Made available on November 1, 2016, Dynamics 365 is Microsoft’s next generation of business intelligence applications in the cloud. It’s a cloud-based financial management solution that is highly integrated with Microsoft CRM and Office 365 with powerful capabilities for sales and operations. Project-based companies considering a new ERP system should ask, “How do we know if we should consider Dynamics 365?” The short answer is this: At the time of this writing, Dynamics 365 is not a good fit for companies that either are government contractors or that have complex project accounting . This is true for either the Enterprise or Business Edition. However, bear in mind that the development of Dynamics 365 is continually improving. Therefore, government contractors and companies needing complex project accounting should always check with a Microsoft partner who specializes in these areas (which Synergy Business Solutions does) when considering a new system. Again, as of this writing, for project-centric small-to-medium businesses (SMBs), the top Microsoft solution continues to be Dynamics SL, with its powerful flexibility and phenomenal project accounting capabilities , including easily handling DCAA compliance for government contractors . Dynamics SL has a planned development timeline as does all of Microsoft’s on-premise product lines. A new major release of Dynamics SL is planned for 2018. These things being said, for SMBs with only financial management requirements, the Business Edition of Dynamics 365 is a great option (The Enterprise edition of Dynamics 365 is designed for large, enterprise level companies). Those SMB companies should consider Dynamics 365 if they desire the benefits of the cloud and if their core need is merely more robust financials that integrate with sales and operations. There is one slight caveat for these organizations that have minimal need for project functionality. Dynamics 365 Business Edition does have some very light project capability in a “Jobs” module. It could be an option for those who only need a single level task structure with no allocation capabilities. Likewise, for large organizations, Dynamics 365 Enterprise has more project functionality in the “Project Service Automation” module. But again, it also doesn’t have an allocator nor capabilities for government compliance. Project-centric organizations need to be aware of these gaps. Will Dynamics 365 ever be a good fit for project-based companies and government contractors? Microsoft and a 3rd party vendor named Progressus are working on developing Dynamics 365 Business Edition to ultimately compete with the powerful flexibility and functionality of Dynamics SL. It is unknown when that time will come. When it does, Synergy Business Solutions will help companies evaluate whether a cloud or on-premise solution is the right fit for their project-centric organization. If you have any questions about ERP software, Dynamics SL, or the future of Dynamics 365 for your project-based company, whether you are in the commercial or federal market, contact Synergy Business Solutions . Related Posts What Does My Organization Do with Reporting and Budgeting When Your ERP is Moving to the Cloud? Has Dynamics AX 7 Accomplished the Challenge of Being a Truly Cloud-First, Mobile-First ERP LinkedIn and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Join Forces
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