MB-901 Dynamics Fundamentals

The first area of study is around understanding how Dynamics 365 works and what is included in the platform, this includes the following areas;

• The business value of the Microsoft Cloud features such as Azure, Platform as a Service (PAAS) and Life Cycle Services (LCS)
• Integration capabilities across the D365 apps and other Microsoft products as well as those from 3rd parties.
• D365 cloud security features such as; encryption, authentication, data ownership, single sign on, data loss prevention and industry standards
• Role-based security features, how to use what is available out of the box and how app role based security can be used to streamline user experience.
• Using Power Platform features such as; Power Apps, Power BI, Power Automate and Power Virtual Agents and understanding how the Common Data Model works.
• What the Common Data Service (CDS) is and how it helps provide analytics, extensibility, interoperability and consistency.
• D365 capabilities for inbuilt, role based and extensible reporting

The next area of study is around artificial intelligence (AI) and mixed reality (MR), what they are and how they are used in D365;

• How and where AI is used in different areas within D365 for features such as; Fraud Protection and Sales, Customer and Customer Service Insights.
• How and where MR is used in D365 to provide features like; Remote Assist, Guides and Layouts

The third area focuses on  the Customer Engagement (CE) model-driven business applications and goes into some of the capabilities of each;

• D365 Sales features such as; sales automation, contact and pipeline management, customer requests/follow-up, LinkedIn Sales Navigator
• D365 Marketing features such as; lead generation and qualifications, customer journey, using surveys, landing pages, segmentation, event management, marketing forms
• D365 Field Service features; Resource Scheduling Optimization (RSO), Connected Field Service, service resource scheduling, proactive customer service, Field Service Mobile
• D365 Customer Service features; account management, omni channel service, case life cycle, knowledge articles, service schedules

The last area of study was the one that as a typically CE based consultant, was most interesting and most challenging for me to learn.  This is around the Finance and Operations (F&O) applications;

• While D365 Finance features includes those you’d expect, such as General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, it also extends to include others like; project accounting, budgeting, global attributes and attribute groups, end to end business processes, real time cash flow visibility
• D365 Human Resources (HR) used to be known as ‘Talent’ and but since rebranding has expanded to include; employee self-service, personnel management, benefits management, employee development
• D365 Supply Chain Management includes; cost accounting and management, procurement and sourcing, inventory and warehouse management, 
  product and asset management, vendor collaboration and transportation management.
• D365 Commerce is the newest offering in the F&O suite and includes features for; unified commerce, Channel Management, merchandise management, Modern Point of Sale (MPOS), analytical workspaces and customer loyalty.
• D365 Business Central is an all in one package for small to medium enterprises.  It includes elements of; finance, supply chain, Purchase Cycle, project management, sales and service, budgeting.  A key learning point for Business Central is knowing when to use use in instead of the other D365 products listed above.