Extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Apps with Low Code E-Book

Nicolás Andrés Fernández

• Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 311

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Apps with Low Code helps you gain a comprehensive, practical understanding of how a no-code/low-code project approach works for Dynamics 365 (D365) Customer Engagement (CE). This book covers the most relevant native capabilities for configuration, along with real-world scenarios to showcase the magic of extending D365 CE apps with Power Platform.
The book starts by identifying different scenarios and use cases to extend D365 CE apps with a low-code approach. You’ll learn about the different capabilities of Dataverse and Power Apps used to extend native applications. Next, you'll discover how to leverage Power Apps, both Canvas apps and model-driven apps, and Power Pages, to build apps and portals around D365 CE processes. You’ll also explore Power Automate's capabilities to create or modify business processes, as well as incorporate new processes and automation. As you advance, you’ll also discover how Power Virtual Agents can be implemented in D365 CE apps. The book concludes by teaching you to integrate Power BI natively with customer engagement, thus facilitating the construction of advanced reports and dashboards.
By the end of this book, you’ll have gained hands-on expertise in customizing CE apps with Power Platform to deliver more scalable and maintainable solutions.

Leseprobe

Extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Apps with Low Code

Create tailor-made Dynamics 365 CE apps using the powerful low-code capabilities of Power Platform

Nicolás Andrés Fernández

BIRMINGHAM—MUMBAI

Extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Apps with Low Code

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This book marks a great professional milestone for me, but it has been made possible only thanks to the example of hard work that Susana, my mother, has given me since I was a child, the accompaniment and support that Noelia, my wife, gives me daily, and the motivation that Guadalupe, my daughter, inspires in me to be the role model that she needs me to be.

– Nicolás Andrés Fernández

Contributors

About the author

Nicolás Andrés Fernández started his career in the Dynamics 365 CE and Power Platform industry in 2014. In 2018, he started to actively participate in the Dynamics 365 and Power Platform technical community, something he continues to do to date. In 2020, he was awarded the title of Most Valuable Professional by Microsoft for the first time. Nicolás is currently a solutions director at HCLTech, in charge of the Dynamics 365 CE and Power Platform pre-sales team in the EMEA and APAC regions.

Nicolás also leads a number of community initiatives within Power 365 Initiatives.

I would especially like to thank my wife Noelia and my daughter Guadalupe, for their unconditional support and encouragement throughout every professional adventure I have taken.

About the reviewers

Wilmer Alcivar is originally from Ecuador and got started in the CRM world in 2012. On-Premise Dynamics CRM 2011 was the first version he got his hands on – what a great version! He is a big Juventus fan and likes to spend time with his girlfriend, trying all kinds of beers, playing video games, and trying his best to keep up with the new features of Power Platform. He moved to Uruguay in 2015 to expand his technical knowledge, but Wilmer moved to Amsterdam earlier this year for new professional challenges. He loves the vibe of the city and the kind people.

Mario Trueba Cantero began his programming career at the age of 8 when he realized that it was easier to code in C++ than study to become a doctor. In 2011, he moved to the UK and was introduced to the MS Dynamics CRM, and the rest is history. Mario brings over a decade of Dynamics 365 and Power Platform experience, having worked with several high-profile customers across a myriad of industries. For the last 14 years, he has been working exclusively with Microsoft technologies. His ability to understand and articulate the value of Microsoft technologies, and in particular, Dynamics and Power Platform, to customers is second to none. Currently, Mario is working as the global lead for low-code and ESG at KPMG and living in Spain with his family.

Table of Contents

Preface

Part 1: Introduction of No-Code/Low-Code for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement

1

Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and No-Code/Low-Code

Technical requirements

Understanding Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement DNA

Low-code is not necessarily low cost

How complex can a no-code/low-code project be?

Selecting the right approach for a solution

Exploring new opportunities and challenges

Developing our careers

Summary

Questions and answers

2

Extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement with a No-Code/Low-Code Approach

Technical requirements

Upgrading your platform administration and governance

Automating tasks

Power Automate

Classic workflows

Business rules

Business process extensions

Improving the UX/UI

Forms

Business rules

Views

Charts

Native components

Dashboards

Sitemap

Business process flows

Embedded artificial intelligence

Custom pages and embedded canvas apps

Transforming data into actionable information

Summary

Questions and answers

Part 2: Extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Applications

3

Extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Native Applications

Technical requirements

Understanding the Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement data model

What is the CDM?

Working with tables/entities

Extending and working with forms and business rules

Main forms

Quick create form

Quick view forms

Other considerations with forms

Business rules

Extending and working with views and dashboards

Extending and working with sitemap and command bar

Modifying the command bar without code

Summary

Questions and answers

4

Building Applications with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement

Technical requirements

Designing a custom application

Building Power apps for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement

Types of applications

Licensing considerations

Building a model-driven app

Building a standalone Canvas app

Building custom portals for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement

Partner portal

Customer self-service portal

How to start with a new portal

Summary

Questions and answers

5

Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement with Custom Embedded Applications

Technical requirements

Canvas apps within a model-driven app

Custom pages

Multi-screen custom pages

Using Power FX in our custom pages

Components in a custom page

Text localization for a custom page

Tips for designing a custom page

How to start with custom pages

Custom page examples

Embedded canvas apps

Using the ModelDrivenFormIntegration control’s properties

Embedding a canvas app into a model-driven app

Common embedded canvas app scenarios

Summary

Questions and answers

6

Extending Your Apps with AI and Mixed Reality

Technical requirements

Working with AI Builder

Pre-built models

Custom models

Working with AI Builder

Common use cases

Mixed reality

Working with 3D models

Working with measurements

Work with markups and markers

Summary

Questions and answers

Part 3: Building Custom Processes for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Applications

7

Automations in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Apps

Technical requirements

Automating simple tasks for customer service agents

Macros

Alerting users of the next best action

Where to start

Automating BPFs

Updating the record

Updating related records

Updating a record in another system

Sending automated communications

Adaptive Cards

Automating alerts and reports

Recipient

Channels

Creating approval processes

Summary

Questions and answers

8

Working with Data

Technical requirements

Validating data

Considerations in designing data validations

Business rules

Classic workflows and cloud flows

Power Fx

Validation examples

Integrating systems

Systems integration considerations

Cloud flows

Embedded canvas apps and custom pages

Dataflows

Desktop flows

Virtual tables

Synchronizing data

Summary

Questions and answers

9

Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Processes

Technical requirements

Working with AI

Prediction models

The binary prediction

Multiple-outcome predictions

The numerical prediction model

Training a prediction model

Processing text

Text recognition

Language detection

Sentiment analysis

Category classification

Entity extraction

Key phrase extraction

Processing documents and receipts

Business card reader

ID Reader

Receipt processing

Document processing

Summary

Questions and answers

Part 4: No-Code/Low-Code Bots for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement

10

Customer-Facing Bots

Technical requirements

Deploying a chatbot

Creating a topic

Creating an entity

Connecting the bot with Omnichannel Engagement Hub

Enabling bots for the voice channel

Summary

Questions and answers

11

Enabling Bots to Users

Technical requirements

Enabling Power Virtual Agents to easily search in the knowledge base

Creating a connection

Adding the topics and entities

Adding the Search Dynamics 365 Knowledge article action

Deployment

Triggering automation from your virtual assistant

Summary

Questions and answers

Part 5: Working with Advanced Dashboards and Reports with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement

12

Reporting Dashboards with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Data

Technical requirements

Connecting Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement with Power BI

Using the Dataverse connector

Configuring Azure Synapse Link for Dataverse

Power BI Apps

Creating custom reports and dashboards

Report

Data

Model

Summary

Questions and answers

13

Embedded Dashboards and Reports in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement

Technical requirements

Embedding Power BI as a Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement apps dashboard

Designing forms with embedded Power BI reports

Summary

Index

Other Books You May Enjoy

Preface

Hey, you! If you’re here, it’s because Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement is part of your day-to-day life, either because you work on projects as an implementer (as an architect or consultant), or perhaps as an administrator or citizen developer of an organization that has Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement implemented.

Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement enables organizations to control each point of contact that the customer has with it, from the Sales, Service (both Customer and Field Service), and Marketing standpoints, creating a unique and personalized customer experience. Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, formerly known as CRM, has evolved a lot during the past several years. Projects have changed from being mostly custom developed to almost no development required. A key challenge is not knowing the possibilities and limitations of the no-code/low-code approach with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, leveraging Power Platform. Because of this, solution designs often include duplications of native functionality or unnecessarily complex development.

This does not mean that Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement projects no longer require custom developments. Rather, the evolution of Power Platform enables us to think of new solutions that were not available before.

Power Platform allows us to extend native Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications in terms of UX, data processing, integrations, and automations, among others.

Understanding how the no-code/low-code project approach works in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, including what is possible with each of the Power Platform solutions, will help you to provide more value with your projects, increase productivity, and ensure a more scalable and maintainable solution.

Having no-code, low-code, and pro-code options presents us with three key challenges:

The first is to understand what we mean by no-code/low-code.Next is understanding the possibilities of extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement with a no-code/low-code approach.And finally, to correctly triage different solution approaches in order to correctly identify when we can provide a solution with a native capability, when we should extend the project with a no-code/low-code approach, and when the best option for a solution is custom development.

Who this book is for

Understanding how and why to extend Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications with a no-code/low-code approach is critical for solution architects responsible for implementation. However, this is something every consultant and developer should learn.

There are two main enterprise areas for which this topic is relevant:

Presales: Both presales architects and presales consultants are the first technical people a customer will talk to and discuss the solution with. Understanding what is possible with no-code/low-code when extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, along with the limitations, is very important to set expectations and create the right solution from the beginning of an engagement.Delivery: Architects and consultants involved in the delivery of a project are responsible for the design and technical decisions for the solution. Understanding how and why to extend Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications with Power Platform is a key responsibility to ensure the success and scalability of an implementation.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and No-Code/Low-Code, provides an understanding of the no-code/low-code concept for extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications with Power Platform.

Chapter 2, Extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement with a No-Code/Low-Code Approach, we will explore the most common use cases in which Dynamics 365 Customer Engagements applications are extended. It also includes key concepts on extensibility capabilities that will be expanded upon in the following chapters.

Chapter 3, Extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Native Applications, provides a basic understanding of Dataverse and the key concepts of the Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement data model. It also provides an introduction to the most relevant aspects that need to be considered when you extend a native application.

Chapter 4, Building Applications with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, we will learn the different types of applications you can build on top of Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, including model-driven apps, canvas apps, and portals.

Chapter 5, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement with Custom Embedded Applications, discusses the different ways we can embed a canvas app in a Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement application. It includes details on how to embed a canvas app and how to build a custom page.

Chapter 6, Extending Your Apps with AI and Mixed Reality, provides an introduction to AI Builder models and how to start working with your own custom models.

Chapter 7, Automations in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Apps, we will explore how to empower users by creating automations such as cloud flows. It also includes an analysis of the most common scenarios in the context of Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications, with examples so you can start creating your own automations.

Chapter 8, Working with Data, we will discover the real scenarios of Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement implementations where it was required to work with data. It also includes an analysis of the possible solutions to these scenarios using Power Platform.

Chapter 9, Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Processes, we will explore how we can make use of the models that AI Builder offers us in our business processes for text processing scenarios, forms processing, and predictive models.

Chapter 10, Customer-Facing Bots, provides an introduction to Power Virtual Agents and how we can deploy bots in customer-facing scenarios.

Chapter 11, Enabling Bots for Users, we will understand how to leverage Power Virtual Agents for our end users.

Chapter 12, Reporting Dashboards with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Data, provides an introduction to connecting Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement with Power BI. It also includes the initial steps for creating reports and dashboards.

Chapter 13, Embedded Dashboards and Reports in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, provides an understanding of how we can embed dashboards and reports in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications without the need for code or development.

To get the most out of this book

You’ll need to have an understanding of the basics of Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications and Dataverse.

Software covered in the book

Licenses required

Dynamics 365 Sales

Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise or Premium

Dynamics 365 Customer Service

Dynamics 365 Customer Service Enterprise

Dynamics 365 Field Service

Dynamics 365 Field Service

Dynamics 365 Marketing

Dynamics 365 Marketing

Power Apps

Not required as the Dynamics 365 Enterprise license includes permissions for Power Apps

Power Automate

Not required as the Dynamics 365 Enterprise license includes permissions for Power Automate

Power Virtual Agents

Power Virtual Agents

Power BI

Power BI Pro

AI Builder

AI Builder credits

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Part 1: Introduction of No-Code/Low-Code for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement

Beyond an obvious understanding that “no-code/low-code” implies no complex developments, there are still several implications for a project and a solution that features this approach. In this part, we will cover the different aspects to consider when we talk about no-code or low-code technology with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement. In this part, you will get an overview of what no-code or low-code means in the context of Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications.

This part has the following chapters:

Chapter 1, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and No-Code/Low-CodeChapter 2, Extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement with a No-Code/Low-Code Approach

1

Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and No-Code/Low-Code

Over the last few years, we have heard and read many times about no-code/low-code technologies, but what does it really mean when we talk about a platform such as Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement?

As most of us already know, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, also known as Dynamics CRM, offers a series of applications with out-of-the-box functionality to solve specific use cases for sales, customer service, field service, marketing, and project operations scenarios. However, far from being a canned product that we have to take and accept as it comes, the Power Platform allows us to adapt out-of-the-box Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications and create new applications that can integrate with each other, without the need for any development.

In this first chapter, we will learn why and since when we can consider Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement related to a no-code/low-code development platform, and the constraints that it can present when we face a project.

By the end of the chapter, you will have learned how to position the Power Platform no-code/low-code platform surrounding Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement projects, and what some of the most important challenges are that this new no-code/low-code paradigm introduces, as well as new opportunities.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

Understanding Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement DNALow-code is not necessarily low costExploring new opportunities and challenges

Technical requirements

To work with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, it is necessary to have an environment with one of the supported licenses. However, the topics covered in this chapter do not require any Dynamics 365 applications.

The following is required for this chapter:

Any Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement License (any of the available ones) with administrator permissions in the environmentA supported browser

Understanding Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement DNA

To understand why Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement is closely linked with the no-code / low-code concept, first, we must look at the platform’s key components to see what it is and what it is built on.

We know that, technically, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications (Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Field Service, and Project Operations) are model-driven apps built by Microsoft, so they are known as first-party applications. And so, as in all model-driven apps, the core component of the applications is Dataverse.

To quote the official definition from Microsoft, Dataverse is a Powerful data service and app platform to quickly build enterprise-grade apps with automated business processes.

Without going into too much detail about Dataverse, it is important to highlight the aspects that make it up:

Figure 1.1 – A high-level Dataverse description

As we can see in the preceding diagram, Dataverse offers different capabilities for the design and modeling of applications, including aspects of great importance such as security or business logic, with capabilities ranging from no-code to pro-code.

Now, considering Dataverse is a relatively new concept, let’s review the origin of this product to understand how closely it relates to Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement.

The XRM concept was used since the first versions of Dynamics CRM to describe the platform’s ability to model and bring to life applications that respond to different business needs in an agile, integrated, secure, and easy-to-maintain way. The definition coined by Microsoft in 2015 was XRM is a business applications framework designed to accelerate the development of line-of-business (LOB) applications through reusable applications services that can be adapted and extended to create many unique applications.

With the launch of Power Apps, Microsoft understood that it had to formalize this concept under a specific product, so Common Data Service was born. After a first attempt to build this framework from scratch, in the Common Data Service 2.0 version, Microsoft took as a base what Dynamics CRM had been having for years as the core of its applications. Finally, and after some stumbling around for a name change, Common Data Service was renamed Dataverse.

For this reason, what we know today as Dataverse is a core part of that XRM framework for building applications with a no-code/low-code approach that we have known since the first versions of Dynamics CRM. Therefore, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement has all the conditions and capabilities to be extended, without code, by using Power Platform.

To find out what Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement looks like inside, and how we can extend it without code, we simply have to access the maker portal (https://make.powerapps.com) and select the Solutions section:

Figure 1.2 – The Solutions area in the makers portal

Here, we can see the different native Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement solutions and even create one from scratch. Once created, we can add the Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement components we need.

Now, you understand what the core component of Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement Apps is and how Dataverse makes it a no-code/low-code platform.

Low-code is not necessarily low cost

It is very common to assume that a low-code platform implies a low-cost project, when in fact, there is no direct relationship between the two. Sometimes, this becomes more difficult to explain when we are working with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement as a base solution, which already brings a native data model, a series of business processes, automations, and other functions that allow implementation in the form of adoption. However, there is no Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement implementation that does not involve customizations. And as much as we take advantage of native capabilities, and extensions are made with a no-code/low-code approach, such customizations can involve considerable effort not only for the construction but for everything that entails making them follow best practices.

It becomes important then to identify the implications of having a no-code/low-code approach versus a pro-code approach.

When we say that Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement is intrinsically connected to a no-code/low-code application development platform, that primarily means the following:

It is possible to carry out a project from end to end without the need for custom developments. In other words, no programming knowledge is required to implement and extend a Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement solution.The customizations that are carried out are done declaratively or by means of simple tools, such as drag-and-drop designers.The maintenance of the solution could be easier compared to custom development.Administration of the solution can be performed by business users.Time to market will be shorter compared to a solution developed from scratch.

As you can see, there is no correlation between a low-code approach and a low-cost project. However, it’s true that if we compare the same scope with a low-code approach and a pro-code approach, in terms of implementation and maintenance costs, the low-code project is more profitable or has a lower cost.

As always, the simplicity of, for example, the maintenance or deployment of a solution, will not only depend on whether the development approach is no-code/low-code versus pro-code. The use of best practices and the selection of the best solution are key factors. As we will see throughout the chapters, on many occasions, the best solution approach might include the use of code. This, far from being detrimental to the overall solution, will contribute to having an optimized solution with a good balance between no-code, low-code, and pro-code capabilities.

However, the cost of the project will depend on two variables: scope and time.

The following diagram represents how the time, cost, and scope of a project are affected when we change any of the conditions:

Figure 1.3 – The project management triangle

As we can see, if we maintain the scope and we reduce the time of the project, the cost will increase.

As we have seen, expectation management in relation to a no-code/low-code approach project is important. Note that the type of approach does not change the fact that good practices must be followed to ensure the correct design, construction, and maintenance of the solution, as well as its scalability. This is why it is important to understand that a low-code project does not necessarily imply that it has to be low-cost, but that it will depend on the multiple factors mentioned earlier.

How complex can a no-code/low-code project be?

A solution based on no-code/low-code elements does not guarantee that it will be a simple project. Currently, with the extensive capabilities offered by Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement as standalone applications, along with the possibility of extending them using Power Platform components, we can find ourselves with extremely complex scenarios, and therefore, with a high cost, such as the following:

Integration with SAP in different business processes, such as the customer registration, at the time of winning a bid, or synchronizing a technician's inventoryThe implementation of a self-management portal for customers with an integrated virtual assistant that resolves queries by referring them to knowledge base articlesThe complete configuration of the Omnichannel Engagement Hub, including multiple streams or mapping rulesBuilding an end-to-end process integrated with the organization’s business process

In short, the fact that a project or a platform is no-code/low-code does not change the basic principles of any project, among which we find that a project will be as simple or complex as its requirements are.

Selecting the right approach for a solution

With Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, we have the possibility to choose the best way to solve a requirement, through a simple triage:

Figure 1.4 – A requirement triage

This way, we can decide whether a requirement will be solved with native Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement capability, whether we will do it through no-code/low-code customization, or whether a pro-code approach is required.

As we have seen, the complexity of a project will depend strictly on its requirements and the possible solutions we can design to meet them.

The triage of the requirements to ensure the correct selection of the best solution approach will give us the size of the project. As a result, the project may be more oriented toward adopting native functionality, or building new functionality through development.

Exploring new opportunities and challenges

Understanding that Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement can be easily extended with Power Platform opens a range of new opportunities and challenges, both when thinking about a solution for a project and when designing our professional path and evolution.

If we focus on the impact that the design of solutions has by being able to use a no-code/low-code approach to extend applications, we find the following:

We are not limited to the implementation of the business processes defined by Microsoft in its first-party applications, but we can also think about the extension or creation of new business processes that orbit around the native processes.We can extend the solution using Power Platform, not only for the creation and extension of applications, but also to build automation and processes, bots, and control panels. We will go deeper into each of these use cases in the later chapters of the book.The deployment and maintenance process of the solution can be simplified.We have to keep ourselves updated with the constantly evolving capabilities of Power Platform and Dynamic 365 Customer Engagement.

As we will see later, the challenges presented by the constant evolution of the platform are also an opportunity to develop our professional careers.

Developing our careers

On the other hand, from a career development point of view, this paradigm and how both Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and Power Platform evolve allow us to develop new skills, while we can shape our professional profile by specializing in either a specific Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement application or a non-code type of extension.

To help us enhance the development of our professional careers and to upskill ourselves, Microsoft constantly develops new exams and certifications.

Currently, there are two different types of exams that we can aspire to pass – the MB-XXX and the PL-XXX. The MB-XXX corresponds to the Dynamics 365 exams, both Customer Engagement and other applications, while the PL-XXX exams correspond to Power Platform. Passing these exams will enable us to gain the new certifications of one of its levels – beginner, intermediate, or advanced.

The beginner-level certifications focus on the fundamentals of the platform:

Figure 1.5 – Beginner certifications

The intermediate certifications present more specific specializations, including both functional and technical certifications:

Figure 1.6 – Intermediate certifications

Finally, the advanced certifications are oriented toward architects who will have a wider knowledge and understanding of the platform:

Figure 1.7 – Advanced certifications

As you can see, there are multiple possibilities we have to specialize as Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement professionals, complementing our knowledge of the platform with the capabilities of Power Platform. The multiple exams and certifications allow us to develop a profile that supports our knowledge and experience.

The introduction of Power Platform capabilities for the extension of Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, which we will discuss in the next chapter, also presents several challenges for architects, consultants, and developers. This is because the new tools force us to step out of our comfort zone so that we can understand why we should use a no-code/low-code tool instead of a custom development.

Summary

In this chapter, we have reviewed basic concepts to understand the extension capabilities of Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement without code. We started from the old concept of XRM to get into what Dataverse is. We discussed why a no-code/low-code project does not necessarily imply a low-cost project, and how to identify the best approach for a solution. Finally, we looked at some of the challenges and opportunities this approach offers us Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement professionals.

In Chapter 2, we will focus on understanding the main reasons to extend Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and what we can achieve with a no-code/low-code approach.

Questions and answers

Is Dynamics 365 a no-code/low-code platform?

Answer: Not precisely. Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement offer us a set of native applications, or first-party applications, with pre-defined processes. However, because Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications are built on Dataverse, it has native integration, and extensibility with the Power Platform. As we have learned, Dataverse offers multiple tools to extend and build applications without development. Also, Dataverse integrates natively with Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Pages, Power Virtual Agents, and Power BI, which allows us to build new components to extend our Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications, without the use of development.

What concepts should I keep in mind when defining what type of solution to propose?

Answer: When we analyze the requirements and start working on the design of the solution, we have to keep several things in mind:

The first point would be whether the requirement can be covered with some native Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement capability that only requires parameterization or configuration.Secondly, it would be to understand whether there is any capability within the platform that allows us to deliver a solution by building without code. For this, we need to know, in greater detail, the no-code/low-code capabilities that Power Platform offers us.Finally, it is important to remember that even if a solution is low-code, it might require the help of someone more technical to optimize it or to go that last quarter of a mile. A clear example of this can be seen in the construction of cloud flows, where even though it is a low-code approach, it sometimes requires technical skill.How can I get recognition for my knowledge and experience?

Answer: By taking the official exams and obtaining Microsoft certifications, we can demonstrate our knowledge and experience in a concrete way.

2

Extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement with a No-Code/Low-Code Approach

There are multiple reasons to think about extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement with a no-code/low-code approach. From automating processes or tasks, facilitating platform governance and management, extending native processes, and enabling a new user interface (UI) or user experience (UX), to transforming data into actionable information, we can find multiple use cases for which we can extend Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement without the need for custom code or custom development.

Understanding these common use cases gives us a better understanding of the flexibility Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement has to extend its solutions with Power Platform. This flexibility is undoubtedly one of the reasons why Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement is the platform of choice for many organizations.

It should be noted that the configuration of native functionality, even if it is through parameterizable tools or no-code configuration, will be considered as an implementation of the product out of the box and not as an extension. We will talk about extending with a no-code/low-code approach when we make use of Power Platform capabilities (Dataverse, Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Virtual Agents, Power BI, or AI Builder) to configure a new functionality.

In this chapter, we will discuss and learn about five common use cases when we want to extend Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, and with which Power Platform tools we will be able to do so:

Upgrading your platform administration and governanceAutomating tasksBusiness process extensionImproving the UX/UITransforming data into actionable information

By the end of this chapter, you will know how to describe these common use cases for extending Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement with a no-code/low-code approach and how to build some of these extensions.

Technical requirements

To work with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, it is necessary to have an environment with one of the supported licenses. However, the topics covered in this chapter do not require any Dynamics 365 application.

The following is required for this chapter:

Any Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement license (any of the available ones) with administrator permissions in the environmentA supported browser

In the following section, we’ll gain an understanding of the different scenarios you can extend Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement to incorporate administration and governance tools.

Upgrading your platform administration and governance

The administration and governance of the platform are one of the most relevant aspects for an organization when considering a Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement implementation, and Microsoft offers various tools to facilitate this management. However, the tools and solutions offered by Microsoft as part of the governance and administration of Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and Power Platform are limited to specific scenarios, and it is common to find reasons to expand them.

From the Power Platform administration portal (https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com/), we will have access to the tools offered by Microsoft for the governance and administration of Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and Power Platform environments, as well as resource management (such as storage, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement applications, or portals), and other governance tools at the tenant level:

Figure 2.1 – Power Platform Admin Center

In addition to these tools, for administration and governance, Microsoft also offers the CoE Starter Kit