TIDBITS on the Microsoft Power Platform

Common Data Service - Data "un" Limits

I was having an interesting conversation the other day about some of the configuration and customization we have seen on the Dynamics 365 Platform. The conversation mentioned an example where the total number of fields added to one entity was rather significantly large. While catching up on the training in the new Microsoft Learn environment I found this statement and thought it might be a good one to share. 

"Maximum Number of fields in an entity:" REFERENCED From

• "There is no hard upper limit on the number of fields that you can have in an entity, but there is an upper boundary due to limits in how much data you can store in a single record. It is difficult to provide a specific number because each type of field can use a different amount of space. The upper limit depends on the total space that is used by all the fields for the entity.

• As a rule, you should have less than a few hundred fields in an entity. If you have more than a few hundred fields in an entity, then you should look at restructuring how you have designed the entities in your solutions and try to split the entity with an excessive number of fields into more than one entity." Referenced from 

 

One last note : In the world of technology everything changes so before you groan or run around and tell your friends about this. Tomorrow it could all be different. This is the beauty of Azure! 

D365: Multi-Channel vs. Omni-Channel

• "Multi-channel: A multi-channel solution offers two or more channel experiences to customers. Data isn't necessarily shared across channels, and the experience isn't consistent.

  • For example, a customer starts a support request via chat but is then transferred to an agent. The customer then has to provide all his or her information again.

• Omni-channel: An omni-channel solution offers two or more channel experiences to customers, and the customer experience is consistent across channels. The context of the case and customer is used to streamline the experience across apps.

  • For example, a customer starts on a self-service portal but then starts a chat conversation. All the pages that the customer has opened are available to the agent." Reference 

D365 Online and Azure Logic Apps: Just a Few Basics

Definition:  "Azure Logic Apps gives you pre-built components to connect to hundreds of services." Reference Logic Apps can be used to automate business process and to schedule key steps within processes to occur at key times or when certain conditions are met. 

Logic Apps can combine predefined existing services or components or they allow you to create your own components or services. 

Logic Apps work with "Connectors". A connector uses the external service's REST or SOAP API to connect components or services. For instance a connector can call a service's underlying API. There are existing connectors such as a Twitter Connector or a D365 Connector and custom connectors can be created. 

Why would Logic Apps be considered in the world of D365 Online? 

Take for instance the need to batch process data within a time frame such as every day at 4pm process data from System A, clean the data and push it into a D365 Online Instance.  In this particular example Logic Apps can be used to bridge the need to schedule a process from an external system into D365. 

There are many other examples as well. 

You also have the ability to work with TRIGGERS and ACTIONS within the world of Logic Apps. 

• "A trigger is an event that occurs when a specific set of conditions is satisfied. Triggers activate automatically when conditions are met. For example, when a timer expires or data becomes available.

• An action is an operation that executes a task in your business process. Actions run when a trigger activates or another action completes."  Reference

 

Defining Triggers and actions and creating your Logic App is all done within the Logic Apps Designer. A graphical tool for creating your Logic Apps workflows. 

Logic Apps are not always the answer, but are one of the many choices in the world of Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement. Take a minute to read up on Logic Apps using the reference links above. Also for a quick peek into when to use Logic Apps,  here is the decision tree. Reference

D365 for Sales, Products and OneNote Integration

Companies that sell complex products often include detailed spec sheets for their products. These spec sheets will many times include pictures, tiny type, videos, specifications and pop out messages. This type of format is not always the easiest to translate into text within a database. Shift your thinking .. 

In the world of Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales you have some interesting options. Take for instance the Office 365 integration to OneNote. A OneNote page can align to a product in the product catalog. OneNote easily allows you to capture the specs, add pictures, include URLs and more.

Just paste in the Specs