Credit: Microsoft
From the list of sessions, it looks like there will be a lot of news related to Dynamics 365 at next week’s Microsoft Ignite virtual conference for IT professionals and developers. An area scheduled to receive a lot of emphasis is the better integration between Teams / other Microsoft productivity tools and Dynamics 365.
Microsoft already offers some Teams-Dynamics integration. In 2019, employees announced and made Dynamics 365 sales integration with teams available. This gave users the ability to connect Dynamics 365 Sales records to Microsoft Teams channels without having to leave the Dynamics 365 Sales Application.
But it looks like there’s a lot more to come. A first day session, entitled “Microsoft Teams + Dynamics 365: the unified collaboration platform for modern business”, describes the case for improving the ties between these two product families. The Teams-Dynamics integration will improve business processes, streamline the exchange of information and knowledge, says the session description.
Microsoft has a series of announcements planned for “built-in collaboration across multiple Dynamics 365 apps and teams,” according to my contacts. This will allow Dynamics 365 users to have Teams chat, meetings, calls and logs directly embedded in various Dynamics 365 applications, such as Sales and Customer Service, in the name of making collaboration more of a real-time experience.
Microsoft is also working to improve the integration between Teams and Dynamics 365 Marketing. This could provide more seamless connections for live events and webinars, the sources say. And tighter integration between Teams and Dynamics 365 Field Service and Commerce are also on the to-do list.
The Dynamics 365 mobile app already announced – which in a way reminds me of the Office mobile app – brings together several Dynamics products in a single unified app. This application, which is available in a preview version for Windows, offers features such as gathering on a single meeting card Dynamics Relationship Insights, Outlook and LinkedIn. Users of the Dynamics 365 mobile app can dictate or scan on a business card and related notes; take advantage of direct links between your Outlook calendar, email and teams; and get automatic transcripts for calls and meetings.
I’m interested in what Microsoft has to say about this Teams-Dynamics integration topic for a few reasons. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and other company leaders often speak about the integration of registration systems and engagement systems. This Team-Dynamic integration would be a tangible example of this, I believe. In addition, anything that makes Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 together appear to be welcome by users – even those who also like the ability to mix and match Microsoft and non-Microsoft applications.
Speaking of Dynamics 365 and Ignite, it looks like Microsoft is also planning an announcement about a new smart order management system next week.