Engage Group

Dynamics 365 Commerce technology modernization

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The in-store experience is fundamentally changing as a consequence of new customer demands. Microsoft is therefore performing technology modernization across the Dynamics 365 Commerce workload such as releasing a new Store Commerce Application that will significantly improve the IT Operations- and End-User experience.

The new Store Commerce App is primarily a technology upgrade which means from a capability- and end-user perspective, the difference is limited. However, from a technology standpoint there are major improvements related to performance, reliability, and long-term support on the Windows platform. The biggest difference being a new Commerce Software Development Kit (SDK) with the objective of reducing operational overhead and maintenance cost.

Store Commerce App

As of end of March 2022, the new Store Commerce App is General Available on version 10.0.25. This means a downloadable package is now available for download in Lifecycle Services (LCS) portal for all existing customers.

Initially, the new Store Commerce App is only available on Windows devices but with a clear roadmap from Microsoft to provide Android/iOS availability by Fall 2022/Spring 2023. 

Dynamics 365 Store Commerce App

At Engage Group, we are committed to supporting our customers throughout their Dynamics 365 Commerce journeys and have already extensive experience with the new Store Commerce App. While the Preview- versions struggled with certain bugs related to the installation experience, we have now successfully been able to install the GA version without any issues at internal environments as well as at customer Sandbox environments.

With the availability of the new Store Commerce App, it is time for customers currently running the legacy Moder POS (MPOS) to start preparing for a transition to the new app experience. 

Call to action

Microsoft has published a high-level release timeline for the new Store Commerce App across various platforms (see table below). Most importantly, the table indicates End-of-Life support for exiting MPOS by Spring 2023 although Microsoft recommends adopting the new technology modernizations in calendar year 2022 to take advantage of all the improvements. Hence, customers’ needs to start planning accordingly to ensure a smooth transition.

  • MPOS End-of-Life support – 10.0.32 (Spring 2023)
  • Retail SDK End-of-Life support – 10.0.32 (Spring 2023)
  • Android/iOS sealed installer available – 10.0.29 (Fall 2022)

Source: Microsoft Whitepaper: Modernizing the Dynamics 365 Commerce in-store technology stack

Arguments in favor of starting early with the transition to the Store Commerce App:

  • Parallel rollout – Given the dependencies between the Store Commerce app and the new Commerce SDK, requiring re-activation of MPOS or Store Commer app once rolled out, Microsoft strongly recommends planning for rolling out both changes in parallel. This requires thoroughly planning to not affect existing business. 
  • Custom footprint – Migrating to the new Commerce SDK might require one-time code changes to existing customizations. Hence, early testing is crucial to identify any breaking changes at an early stage.
  • Business value – In the “Modernizing the Dynamics 365 Commerce in-store technology stack”- whitepaper, Microsoft highlights a number of value drivers for transitioning to the new Store Commerce App and Commerce SDK. The sooner you are ready, the sooner you could start leveraging the new capabilities to start driving business value across your organization and customer base.

There are numerous alternatives available for approaching a technology modernization such as this. At Engage Group, we are committed to adopting agile principles where the “Proof of Concept”- model has proven highly successful for similar engagements. Independent of approach, it is of highest importance to start planning your transition together with your product team and any external partner or specialist if applicable. Activities to be included but not limited to the bullets below are:

  • Create a high-level project plan and ensure alignment with Microsoft release plan
  • Highlight dependencies towards related initiatives (e.g., One Version considerations or other Backlog refinement activities)
  •       Determine current MPOS custom footprint to assess the need for one-time code changes for existing customizations.
  •       Decide upon Environment Strategy for deploying and testing the new Store Commerce App in a Sandbox environment.
  •       Evaluate peripheral equipment that needs to be tested by the new Store Commerce App
  •       Evaluate external Payment Solution Provider (PSP) solutions if applicable that needs to be tested by the new Store Commerce App and Commerce SDK
  •       Determine device strategy for adopting the Store Commerce App (e.g., Windows platform only and/or Android/iOS).

Useful links

Below is a number of useful links to valuable Microsoft resources to help you get started with the new Commerce SDK and Store Commerce App planning.

Migrate to the Commerce SDK – Commerce | Dynamics 365 | Microsoft Docs

Commerce Extensions Part 3: Migrate POS Extension to the new Independent POS SDK | December 8, 2021 – Microsoft Dynamics Blog

Dynamics 365 Commerce Forum – Support & Help

GitHub – microsoft/Dynamics365Commerce.InStore: Repository for hosting the Dynamics 365 Commerce in store Samples

Contact Engage Group for advisory

Are you in need of advisory to plan for you transition to the new Store Commerce App including the Commerce SDK? Or are you curious to tap into Engage Group’s vast experience on the topic, do not hesitate to contact us! 

Microsoft Ignite 2021 – Key takeaways from a BizApps perspective

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During the first week of March 2021, Microsoft Ignite was held as a fully virtual event uniting more than 100.000 IT professionals across the globe. Engage Group attended the event and will be hosting a webinar on the 18th of March to share our in-dept insights, see registration link HERE. Although Ignite covers the entire Microsoft Cloud offering, this article will focus on key takeaways from a Business Applications perspective. For a complete overview of all announcements, see: MS Ignite – Book of News 2021.

Key Takeaways

More insights related to Dynamics 365- and Power Platform was certainly expected. However, as the Microsoft Business Application Launch event being just 1 month away, it might be a thoughtful move by Microsoft to save the highlights for this event. With that said, there were still a few really exciting announcements.

Dynamics 365

A number of new- and updated capabilities were announced during the event which could be summarized into the following three pillars:

  • Dynamics 365 Intelligent Order Management – A completely new Dynamics 365 app that caught many by surprise. The app is designed to realize omnichannel scenarios such as “buy anywhere, fulfill anywhere”. To simplify, the idea is to connect sales channels with fulfillment options and then apply AI to surface exceptions and then provide recommended solutions.
  • Customer journey orchestration – An improved capability included in the Dynamics 365 Marketing app with the intention to create real-time personalized customer experiences for each individual. Also here, AI is utilized to drive personalization across digital and physical touchpoints.
  • New integrations between Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Teams – Enhanced workflow capabilities as well as communication enhancements tailored for Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Human Resource and Commerce. Examples being shared Teams chat windows embedded into Dynamics 365 Sales and Tasks created in Teams which could be surfaced within the Dynamics POS client.

Summary: Microsoft continues to invest in enhancing collaboration across various Dynamics 365 apps and related services allowing customers to leverage new innovation in a faster pace than ever. Infusing AI capabilities across the Dynamics 365 ecosystem is the new normal. We have only seen the beginning here but make no mistake, AI will be a natural part of all CRM and ERP capabilities in the near future. Dataverse, the cloud storage solution which originated from the customer engagement apps is getting an increasingly dominant role within the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform landscape. A major driver is the new AI capabilities, which typically leverage Dataverse as a key component.  

Power Platform

A new programming language together with a number of IT governance improvements summarizes the key announcements related to Power Platform.

  • Microsoft Power Fx – The first open-source, low-code programming language applicable across the entire Power Platform. This is not a new concept within Power Platform but has now received an official name. It still leverages Excel formulas to reduce barriers for citizen developers.

  • IT Governance and Security features – New features added in Power Platform admin center to efficiently monitor and secure data across large instances of Power Platform environments. 

Summary: As low-code-/no-code adoption surges due to an increasing demand of digitizing manual processes, the need for robust governance will be increasingly important. Balancing user innovation but at the same time providing guardrails to secure sensitive data will be crucial. Customers has raised this as a concern within Power Platform throughout the years and Microsoft is now heavily investing in this area. Another interesting topic that was debated extensively was the idea of viewing low-code development as a “team sport” where business users and professional developers work together as “fusion teams”. The idea that the professional developer is no longer needed in a low-code environment is a common misunderstanding. Rather, the professional developer will continue to play a key role in terms of providing “building blocks” to business users which then could be utilized to solve complex scenarios. 

For an indepth discussion on key takeaways from Microsoft Ignite 2021, make sure to register for our webinar the 18th of March.

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