For the last 7 years, my day to day job has been configuring and deploying Dynamics CRM based on requirements. When you have gone through the same process day in and day out, you often miss how amazing and complex something is. On the way to work recently, I started pondering if Microsoft has made configuring Dynamics 365 too easy. I know it might seem like a funny question to ask in the age of making software simpler for users but it struck me that so often in a project I forget that what we are releasing is an enterprise-level software.
Microsoft has created a product that has the ability to be rapidly installed, configured and deployed. If you have ever installed Dynamics on-premise you know the time and effort that is required to setup servers, multiple databases, configure ADFS, setup server-side synchronization with Exchange, and connect Dynamics to SharePoint. Now compare that to how quickly you can have the software up and running in Dynamics online?! You can literally have all three of your environments of Dynamics 365 up and running connected to Exchange and SharePoint within 30 minutes! And Microsoft has made is so simple that even this former accountant can do it.
Though Microsoft hasn’t made any major updates to the UI for configuring the system since I started in Dynamics 2011, the ease to set up a new table (entity) and make updates is incredible. You can quickly create and update forms through a simple drag and drop interface. Microsoft has gone so far as to release features in the last couple of years which heavily reduce the need to write JavaScript or C# code. Using Business Rules, calculated fields, and rollup fields, you can now do many of the ‘simple’ things that used to require a developer. These changes have encouraged the rise of the Citizen Developer in Dynamics 365 which is highlighted by the fact that many power users become the System Administrator of their Dynamics 365 environments.
With regards to deploying changes in Dynamics 365, it’s just a simple click of the ‘Publish All’ button and you are done. Microsoft does allow you to create solutions (think of containers that point to the components) which you can package and move between your environments quickly and easily. Using the Solution Transfer Tool in the XRMToolBox you can move a solution in as few as 4 clicks.
What gets lost in all this ease of use is that what we are actually doing is deploying an enterprise software solution. Many System Administrators follow an informal and often time rough methodology of the system development life cycle (SDLC) by going through an analyze, design, develop, test, deploy, and maintain cycle. One or many of these stages may be skipped or worse, unknown when a power user is asked to take over Dynamics 365. Because of how easy it is to configure the software, you can quickly jump to the develop and deploy sections of the SDLC and miss the other very important steps.
Dynamics 365 is a great application for rapid development. Most companies should be able to get up running on Dynamics 365 in only a matter of weeks and not months or years. Often Dynamics 365 gets sideways because it was approached as a rapid configuration tool and not as an enterprise software that deserves to go through the system development life cycle.
Living in Denver for 7 years, I would daily drive past the amazing Rocky mountains and overtime I slowly lost the sense of amazement at the beauty those snowcapped mountains deserve. Anyone that has set out to climb a fourteener knows that there are careful steps that must be followed in order to arrive safely at the top. Microsoft has done a great job of creating an application that can be rapidly deployed but it should be treated with the respect of an enterprise software solution and thoughtfully deployed to ensure that the destination is achieved successfully.
What do you think? Is Dynamics 365 to easy to configure?
Originally posted on Dynamics Communities CRMUG