Saturday 31 March 2018

What's in a name - CRM, Dynamics 365, CDS

Now that I've restarted posting on this blog, I'm struggling to name the technologies consistently. It used to just be CRM (or Microsoft CRM, or Dynamics CRM, or Microsoft Dynamics CRM), but now it's Dynamics 365, or Dynamics 365 for Customer Engagement. And from the platform perspective, it's Common Data Services (CDS).
To an extent, we're necessarily at the whim of Microsoft branding, which can change, but I feel we're close to an overall set of terms that can be consistently applied. As I see it, there are 3 distinct things that can be named:

The overall suite of technologies
This has been Dynamics, Dynamics 365, or Microsoft Business Applications. Of these, Dynamics 365 is definitely the leader, though there has been recent use of Microsoft Business Applications, so we may find this to become more popular. To me, the main difference is that Microsoft Business Applications can include technologies such as PowerApps and Flow, which started out under the Office 365 brand


The applications that Microsoft deliver
We started with the separate Dynamics products (CRM, AX, GP, NAV etc). Several (but not all) were then included within Dynamics 365, along with some new application (e.g. Talent). From the original CRM application and implementations, we can refer to each Application, which are Sales, Customer Service, Marketing, Field Service and Project Service Automation. Here the roadmap is a useful reference. These applications can be usefully referred to individually, but we need to be able to refer to them collectively, and distinguish them from the other Dynamics 365 applications (Finance and Operations, Retail, Talent, Business Central) that are not based on the CRM technology. Rather than using the term 'CRM', Microsoft are pushing the term 'Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement'. I do mostly understand the Microsoft approach, but it is a lot longer than 'CRM', so I'm going to struggle to move off CRM. For more on this, see Jukka's post

The platform - i.e. what underpins the applications
'Platform' itself can mean different things to different people, which we won't resolve here, but I'm taking about the technologies that started in CRM, and not just the Azure platform. Here we started with CRM, then the term xRM was introduced, but now (as of March 2018), I think that we should now be referring to CDS (Common Data Services). Now that Common Data Services for Applications and CRM are the same platform is a huge step. And from now on , I think the platform that started out as CRM is better termed CDS. There are a few details to sort out still; there are 'Common Data Services for Applications' and 'Common Data Services for Analytics', and I reckon only the former truly relates to the original CRM platform, but I'm not certain on that yet

Overall, I thing the picture will soon be reasonably clear, with a few caveats. For the foreseeable future, I expect I'll still preface most presentations by saying that I'll use the terms 'CRM' and 'Dynamics 365' interchangeably, unless there is a reason to differentiate between them, in which case I'll try and explain the difference. Similarly, I'll probably be using 'CRM' and 'xRM' and 'CDS' interchangeably for a while

12 comments:

Pranav Shah said...

With CDS 2.0, would it be easier to migrate data across D356 services, for example, when Quotes are converted into actual work order that need to be posted into Field Services, and from there, completed work orders are invoiced from Finance & Operations module (or Great Plains - Business Central) for example.

In prior version, there wasn't MS Flow integration available, if I am not mistaken, and CDS data sources were much not help either.

Your high-level solution/architectural input would be appreciated.

Thanks
Pranav

Marry Davis said...

Thank You so much for sharing this with us, this blog is really helpful for Microsoft CRM developer.. Please keep sharing your blogs for us.

Azure DevOps said...

Great list, thanks.
MS Dynamics Training in Hyderabad

mist hyderabad said...

Thank u for this information
http://www.mistltd.com

Microsoft Dynamics NAV said...

Hey i found your aticle amazing well written, the way you describe your points is very awesome.

Microsoft Dynamics Navision
Microsoft Dynamics Navision
Microsoft Dynamics Navision
Microsoft Dynamics Navision
Microsoft Dynamics Navision
Microsoft Dynamics Navision
Microsoft Dynamics Navision

Chandra Sekhar Reddy said...

Nice Information
Sanjary kids is the best playschool, preschool in Hyderabad, India. Start your play school,preschool in Hyderabad with sanjary kids. Sanjary kids provides programs like Play group,Nursery,Junior KG,Serior KG,and Teacher Training Program.
play school in hyderabad
Preschool in hyderabad
Preschool teacher training course in hyderabad
pre and primary teacher training course in hyderabad

Kavi Priya said...

Really very great information for that post, am amazed and then more new information are get after refer that post. I like that post.
CRM Software
Best CRM Software
Customer Relationship Management Software
CRM Software for Small Business
CRM Software in Dubai

Monica MS said...

Really very great information for that post, am amazed and then more new information are get after refer that post. I like that post.
CRM Software in Dubai
CRM Software
CRM Software in UAE
Best CRM Software
CRM Software for Small Business

Vishal Sharma said...

nice

Vishal Sharma said...


Really I enjoy your site with effective and useful information. Affordable microsoft dynamics nav support

Devansh Parashar Chaukri TTR said...

Thank you for every other informative web site. Where else may I am getting that kind of information written in such a perfect way? I’ve a undertaking that I’m just now working on, and I have been on the look out for such information.

Government Jobs in Nagaland | ccsu ba 3rd year result 2021 name wise

Kpiksain said...

Excellent post. Keep posting such kind of info on your blog.
bu bhopal 2nd year result 2022 subject wise