How IT Managers are Using M365 Dynamics in 2022

Microsoft released the Azure-based Dynamics 365 in 2016 when it combined customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) with AI tools and other productivity applications. Microsoft was one of the first major vendors to combine these tools; since then, small- to medium-sized businesses have experienced better field and customer service, improved finance and operations, customer insights, and better product service automation.

Earlier this year, Microsoft shared its Dynamics 365 2022 release wave 1 plan, which is to be rolled out between April and September of this year. In addition, the 2022 release wave 2 for Dynamics 365 and industry cloud was announced earlier this summer; the 2022 release wave 2 features will be released between October 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023. 

Both updates will introduce hundreds of new features across multiple Dynamics 365 applications — from Marketing and Finance to Supply Chain Management, Customer Insights, Sales, and Field Service. The vast array of new capabilities in Dynamics 365 and all model-driven power apps will have a considerable impact on IT managers within businesses of all kinds — from small- to medium-sized businesses to enterprises. We’ll take a look at some rollout details within each wave that will improve your overall Dynamics 365 experience. Although the updates include hundreds of features that would be impossible to discuss here, we’ve chosen several Dynamics 365 improvements to highlight.

Wave 1: Model-Driven Apps New Capabilities and Updates

New advancements will provide users and Dynamics 365 IT managers with a new experience view. This will include an enhanced selector that enables users to search for a view, an advanced Find entry point in the global Dataverse search bar, and simpler view personalization. Other model-driven app updates will include: 

• A new activity dropdown that shows only relevant activities to each app
• An editable grid control support that will manage inline edits within sub-grids and views
• An ability to join and create Teams meetings directly from the timeline or from the appointment with one click 
• A new rich text editor that will enable lists, links, and other rich text
• In-app notifications that will allow administrators to configure notifications within apps

Wave 2: Standout Updates

Notable improvements in the Dynamics 365 2022 wave 2 release will occur in the sales accelerator, which will include a new sequence designer — as well as the ability to loop steps within a sequence. An improved Outlook and Teams collaboration will usher in improved functionality, thanks to the ability to track a linked Teams chat as an activity. More collaboration and communication features include the ability to search timelines for specific chat activities, notifications about updated conversations, shared documents, and more. 

Additionally, Dynamics 365’s conversational intelligence tool will occur in real-time and will surface suggestions, such as product and service details, talking points, pricing, and more. Other improvements included in the 2022 Wave 2 rollout are: quick setup for Dynamics 365 Customer Service, agent experience usability enhancements (e.g. improved sitemaps and better session and overflowing tab handling), and the swarming feature update that will allow for a quicker setup.

As Dynamics 365 continues to improve for IT professionals and users and as applications become further streamlined, the capabilities of businesses of all sizes will benefit from this set of modular, interconnected SaaS platform applications.