Mastering Microsoft Dynamics 365 Implementations

✍ Scribed by Eric Newell

• Publisher: Sybex
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 418
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Confidently shepherd your organization’s implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 to a successful conclusion 

In Mastering Microsoft Dynamics 365 Implementations, accomplished executive, project manager, and author Eric Newell delivers a holistic, step-by-step reference to implementing Microsoft’s cloud-based ERP and CRM business applications. You’ll find the detailed and concrete instructions you need to take your implementation project all the way to the finish line, on-time, and on-budget. 

You’ll learn: 

• The precise steps to take, in the correct order, to bring your Dynamics 365 implementation to life 
• What to do before you begin the project, including identifying stakeholders and building your business case 
• How to deal with a change management throughout the lifecycle of your project 
• How to manage conference room pilots (CRPs) and what to expect during the sessions 

Perfect for CIOs, technology VPs, CFOs, Operations leaders, application directors, business analysts, ERP/CRM specialists, and project managers, Mastering Microsoft Dynamics 365 Implementations is an indispensable and practical reference for guiding your real-world Dynamics 365 implementation from planning to completion. 

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Technical Editor
Contents at a Glance
Contents
Introduction
Who Should Read This Book
What You’ll Learn from This Book
How This Book Is Organized
How to Use This Book
How to Contact Wiley or the Author
Chapter 1 Stages of an Implementation Overview
What Is Microsoft Dynamics?
The Client Journey
Implementation Methodologies
Waterfall and Sure Step
Agile and Scrum
Triple Constraints
The Bottom Line
Chapter 2 What to Do Before You Begin a Project
Identify Your Project Team and Stakeholders
Executive Sponsor
Project Owner
Business Process Owner(s)
Project Manager
Core Team and a Core Team Lead
Subject Matter Experts
IT Resources
Time Commitment by Role
Identify Your Processes in Scope
Business Scenarios
Clean Up Your Data
Identify Your “Master” Data
Develop Naming Conventions
Identify System Owners
Find and Resolve Duplicates and Incorrect Data
Define Your Success Metrics
Possible Benefits
Building Your Business Case and Securing Funding
How Much Should an ERP Project Cost?
Costs to Include in Your Calculations
Capitalizing Costs
Contingency
Return on Investment (ROI)
Gaining Approval
The Bottom Line
Chapter 3 Four Keys to Consider When Buying an ERP or CRM Solution
Selection Process
Selection Consultant
Decision Maker
The Four Keys
Fit
Platform
Implementer
Cost
Building Your Scorecard
The Bottom Line
Chapter 4 How to Evaluate and Buy Business Application Software
Buying Process Steps
Qualification Stage
Discovery and Demonstration Stage
Selecting Your Vendor
Leadership or Board Approval
Moving Forward
The Bottom Line
Chapter 5 Organizing Your Team for Success and Project Governance
RACI
Your Project Team
Your Partner’s Implementation Team
Executive Sponsor
Engagement Manager
Project Manager
Solution Architect or Solution Delivery Manager
Functional Consultant or Consultants
Technical Consultant
Development Lead and Developers
Integration Architect
Data Migration Specialist
Project Governance
Project Communication
Resource Loading
Project Schedule
Document Repository
Budget Tracking
Change Requests
Project Management Plan
The Bottom Line
Chapter 6 Sprints and Tools Needed to Run Your Project
Definition of a Sprint
Length of a Sprint
Start and End of a Sprint
Delivering Value in a Sprint
Backlog
Project Backlog
Sprint Backlog
Allocating Work to Team Members
Sprint Success Rate
Sprint Meetings
Sprint Planning
Sprint Review
Sprint Retrospective
Stand-up Meetings
Work Definitions
Epic
Feature
User Story
Requirement
Research Task
Design Task
Development Task
Test Task
Other Task
Test Case
Test
Bug (Defect)
Risk
Issue
Change Request
Code and Changesets
Azure DevOps
DevOps Fields
Progress Reporting
Analytical Views
The Bottom Line
Chapter 7 Change Management Throughout Your Project
Success Criteria
Use of Satisfaction Surveys
Nine Steps to Change Management
Leadership Alignment
Organization Evaluation
Outline Your Business Process Change Steps
Develop a System Vision that Provides Benefits to All Stakeholders
Communicate Effectively
Maximize the Team’s Time in the New System
Train Effectively
Set Realistic Expectations for the System Just After Go-Live
Support Your Team Members After Go-Live
Steps to Business Process Change
Importance of Adoption
The Bottom Line
Chapter 8 Organizing Your Business by Processes
Common Language Businesses Speak
Operations
Sales
Finance and Administration
Standard Processes
Process Hierarchy
Process Category
Process Group
Process
Sub-processes, Tasks, Activities, and Requirements
Discovering Your Processes
SIPOC
Core Team Members
Rounding Out Your Scope
The Bottom Line
Chapter 9 Independent Software Vendors—Filling Gaps and Managing Partnerships
The Purpose of ISVs
Hosting Providers
Private Hosting
SaaS-Style Hosting
Industry ISVs
Deciding If You Need an Industry ISV
Functional ISVs
Missing Functionality
Advanced Features
Missing Connector
Automation
Reporting Extensions
Deciding If You Need a Functional ISV
Working with ISVs
Budgeting for ISV Solutions
Implementation Partner or Customer Managed
Buying the ISV License or Subscription
Implementation of ISV Products
Manage Your ISV Projects Closely
Microsoft’s AppSource Marketplace
Product Listing
Services Listing
The Bottom Line
Chapter 10 Factors for a Successful Project Kickoff
Pre-Kickoff Meeting Activities
Checklist
Expectations for the Meeting
Outing
Kickoff Meeting Content
Executive Overview
Introductions and Role Review
Expectations for Team Members
Project Management and Communication Plan
Project Schedule
Resources
Navigation Overview [Optional]
Wrapping Up
Executive Message
Expectations for the Project Team
Time Commitment
Decision-Making
Power of Positivity
The Bottom Line
Chapter 11 Designing the Software Collaboratively
Joint Application Design Concept
Joint Process Design and Other Design-Related Definitions
What Is a Joint Process Design (JPD) Session?
Happy Path
“As-Is” vs. “To Be”
Joint Process Design Iterations
JPD1
JPD2
JPD3
JPD4
Keys to Successful JPDs
JPD Output
SIPOC
The Bottom Line
Chapter 12 Requirements Gathering and Staying “In the Box”
Staying in the Box
Customization vs. In-the-Box Examples
Requirements
Out-of-the-Box Fields as Requirements
Requirements Link to Processes
Functional vs. Non-functional Requirements
Verifying Requirements
Writing Good Requirements
Requirements Tips
Fit/Gap Analysis
Fit/Gap Spreadsheet
Trade-Offs
The Cost of Customizations
Cloud vs. On-Premise Software
The Bottom Line
Chapter 13 Conference Room Pilots
The Purpose of a Conference Room Pilot
How to Organize CRPs
Common Elements of CRPs
CRP Agenda
Logistics
Issues and Questions
CRP Roles and Responsibilities
Session Leader
Helper/Expert
Business Process Owner
Users/Students
Who Not to Invite
CRP Place in the Overall Schedule
Can You Do a CRP on One Process Group at the Same Time That You Do a JPD?
Entrance Criteria
CRP vs. UAT
How They Are Similar
How They Are Different
What to Do Between CRP and the End of the Create Stage
CRP Goals
The Bottom Line
Chapter 14 Dealing with Challenges Mid-Project
Managing the Project Status
Status Report
Colors on a Status Report
Managing Your Budget
Project Pulse
Risks and Issues
Risk Register
Issues vs. Bugs
Common Project Challenges
Psychological Safety
The Bottom Line
Chapter 15 Customizations vs. Configurations and How You Manage Them
Customizations vs. Configurations
Customization
Configuration
Integration
Master Data
Metadata
Personalization
Reference Data
When to Customize vs. Configure
Why Choose to Customize
Tracking Configurations
Configuration Tracker
Gold Environment
Lifecycle Services
Functional Design Documents
Overview
Modification
Testing
Development Quotation
Revision and Sign-off
Updates
Design Complete
The Development Process
Develop the Solution
Unit Test
Code Review
Functional Testing (Part 1)
Finishing Up
After Code Complete
Deploying the Code
Functional Testing (Part 2)
Preparing for CRP and UAT
The Lifecycle of a Customization
Managing These Tasks
Wrap-Up
The Bottom Line
Chapter 16 Data Migration—Early and Often
Data Migration Plan
Proactive Cleaning
Before the Kickoff
Data Migration Tool
Iterations
Extract
Finding the Data
Extraction Tools
Transform
Mapping the Data
Mapping Tools
Transforming Mapped Data
Load
Order of Operation
Load Time
Validating the Data
Technical Validation
Business Validation
Functional Validation
Go-Live Iteration
The Bottom Line
Chapter 17 Environment Management and Deployments
Types of Environments
Developer Environments
Build
Test
Sandbox
Production
Environment Plan
Types of Releases
Frequency of Code Moves
Populating Configurations and Master Data
Deploying Code
Application Lifecycle Management
Environment Flow Using DevOps
Rollback
Security
Definitions
How Best to Manage
The Bottom Line
Chapter 18 Testing
Definitions
Types of Testing
Common Testing Terms
Pre-Deploy Stage Activities
Testing Strategy
Unit Test and Regression Tests
Developing Test Cases
UAT Entrance Criteria
UAT Exit Criteria
UAT Sessions
Purpose
Additional Benefits of UAT Sessions
UAT Roles and Responsibilities
Executing Your Test Plans
Tips for the Sessions
Post UAT Testing
Issues List
Process Sign-Offs
Scenario Recaps
The Bottom Line
Chapter 19 Training for All
Learning During Interactive Sessions
JPDs
CRPs
UAT
Learning Modalities
In-Person, Classroom Style
Remote, Synchronous Training
Asynchronous
Building Your Training Content
End User Training Content
Product Help Content
Microsoft Learn
Recording Sessions
Task Recorder
How Much to Document
How to Manage and Distribute Your Content
Learning Management Systems
Building Your End User Training Schedule
Pre-Training Learning
Train the Trainer
Synchronous Sessions
Advanced Concepts
Testing Users’ Knowledge
Office Hours
The Bottom Line
Chapter 20 Going Live
Go-Live Criteria
Cutover Plan
Bug Criteria
Data Migration and Security Criteria
Support Readiness
Training Review
Communication Plan
Go-Live Scorecard
Mock Cutover and Final Week Activities
Disaster Recovery
System Setup Before Cutover
Go/No-Go Meetings
When to Have It
Voting Criteria
Meeting Agenda
Order and Outcome of the Votes
Next Steps
Live Cutover
Impact of the Cutover Start Timing
Completing Cutover Activities
Rollback Plan
Acknowledge the Team
The Bottom Line
Chapter 21 Hypercare
Go-Live Support
Day 1
Week 1
Project Change Champions
Prioritizing Issues
Weeks 2–4
First Month End
Duration of Hypercare
Role of HelpDesk
Sample SLA
Project Team Support
Support Levels
Refer Users to Training
Making the Transition to HelpDesk Later
Post Go-Live Releases
Planning for Future Releases
Hotfix Release
Scheduled Releases
Project Team Transition
Rolling Off the Project Team
Documentation
Expectations of Support
After the Transition
The Bottom Line
Chapter 22 Support and Enhance Your Project
Support After Hypercare
Extending the Transition from Consulting to Support
Engaging Your Partner for Support
Microsoft and ISV Support Plans
After Action Review
Who to Invite
How to Run the Meeting
What to Do with the Feedback
Ongoing Releases
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Release Cadence
Release Testing
When to Schedule Your Releases
What to Include in Releases
Future Enhancements
New Functionality
Usability
Guardrails
Business Intelligence
Incorporating Dynamics Data into Your Daily Business
Integrations
Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
Calculating Return on Investment
ROI Checkpoints
The Bottom Line
Chapter 23 Bringing It All Together
Align Stage
Define Stage
Create Stage
Deploy Stage
Empower Stage
Additional Resources
The Bottom Line
Appendix The Bottom Line
Chapter 1: Stages of an Implementation Overview
Chapter 2: What to Do Before You Begin a Project
Chapter 3: Four Keys to Consider When Buying an ERP or CRM Solution
Chapter 4: How to Evaluate and Buy Business Application Software
Chapter 5: Organizing Your Team for Success and Project Governance
Chapter 6: Sprints and Tools Needed to Run Your Project
Chapter 7: Change Management Throughout Your Project
Chapter 8: Organizing Your Business by Processes
Chapter 9: Independent Software Vendors—Filling Gaps and Managing Partnerships
Chapter 10: Factors for a Successful Project Kickoff
Chapter 11: Designing the Software Collaboratively
Chapter 12: Requirements Gathering and Staying “In the Box”
Chapter 13: Conference Room Pilots
Chapter 14: Dealing with Challenges Mid-Project
Chapter 15: Customizations vs. Configurations and How You Manage Them
Chapter 16: Data Migration—Early and Often
Chapter 17: Environment Management and Deployments
Chapter 18: Testing
Chapter 19: Training for All
Chapter 20: Going Live
Chapter 21: Hypercare
Chapter 22: Support and Enhance Your Project
Chapter 23: Bringing It All Together
Glossary
Index
EULA