Dynamics 365: Learn in doing

In this blog, I am just trying to summarize some key topics regarding the Data residency and options available with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (ERP) in one place. This is considerable a big topic and I personally don't have too much experience working with On Prem implementations, myself - so including Microsoft links as much as I can. Hope this helps :)  So, Where Does Microsoft Store Data for D365FO? Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (D365FO) is a cloud-based ERP solution hosted on Microsoft Azure datacenters . When you deploy an environment, you select a region (geo) , and Microsoft ensures that your customer data at rest stays within that region. For European customers, this means data is stored in EU-based Azure regions like West Europe or North Europe . Microsoft may replicate data within the same geo for durability, but not outside it - there are always exceptions for rare cases like troubleshooting or legal compliance. But then Microsoft...

To be honest, I haven't been fortunate to work on an Implementation project where I could use Virtual Entities, as much as I would love to - yet! However, I did encounter requirements of making ERP and CRM systems “talk” to each other seamlessly. And over the years, Microsoft has introduced several integration approaches - each with its own strengths, limitations, and setup nuances. In this post, I want to share what I’ve learned about Virtual Entities , their history, setup, and why they sometimes make more sense than other methods. And a short comparison to other available integration options like Dual Write , Data Integrator , and custom APIs. Virtual Entities: A concept old enough A Bit of History Out of curiosity, I have attended a Microsoft session 'Introduction to Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement - Basic of Customization' in late 2017 and that is when I heard about Virtual Entities for the first time.  Virtual Entities first appeared in Dynamics 365 CRM (v9.0, 2017) ...

If you’ve ever worked on data integrations or migrations in Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (F&O), you know the pain of moving large datasets repeatedly. Enter Change Tracking - a feature that feels small but makes a huge difference. What is Change Tracking? Change Tracking lets you detect and export only what changed since the last sync, instead of dumping the entire dataset every time. This is used by Microsoft already in the out-of-the-box frameworks : Inbuild Integrations with Microsoft CRM or BI scenario. Could be used for integration towards external apps. Incremental data migration  using DMF during cutovers. BYOD exports where performance matters. Why It Exists Without Change Tracking: Every export = full dataset. More time, more cost, more risk of throttling.  Most costs (per transfer / transaction). With Change Tracking: Only inserts, updates, and (sometimes) deletes are exported. Faster, lighter, and easier to schedule. Lesser costs. Types of Change Tr...

When working with data in Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations , one of the most useful skills is knowing where your data lives - which table or data entity holds the field you’re looking at. Why? Because this knowledge unlocks so many possibilities: Extracting data for analysis. Mass updates through Data Management . Building integrations or troubleshooting issues. Think of it as peeking behind the curtain to understand the architecture that powers your forms. Why This Matters Here’s a little reality check: Different fields on the same form can belong to different tables . A single field can appear in multiple data entities . And not all users have equal access - System Admins have the most visibility (SysTableBrowser, entity lists, etc.). So, if you’ve ever wondered “Where does this field actually come from?” , the below could guide you. Part 1: How to Find the Table Name for a Form Field Open the Form Navigate to the form where the field lives. Say, CustTableListPage. Right-C...

While scrolling through LinkedIn, I stumbled upon something that made me happy and I think it will make your life easier too if you work with Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations . We all know the data model in D365FO can feel like a maze sometimes. Tables, relationships, inheritance - it’s powerful, but not always easy to visualize. That’s why these two tools shared by a fellow community member may make it a bit more easy for us. 1. D365 F&O Table Relation Schema https://daxonline.org/d365/entity-relation-schema.html This tool generates a DBML schema for the area you select and lets you instantly visualize the data model. Perfect for: Getting a clear overview of how tables connect. Documenting your work for future reference. Sharing diagrams with your team (you can render DBML using https://dbdiagram.io ). When I quickly tested it with CustTable and related tables like CustParameters , CustSettlement , and CustTrans , the output looked like below. Just for your info, CustPara...

What's a Data Entity (really)? A Data Entity is a business‑friendly view over one or more normalized tables (e.g., CustTable , addresses, contacts), packaged so you can import/export, integrate, and evolve with less pain when the underlying schema changes. Think: one door, many rooms behind it . Entities can also be exposed as OData (for APIs) and used by the Data Management Framework (DMF) for bulk import/export. Heads‑up: F&O does not allow direct T‑SQL against the prod DB. Entities (and BYOD) exist to keep you safe and supported. When should I create my own entity? You need a clean shape for integration—not ten joins. You plan to expose an API (OData) for a specific business concept. You want DMF import/export (files, recurring jobs, mapping) without writing plumbing. Step‑by‑step: Create an entity for Item Serial Numbers Example scenario: Export/import item serial numbers from the InventSerial table (and related bits) via one entity. Create a project in Visual Stu...

First post in year 2020, I am surprised by myself that I haven't managed to make a single post this year - given that I am, like most of you, working from home for the majority of the year.  Anyways, here comes a small tip about Copying Databases. With Dynamics 365 for Finance and operations (now a.k.a Dynamics 365 for Finance, Dynamics 365 for Supply Chain Management and also Dynamics 365 for Commerce) - you might be in need to perform several database operations during the Project implementation phases. Also you might want to take a back up of the existing database for recovery perspective.  Below is something which I use to support with Copy actions on databases. How to make a quick copy of AXDB hosted in Azure SQL (Tier 2 and above) To begin connect to the Azure SQL database from within the primary AOS server (AOS 01 - because this is where you would great maximum permissions to perform actions on SQL database) You should use the credentials from LCS to connect to Az...

If you are in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations development and if you have a scenario of Synchronous integration , most probably you must have used oData service and along with that POSTMAN app in order to validate your scenarios. A short intro.. Postman is free tool available for download which can be used as a test client for API development. It is available as a native app (need to download) and also as a Chrome extension.  Just to give you a context around, API, different types of API and D365FO, different integration approaches in D365FO and oData service (format=JSON) - I have tried to illustrate the relation in the below picture. Disclaimer: Obviously, the above illustration doesn't contain all the relevant information, but might only help in setting some context.     Now in this blog post I would like to share about the ease of working with POSTMAN when working with D365FO oData endpoints. So information regarding integration as such will have to ...

When working with Dynamics 365 Finance and operations implementations, it is an obvious step to perform database movements across environments. We have been doing this in the previous version (AX2012) as well, where we had to change the environments related settings after the database copy manually. Now we D365FO , we might end up in different scenarios based on the Tier-level of the environment . So I have tried to identify the #4 major scenarios in here and share the approach I have used.  Copy of DB from Tier 1 env. to another Tier 1 env. Copy of DB from Tier 1 env. to a Tier 2 env. Copy of DB from Tier 2 env. to another Tier 2 env. Copy of DB from Tier 2 env. to a Tier 1 env. The below picture is an illustration of different types and corresponding solutions on a high level (sorry for my not-so-good-handwriting 😅) #1 Tier 1 -> Tier 1 DB copy:   This scenario can happen quite common if you have multiple tier-1 environment in your on-going project li...

News coming up.. However was expected. Like we discussed in The Ever Green "Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations", Microsoft has been focused on getting the ever green approach to F&O as well. And the introduction of One Version service updates is a necessary step towards that. So what is One version service updates? Almost 5 months back, Microsoft annouced that there will be a Change to the way MS will deliver Dynamics 365 updates , to ensure that all their customers will be on the most current version, or at least the latest version possible. So below table illustrates the relavant information. Also microsoft announced, two online sessions in December to share more information. Please go to Microsoft Managed Continuous Updates Recurring Sessions with the Product team | December 11, 13, 2018 and get registered to know more 😉 Some highlights from what Microsoft has shared on www so far:  Next major release from what I understand is ver...