Dynamics 365 is owned by Microsoft and is a product of customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) intelligent business applications which was announced by Microsoft in July 2016 and was released on November 1, 2016.
It’s also a portfolio of intelligent business applications that delivers superior operational efficiency and breakthrough customer experience which enables businesses to become more agile and reduce complexity all without increasing costs.
Dynamics 365 applications are made as a comprehensive solution that connects your entire business.
| Dynamics 365 | Ratings |
| Ease of use | 4.8 |
| Pricing | 4.5 |
| Automation | 4.0 |
| Integration | 4.0 |
| Analytics | 4.5 |
Getting Started With Dynamics 365
1. Click on Get Started on the homepage.
2. Get started with a Dynamics 36 free trial by selecting a plan – sales, service, supply chain, marketing, human resources, finance & operations and/or commerce. I selected the sales option and clicked on Try for free.
3. Input your email address and click on start your free trial and also agree to the terms and conditions.
4. Click on send code to verify your identity.
5. Input your code and click on sign in.
6. Fill in the boxes by entering all (necessary) information in the required fields. Click on Next.
7. Click on launch trial on your onboarding page.
Note that you have a 30-day free trial as you onboard.
PRICING PLAN
Microsoft’s Dynamic 365 pricing plan varied for different services and industries.
A. Small and Medium Businesses
a. Dynamics 365 Business Central Essentials which goes from $70 per user/month.
b. Dynamics 365 Business Central Premium which goes from $100 per user/month.
c. Dynamics 365 Business Central Team Members which goes from $8 per user/month.
This plan also comes with related solutions;
i. Dynamics 365 Sales Professional which goes for $65 per user/month. This solution/plan helps you get a core salesforce automaton that works with Microsoft 365.
ii. Microsoft Power BI goes for $9.99 per user/month and it empowers team members to discover insights hidden in your data.
iii. Microsoft Power Apps goes for $20 per user/month (currency may vary by region/country). This helps you build the business apps you need and extend or customise the apps you already use.
i. Business Central Premium
This plan is the same for small and medium businesses.
ii. Customer Service Professional
a. Dynamics 365 Customer Service Professional. It goes for $50 per user/month and has core customer service capabilities.
b. Dynamics 365 Customer Service Enterprise which goes for $95 per user/month and has Advanced Customer Service capabilities.
This plan also comes with the following customer service add-ins:
i. Digital Messaging and Voice Add-In which goes for $90 per user/month. This add-in is an all-in-one omnichannel engagement across chat, digital channels and voice. It requires an Enterprise licence.
ii. Voice Channel Add-In which goes for $75 per user/month. This add-in adds native voice capabilities as part of your omnichannel engagement. It also requires an Enterprise licence.
iii. Digital Messaging Add-In which goes for $75 per user/month. It provides a rich omnichannel engagement across digital messaging channels including chat. It requires an Enterprise licence.
iv. Chat Add-Ins goes for $60 per user/month and provide live chat omnichannel engagement between customers and agents. It requires an Enterprise licence.
This plan comes with related applications:
i. Microsoft Power Virtual Agents which goes for $1000 per month for 2000 sessions. It helps run intelligent chatbots across websites and other channels.
ii. Dynamics 365 Customer Insights which goes for $1500 per tenant/month and delivers unmatched custom experiences with world-class AI and analytics.
iii. Dynamics 365 Remote Assist goes for $65 per user/month and empowers service teams to efficiently collaborate from anywhere on HoloLens, iOS and Android devices.
iii. Sales Pricing
a. Dynamics 365 Sales Professional goes for $65 per month/user and it has core salesforce automation and Microsoft 365 integration. A Microsoft Viva Sales is available at an additional cost.
b. Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise goes for $95 per user/month and it’s industry-leading salesforce automation with contextual insights and advanced customisation capabilities. It includes Viva Sales.
c. Dynamics 365 Sales Premium goes for $135 per user/month and comes with Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise plus prebuilt customisable intelligence solutions for managers and sellers. It also includes Viva Sales.
d. Microsoft Relationship Sales at $162 per month/user. It comes with Dynamis 365 Sales Enterprise plus LinkedIn Sales Navigator Enterprise. It requires a 10-seat maximum.
e. Microsoft Viva Sales at $40 per user/month which comes with a seller experience application that lets sellers use Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams to automatically capture data into any CRM system, eliminating manual data entry and giving more time to focus on selling.
B. Sales
a. Sales Professional
i. Dynamics 365 Sales Professional at $65 per user/month. It has core salesforce automation and Microsoft 365 integration.
ii. Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise at $95 per user/month. It’s industry-leading salesforce automation with contextual insights and advanced customisation capabilities.
iii. Dynamics 365 Sales Premium at $135 per user/month. It comes with Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise plus prebuilt customisable intelligence solutions for sellers and managers.
iv. Microsoft Relationship Sales at $162 per user/month. It comes with Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise plus LinkedIn Sales Navigation Enterprise.
v. Microsoft Viva Sales at $40 per user/month. It’s a seller experience application that lets sellers use Microsoft 365 & Microsoft Teams to automatically capture data into any CRM system, eliminating manual data entry and giving more time to focus on selling.
b. Sales Enterprise
Same with the Sales Professional plan.
c. Sales Premium
Same with the Sales Professional plan.
d. Microsoft Relationship Sales
Same with the Sales Professional plan.
e. Microsoft Viva Sales
Same with the Sales Professional plan.
C. Finance
a. Dynamics 365 Finance goes for $180 per user/month. It’s an intelligent, automated and trusted core financial management solution.
It comes with related products:
i. Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management at $180 per user/month. It helps you create a secure, scalable, intelligent and composable supply chain.
ii. Dynamics 365 Project Operations at $120 per user/month. It provides/drives project-based businesses’ success with Dynamics 365 Project Operations.
iii. Dynamics 365 Human Resources at $120 per user/month. It creates a workplace where people and businesses thrive.
D. Marketing
i. Dynamics 365 Marketing for organisations without any other Dynamics 365 applications. It starts from $1500 per tenant/month. it includes 10,000 contacts, 10,000 interactions and 1000 SMS messages.
ii. Dynamics 365 Marketing attachment goes from $750 per tenant/month.
It has additional contact packs:
a. Tier 1: 5000 – 49.999 contacts which start at $250 per pack/month.
b. Tier 2: 50,000 – 99,999 contacts which start at $1500 per pack/month.
c. Tier 3: 100,000 – 249,999 contacts which start at $1250 per pack/month and require a minimum purchase of 2 packs.
d. Tier 4: 250,000 – 4999,999 contacts which start at $750 per pack/month. It requires a minimum of 5 packs.
e. Tier 5: More than 500,000 contacts and it’s $500 per pack/month. It requires a minimum of 10 packs.
It has additional interaction packs:
a. Tier 1: 50,000 – 499,999 interactions. It goes for $225 per pack/month.
b. Tier 2: 500,000 – 999,000 interactions. It goes for $1350 per pack/month.
c. Tier 3: 1,000,000 – 2,499,999 interactions at $1125 per pack/month. A minimum purchase of 2 packs is required.
d. Tier 4: 2,500,000 – 4,999,999 interactions at $675 per pack/month. It requires a minimum purchase of 5 packs.
e. Tier 5: More than 5,000,000 interactions at $450 per pack/month. It requires a minimum of 10 packs.
f. For production use and it goes from $500 per tenant/month.
g. For non-production use and it goes from $250 per tenant/month.
E. Supply Chain
a. Supply Chain Management goes for $180 per user/month. This plan brings a scalable, secure, streamlined and composable solution for an intelligent supply chain.
It comes with other options:
i. Dynamics 365 Finance at $180 per user/month and helps monitor performance in real-time, predict future outcomes and also makes data-driven decisions to drive business growth.
ii. Dynamics 365 Guides at $65 per user/month, helps employees learn new skills faster with Dynamics 365 Guides on HoloLens devices – no coding is required.
Iii. Dynamics 365 Commerce at $180 per user/month and includes core capabilities to manage omnichannel retail operations.
b. Supply Chain Guides at $65 per user/month help you adapt at the speed of change.
It comes with some add-ons:
i. Dynamics 365 Remote Assist at $65 per user/month empowers technicians to collaborate more efficiently by working together from different locations.
ii. Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management at $180 per user/month helps build an agile, connected and resilient supply chain.
iii. Dynamics 365 Field Service at $195 per user/month optimizes resource scheduling, enables field technicians and also delivers on customer expectations with core field service capabilities.
c. Supply Chain Intelligent Order Management
Dynamics 365 Intelligent Order Management from $300 per 1000 orders lines/month. This plan centrally manages the order from capture to fulfilment using real-time inventory and AI.
It comes with some add-ons:
i. Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management at $180 per user/month. It’s a scalable, composable, more secure and streamlined solution for an intelligent supply chain.
ii. Dynamics 365 Commerce at $180 per user/month includes core capabilities that manage omnichannel retail operations.
iii. E-Commerce Add-In for Dynamics 365 commerce from $4000 per month and it includes e-commerce management for Dynamics 365 Commerce. However, it requires Dynamics 365 Commerce.
F. Service
a. Customer Service Professional
i. Dynamics 365 Customer Service at $50 per user/month. It has core customer service capabilities.
ii. Dynamics 365 Customer Service Enterprise at $95 per user/month. It has Advanced Customer Service capabilities.
It comes with some add-ons:
i. Digital Messaging and Voice Add-In at $90 per user/month.
ii. Voice Channel Add-In at $75 per user/month.
iii. Digital Messaging Add-In at $75 per user/month.
iv. Chat Add-In at $60 per user/month
b. Customer Service Enterprise
It’s the same thing with Customer Service Professional
c. Field Service
Dynamics 365 Field Service at $95 per user/month helps resolve service issues the first time every time.
i. Dynamics 365 Remote Assist at $65 per user/month.
ii. Dynamics 365 Guides at $65 per user/month.
iii. Dynamics 365 Customer Service at $95 per user/month.
d. Remote Assist
i. Dynamics 365 Remote Assist with HoloLens 2 from $125 per user/month.
ii. Dynamics 365 Remote Assist at $65 per user/month.
iii. Dynamics 365 Field Service at$95 per user/month.
iv. Dynamics 365 Guides at $65 per user/month.
G. Project Management
Dynamics 365 Project Operation at $120 per user/month. This plan gives you the visibility, collaboration and agility needed to drive success across your project-centric business.
It has related products:
i. Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise at $95 per user/month.
ii. Dynamics 365 Finance at $180 per user/month.
iii. Dynamics 365 Field Service at $95 per user/month
H. Human Resources
i. Dynamics 365 Human Resources at $120 per user/month. It includes full application capabilities.
ii. Dynamics 365 Human Resources Self-Service at $4 per user/month. It comes with employee and manager self-service capabilities.
I. Customer Data Platform
i. Dynamics 365 Customer Insights at $1500 per tenant/month. This plan comes with a consent-enables customer data platform that unifies data and drives personalised customer experiences with AI-powered insights. It includes 100,000 profiles and 10,000 accounts.
ii. Customer Insights Profiles add-on at $1000 per tenant/month. It has additional profiles for growing organisations and 100,000 profiles.
iii. Customer Insights Accounts add-on at $1000 per tenant/month. It has additional accounts for growing organisations and 10,000 accounts.
J. Commerce
i. Dynamics 365 Commerce at $180 per user/month. It includes core capabilities to manage omnichannel retail operations.
ii. E-commerce Add-In for Dynamics 365 Commerce from $4000 per month. It includes e-commerce management for Dynamics 365 Commerce.
Commerce Fraud Protection
i. Fraud Protection pay-as-you-go at $12 per month.
How Dynamics 365 Dashboard Works
1. The search icon at the top of the dashboard helps you look/search for records or materials across multiple entities.
2. The bulb icon is for your notification and insights. It keeps you updated on projects/records that are new and due.
3. The plus icon is to create a new record.
4. The filter icon is your advanced filter and you search for rows in a table using advanced filters.
5. The settings icon is to set up personal options and also view the privacy statements.
6. The question mark icon is to find help and training.
7. The chat icon is for channel integration, chats, collaboration and file sharing amongst teammates.
Features of Dynamics 365
1. Contact Management
This involves creating, storing, managing and tracking data on customers and leads.
How It Works
On the left side of your screen, click on Contacts under Customers. You are presented with a page that has a list of (active) contacts. You can create a new contact by clicking New at the top of the page or you select one of the presented contacts and edit it.
When you select show chart, you can filter the contacts with the tags presented. Select any contact and you’re directed to a new page. All fields under summary can be edited. Edit some fields, and choose a preferred method of contact.
Go to Relationship Analytics to see your interaction status with your customers/clients/contacts. Go to the detail section to see your contacts’ personal, marketing, billing and shipping details. Go back to summary to view your contacts’ timeline. These are tasks that have been assigned to this contact. Open any of the records to see the task/record status.
Click Related to add add-ons or plugins. I chose Cases under Related-Service. Cases represent the context of a customer’s interaction. You can assign this contact to a teammate by clicking Assign. If there are no more edits to be made, click on Save.
Create a new contact by clicking +New. Input all the details in each field. Click on scan business card to choose an image and select Save and Close. Under timeline, click on enter a note to address a new team, update teammates or simply pass information. Font size can be decided and you can add attachments.
Click on Save at the top of the screen. Highlight two (or three) contacts and click on Merge, click on OK. My contacts have been merged as it’s displayed here.
2. Account Management
This involves providing customers with support, service and improvement opportunities that enable them to consume/use a product or service.
How It Works
Click Accounts under Customers and you’re directed to a new page with some accounts. Click on any of the accounts to get started or click on +New to create a new contact.
Select a contact – I chose A. Datum Corporation. Each field is editable. Under Relationship Analytics, you see your key performance indicators (KPIs) that inform you of your interactions. Under Details, you have an overview of the accounts’ company profiles, the account’s description, marketing and contact preferences, billing and shipping statements and child accounts.
When you click on Related, you can add more add-ons to view this account’s information. The timeline section notifies you of meetings or assigned tasks. You also know a record/timeline’s status at the top of the record. You’ll know via these tags – completed, active, closed or overdue.
To create a record/timeline, click on enter a note. Input a title and enter your text. Images and files can be attached and then click Add note. You can assign this record to another teammate by clicking Assign at the top of the screen.
Click on Open Org Chart, click on the images being displayed and click on Open Central Record to view the contacts.
3. Task Management
This feature lets managers, workers and teammates create task lists, track task status and then integrate these operations.
How It Works
Click on Tasks under Activities. You’re presented with a page with 4 sections. All your tasks are in the Open section. To create a task, click on task at the top of the screen. Input your subject, add a description, and set a timeframe; when done, click on Save & Close.
Your task is currently viewed /placed in the Open section. Select/highlight any of the tasks, if you’re done/completed the task, click on Mark Complete – this will be moved to the Completed section. Each task can be copied, an email link can be created and you manage access by selecting or assigning a person/group their permission.
Click on Show Chart to view tasks by month due, priority or owner. Your tasks can also be viewed in a doughnut chart or tag chart. It’s also expandable.
4. Calendar
This feature is a simple way of improving your efficiency and that of your employees or teammates. This helps you track their productivity and also manage and update their tasks themselves.
How It Works
Click Calendar under Activities and click on messages and you’re directed to a new page tagged Appointment. Input all necessary details in the field. When you scroll down the page, you find attachments, input your start and end time, indicate if it will be an all-day event and add a description and then select Save.
You create more meetings or appointments by clicking meetings and scheduling. You can choose to view this in a read-only grid view or calendar view. Click on the show chart to view your appointments/meetings by priority, month due or owner. You can also see it via the doughnut or tag chart.
5. Lead Management
This feature makes it easy for you to manage opportunities and turn them into leads.
How It Works
Click Leads under pipeline and you’re presented with a list of leads. Select one and you see the levels of the sales insights. There are different categories/stages with this lead.
All fields are editable. Under the up next section, you can see some prompts (introduction mail, reminder mail, schedule a meeting) – these are upcoming activities that have a due date.
Records under the timeline tell you of completed/ongoing tasks and their status. There’s a section titled Lead Section that gives you a view of whether a lead is getting qualified. You can qualify a lead by clicking Qualify at the top of the screen.
The lead has changed and you’re on to the next stage – Develop. This next stage lets you fill in a customer’s need and also a proposed solution. You mark all as complete and click on the next stage. You’re directed to the next stage – Propose. This section lets you propose or introduce tasks/proposals. You mark all as complete and click Next Stage which leads to the next and last stage – Close.
You can close this lead case as won or lost by selecting the options at the top of the screen. You can assign your lead to a teammate and you can reopen it to review the negotiation.
6. Opportunity Management
This feature is used in creating lead records and helps your sales and marketing teams to gather and store information about a lead. It’s also used in tracking and storing information.
How It Works
Click on Opportunities under Pipeline and you’re presented with a visual deal tracker and sales funnel. You view your opportunities either with the combo view or the list view.
Click +New to create a new opportunity record. Input your details in the necessary fields and click Save and Close. Using either the combo or list view, I find and highlight the created deal or opportunity.
Select +New activity to schedule an appointment, send an email or place a phone call. I chose appointment – I filled out the form, added attendees (which is optional), and added a subject and meeting location. You can add a description if need be and click on Save and close.
Click on the view notes icon to add notes and the view tasks to add a task or view/open tasks that are associated with this record/opportunity.
These steps can be done to the records you saw on the page. This feature assists in creating, tracking and storing information. Click on filters to tailor your search to get specific results.
All these records/opportunities are under My Open Opportunities. If a record is won or lost, it can be found under Lost/Open Opportunities.
7. Mobile App
Available on both phones and tablets, having access to Dynamics 365 helps you engage customers and also sign-in to run the same apps that you use in your browser.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Ranking and Why We Recommend This Product
1. Lead Management
This feature lets you have an overview of what leads are and lets you connect with your customers. The process lets you identify potential customers for your business and services and also guides them into your sales pipeline.
On a scale of 1-5, Product Curve ranked it 4.5.
2. Contact Management
This feature helps you manage your prospective and current contacts. You should know that contact represents an individual hence you when you run a customers’ journey, your target segment will include just contact records.
On a scale of 1-5, Product Curve ranked it 4.5.
3. Reporting and Analytics
This feature helps you display data directly from the database or records. With Dynamics 365, there are 2 types of analytical reports:
i. Business Overview
ii. KPI
4. Marketing
This elevates a customers’ experience and allows you to perform/create organized personalized journeys to strengthen relationships and earn their trust.
It’s also known as customer journey orchestration and makes use of trigger-based activities including push-notification, email and text messages.
On a scale of 1-5, Product Curve ranks it 4.5.
5. Pipeline Management
Gives you a bird’s eye view of your business and allows you to spot missed opportunities.
On a scale of 1-5, Product Curve ranked it 4.5.
6. Document Management
This feature lets you add notes, files and (important) documents to records.
On a scale of 1-5, Product Curve ranked it 4.5.
7. Forecasting
This helps you predict/foresee how much revenue your sales team will generate in a specific window/time frame. It gives you sales growth and helps teams fine-tune their selling strategy.
On a scale of 1-5, Product Curve ranked it 4.5.
Comparative Analysis: Microsoft Dynamics 365 vs Odoo
This section looks at Odoo as an alternative product when compared to Dynamics 365. We’ll take a look at the features, pricing plan and reviews from Product Hunt, G2 and Capterra.
Odoo is a suite of business management software tools that offers an integrated suite of business apps built through an open-source development model.
It’s founded by Fabian Pinckaers in 2005 and the platform was formerly known called OpenERP. They won a Deloitte award for being the fastest-growing company in Belgium. The company’s total funding amounts to $439.2m and it’s private.
Features Of Odoo
1. Reporting
This feature helps you analyse your opportunities with advanced filters. You also use predefined dashboards (or you build yours).
2. Integrations
You have the opportunity of integrating all kinds of tools to give you a seamless view of all your data.
3. Leads Management
Helps create campaigns, import files and detect countries, states and cities from your visitor’s IP address.
4. Opportunity Management
5. Customer Management
6. Email Management & Communication
PRICING
Oddo’s pricing plan can be paid yearly or monthly. They include:
a. One App
This is a free plan that comes with a free trial. You select one or two platforms, to begin with.
b. Standard Plan
It goes for $9.10 per user/month for a monthly plan and $7.25 per user/month for a yearly plan. It comes with a free trial.
c. Custom Plan
It goes for $13.60 per user/month for a monthly plan and $10.90 per user/month for a yearly plan. It comes with an External API, Odoo Studio and Multi-Company. It also comes with a free trial.
Note that the standard and custom plans include all apps – Sales, Marketing, HR, Accounting, Projects, Sign, POS – for a single fee.
Reviews From Other Platforms
Product Hunt – 4.8/5
G2 – 4.2/5
Capterra – 4.1/5
Benefits That Make Dynamics 365 Stand Out
1. Dynamics 365 has more features than Odoo.
2. Dynamics 365 has better customer service.
3. You get value for your money wit Dynamics 365.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a good CRM for your company or any industry, Dynamics 365 is a good option.
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