer Engagement/Customer Relationship Management) Applications are Power Platform Model-Driven Apps. 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales -> Power Platform Model Driven App built by Microsoft, Configured, Customized or even Extended by Microsoft Partners or Customers

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service -> Power Platform Model Driven App built by Microsoft, Configured, Customized or even Extended by Microsoft Partners or Customers

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service -> Power Platform Model Driven App built by Microsoft, Configured, Customized or even Extended by Microsoft Partners or Customers

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Contact Center -> Power Platform Model Driven App built by Microsoft, Configured, Customized or even Extended by Microsoft Partners or Customers

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations -> Power Platform Model Driven App built by Microsoft, Configured, Customized or even Extended by Microsoft Partners or Customers

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights/Journeys -> Power Platform Model Driven App built by Microsoft, Configured, Customized or even Extended by Microsoft Partners or Customers

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing -> Power Platform Model Driven App built by Microsoft, Configured, Customized or even Extended by Microsoft Partners or Customers

ETC

but what about Power Apps/Canvas Apps?

We often create Microsoft Canvas Apps and embed them in Microsoft Model Driven Apps just like we embed Power BI Reports, Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft SharePoint and so much more. 

One of the biggest challenges of working with Microsoft is that for each product you are given a large number of choices. The idea of an MVP product is to get the basics out of the way and to train users on the platform, so that, you as a customer, are empowered with enough knowledge to be able to help make great choices.

Take for instance working with the generic out of the box product. This product is built to be both globally flexible, BUT also compliant with a list of regulations related to making sure the product is accessible for all people no matter how they access technology.

The "Design" options expand significantly when you start applying "PCF" to parts of the product such as forms and views. If you have not checked out the https://pcf.gallery for ideas then now is a good time to do it.

Randomly picking on the last page of the http://pcf.gallery provides you an idea on some of the possibilities. The Microsoft Power Platform team provides a few PCF options out of the box, the community provides others, and you can also have your partner of choice create one for you. 

As sales technology continues to grow, we no longer need to depend on lightning speed typing skills to keep track of all that is happening around us. Voice to Text is everywhere, from your watch to your phone and on over to your computer.

The key is to review and address how you work on a regular basis. Have you been hesitating to update or upgrade? Will it make a difference? 

The uncomfort of change is real and bigger for some, but also is the level of tolerance for habits that really are not worth continuing. During the slower months of summer, take time to consider "How you Work".