Dynamics 365 Project Recovery

Dynamics 365 is one of the most powerful and versatile CRM and customer engagement platforms available. Its level of customisation means it can be tailored to any industry and function.

That means Dynamics can evolve with your business, rather than requiring a new solution or a separate solution to accommodate a new area of interest.

It takes specialist Dynamics 365 developers with in-depth knowledge; to get the platform working the way you want it to.

While Dynamics can be deployed as an out-of-the-box solution , you would lose out on a huge amount of functionality. And have the added headache of trying to make a closed CRM system fit with your existing tech stack.

The level of customisation offered by Dynamics, while complex, allows for a CRM solution customised to your business needs. This frees you to focus on your work without worrying if your CRM captures data correctly.

That is unless something goes wrong.

Mistakes happen and most of the time they are easy to fix. However, there are times when Dynamics 365 projects fail. It’s more common than you might think and is usually down to a combination of, or all, of the same 10 factors:

• No clear vision and/or objectives
• Lack of planning
• Technical issues with existing or legacy platforms or data warehousing
• Mismanaged data migration
• Poor user adoption
• Poor communication
• Insufficient resources
• Inadequate change management
• Scalability issues
• Vendor Management

But often these challenges aren’t identified until the project is already off the rails.

Signs you need Dynamics 365 Recovery

While it may not be easy to identify the challenges listed above, there are some telltale signs that your Dynamics 365 project is in trouble. The most obvious sign all is not well is your Dynamics project is missing more deadlines than it’s hitting. Missed deadlines mean things are not going to plan, whether that’s problems with configuration, integrations, migrations or whatever.

Something, somewhere in the process is struggling to deliver and there’s a good chance at least one of the problems listed above is behind it.

A knock-on of missed deadlines is budget overruns. This shouldn’t be a surprise as the team working on the deployment still want to be paid. Therefore, if the project overruns, the budget will explode along with your hopes of delivering the CRM anything close to on time.

Budget overruns however have wider implications and can kill you Dynamics 365 project before it’s ever finished. This is simply because the more money something costs the harder it needs to work to generate a meaningful ROI for the business.

This is problematic for CRMs as the ROI isn’t always immediately obvious so when the project becomes a money pit. It’s at this point an out-of-the-box solution that the business can make do with starts to seem like the easier option.

Tied to both missed deadlines and budget are technical issues. Unforeseen technical issues can plague any project but when it comes to something as large as a Dynamics CRM deployment, it’s usually down to poor scoping and planning.

Bugs, crashes and shoddy integrations are signs that something is badly wrong. This could be because the team deploying the CRM are out of their depth, lacking specialist knowledge. Or it could be the groundwork wasn’t done before the project began.

Which leads us to scope creep. It’s hard to avoid scope creep in its entirety as inspiration can strike at any time. However, it becomes a problem when the scope and requirements change regularly. It’s impossible to run a project like that, let alone something that will sit at the heart of your organisation.

The cause of Dynamics 365 recovery projects

Whether your project has experienced all or some of the problems outlined above, the root causes are the same and centre around a lack of understanding or bad planning.

All other issues stem from these two original sins of Dynamics 365 CRM deployment.

Poor communication, inadequate training or problematic integration with systems and processes all start with bad planning.

Before you can deploy a CRM, you need to understand the objectives and what the platform needs to do to achieve them. And no, ‘because everyone else has one’ doesn’t count.

A tool like Dynamics 365 is immensely powerful when used correctly. Not least because modules like Customer Journeys Insights (formally Dynamics Marketing) allow you to interact with your audience in highly personalised ways. Providing you’ve got your Dynamics configured correctly.

But this ties back to the planning. You need to know what you want to do with Dynamics on a functional level to take that feature into account.

This can be easier said than done because you don’t know what you don’t know. If you do not know the potential of the tool you’re deploying, it’s impossible to take full advantage of it.

This is where collaborating with specialist developers can prove beneficial as they possess the knowledge and insight to come up with suggestions and use cases you may not have considered.

But only if you know what your objectives are.

All roads lead back to these two points.

• Define your objectives – what do you want your CRM to do and how will the benefit the business in terms of:EfficiencyProcess streamliningCost savingsProfitabilityIncreased capacityUtilisation of skillsWorker moraleCustomer engagementMarketing and outreachSales and the sales cycle
• Create a detailed plan including:Stakeholders – who do you need to get involved?Existing solutionCurrent tech stackLegacy tools that need sunsettingData warehousingData migration – how it would work and any issues.Required integrations.BudgetA realistic assessment of internal resourcesPotential external resourcePotential deployment partners/vendorsInternal communication strategyTraining programmeCurrent processes (and what you want to streamline)New processesDocumentation

These are not exhaustive lists but a starting point for your internal conversations to carefully plan a successful Microsoft Dynamics 365 deployment.

How to Recover your Dynamics 365 project

The extent to which your project has gone awry will determine the level of intervention needed to put things right. It’s also time to be honest with yourself and your business about the resources you currently have at your disposal.

If you’ve been trying to deploy Dynamics internally, it may be worth looking at outside help. Similarly, if your external consultants have dropped the ball, don’t throw good money after bad; look for an alternative supplier.

Regardless, it’s time to get a handle on things starting with a ‘warts and all’ assessment of where you are. Note that this isn’t a witch hunt or a blame exercise, it’s not helpful to look for fault as it doesn’t allow for solution-based thinking.

While accountability is important, for now, let’s focus on getting you out of the hole you’ve found yourself in.

Assessment and Diagnosis

To understand the scale of the problem you need to carry out a comprehensive project audit. This includes reviewing emails, scoping documents, project plans, agreements with third parties and any other material you have about the project.

This process can be difficult, especially if you aren’t clear on what you really wanted in the first place. A third-party consultant can be useful in these situations as they will know what questions to ask. This will help you to crystalise what your Dynamics CRM needs to do for your business.

With that objective in mind, it becomes much easier to identify where the gaps in your planning and execution lie.

Stakeholder Re-engagement

Once you’ve identified the critical issues and started to redefine the scope of the project, it’s important to re-engage with stakeholders. Transparency is key, especially if things haven’t gone to plan. No one benefits from obfuscation.

Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure:

• Potential problems are recorded.
• There is a complete understanding of the current tech stack and configuration.
• Any potential integration issues have been highlighted.
• The redefined objectives are both correct and clearly defined.
• Roles and responsibilities are clear.
• A revised timeline is deliverable.
• The skills exist within the project team (both internally and externally) to deliver.

Revise the Plan and Allocate Resources

Once you have gone through both information-gathering stages you will need to create a new project plan factoring in the areas of the CRM that require attention.

Triaging the project will help you to identify the worst affected elements and give you direction on what needs to be fixed first.

Equally, your consultations with team members may have highlighted new functionality that will need to be added to the plan.

At this stage, any plans must be realistic and achievable. There is no point in over-promising to save time and save face. The focus needs to be on delivering a successful Dynamics 365 recovery project.

Similarly, as part of your planning, make sure that any milestones and deliverables set out are relevant and provide a genuine measure of the project’s progress. Recognise that some stakeholders are likely to feel frustrated so it’s important to recover their confidence in the project and the value it can add to the business.

As part of this stage, you should also be looking at resources in terms of capacity and the skills you need to get this project over the line.

Improved Communications

Correct any communication issues and streamline communication processes. Create dedicated communication channels and a mechanism for regular and concise updates.

Where collaboration has been lacking, address these issues through regular inter-team meetings or even an offset so the teams can get to know each other better.

Testing

Establish testing protocols for each milestone of the project. No part of the project should progress beyond the testing stage unless it passes the testing stage. This may seem obvious but the desire to deliver a project on time, especially when there is an incentive, can mean projects deploy with errors.

You will also need to establish a bug reporting and resolution process, so snags are raised and resolved quickly.

Training

Even a fully functioning Dynamics 365 project can fall flat if no one uses it. Implement a comprehensive training programme for all users. But don’t wait until the CRM is ready. Develop the training programme in advance so you have the time to produce something of real value.

Understand, that regardless of how excited the business may be about adopting Dynamics 365, learning a new solution is hard.

Make sure that the training is as much about taking them on a journey as it is about showing them how to use it. Dynamics is there to make your business operate faster and smoother and, hopefully, take some of the heavy lifting off peoples’ shoulders.

Approach the training with energy rather than a perfunctory box-ticking exercise. Furthermore, training should be an ongoing activity as there will be new features and changes rolled out by Microsoft and internally regularly. By helping the business to stay up to date you will sustain long-term user engagement.

Best Practices for Dynamics 365 Projects

No project is perfect, no matter how well planned out it might be. There will always be issues of one form or another. However, the more rigorous you are in your planning, the more successful you will be in your execution. Here are some things to consider when planning a Dynamics 365 project or recovery:

• Set Clear Objectives: Define the project scope and goals from the outset.
• Engage Stakeholders Early: Involve all stakeholders early and throughout the project.
• Comprehensive Planning: Invest time in detailed project planning.
• Ongoing Training: Provide continuous training and support to users.
• Regular Reviews: Conduct regular project reviews and audits.

If you can get these elements right, then your chances of successfully deploying your Dynamics CRM significantly increase.

Dynamics 365 Recovery

Dynamics 365 is an immensely powerful and customisable CRM platform which, some could argue, is the best and worst thing about it. Setting up Customer Journeys Insights can take hours, purely because Microsoft went to incredible lengths to make the tool as comprehensive as possible. Because that’s what Microsoft do.

With so many features and functions available, careful planning and expert knowledge are essential when building and deploying a Dynamics CRM. Without it, mistakes will naturally occur, or reoccur.

If you’re concerned your Dynamics 365 project may require recovery , we can help.

Talk to a member of the team today to discover how QGate can help you through your D/ynamics 365 recovery project.

First published on the QGate website on 08/08/2024