Farewell D365 CE, it was a fun ride.
Steve Mordue XMVP
Professional Bear Poker. "Former" 9-Time Microsoft MVP. Creator of RapidStart Apps. US citizen living on a mountain in Brazil
Is it time to rethink whether Dynamics 365 CE still needs to exist?
Several years ago, when the Power Platform was still in its infancy, then-leader James Phillips told me, "Make no mistake, Dynamics 365 pays the rent." But is that still true today? And more importantly, will that be true in the coming few years?
Meanwhile, Dynamics 365 Sales and Customer Service (aka CRM) have evolved into great big Power Apps on the Power Platform.
As part of the planning committee for the DynamicsMinds conference, I could not help but notice the ratio of Power Platform sessions submitted to Dynamics 365 CE sessions—like 3:1! This is a complete reversal in just the last few years and a clear signal to anyone who is paying attention.
The number of partners launching or transitioning to Power Platform practices is increasing rapidly. Whatever success the first-party apps are having is largely due to customer ignorance. Put myself, or any of this new breed of partners, on the phone with any D365 prospect, and they will go Power Platform every single time.
<plug>As many of you know, we have our own Power Apps-based RapidStart Apps . Personally, I think we did a better job in many ways than Microsoft has with Dynamics 365 CE.</plug>
There is nothing in the first-party apps that could not be built with the Power Platform since they are also built on the Power Platform. I know because we do it every day.
Let's imagine that Microsoft open-sourced all of its first-party IP, which is currently locked behind first-party licenses. This would enable partners and customers to create the most powerful bespoke solutions—exactly what they need and nothing more.
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While we are at it, let's simplify the licensing model by moving everything to PAYGO, eliminating 99% of the license confusion.
Microsoft has been battling Salesforce, the market leader, for as long as I can remember. And while Microsoft has grown, so has Salesforce, and their market shares remain about the same. They have been trying to compete with Salesforce using the same playbook as Salesforce.
How about a new playbook? One that Microsoft can uniquely execute, but neither Salesforce nor HubSpot can contend with. Start swinging with that "Much Bigger Company than Yours" bat!
Satya Nadella recently predicted the end of SaaS apps as we know them. If this is true, then does D365 even have a future anyway? We know Dataverse will survive and thrive.
My friend Mark Smith predicts the end of Power Automate is coming as AI Agents overtake it.
I also see Power BI evolving to 100% natural language queries, eliminating the need for pre-built visualizations. AI will simply provide whatever you want, however you want to see it.
I had some clear thoughts before I wrote this, but it came out a little rambly. To be honest, I'm too lazy to fix it.
Feel free to weigh in. Why is this the dumbest idea you ever heard?
Head of Digitalization, Data & Analytics
2 周Marie-Anne Delhez
Technology Solutions Professional @ Microsoft. Helping customers digitally transform business using Microsoft solutions
3 周I discuss this concept almost every day with customers, prospects and internal team members. Our 1st party Dynamics 365 offerings are tailored to specific use cases and Power Platform handles the use cases that aren't. Do the lines get blurred sometimes. Sure, they do. Can I build a light version of Field Service in Power Apps. Probably. Can I build a fully functional omnichannel CCaaS in Power Apps. No. For Dynamics 365, it is not only the initial build but the amazing amount of functionality we add to the product each year. As a technical seller, I help my customers understand what is possible and the cost and value propositions of each approach. They decide what is best. Will natural language-based conversational interfaces eventually replace traditional forms over data apps. Probably, but we aren't there just yet.
Business & Technology Interpreter. Partner & VP Professional Services at ITK Consulting.
4 周We spent a ton of time and effort in the before (Power App) times teaching our team and clients the ins and outs of the 1st party Sales and CS apps just so they knew enough to pull them apart and build what the client needed.
Power Platform Swiss-Knife | Digital Boy Scout
1 个月At least at the moment I think Dynamics has still its place well as Power Automate. The selling point from Dynamics is still that you get a complete product covering all aspects of your company depending how much you want to pay and how much customization. That their are also good products and solutions from other Power Platform Sellers or the possibility to create your own ecosystem is of cause also true but still an established product family has still a lot of advantages for example also that you can find easier new working force already trained in the product. For Power Automate as long the licensing doesn't change Power Automate can be in many scenarions still cheaper and therefore better fit for a specific job. At least as long one generative action in copilot studio costs 25 Messages for execution.