Introduction

Six months ago, the AX7 founders published their first post about D365 F&O and how it originated, before beginning a focus on various aspects system functionality. I highly recommend a re-read of Hello world!

Although the team have touched on the subject of Power Platform in D365 F&O in some other posts, this post is the first of a 2-part series that will formally introduce the Power Platform, before going on to talk about what it means for F&O.

Understanding Low-Code Platforms

For those of you wanting to get into extending D365 F&O with Power Platform, here is a very brief recap of some salient points:

  • The long and short of it, D365 F&O is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This includes Finance, Supply Chain, Commerce and HR.
  • Since the inception of the cloud-version of the product, Microsoft has released periodic updates providing new features and capabilities to the systems users.
  • However, like many other ERP systems, although feature rich, sometimes require extension.
  • These tools are generally quite rigid in that any native extension requires expert knowledge, substantial time and oftentimes taking a code-first approach.

And this is where the opportunity for Power Platform presents itself. With a focus on end-user development and low-code tooling, the Power Platform empowers everyday users to create apps.

Similar to how any user can build an Excel report or write a Word document, the Power Platform is another tool in the ever-growing Microsoft 365 toolkit. From using Power Apps to handle data input, Power Automate to handle alerts and integration, through to Power BI enabling visually stunning reports, the Power Platform has a tool for everything. And funnily enough, this extends to Dynamics 365 F&O:

A reminder of the full Microsoft Dynamics family, including Power Platform

Now, letting end users go around building stuff is not always the smartest decision. Just that statement alone will set your IT Administrators quivering with fear and unease, daunted by the prospect of users spinning up new security groups accidentally, or building apps, adding to the ever growing iceberg of “Shadow IT”.

The key when adopting the Power Platform is understanding that it is not the wild west, but rather a toolkit with a framework. The framework is what ensures that users have guide rails and cannot break anything.

In the context of an ERP like D365 F&O, this level of governance will make all the difference between a business that operates smoothly and benefits from its technology adoption, versus one that is constantly firefighting.

Getting Started

The initial integration with Power Platform is relatively quick and easy, using the guide on Microsoft Learn:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/fin-ops-core/dev-itpro/data-entities/dual-write/connection-setup

In respect to building Power Platform components, Microsoft has an extensive library of ‘Learn’ articles taking users from knowing nothing, to building their first app.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-apps/maker/canvas-apps/intro-maker-portal

That said, we would always recommend working with a recognised partner to configure these capabilities and to ensure data is appropriately transferred and stored.

Published by Jay Fitzhenry

Specialised in pre-sales, Jay's Microsoft expertise lies the realm of data, AI, and low-code, i.e. Power Platform. He currently works as Principal Consultant at Node4, leading pre-sales engagements.

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