Microsoft Expands Dynamics 365 Capabilities on the Path to Agentic ERP

AI is changing not only what ERP can do, but how work gets done. Microsoft’s latest Dynamics 365 announcement brings new capabilities across core business operations while advancing its vision for agentic ERP, where people and AI work together across business processes.

 

The focus is increasingly on connecting people, data and processes so AI can work with the context of the business, rather than operating separately from it. The announcement also marks a shift toward a more continuously updated roadmap, with a view of new and upcoming Dynamics 365 capabilities through March 2027.

 

What is Changing Across Dynamics 365?

 

The new capabilities cover some of the most important areas of business operations.

 

Finance

 

Dynamics 365 Finance is getting a redesigned financial journals experience aimed at higher transaction volumes and more complex cross-legal-entity scenarios. Account Reconciliation Agent is being expanded to resolve exceptions in bulk, while Accounts Payable (AP) automation gains AI invoice recognition and suggestions for completing finance entries.

 

Finance Agent is also gaining skills for reconciliation, data preparation, variance analysis, collections and business intelligence across Microsoft 365 surfaces including Copilot, Excel, Outlook and Teams, with native Finance connectivity and connectors to other systems.

 

Microsoft is also making its Business Performance Planning demo data and starter kit generally available, alongside France e-invoicing and e-reporting support.

 

Supply Chain Management

 

Supply Chain Management is gaining more decision support across procurement, planning, supplier engagement and warehouse operations.

 

A procurement agent impact analysis capability, now in public preview, can trace a supplier-proposed purchase order change through affected sales orders, production orders, transfer orders and projected inventory. Demand planning now includes generally available generative insights for seasonality, trends and signal correlations, alongside external signals such as inflation, pricing and weather.

 

Supplier Engagement is in public preview, bringing onboarding, RFQs (requests for quotation), purchase orders and invoicing into a connected workspace and supplier portal. Microsoft is continuing to expand warehouse management capabilities, with dynamic item placement coming next. Rental management capabilities are also coming to public preview, connecting quoting, contracts, inspections, returns and billing.

 

Project Operations

 

For project-based businesses, new capabilities focus on keeping scope, financials, billing and resources aligned as projects change.

 

Change order management is coming to public preview, providing a structured and auditable way to incorporate contract changes into billing schedules. Subscription billing is also coming, with recurring billing schedules, invoice generation and flexible and tiered pricing.

 

A new time-phased staffing view brings task assignments, project bookings and available capacity into one timeline. Microsoft is also adding an option to recognize project revenue against the original cost estimate when that accounting approach is appropriate.

 

Commerce

 

Dynamics 365 Commerce is expanding its B2B capabilities, including a single sign-in for buyers managing purchases across multiple outlets, legal entities and fulfilment channels, with on-account and credit validation. Trade POS is also gaining bulk order capture, contacts on orders and quotations, direct order release to the warehouse and streamlined pickup workflows.

 

On the agentic side, the Dynamics 365 Commerce MCP server is now in public preview, providing a foundation for customers and partners to develop their own agentic commerce scenarios.

 

Field Service

 

Field Service is gaining a Scheduling Operations Agent, currently in public preview, which can help dispatchers optimize multiple resources against defined objectives and review proposed changes before applying them. Scheduled optimisation is planned as a next step.

 

Connected workflows across Field Service, Project Operations and Finance are now generally available. Work orders can be created directly from or linked to project tasks, connecting field execution with project scope and task-based billing. A mobile-first notes experience is also generally available, allowing technicians to capture text, images and video directly in work orders.

 

Human Resources

 

Dynamics 365 Human Resources is expanding across the employee lifecycle, from talent pools, referrals, digital offers and preboarding through learning, succession, performance, benefits, leave, HR-aware time entry and reporting.

 

Agentic capabilities are also being introduced into HR. Candidate assessment and onboarding are gaining agentic experiences, while new HR business skills will make more hire-to-retire workflows available through Microsoft Copilot, Copilot Cowork and agents.

 

Sustainability

 

Microsoft is also strengthening Dynamics 365 Sustainability around governance and auditability.

 

New capabilities are designed to provide clearer data trails for sustainability reporting, including source activity data, emission factors, calculation logic and reporting filters. Reporting period controls and governed ESG data collection are also being introduced to support more structured review, evidence and approval processes.

 

A New Way of Following the Dynamics 365 Roadmap

 

There is another important change behind these product updates. Microsoft is moving beyond traditional release waves with its AI at Work roadmap, providing a more continuously updated view of innovation across Dynamics 365, Power Platform and Dataverse.

 

The latest announcement gives a snapshot of new and upcoming Dynamics 365 ERP capabilities through March 2027. For organisations planning their ERP roadmap, this provides a clearer view of what is becoming available and what is coming next.

 

The Foundation Still Matters

 

The most significant part of this announcement may not be any single new feature. As more agents interact with ERP processes, the quality of the underlying ERP environment becomes increasingly important.

 

Reliable data. Connected processes. Clear business logic. Appropriate security. Defined permissions.

 

These are what allow agents to work with business context rather than simply generate information around it. That is the direction Microsoft is describing with agentic ERP: connecting how people work with how the business operates, while keeping Dynamics 365 at the centre of the business process foundation.

Microsoft Introduces Dynamics 365 Activate: What It Means for CRM Migration Projects

Microsoft has introduced Dynamics 365 Activate, an AI-powered tool designed to help organizations move to Dynamics 365 with less manual effort and greater visibility throughout the implementation process.

 

The first capabilities are now available in public preview for organizations migrating from Salesforce to Dynamics 365. Microsoft says Activate can analyze an existing Salesforce environment, identify data, business processes, customizations and dependencies, and use that information to support migration planning and execution.

 

For organizations considering a CRM migration, the announcement raises a more practical question: what does AI-assisted migration actually change for the project?

 

Why CRM Migrations Are More than Moving Data

 

A CRM migration rarely starts with a clean system.

 

Years of customization can leave organizations with complex data structures, workflows, integrations, business rules and processes that are difficult to map from one platform to another. Data quality can vary across departments, while some customizations may no longer reflect how the business operates today.

 

There is also a business side to the migration. Employees need to adapt to new processes and ways of working, making adoption and change management part of the project from the beginning.

 

This makes discovery one of the most important stages of a migration project.

 

Before deciding what to migrate, teams need to understand what they already have and, equally importantly, what they actually need going forward.

 

How Dynamics 365 Activate Aims to Help

 

Activate is designed to bring AI into this part of the implementation process.

 

According to Microsoft, the Salesforce migration capabilities can analyze the existing CRM environment, profile data and entities, identify relationships and dependencies, and surface customizations that require attention. The resulting context can help teams assess migration scope and identify potential issues earlier.

 

The objective is not simply to reproduce the existing Salesforce environment inside Dynamics 365.

 

The information gathered during discovery can help customers and implementation teams decide what to preserve, what to simplify and what to redesign before migration begins.

 

That distinction matters. A successful migration should move the business forward, rather than simply recreate years of accumulated complexity in a new system.

 

What Could this Mean for Customers?

 

For organizations already evaluating a Salesforce-to-Dynamics 365 migration, Activate is particularly relevant during the assessment and planning stages.

 

Its potential value is in making the existing environment easier to understand before major migration decisions are made. That can mean less manual discovery work, better visibility into migration scope and earlier identification of dependencies or potential risks.

 

Does that make Salesforce migration easier? Potentially, particularly where the existing environment is complex. But Activate does not remove the decisions involved in determining what the future CRM should look like. The benefit comes from giving teams better information to make those decisions.

 

It is also not limited conceptually to new Dynamics 365 customers. Microsoft’s broader vision for Activate includes existing Dynamics 365 customers that want to expand into new applications, processes, geographies or business units. For these organizations, the goal is to build on existing business context rather than repeat lengthy discovery for every new implementation.

 

The current public preview, however, is specifically focused on Salesforce-to-Dynamics 365 migration. Microsoft has indicated that additional CRM and ERP migration scenarios will follow, with ERP capabilities planned later in 2026.

 

What Happens to the Implementation Partner?

 

AI-assisted migration does not make implementation expertise less relevant. It changes where that expertise can have the greatest impact.

 

If AI can accelerate discovery and analysis, implementation teams can spend less time reconstructing the legacy environment and more time applying business and industry knowledge to the future one.

 

That includes business process design, solution architecture, data strategy, integrations, testing, governance and change management.

 

For customers, this distinction matters. The technology can help answer what exists and identify potential migration considerations. Experienced implementation teams are still needed to determine what should change and how those changes should work in the context of the business.

 

That is ultimately the significance of Dynamics 365 Activate. It is not simply another migration utility. It reflects a broader shift toward AI-assisted implementation, where more of the analysis can be automated while the decisions shaping the future business environment remain collaborative and human-led.

 

For organizations considering a move to Dynamics 365, the question is becoming less about how much of the old system can be moved, and more about what is worth taking forward.

Microsoft Introduces a New AI-Powered Operating Model for Customer Experience in Dynamics 365

Microsoft has announced a new AI-powered operating model for customer experience in Dynamics 365, bringing together customer service, contact center operations, workforce engagement management (WEM), and AI capabilities within a unified platform.

 

The announcement reflects a shift in how organizations deliver customer service as AI becomes more integrated into business operations. Customer service leaders are increasingly responsible not only for managing human teams, but also for overseeing AI agents that participate in service delivery. This creates new requirements for visibility, coordination, and performance management across both human and digital workers.

 

A New Operating Model for Customer Experience

 

According to Microsoft’s 2026 Work Trend Index, organizations are entering a new phase of AI adoption in which AI agents become part of the workforce and contribute to business processes alongside employees.

 

To support this transition, Microsoft is expanding Dynamics 365 with capabilities that help organizations coordinate people and AI within a single operating model. At the core is a unified platform built on a single data model that connects Customer Service, Contact Center, Workforce Engagement Management, and AI capabilities. This provides a consistent view of customer interactions, workforce performance, and operational data across the service lifecycle.

 

The approach is designed to reduce fragmentation across customer service operations and support more informed decision-making using real-time operational insights.

 

Workforce Engagement Management in Dynamics 365

 

Microsoft is embedding Workforce Engagement Management directly into Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Dynamics 365 Contact Center, reducing reliance on separate tools and enabling a more unified approach to service operations.

 

The integrated WEM capabilities include demand forecasting, scheduling, adherence monitoring, intraday shift swapping, shift bidding, and time recording. These capabilities allow organizations to manage workforce operations directly within Dynamics 365 while maintaining a unified operational view.

 

Microsoft also notes that organizations can continue using existing third-party workforce management solutions through supported integrations, enabling a phased modernization approach.

 

Three Key Capability Areas

 

The announcement is structured around three main capability areas:

 

1. Embedded Workforce Engagement Management

 

Workforce Engagement Management is now integrated into Dynamics 365 Customer Service and Dynamics 365 Contact Center, enabling workforce planning and execution within the same environment as customer service operations.

 

2. AI Coaching and Operational Insights

 

AI-powered coaching provides real-time recommendations and performance insights to support employee development and help improve service quality. It also enables supervisors to identify operational issues based on live data.

 

3. Real-Time Wallboards

 

Microsoft is introducing real-time wallboards in Dynamics 365 Contact Center, providing supervisors with live visibility into service levels, backlog, and operational performance to support real-time operational awareness.

 

Together, these capabilities support connected planning, execution, and monitoring across customer service operations.

 

Managing Human Agents and AI Agents Together

 

A key element of the new operating model is the ability to manage both human service representatives and AI agents within the same environment.

 

As AI agents take on defined service tasks, human agents are able to focus on more complex customer interactions. Supervisors gain a consolidated view of performance across both human and AI contributors, supported by operational data and AI-driven insights.

 

Microsoft emphasizes that supervisors remain in control of how AI is applied within customer service workflows, using defined rules and operational guidance to shape system behavior.

 

Supporting Customer Service Operations

 

With these updates, Microsoft is positioning Dynamics 365 as a connected platform for customer service operations, bringing together customer service, contact center, workforce engagement management, and AI capabilities in a single environment.

 

By unifying these capabilities, organizations can reduce fragmentation across tools and processes and improve visibility across workforce planning, service execution, and operational performance.

 

The announcement represents another step in Microsoft’s broader strategy to embed AI across Dynamics 365 and support organizations as customer service operations continue to evolve.

Why Operational Maturity Will Define the Winners of the Next Decade

The Competitive Advantage Nobody Talks About

 

For much of the past twenty years, competitive advantage was often linked to technology adoption.

 

Organizations invested in new platforms, modernized infrastructure, digitized processes, and expanded access to data. Those able to move faster frequently established meaningful advantages over their peers.

 

Today, that dynamic is changing.

 

Technology continues to evolve at an extraordinary pace, but access to innovation is becoming increasingly democratized. Capabilities that were once available only to a select group of organizations can now be deployed broadly and at scale.

 

As a result, technology alone is becoming a less reliable source of differentiation. The question facing business leaders is no longer whether innovation is available. It is whether their organizations are capable of translating innovation into measurable outcomes.

 

 

The New Constraint on Growth

 

Many organizations possess the technologies required to improve performance, increase efficiency, and create new value.

 

Yet the results achieved across businesses remain remarkably uneven.

 

The difference is rarely explained by technology itself. More often, it is explained by execution. Disconnected processes, fragmented data, inconsistent governance, and competing priorities create friction that limits the impact of even the most advanced capabilities.

 

In many cases, organizations do not struggle because they lack innovation. They struggle because their operating environment prevents innovation from scaling.

 

Maturity Creates Momentum

 

Operational maturity is often misunderstood as standardization for its own sake.

 

In reality, maturity creates the conditions for adaptability. Organizations with well-defined processes, trusted data, and aligned operating models can absorb change more effectively than those operating through fragmentation and exception management.

 

They can introduce new capabilities more quickly.

They can make decisions with greater confidence.

They can respond to market shifts with less disruption.

 

Most importantly, they can scale successful initiatives beyond isolated teams or departments.

 

This ability to consistently translate change into results is becoming a defining characteristic of high-performing organizations.

 

The Strategic Value of Foundations

 

Business leaders are often drawn to visible transformation initiatives. New technologies generate attention. New capabilities generate excitement.

 

Yet the organizations that sustain long-term performance typically invest as much effort in foundations as they do in innovation.

 

Modern business applications, integrated data environments, and standardized operating processes may not attract headlines, but they create the infrastructure through which transformation becomes possible. Organizations that have invested in connected business platforms are often better positioned to absorb change, scale innovation, and adapt to new market realities.

 

Without these foundations, change remains episodic.

 

With them, change becomes repeatable.

 

This distinction is increasingly important as the pace of technological advancement accelerates.

 

A Different Perspective on Transformation

 

Transformation is frequently discussed as a destination, a future state reached through a major initiative or implementation.

 

Today, the challenge is different. Markets evolve faster, customer expectations shift more rapidly, and new technologies continue to reshape competitive landscapes.

 

Success increasingly depends not on an organization’s ability to transform once, but on its ability to adapt continuously. That capability is built on operational maturity.

 

Looking Ahead

 

Technology will continue to advance, and access to new capabilities will continue to widen across the market.

 

As innovation becomes more accessible, organizational capability becomes more valuable. The organizations that invest in strong operational foundations today will be better positioned to adopt emerging technologies, respond to change, and sustain competitive advantage in the years ahead.

 

Copilot Cowork: When AI Stops Assisting and Starts Executing

Artificial intelligence has already transformed how we work, helping us quickly find answers, draft emails, and surface insights. But the next evolution of AI is even more ambitious: finishing the work. That is exactly what Copilot Cowork is designed to do.

 

Copilot Cowork takes Microsoft 365 Copilot beyond a conversational assistant and turns it into a true work partner. Instead of prompting for content, you simply describe the outcome you want. Cowork handles the execution.

 

Turning Intent into Action

 

At the core of Copilot Cowork is a simple principle: outcomes matter more than prompts. When you delegate a task, Cowork builds a plan, draws on your actual work context, and begins executing across Microsoft 365 apps. Emails, meetings, files, and data all inform how the work gets done.

 

This intelligence comes from Work IQ, which uses signals from Outlook, Teams, Excel, and the broader Microsoft 365 environment. The result is AI that understands your workflow and context just as you do.

 

More importantly, control never leaves your hands. Cowork pauses at key moments with clear checkpoints, asks for clarification when needed, and shows recommended actions before applying them. Multiple tasks can progress in parallel while you stay focused on what matters most.

 

How Cowork Fits into Real Workdays

 

Microsoft highlights four practical scenarios that show Copilot Cowork in action:

 

This intelligence comes from Work IQ, which uses signals from Outlook, Teams, Excel, and the broader Microsoft 365 environment. The result is AI that understands your workflow and context just as you do.

 

1. Calendar Optimization

 

Cowork can review your Outlook schedule, identify conflicts or low-priority meetings, and propose changes. With approval, it reschedules meetings, declines where appropriate, and protects focus time. The result: you gain back control of your week.

 

2. End-to-End Meeting Preparation

 

Instead of juggling documents and deadlines, Cowork gathers inputs from emails and files, schedules prep time, and creates a connected set of deliverables: briefing document, supporting analysis, and a client-ready deck. Follow-ups are drafted, decisions are captured, and everything is organized and ready to share.

 

3. Fast, Trustworthy Company Research

 

Deep research takes time and rigor. With Cowork, you can offload company research across web and work sources. It gathers earnings reports, SEC filings, analyst commentary, and relevant news, then organizes findings with clear citations.

 

Instead of assembling inputs manually, you get an executive summary ready to send, a structured research memo with clear assumptions and supporting analysis, and an Excel workbook with labeled tabs. When work is cross-functional and time-sensitive, Cowork also coordinates the workflow to deliver both the narrative and the plan.

 

4. Product Launch Coordination

 

For fast-moving launches, Cowork takes you from intent to full execution. It builds competitive comparisons in Excel, distills differentiation into a value proposition document, generates a customer pitch deck, and outlines milestones, owners, and next steps. Strategy translates into coordinated action, giving you a coherent story and all supporting files.

 

Your team can distribute, review, and refine the materials as the launch evolves, without stitching together versions across tools.

 

Built for Enterprise Trust

 

Copilot Cowork operates entirely within Microsoft 365’s security and governance framework. Permissions, compliance policies, and auditing apply by default, keeping work safe in a protected cloud environment.

 

Microsoft also takes a multi-model approach, integrating Claude Cowork technology alongside other leading AI models. Copilot selects the best model for the task, ensuring flexibility and ongoing innovation.

 

What This Means for Organizations

 

Adopting Copilot Cowork allows organizations to move from task management to outcome driven work. Teams can coordinate more efficiently, reduce repetitive work, and focus on initiatives that deliver real business impact.

 

Microsoft Brings Copilot Business to Small and Medium Companies

Microsoft just announced a new AI-powered productivity tool for small- and medium-sized businesses. Here comes Microsoft 365 Copilot Business!

 

AI Productivity for Every Small and Medium Business

Since its introduction in 2013, Microsoft 365 Copilot Business has become a must-have AI companion for companies worldwide. But it wasn’t affordable for everyone. Today, Microsoft is taking small- and medium-sized companies into consideration, offering a version tailored to their budget and needs.

 

Starting December 1^st 2025, Copilot Business will be available worldwide, with the same Microsoft 365 Copilot Business capabilities, now offered at more adaptable pricing. The one condition: your organization must have no more than 300 users.

 

What Copilot Business Delivers

 

Copilot Business provides a unified, work-ready AI experience across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, all powered by Work IQ, which learns your role, routines, and organizational context. It handles repetitive tasks, highlights key insights, and works within your existing security and privacy controls, letting you adopt AI confidently with zero extra setup.

 

Designed to help small- and medium-sized businesses compete, it speeds up emails, reports, and proposals so teams can focus on more strategic work. And with Copilot Chat, Search, Pages, Notebooks, and customizable agents built into one interface at no additional cost, you get powerful, enterprise-grade AI that elevates productivity.

 

Select the Plan That Fits Your Business Needs

 

Microsoft has taken it even further to help you choose the best option for your organization out of the few choices:

 

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic + Copilot Business: Essential web and mobile AI-powered apps to help your team work confidently and make faster, smarter decisions.
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard + Copilot Business: Everything in Basic plus the full suite of desktop Office apps for a complete, integrated work experience from any device.
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium + Copilot Business: All the benefits of Standard, along with advanced security and device management to protect your business as you scale.

 

Get started with Copilot Business and see how AI can transform your SMB today.

Microsoft Unveils the New Business Central Logo

Microsoft has officially introduced a refreshed Business Central logo at this year’s Directions EMEA conference in Poznań, Poland, marking the beginning of a new era for one of the most trusted ERP solutions for small and mid-sized businesses.

 

The new visual identity aligns with Microsoft’s broader strategy to unify the product ecosystem under a consistent, contemporary design language across all apps and services.

 

It also reinforces Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central’s position as a modern, AI-enabled platform that connects every part of a business, from finance and operations to sales and supply chain.

 

 

Photo Credits: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central via LinkedIn

 

As a global Microsoft partner, AXM365 welcomes this evolution and the continued innovation behind Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

 

Our mission remains the same: helping organizations modernize their ERP landscape, simplify operations, and unlock value through Microsoft’s latest capabilities.

What’s New in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance

The latest Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance update brings key improvements, including features that are new, changed or enhanced, designed to make financial processes faster, more accurate, and easier to manage. All this will be available on the following schedule:

 

• Preview of release: October 2025
• General availability of release (self-update): December 2025
• General availability of release (auto-update): February 2026

 

New or Changed Features

 

A number of new and changed features have been introduced to simplify finance workflows and enhance overall efficiency.

 

Accounts Receivable

 

• Faster Global Transaction Page— Optimized performance for large datasets, allowing quicker lookups and smoother navigation.
• Structured QR-Bill Addresses (Switzerland)— Supports structured “S-type” addresses for both biller and debtor, improving accuracy and compliance in Swiss billing.

 

Fixed Assets

 

• Stable Acquisition Proposals— Recurring batch jobs for asset acquisitions now continue even if older journals are deleted, preventing interruptions.
• Consistent Asset Naming— Asset names from purchase orders remain intact; new details are added without overwriting existing data.
• Accurate Transaction Timing— Inventory sold transactions now post at the correct time for cleaner and more reliable financial tracking.
• (Preview) Intercompany Asset Transfers— A new data entity streamlines transfers between legal entities, helping organizations automate asset management.

 

Subscription Billing

 

• Optimized Batch Processing— Reduced a significant amount of chattiness in batch process.
• Faster Invoice Posting— Billing schedule invoices now post using multithreaded batch processing, allowing multiple invoices to be processed in parallel for significantly faster execution.
• (Preview) Parallel Deferral Recognition— Enhanced the subscription billing deferral recognition batch process by processing deferral data in parallel, allowing each run to complete more efficiently.

 

Enhanced Features

 

Several improvements have been made to refine existing processes, making daily finance tasks smoother and more reliable.

 

Accounts Receivable

 

• Free Text Invoice— Corrects posted invoice totals to include all line amounts, ensuring consistent reporting.
• Case Management Visibility— Invoice and Invoice line details information now appear on the Associations FastTab on My cases.

 

Credit & Collections

 

• Interest Note Flexibility— Users can now view and select the option for the Due Date and the Terms of Payment when posting a customer interest note.
• Smarter Collection Emails— Email template on the collection process automation uses the variables on the Subject line.
• Faster Interest Note Creation— Uses top-picking optimization when creating customer interest notes, to speed up processing for large transaction volumes.

 

General Ledger

 

• Account Reconciliation Agent (Production Preview)— Now provides suggested actions for In ledger not in subledger and In subledger not in ledger exception types.
• User ID Visibility in Settlements— The Ledger Settlement Inquiry page now shows the user ID that did the settlement for full audit transparency.
• Ledger Settlement Performance— The Ledger settlements page has been updated to improve the performance, although customizations may need to be updated to work with the new page.

 

Subscription Billing

 

• Automatic Discount Groups— Discount group setup in trade agreement for item prices now automatically applies to the billing schedule when created for the corresponding customer record.
• (Preview) Deferral COGS Dashboard— Dashboard monitors for visibility into deferral adjustment errors with rerun capability.
• (Preview) Process Completion Notifications— A notification message is displayed when the asynchronous process finishes so that the user is notified.
• Consistent Credit Note Exchange Rates— At the termination of billing schedule, a credit note is created against the invoices (sales orders) with the same exchange rate used at the time of invoicing.

 

Take the Next Step with AXM365

 

Ready to unlock the full potential of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance?

 

AXM365 helps businesses implement, optimize, and modernize their ERP systems, ensuring finance and operations teams work smarter, not harder.

Updates to License Management in Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations

Microsoft is simplifying the way organizations manage licenses for Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations — with enhanced tools that bring greater security, privacy, compliance and transparency to your licensing footprint.

 

Effective license management is essential for maintaining operational control, compliance, and cost efficiency. To ensure a smoother transition to per-user license validation, Microsoft has adjusted the rollout timeline. Validation will now be introduced gradually, aligned with each organization’s contract renewal or anniversary date, supported by new reporting capabilities designed to enhance transparency and simplify license management.

 

Starting in early 2026, new updates will help businesses stay compliant and efficient with less manual effort.

 

 What’s Changing

 

Enhanced Visibility and Reporting

 

Microsoft is enhancing the Power Platform admin center with better license insights. Admins now gain comprehensive visibility into license usage across security roles, enabling smarter, data-driven management of their licensing footprint.

 

Phased Rollout of License Validation

 

Starting January 15, 2026, license validation for Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations applications will begin for customers with contract renewals or anniversaries occurring after that date.

 

This phased approach allows organizations to review user counts and licensing needs ahead of time, make adjustments smoothly with minimal operational impact, and gain clear visibility into the validation timeline, helping administrators plan effectively.

 

Access Restrictions for Unlicensed Users

 

After validation, users without assigned licenses will lose access until licenses are assigned. During this time, they will be prompted to request the appropriate license from their administrator.

 

Preparing for a Smooth Transition

 

To help organizations navigate the upcoming license validation process, it’s important to take proactive steps to ensure a seamless transition.

 

• Understand Licensing Requirements— review how security roles, duties, and privileges map to license types.
• Review User Role & License Mapping— use admin tools to summarize active users and their license requirements.
• Role to License Optimization— identify and remove unnecessary permissions using the License Usage Summary Report.
• Align Licenses in Microsoft 365 Admin Center— ensure user licenses match report mappings and add extra licenses as required.

 

Key Takeaways

 

Preparing for the upcoming license validation doesn’t have to be complex.

 

With the right preparation, organizations can turn this transition into an opportunity to strengthen governance and improve operational efficiency. Our team can help you review your license setup, analyze usage patterns, and optimize your security roles — so you can enter 2026 fully compliant and disruption-free. These steps lay the foundation for smoother administration, clearer visibility, and more effective management of Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations environments.

 

Partner with AXM365

 

Get in touch with AXM365 to schedule a license readiness review and ensure your organization transitions smoothly.

Microsoft 365 Copilot: Role-Based AI Empowering Sales, Service, and Finance Teams

Microsoft takes Copilot to the next level — empowering sales, service, and finance teams with AI built for their roles.

 

The latest Microsoft 365 update introduces role-based Copilot experiences that go far beyond general productivity assistance. Sales reps, service agents, and finance professionals now get context-aware, data-connected tools that work directly within Outlook, Teams, Excel, and Dynamics 365 — transforming how work happens.

 

Sales

 

For sales teams, Copilot integrates seamlessly with leading CRM systems such as Dynamics 365 and Salesforce, providing quick access to opportunity details, customer communications, and company insights.

 

It helps sellers prepare for meetings, track deal status, identify risks, and manage CRM records more efficiently—all within their daily tools like Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Copilot.

 

Service

 

The AI-powered service solution enables customer service teams to quickly generate case summaries, draft personalized response emails, and update CRM records seamlessly, all while managing rising customer expectations, increasing workloads, and fragmented toolsets.

 

Fewer clicks and faster responses allow teams to resolve issues more efficiently while maintaining high-quality, personalized customer interactions.

 

Finance

 

The AI-powered finance solution helps finance teams work more efficiently on complex tasks, like checking transactions and reviewing financial differences.

 

 

 

By bringing ERP-connected data from tools like Dynamics 365 and SAP directly into Copilot, Excel, and Outlook, teams can quickly draft customer emails with account details, speed up transaction reconciliation, flag discrepancies, prepare reports, and perform variance analysis.

 

It also helps clean, reshape, and structure ERP exports into analysis-ready reports, saving time on manual work. This allows finance professionals to focus on making informed decisions that support business growth and keep operations running smoothly.

 

 

Why It Matters

 

Overall, these role-based AI capabilities enable sales, service, and finance professionals to work smarter and faster with AI-powered insights and automation embedded right where work happens.

 

With these updates, Microsoft positions businesses to move toward what it calls “Frontier Firms” — organizations that embed AI into their core operations. The result? Less time on manual work and more time driving strategic impact.

 

Starting October 2025, these solutions will be available to help organizations scale AI adoption and accelerate productivity across key business operations.

 

Discover How AXM365 Can Support Your Implementation

 

AXM365 guides your Microsoft 365 Copilot implementation. Get in touch to improve workflows, drive productivity, and implement AI solutions designed for your business.

Partner Alert: Microsoft 365 Copilot Licensing Updates

The latest Microsoft 365 Copilot updates bring zero-rating and role-based enhancements, adding value by simplifying licensing. Existing users can now access additional features at no extra cost, with role-based capabilities for Sales, Service, and Finance fully included in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

 

Copilot Studio Value Updates

 

The update began by broadening the range of agents and features covered under the Microsoft 365 license. From now on, all Copilot Studio capabilities—including agent flows, AI tools, and deep reasoning—are available within Microsoft 365 Copilot for agents running under a licensed user’s identity.

Key Updates:

• Included Usage for Internal Scenarios

When Copilot Studio agents are used in business-to-employee (B2E) contexts by a licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot user, the activity is now fully covered under the Microsoft 365 Copilot User Subscription License (USL).

 

• Full Feature Set Coverage

Agent flows, AI tools, and deep reasoning are now part of the license.

 

• Copilot Credits as Payment

In scenarios like B2C, unlicensed Microsoft 365 Copilot users will still be charged through Copilot Credits (formerly known as “messages”).

 

• Streamlined Copilot Studio Positioning

Copilot Studio now distinguishes between two creation paths with simplified naming for the agent-building experiences:

 

• • Lite (formerly known as Agent Builders): built into Microsoft 365 Copilot for information workers;
  • Full: designed for makers and developers.

 

Both sit under Copilot Studio but serve different types of users.

 

Role-based Copilots Update

 

Microsoft 365 licensed users will gain access to role-based solutions for Sales, Service, and Finance, without requiring additional step-up SKUs. These solutions integrate with CRM and ERP systems, delivering relevant insights directly within Microsoft 365 Copilot and core apps like Outlook, Teams, and Excel.

Key Updates:

• Depending on their needs, licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot users can install sales, service, and finance solutions directly from the Agent Store.

 

Sales roles gain a complete view of opportunities, receive insights, and can ask questions—all from a personalized home page to stay prepared for customer meetings.

 

Service teams can enhance the customer experience by integrating CRM data directly with Outlook or Teams.

 

Finance teams can manage tasks, improve data preparation, review account details by accessing ERP-connected information directly within Excel and Outlook.

 

• More Value with Microsoft 365 Copilot

Users can now take full advantage of role-based capabilities in Copilot for Sales, Service, and Finance as part of their existing Copilot license, simplifying access and enhancing efficiency.

 

• Role-based Solutions

 

Microsoft 365 Copilot now includes role-based solutions for Sales, Service, and Finance, enabling customers to purchase a full suite of features that boost efficiency and streamline workflows.

 

Maximize Your Microsoft 365 Investment

 

AXM365 guides you through seamless implementation. Reach out today to transform your workflows and explore tailored solutions for your business.

2024 Release Wave 2 Plans For Microsoft Dynamics 365 And Power Platform

On July 16, 2024, Microsoft published the 2024 release wave 2 plans for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, a compilation of the new capabilities planned to be released between October 2024 to March 2025. This release introduces a wealth of new features designed to enhance customer understanding and improve overall user experience, showcasing Microsoft’s dedication to driving digital transformation for their customers and partners.

 

The new wave is focused on improving user productivity and streamlining processes across various business applications by employing Microsoft Copilot and cutting-edge AI technologies. These enhancements include intelligent automation, AI-powered insights, and immersive user experiences and aim to remove boundaries between data, insights, and individuals.

 

Discover the newest features that enable organisations to run more effectively and adaptably.

 

The new capabilities allow businesses to take proactive measures to address challenges and capitalise on opportunities. Examples of these include predictive analytics in supply chain management, autonomous financial processes, AI-driven sales insights and customer service enhancements.

 

Early Access Period

 

Starting July 29, 2024, customers and partners can validate the latest features in a non-production environment. These updates include user experience enhancements that will be automatically enabled in production environments by October 2024.

 

We have briefly described numerous of the features from the second release wave in this blog post’s contents.

 

Wave Highlights for Microsoft Dynamics 365

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales continues to enhance customer understanding and boost sales through data, intelligence, and user-friendly experiences.

 

In this release, Microsoft are focused on including natural language copilot for summarizing information, creating a new full-screen Copilot Home with curated insights and role-specific actions, and using AI-powered insights to find leads.

 

Microsoft Copilot for Sales

 

Microsoft Copilot for Sales continues to deliver and enhance cutting-edge generative AI capabilities for sellers by enriching Copilot in Microsoft 365 capabilities with sales-specific workflows, data, and actions.

 

Microsoft will focus on using AI-powered insights to create leads, deepen the integration into Copilot in Microsoft 365, and use natural language capabilities to allow sellers to ask data-related questions of their CRM.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service will continue to empower agents to work more efficiently through new copilot capabilities such as proactive prompting, ability to access data from external systems securely with plugins, email enhancements, and AI-infused routing.

 

Microsoft Copilot for Service

 

Microsoft Copilot for Service is now generally available, bringing new capabilities to enhance user experiences. These features will be integrated across Outlook, Teams, Microsoft 365 Chat, and Copilot embedded in third-party CRMs.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service enables a shift from reactive to proactive and predictive service, empowering digital transformation and innovative business models.

 

Using Copilot, frontline workers will be able to retrieve critical information and initiate mixed-reality remote assist calls within Teams through Copilot.

 

Managers will be able to create, update, and manage work orders effortlessly across web, Outlook, and Teams interfaces.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance continues its journey of leading in autonomous finance, using AI to transform common end-to-end financial processes.

 

This release focuses on in-app copilot capabilities, immersive persona-based user experiences, expanding country coverage, electronic invoicing enhancements, business performance analytics and planning enhancements, and autonomous reconciliation capabilities.

 

Microsoft Copilot for Finance

 

Microsoft Copilot for Finance is expanding data reconciliation capabilities in Excel with assisted data sanitization and preparation routines. Extending variance analysis capabilities with support from additional data sources and enabling collaboration on findings with stakeholders will also be a focus in the upcoming wave.

 

Additionally, the Teams integration will facilitate collections calls with suggested scripts and automated recording of action items in the financial system.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management is advancing along the path of an autonomous supply chain by integrating intelligence, automation, and analytics into every facet of business procedures, thereby improving user productivity and enhancing organizational adaptability.

 

In this update, the spotlight is on improving order-promising capabilities for manufacturers. Demand planning is upgraded to incorporate forecasting with external signals, and the inclusion of Copilot weaves insights and analyses directly into workflows, identifying trends and irregularities, while also allowing for specific data inquiries at the cell level.

 

Additionally, Traceability Copilot keeps track of actual products in production and compiles a comprehensive historical record of related activities.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations is focused on enhancing usability, performance, and scalability in key areas such as project planning, invoicing, time entry, and core transaction processing.

 

The spotlight is on AI-assisted core functionality improvements in estimation, proposal generation, journals, approvals, and contract management, with added mobile capabilities and scale improvements to handle larger projects and invoices at an increased scale.

 

Finance and Operations Cross-app Capabilities

 

Finance and Operations cross-app capabilities will continue to invest in capabilities applying to Finance, Supply Chain Management, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Human Resources, and Project Operations.

 

Microsoft is infusing copilot experiences across applications, including natural language chat, embedded AI, and intelligent process automation, and enabling extensibility for copilot scenarios.

 

Microsoft will also bring more value and insights to finance and operations apps data and enhancements to ensure continued enterprise-grade security and compliance at scale.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Human Resources

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Human Resources continues to build intelligence, develop automation and analytics around the hire-to-separate process, increase user productivity, and empower business agility.

 

Microsoft is enhancing recruiting with AI-driven assessments and offers management, improving experiences for employees and HR business partners in benefits and performance management, and advancing analytics, insights, and planning through business performance planning and analytics capabilities.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce is using the power of AI to empower retailers to streamline their operations and drive increased customer loyalty and conversions. With Copilot, retail managers, sales associates, and merchandisers will gain new AI-powered insights into customer buying patterns and preferences, recommendations for positioning and selling products, and business intelligence on store performance.

 

Improvements to the self-checkout POS make customer checkouts more efficient, and user experience updates to Store Commerce app streamline daily tasks for faster, more efficient sales and service.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is focused on maintaining service reliability performance and security standards. Microsoft will continue enhancing productivity by optimizing core processes with Copilot, expanding to cover more than 170 countries, and offering enhanced reporting with more than 80 Microsoft Power BI reports.

 

Additionally, integration with Field Service will be expanded, along with new financial management features. Microsoft will also enhance development tools and governance, along with improved data privacy and compliance management.

 

Wave Highlights for Microsoft Power Platform

 

Microsoft Power Apps

 

Microsoft Power Apps will continue to transform app experiences with infused intelligence, enabling users to be more productive by using Copilot to work with data, get insights, and improve their apps.

 

Makers will continue to benefit from AI-assisted development, enabling rich and complex applications to be built with monitoring, control, and unmatched governance for admins, ensuring organizations can adopt low-code and AI transformation at scale.

 

Microsoft Power Pages

 

Microsoft Power Pages will expedite site building for a low-code maker or pro developer to build intelligent sites that reimagine the way you interact with your employees, customers, and partners.

 

Microsoft Power Automate

 

Microsoft Power Automate will continue to make it easier to build flows by using natural language and multi-modal generative AI capabilities across cloud flows and desktop flows, troubleshooting runs, and managing your automation estate with an end-to-end view.

 

This, along with improvements in process mining to jumpstart creation of automation through Microsoft 365 integration and ongoing improvements to scaling, means it’ll be easier than ever for new users to get started and scale.

 

Microsoft Copilot Studio

 

Microsoft Copilot Studio is advancing copilot capabilities and IVR support with Customer Service and will expand geographically to the United Arab Emirates and Germany.

 

Additionally, the team is improving software lifecycle management capabilities with topic-level import/export and role-based access control (RBAC), as well as enhancing governance and administration functionalities.

 

Key Dates for the 2024 Release Wave 2

 

You can access additional information regarding the key dates for the 2024 release wave 2 here.

 

If your goals are to improve and optimize your business processes, ensure data security in the cloud, make application usage simpler in the long term and seek assistance in upgrading your Dynamics 365 versions to newer versions, we are excited about the possibility for potential collaboration. Reach out to us here.

2023 Release Wave 2 Plans for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform

On July 18, 2023, Microsoft published the 2023 release wave 2 plans for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, a compilation of new capabilities planned to be released between October 2023 and March 2024.

 

The second release wave of the year offers hundreds of new features, including AI capabilities and enhancements, demonstrating Microsoft’s continued investment to power digital transformation for their customers and partners.

 

The new capabilities empower new ways to make informed decisions with AI-guided insights and suggested actions, easier ways to automate tasks and processes, and collaboration seamlessly integrated into the flow of work, plus, new low-code ways for anyone to build solutions.

2023 Release Wave 2 Features Available for Early Access Period

 

Starting July 31, 2023, company users and partners will be able to validate the latest features in a non-production environment. These features include user experience enhancements that will be automatically enabled for users in production environments during October 2023.

 

In the contents of this blog post, we have succinctly outlined a selection of the features from the second release wave.

 

Wave Highlights for Microsoft Dynamics 365

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Marketing will bring enhancements to Copilot features and will bring unprecedented levels of personalization to email content, images, and layouts.

 

Additionally, business-to-business (B2B) dashboards and directly assigning leads to the right sales rep will align marketers and sellers, enabling them to act as a unified team across the buying journey.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service updates will include new capabilities for frontline workers, service managers, and dispatchers. Microsoft will deliver several top requests such as converting quotes to work orders, enhancing inspections, and evolving resource scheduling capabilities.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales will focus on enabling sales organizations to prioritize and manage digital sales processes through enhanced sequence capabilities.

 

Microsoft will allow users to assign and monitor lead assignment status with enhanced lead assignment capabilities by providing recommendations, summarizing data, retrieving information, and performing actions in context and within the flow of work.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service will continue to empower agents to work more efficiently through Copilot capabilities, Join Me On Teams, visual enhancements to the agent workspace, ability to see live chats and voice calls in Inbox and personalizing size of conversational control.

 

Additionally, Microsoft is making enhancements to the voice channel, call dialer improvements, and routing calls to agents with longest idle time.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance is focused on enhancing organizations’ visibility into their data, continued enhancements for accounts payable and bank statement automation, and expanding out-of-the-box country coverage in Latin America.

 

Additionally, the team will deliver further automation of complex tax scenarios and e-invoicing requirements for new countries and provide organizations ability for business model expansion and agility.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management continues to improve and optimize business processes to deliver the agility and resilience needed for businesses to thrive in an increasingly complex business environment. The sales and procurement processes will be further enhanced, manufacturers will enjoy greater flexibility, and warehouse processes related to counting, customer returns, and product receipts will be improved.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations is investing in enhancements to services procurement scenarios and project contracting and new functionalities and scenarios in pricing models will support the evolving patterns in the service-centric economy.

 

Additionally, improvements to intelligent resource recommendations will provide suggestions based on experience, cost, and utilization across employees and subcontractors.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Human Resources

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Human Resources will be improving recruiting experiences that target recruiters, candidates, and hiring managers. Microsoft will expand the human capital management ecosystem to include learning management system integration through public APIs using Microsoft Dataverse along with expanding our payroll partner network.

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce

 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce uses the power of AI to enable the effortless creation of engaging product content for digital commerce sites. New B2B investments allow distributors to view, accept, and reject orders from a centralized dashboard that enables B2B sellers, distributors, and buyers to all work in the same place.

 

Wave Highlights for Power Platform

 

Microsoft Power Apps

 

Microsoft Power Apps is expanding the use of Copilot to bring AI-assisted experiences to increase developer productivity, bring natural language to all users, and give insights to admins. Microsoft will bring modern controls and rich collaborative experiences to users, as well as improved deployment and governance support to ensure low-code can be enabled organization wide.

 

Microsoft Power Pages

 

Microsoft Power Pages continues to make strides in the Copilot maker experience to enable building a site. Managed environments will include Power Pages capabilities for maker usage and onboarding. For data, you will be able to connect easily to data where it exists today. Low-code makers can collaborate and detect co-presence.

 

Microsoft Power Automate

 

Microsoft Power Automate will continue to make it easier to get started building new flows by using natural language across cloud flows and desktop flows, and by improving process mining to jumpstart creation of automation and authoring experiences. Additionally, Microsoft is making it easier to manage work at scale by introducing unified activity view and deeper notifications on capabilities across the product.

 

Microsoft Power Virtual Agents

 

Microsoft Power Virtual Agents will bring general availability for capabilities including Multi-Lingual bot support, Generative Answers and Actions, Standalone interactive voice response (IVR) and IVR integration with Dynamics 365 Customer Service, and integration with the Conversational Language Understanding service. Additionally, Microsoft will offer their customers new Enterprise Trust capabilities.

 

Key Dates for the 2023 Release Wave 2

 

Here you can access additional information regarding the key dates for the 2023 release wave 2.

 

If your aim is to enhance and optimize your business processes, simplify application usage for long-term convenience, ensure data security in the cloud, and seek assistance in upgrading your Dynamics 365 systems to newer versions, we welcome the opportunity for potential collaboration. Reach out to us here.

Electronic Reporting in D365: Replacing Existing Field with a Financial Dimension in an Outgoing Report Structured as Zip of Text Files

ER is a tool that you can use to configure formats for both incoming and outgoing electronic documents in accordance with the legal requirements of various countries/regions. ER lets you manage these formats during their lifecycle.

 

For example, you can adopt new regulatory requirements, and generate business documents in the required format to electronically exchange information with government bodies, banks, and other parties.

 

In this blog, general overview of ER components will be covered, together with a tutorial presenting a way how to add financial dimension to an existing electronic report.

 

Electronic Reporting Components

 

Electronic reporting (ER) supports the following types of components:

 

• Data model
• Model mapping
• Format
• Metadata

Data Model Component

A data model component is an abstract representation of a data structure. It describes a specific business domain area in enough detail to satisfy the reporting requirements for that domain. A data model component consists of the following parts:

 

• Data Model: A set of domain-specific business entities and a hierarchically structured definition of relations between those entities.

 

• Model Mapping: Linking between individual elements of the data model and selected application data sources, specifying the data flow of the model itself.

 

The business entity of a data model is represented as a container, or record. Business entity properties are represented as data items, or fields. Each data item has a unique name, label, description, and value.

 

The value of each data item can be designed so that it’s recognized as a string, integer, real, date, enumeration (enum), or Boolean value. Additionally, the data item can be another record or record list.

 

Model Mapping Component

 

Model mapping links application data sources to individual elements of a data model that specify, at runtime, the data flow, and rules for entering business data in a data model component. It can use different data types as data sources for a data model.

 

These data types include tables, data entities, methods, and enums. It supports user input parameters that can be defined as data sources for a data model when some data must be specified at runtime (for example, which financial dimension to be included). Also filtering, sorting and other operations are supported, but only for outgoing documents.

 

Format Component

 

A format component is the scheme of the reporting output that is generated at runtime. A scheme consists of a format that defines the structure and content of the generated electronic document, data sources, format mapping as a set of bindings and a format validation as a set of configurable rules that control report generation at runtime.

 

For example, there might be a rule that stops output generation of a vendor’s payments and throws an exception when specific attributes of the selected vendor are missing, such as the bank account number.

 

Created reporting output can be as individuals file in various formats, such as text, XML, Microsoft Word document, or worksheet. But there is also a possibility of creating multiple files separately and encapsulating them into zip file. The following illustration shows how the data flows in outgoing report.

 

 

Problem Description

 

In France each company has to deliver so-called FEC report to the government. It is an export of several entities having a specific format. The format is very strict, that means when it is not correct, the declaration will not be approved.

 

The FEC report is available in F&O as part of the electronic reporting functionality, a localization made for France. However, the export of the ledger transactions is based upon the Main account.

 

In France you need a specific local chart of account. Imagine that this account is stored in a custom-made financial dimension called: FRACOA. The main goal is to replace main account values with FRACOA values.

 

To be more precise, the account number (CompteNum) should be replaced with the dimension’s value, while account description (CompteLib) should be replaced with the dimension’s description.

 

 

 

The report’s output format is a ZIP file containing 5 text
documents. Only the values in the first document called
1_FEC.txt need to be replaced. 

 

 

 

Solution

 

Because the ER already exists and it’s part of Microsoft standard configurations library, we do not want to create a new model, but rather to create a duplicate of the existing one. In that way, we can do modifications on it.

 

Modifications of an existing electronic report can be done only on a duplicated version of it. You are not allowed to change or modify existing standardized configurations.

 

 

The FEC report is located under the configuration named
‘Data export model’. As we can see, it consists of a model
definition, model mapping and two report designs (German
and French localization).

 

 

If you are missing the configuration for your report, then first you should go to Workspaces > Electronic reporting > from Configuration providers select Microsoft and click on Repositories > select Global and click Open > find the desired model and click Import/Import all (depending on if you would like to import everything or just particular configuration).

 

If we take a look at the design of the data model, we can see that it has quite a complex structure unlike ones that are usually used. Fields that will be included in the final report are rather dynamically structured and, in the model, we just define some fundamental nodes so they can fetch the data.

 

In this model, all fields are implicitly defined, contrary to most of the models where nodes (fields) are explicitly defined. The Tables node defines files from the zip, while in Records is defined the structure of records in one file.

 

If we expand one of the (*)Fields node, we can only see some type of rules to check what type is the value in the field, to cast it in the appropriate type and some additional metadata for the field.

 

 

This means that the model is pretty conserved and made to be generic. We do not need to change anything here. Thus, there is no need of duplicating the data model. Instead, we need to duplicate the model mapping and do our changes there.

 

Duplicating the Data Model Mapping

 

• Make sure you are located in Workspaces > Electronic reporting > Reporting configurations > locate and expand the desired model in the tree, in our case it is ‘Data export model’

 

• Select the model mapping, in our case it is ‘French FEC model mapping’ and click on Create configuration

 

• In the drop dialog, for the New field select ‘Derive from Name: French FEC model mapping, Microsoft’. In the Name field, type the name for the mapping ‘AXM – French FEC model mapping’. In the Description field, you can set a description, but it is not mandatory. Click Create configuration.

 

Map the  Model to Use Financial Dimensions

 

• In the tree, select the newly created model mapping ‘AXM – French FEC model mapping’ and click on Designer in the action pane.
  
• Since we are creating a duplicate instead of new mapping, in the grid there should already be a record for the mapping – copy of the original one. Select it and click Designer.
  
• In the Model mapping designer form, it can be seen that there are already some data sources defined. Those data sources are used for the current implementation of the report. First thing we need to do is to add the data source for using financial dimensions for this report.

 

• In the tree, select ‘Functions\Financial dimensions details’ and click Add root. This data source specifies how the scope of financial dimensions will be defined for any report that will use this model as a data source.

• In the Name field, type a value. Select Yes in the Ask for dimensions field (select Yes to allow the user to select dimensions at run-time on the User dialog form. If set to No, all financial dimensions of the current instance will be used by default).

 

• In the Financial dimensions selection field, select ‘Legal entity’ (select All to allow the user to select desire dimensions for the current instance in the Lookup field. Select Legal entity to allow the user to select dimensions for the company in the Lookup field. Select Dimension to allow the user to select dimensions using a single dimension set.

 

• Select Yes in the Ask for main account field (set ‘Ask for main account’ to Yes to allow users to select the main account as part of the list of dimensions. If set to No, the main account will not be included to the list of dimensions and the ‘Is main account mandatory’ option is enabled. If “Is main account mandatory’ is set to Yes, include the main account in the list of dimensions regardless of the user’s selection).

 

• Click OK.

 

• The newly created data source should be visible among other data sources in the middle section of the form.

 

• If we take a closer look at data sources and data model, we can see that Tables node in the data model is bonded to the TblGroup data source. This data source is actually a calculated field that serves as a bridge between the model and the data source named TblGroup1. We need to find the source of data providing and in this case that is the data source ‘FEC files with details(TblGroup1)’. This data source is defined using specific function (Dynamics.AX.Application.ERModelGDPdUFunction). By expanding it, we cannot add fields or change mapping because its structure is generic too.

If you cannot see details about data sources binding and inheritance, click on Show details button in the main action pane.

 

• Select FEC files with details(TblGroup1) and click on Edit button in the ribbon.

 

• A new dialog will appear showing data source parameters. In addition, there is a button named Editor which allows us to enter the editing mode for making changes in the structure of the report. Click on Editor.

 

• Table Metadata form is opened. This form is divided into three parts:

 

• • Tables (most left section) where all files are being present. In this grid the name of the table (file) is being shown together with a path relating to a particular data source.

 

• • Fields (middle section) where all fields related to a selected table from the left grid are being shown. In this grid, the name of the field is being shown together with a path relating to a particular node in a data source.

 

• • Data sources (right section) where all active data sources for the desired model are being shown. Above the grid, there is an Add button. Using this button, we can find the field we want in any active data source and add it in the desired table.

If you are not able to see all sections, zoom out the browser settings.

 

• Select the desired table in the left section. In our case, because we need the change to be applied only to the 1_FEC.txt file, we select the table 1_FEC.

 

• In the middle section, select fields you would like to replace. In this case, we select CompteNum and CompteLib. Click Delete.

 

• In the right section, expand the general journal entry where financial dimensions are stored. In this case, we expand $GeneralJournalForGDPdUView data source. If you are not sure which data source to use, take the one that other fields from the same table are mapped from.

 

• Expand and select ‘$GeneralJournalForGDPdUView/getGeneralJournalAccountEntry() /LedgerDimension.Dimension/Main account and dimensions/Value/Code’.

 

• Click Add.

 

• Expand and select ‘$GeneralJournalForGDPdUView/getGeneralJournalAccountEntry() /LedgerDimension.Dimension/Main account and dimensions/Value/Description’.

 

• Click Add.

 

• New fields should be visible somewhere in the grid, under their original names. Click on the Name field with value ‘Code’ and change it to ‘CompteNum’. Change the value ‘Description’ to ‘CompteLib’.

 

• Using the Move up and Move down buttons, you can change the order of the fields in the grid. This is important because in same manner the fields will be shown in the output file.

• Save the changes. Click Close.

 

• Save the changes again and click Close.

 

• From the configuration tree, select the desired model mapping, in this case it is ‘AXM – French FEC model mapping’. Select the Draft version and click Change status.

 

• From the drop dialog, select Complete. If it’s the first time you are modifying the mapping. Now you will get two records in the gird, one that is Completed and one that is in Draft. After every change, if we want it to be reflected in the output, we need to set the latest draft version to Completed.

 

• In order the report to take our custom-made mapping, we need to set it as default. This way, the system will know what mapping to choose when running the report. Make sure the correct mapping is still selected.

 

• Click Edit and set the control Default model mapping to Yes.

 

Designing the Report

 

If we open the format designer to see the structure of the report, we can notice that it is generic, same as the model itself. This means that no changes need to be done here as well.

 

The advantage of using this approach for modeling reports is that the structure of the report is partially conserved, but if you do need to do some small changes, you only need to do changes into the mapping part.

 

 

Running the Report

 

Depending how this report is set to be ran in standard environment, you can test it from there, or you can navigate to the configurations form and:

 

• Expand the model we created mapping for and select the format that already exists, in this case it is ‘French FEC audit file’ and click Run.
  
  
• In the Dimensions field, choose which dimension you would like to be shown in the output report instead of the main account number and click Select (if FRACOA dimension is chosen, then we will get its values in the report, otherwise if the MainAccount is chosen, then we will obtain the original report from before.

 

• This implementation gives flexibility in the way of execution. Note that the drop dialog to choose a dimension is not available in the original configuration of the report. This is customization that was implemented using this tutorial).

 

• After clicking the OK button, a zip file is being generated and downloaded to the local computer. The downloaded zip file has a structure similar to this:

• We can open the first text file and compare it with a previously downloaded version of the original report.

 

 

 

We can notice that the main account values are indeed replaced with FRACOA values for all entries. No changes were made to other 4 files so they will keep the same structure and data.

 

Following this tutorial, you should be able to do a modification on any report you need to. The most important thing is to understand the logic behind components of electronic reports and their binding. In a situation where the model and the format have explicit structure and mapping from data sources is done directly, creating the desired mapping has a little bit more work to be done. You just need to stick to the following sequence:

 

Create duplicate of a model > Create the node you would like to be shown in the output (make sure you create it under the correct parent node) > Create duplicate of the model mapping > If the data source where your field comes from is not present, create it > Bind the data source field and the newly created node in the model > Create a duplicate of the format and add the node there too > Map the node from the model with the node in the format.

 

No need to thanks us, we are glad to help you. So, if you are in need of someone to upgrade your systems from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365, we are open to future collaboration. Reach out to us here.

 

Error During Platform Update – “UpdateRetailSelfService.ps1 failed”

Starting the process of digital transformation for your company it’s not easy. In one of our previous blog posts, we shared how to install a deployable package like platform update/D365 version, and one of the errors we encountered in the Sync AX Database step.

 

As many of you know during the installation of the platform update you might encounter various errors. This time we would like to share a quick fix for the following error: “UpdateRetailSelfService.ps1 failed”

 

 

For this error try to start the Azure Storage Emulator on your D365 environment. As soon as you get the confirmation that the storage emulator is running you can click on the resume in LCS or rerun the failed step in your already opened cmd:

 

AXUpdateInstaller.exe execute -runbookid=”runbook1″ -rerunstep=52

 

 

Now the error is fixed.

 

No need to thanks us, we are glad to help you. So, if you are in need of someone to upgrade your systems from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365, we are open to future collaboration. Reach out to us here.

Sync AX Database Error – Installing Platform Update Deployable Package

If you are reading this blog post, you have encountered the same issues as us, so don’t worry you are not alone in this process.

 

For you who are for the first time here, you should check our previous blog post, learn how to install a deployable package like platform update/D365 version, and start the digital transformation of your company.

 

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During the installation of the platform update package on your environment, you might get an error in the Sync AX Database step. Although there might be different errors when this step is executed the most common is the following (usually if you perform the installation on a local VM):

 

 

“The running command stopped because the preference variable “ErrorActionPreference” or common parameter is set to Stop: System.Management.Automation.RuntimeException: An exception of type System.Net.WebException occurred when making an http request to: http://127.0.0.1:80/ReportServer. Refer to the log file for more details.”

 

The error can easily be resolved following the steps below.

 

1. Open the SQL Reporting Services Configuration Manager (as an administrator).

 

 

2. Before clicking on the connect button check if the “Server Name” is the same as Computer Name.

 

 

3. The next step would be starting the SSRS server. If the server is already up and running please stop it and then again click on the start button.

 

 

4. As soon as you get a confirmation that the Report server is up and running you can continue with the installation of the deployable package using the command:

 

AXUpdateInstaller.exe execute -runbookid=”<name of the runbook>” -rerunstep=<step id where the update failed>

 

In our case this would be:

AXUpdateInstaller.exe execute -runbookid=”runbook1″ -rerunstep=25

 

Another error you can encounter in the process is “UpdateRetailSelfService.ps1 failed”, and here you can find our solution for it.

Installing a Deployable Package – Platform Update D365 Version

The digital transformation of your company will fundamentally change how you operate and deliver value to the end customer. No matter the industry you are in if you are using an older version of Dynamics, you should consider updating to Dynamics 365 version.

 

So, in this blog post, we are sharing the steps for installing a deployable package like platform update/D365version.

 

1. Download the deployable package from LCS.
2. Customize the necessary files for the update.
3. Execute the commands using the axupdateinstaler.exe.

 

Before we jump into the process of installing a deployable package we would like to point out that you’ll need to:

 

1.1. Download the deployable package from LCS. When the file is downloaded check the general properties and make sure that they are like in the photo. (if there is a checkbox “unlock” make sure it’s marked)

 

 

1.2. Unzip the file in a new location. For example, C:\package. This should be done because of the length of the file path (just avoid using downloads or temp and MAKE SURE your folder doesn’t have space characters)

 

1.3. The package should look like this:

 

 

2.1. In that folder find the file: DefaultTopologyData.xml Right click and edit. Leave the notepad window open.

 

 

2.2  In the same folder open cmd as an administrator

 

 

2.3. Execute the command: AXUpdateInstaller.exe list

 

 

2.4. Copy all of the services you’ve got from the cmd command into the DefaultTopologyData.xml file ( <string>XXX</string> ) and save the file.

 

<ServiceModelList>

<string>AOSService</string>

<string>DevToolsService</string>

<string>ALMService</string>

<string>BIService</string>

<string>DIXFService</string>

<string>MROneBox</string>

<string>PayrollTaxModule</string>

<string>PerfSDK</string>

<string>ReportingService</string>

<string>RetailCloudPos</string>

<string>RetailHQConfiguration</string>

<string>RetailSDK</string>

<string>RetailSelfService</string>

<string>RetailServer</string>

<string>RetailStorefront</string>

<string>SCMSelfService</string>

<!– DefaultTopologyData are only for dev vhd, which we only support AOS update–>

<!– Create a new topology data for your Cloud AX topology–>

</ServiceModelList>

 

3.1. On the currently running cmd windows execute this command:

 

AXUpdateInstaller.exe generate -runbookid=”runbook1″ -topologyfile=”DefaultTopologyData.xml” -servicemodelfile=”DefaultServiceModelData.xml” -runbookfile=”runbook1.xml”

 

(note: the “runbook1” and “runbook1.xml” are just an example, type your text as you want)

 

This command would generate the runbook that will provide step-by-step instructions for updating the environment.

 

3.2. Next, execute the following command:

 

AXUpdateInstaller.exe import -runbookfile=”runbook1.xml”

 

3.3. And the last step is:

AXUpdateInstaller.exe execute -runbookid=”runbook1″

After successful deployment, the cmd will look like this (the number of steps may vary but you need to get the last step completed and get a clean command line)

 

 

After all the steps are done the D365 should have the desired platform update/ version.

 

*Note: If any of the steps fail you can use this command to rerun the deployment from the step that failed after troubleshooting it:

 

AXUpdateInstaller.exe execute -runbookid=”runbook1″ -rerunstep=25

 

If you are in need of someone to upgrade your systems from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365, we are open to future collaboration.

 

Reach out to us here, and if you are interested in potential career opportunities, check out our careers page.

AZCOPY for Easier and Faster Download of Files

Those of you who are familiar with the struggle of waiting hours for downloading a file from LCS (either for the Platform Update zip files or the Database backups from the Asset Library) can now benefit from the AzCopy app.

 

First things first and that means downloading the azcopy application which can be found here.

 

After downloading it, extract the zip file into the desired location (in my case is the “C:\” Drive).

 

 

 

 

Now, to use it we need to open cmd from the folder where you’ve extracted the zip file (or open cmd and navigate to that folder).

 

 

The command that we are going to use is:

 

azcopy copy “<Source Destination>” “<Desired/Target Destination>” –recursive=true

 

Based on the command above we can see that we have two parameters which be changed based on our activity.

 

As an example, I am trying to download the PlatformUpdate package to my local VM and for that first, I’ve logged in to the LCS and picked up the desirable package from the AssetLibrary but only to get the download link which I’ll use in the command.

 

 

Now equipped with what we need we can modify the command to suit us.

 

*NOTE: Please look at the end of the second parameter. You can notice that I’ve named my file as “pu10_16.zip”. If you don’t specify the name and especially the type of file your downloading, the azopy will download it as type “file” and you don’t want that cause it will be of no use for you.

 

azcopy copy “https://uswedpl1catalog.blob.core.windows.net/product-navproductname/6567e2af-004a-4f7b-91a1-d41fcca4e095/NavProductName-22-10-6ffd92c1-b99d-4d62-9a2c-4f3278adc44d-6567e2af-004a-4f7b-91a1-d41fcca4e095?sv=2015-12-11&sr=b&sig=yTbGuo9taddUO%2FtpUzrr65XZkTE58O5rA9PEhU9dVjc%3D&se=2021-01-29T09%3A37%3A05Z&sp=r” “C:\Platform_Update\pu10_16.zip” –recursive=true

 

 

You can see that my 5GB were downloaded in less than 20 minutes (way faster than using the regular download). Satisfied with the results I can now continue with deploying the platfrom_update package to my local D365 VM.

If you need to do the same there is another blog regarding the installation of platform update packages on the following link.

 

Data Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 R2 / AX2012 R3 to Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations

Upgrading Microsoft Dynamics AX2012 to Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations brings the digital transformation in most companies by giving them the ability to use significant new features and capabilities.

 

Recently, we have added another successfully completed data upgrade project for one of our clients in our portfolio. If you are looking for some help while upgrading from AX2012 R2 or Ax 2012 R3 to Dynamics 365 then you are at the right place.

 

This process contains several phases:

 

• Preparing the database in the AX2012 environment
• Installing a deployable package on the D365 development environment
• Migrating upgraded database from D365 one-box to sandbox environment

 

 

 

AX2012 Procedure

 

The process starts in the AX 2012 environment where you have to prepare the ax2012 database for upgrading to Dynamics 365. Microsoft has put together a pre-upgrade checklist that has to be installed in Dynamics AX 2012. The checklist ensures you have updated information in your database for the AX 2012 to D365 upgrade.

 

• If upgrading from AX 2012 R3, install KB 4035163
• If upgrading from AX 2012 R2, install KB 4048614

 

After the installation of the hotfix, run the sysCheckList classes to prepare the database. After executing the process in the AX2012 environment we must make a backup from this database and transfer it to the D365 development environment. For transferring databases between environments, we will use Microsoft Azure Storage.

 

D365 Procedure

 

Most of the errors must be resolved in this process while installing the data upgrade deployable package.

 

The process on D365 development environment is following:

 

1. Restore and rename the database.
2. Install deployable package.
3. Made another back up from this database and restore it to prepare it for Tier2 environment.
4. Export a bacpac file for transferring

 

 

Restore the Database

 

After restoring the database on D365 environment we need to rename the names of the databases. Rename the original AxDB to AxDB_Orig and then rename the newly restored database to AxDB.

 

Install a Deployable Package

 

Download data upgrade deployable package from Shared asset library from Software deployable package, find the data upgrade package that corresponds to your upgrade.

 

If you’re upgrading from AX 2012, the package name starts with AX2012DataUpgrade-x-x-x where x-x-x is the application release. Select the package that corresponds to the release you are upgrading to. After downloading extract it and install it.

 

Make a Back-up to Prepare the Database for Tier 2

 

After the installation of the deployable package completes, we need to make back up from this database and restore it again in this environment. We will do this because we will delete some objects from it to prepare for the sandbox environment.

 

Do the following steps in SQL management studio against the newly imported database:

 

• Update sysglobalconfiguration table

 

• Drop procedure XU_DisableEnableNonClusteredIndexes and drop following users: axdbadmin, axdeployuser, axmrruntimeuser, axretaildatasyncuser, axretailruntimeuser

 

• remove NT users as these are not supported in Azure SQL Database

 

• remove any AX 2012 RTM model store procedures that still exist

 

• If you receive a message that you cannot delete users because they own a schema, then check which schema the user owns. Either change the ownership to another user (for example to do) or drop the schema if it does not contain any objects.

 

• drop all views in the current database because some refresh the tempDB, which is not a supported action in Azure SQL Databases

 

• Drop MaintainShipCarrierRole procedure because it contains a tempDB reference that is not supported in Azure SQL Database

 

• Export a bacpac file for transferring 

 

After all this, the last step on the development environment is to export a bacpac file that should be imported in a sandbox environment. Go to the following location and execute the following command for exporting the file

 

A Process on the D365 Sandbox Environment

 

After transferring the database, we need to do the following steps:

 

• Import the database;
• Create users and prepare the database;
• Rename the database;
• Full database synchronization.

 

Import the Database

 

Import the database into the sandbox environment.

 

Create Users on the Newly Imported Database

 

Create users that were dropped in the preparation procedure. The passwords for the users must be copied from the LCS from the environment where we are importing the database. After users are created, alter the database with the required configuration.

 

Rename the Database

 

Full Database Synchronization  

 

Run full database synchronization and after it completes successfully you are ready to use the environment.

 

If you are interested in optimizing/improving your business processes, making the experience while using the application a whole lot easier in the long run, having the data secured in the cloud at the same time, and in need for someone to upgrade your systems from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365, we are open for future collaboration.

 

Reach out to us here, and if you are interested in potential career opportunities, check out our careers page.

The Latest Update from Microsoft about Dynamics 365: Microsoft Brings Artificial Intelligence and Modular Apps to Dynamics 365

At Microsoft’s Ignite Conference, taking place this week in Orlando, Microsoft unveiled several updates to its technology portfolio, including a tighter integration between its LinkedIn and Microsoft 365 properties, and artificial intelligence capabilities for its customer care solutions in Dynamics 365.

 

 

“The nature of work is changing,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO during his keynote. “It’s no longer about routine tasks; it’s about unlocking the creativity inside your organization.

 

It is about going beyond individual productivity in dynamic teams; it is about ensuring the security of your digital estate, really changing the frontier of simplicity of managing the digital estate, and that is what’s driving us to build Microsoft 365.”

 

This powerful speech from Nadella affirms the digital transformation started by their vision and allocated through their new technology improvements aimed for the companies’ adaptation in the constant changing environment.

 

Dynamics 365 AI Solutions

 

When it comes to Dynamics 365, Microsoft announces a portfolio of new capabilities at the conference, which are including expansion of Dynamics 365’s intelligence capabilities with “Dynamics 365 AI solutions” that are designed to deliver high-value and complex enterprise scenarios.

 

These new Dynamics 365 AI solutions run on the existing Microsoft’s platforms in AI and machine learning. The first of the solutions is innovated for customer support and engagement teams in a form of “virtual agents”.

 

The virtual agents engage with the customers in order to receive real-time suggestions about their problems, and also a real-time feedback, which helps them to train more effectively to become even more effective over time. This AI solution is already used by worlds’ biggest retailers and is handling more than 650 000 sessions weekly.

 

Modular Apps

 

Kept in mind that customers need more targeted solutions, Microsoft introduced modular SaaS applications which allow the business users to transform a single process. These apps are meant to be used every day, and take advantage of the existing data, connect to existing data and deliver insight from the other Microsoft’s product to deliver meaningful results.

 

Microsoft introduced two modular apps: Dynamics 365 for Talent: Attract and Dynamics 365 for Talent: Onboard, which will allow its users to perform more effectively and more easily the attract and the onboard activities in the hiring process, using Human Capital Management capabilities module.

 

Also there are announced improvements within integrations between Dynamics 365 with Linkedin, as well with other productivity apps, delivering new opportunities and improved user experience.

 

Another upcoming integrations from Microsoft include Microsoft PowerApps and Microsoft Power BI which will allow to embed contact information from Linkedin and to create and analyze detailed reports.

 

Microsoft continually improves its products and services and also create powerful integrations of the products, in order to achieve its mission – to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more.

 

If you are interested in finding more about Satya Nadella’s keynote presentation at Microsoft Ignite, take a look at this video: