Release wave 1 expands agility, automation, and innovation across Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform

Release wave 1 expands agility, automation, and innovation across Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Today we launched 2023 release wave 1 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, a rollout of new features and enhanced capabilities slated for release between April and September 2023.

The updates include Copilot for Dynamics 365 and Copilot for Microsoft Power Platform, bringing the power of next-generation AI capabilities and natural language processing to business processes. Release wave 1 also introduces hundreds of new and updated user experiences to collaboratively solve challenges, streamline workflows, and help individuals and teams focus on what matters most.

The 2023 Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event, available to view on demand, is a great way to get up to speed on the release wave and learn how organizations are already using these capabilities to transform end-to-end business processes today.

Some of the major themes that we’re excited to highlight include:

  • Enhancing end-to-end customer experiences with AI and Dynamics 365 Copilot. 
  • Modernizing every link across supply chain and operations.
  • New ways to accelerate development with Microsoft Power Platform.

Enhancing end-to-end customer experiences with AI

Release wave 1 supercharges end-to-end customer experiences while improving collaboration and information sharing across the organization. New capabilities provide more insight into audiences’ needs, and more ways to engage customers with personalized content and conversations at scale. AI takes center stage in this release wave, with new Dynamics 365 Copilot capabilities that help to streamline processesfrom audience research to content development.

For example, automaker Lynk & Co. is attracting new customers to its innovative, membership-based approach to car ownership by using new AI capabilities in Dynamics 365, as well as enhancements to build relationships with the right audience. Learn more in this fireside chat with Lynk & Co by visiting the bonus content during the Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event.

Dynamics 365 Customer Insights will enable marketers at organizations like Lynk & Co. to use natural language capabilities in Copilot to query, group, and measure their customer data, allowing them to discover hidden patterns. Marketers can quickly identify the best audience for upcoming events and create a segment directly from the results.

In addition, users can see all Customer Insights activities in the unified activity timeline in Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Service, and Marketing. Valuable data from Customer Insights can be embedded directly within the Contact, Account, and Lead forms within Dynamics 365 Sales, giving sellers a more complete picture of their customer in the flow of work.

Explore the release plans for Dynamics 365 Customer Insights.

Dynamics 365 Marketing delivers Copilot capabilities to help marketers learn more about their customers, create targeted customer segments, and generate personalized content. We’ve enhanced the query assist feature with generative AI capabilities, enabling marketers to accurately target customers using conversational, everyday language to quickly build targeted segments. Content ideas helps to find inspiration and provide a starting point for copy when composing emails for audiences.

We’ve also made it easier to add lead capture forms to a website. With the new intuitive forms experience in real-time marketing, you can easily create modern forms with advanced capabilities without depending on developers. Also, marketers can use out-of-the-box dashboards to track pipeline development and analyze the impact and contribution of journeys, marketing messages, and content at different stages of the business process.

Explore the release plans for Dynamics 365 Marketing.

Dynamics 365 Sales delivers enhancements to streamline seller tasks and improve effectiveness. Rather than manually tracking next steps, Dynamics 365 Sales helps sellers to automate the creation of follow-up tasks. This saves valuable time to focus on higher-priority items and avoid tasks from falling through the cracks. Copilot in Dynamics 365 Sales creates email content for faster customer replies and AI-generated meeting follow-ups that compile discussed topics.  

In addition, updates include a new manager insights dashboard for conversation intelligence, as well as extended support for conversation intelligence with calls made through third-party telephony providers. This gives sellers a seamless experience irrespective of the call provider they are using.

See the release plans for Dynamics 365 Sales and Microsoft Viva Sales.

Release wave 1 updates for Dynamics 365 Customer Service include enhanced case creation, channel-based swarming with Microsoft Teams, and robust real-time analytics with customization, in addition to availability of the voice channel in more regions.

Organizations like MVP Health Carea nationally-recognized regional not-for-profit health plan providerwill soon use Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service to provide agents with real-time AI-powered assistance, helping them to resolve issues faster, handle cases more efficiently, and automate time-consuming tasks so they can focus on delivering high-quality service to their customers.

Explore the release plans for Dynamics 365 Customer Service.

Modernize every link across supply chain and operations

Updates to Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management deliver increased agility and resilience across the supply chain. By applying appropriate valuation methods and selected currencies, you can now account inventoriesinventory and work in progress (WIP)in multiple representations, to help comply with local generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), internal management accounting, and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) principles.

A new Asset Management mobile app helps ensure smooth operation of production equipment. From one app, your team can create new maintenance requests, track and update work orders, and access key information. Updates to the Warehouse Management mobile app include a new version for iOS devices and features to speed the packing process, such as optimized screen layouts with more prominent product images to help workers more quickly identify items.

Dynamics 365 Intelligent Order Management is officially included in Microsoft Supply Chain Center, helping to provide faster, more reliable delivery times. Updates include the ability to create a purchase order from a sales order and check order status updates without switching to Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, as well as new purchase orders for business-to-business (B2B) capabilities. At the launch event, we demonstrate new capabilities that help organizations like Northern Tool + Equipmenta manufacturing and omnichannel retail business with 130 stores across the United Statesto experience faster, more reliable delivery times, so their customers get the tools and supplies they need exactly when they expect.

See the release plans for Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Intelligent Order Management, and the Microsoft Supply Chain Center.  

Dynamics 365 Finance and Project Operations

In this wave of updates, we’re helping finance organizations adapt faster, work smarter, and drive business performance with features and enhancements focused on the three As of rapid finance-first innovation.

Organizations like The Robert Walters Group, a specialist recruitment agency operating in 31 countries, can now use our newly generally available Expense mobile app. The release wave 1 updates also include expense itemization and the ability to capture receipts using optical character recognition (OCR), enter per diems, and log mileage.

Enhancements for Dynamics 365 Finance include further automation of complex tax scenarios and full end-to-end automation of accounts payable and ledger settlements, helping finance professionals to expedite the close and spend more time focusing on value-added activities.

See the release plans for Dynamics 365 Finance, Project Operations, and Human Resources.

Accelerate development with Power Platform

Microsoft Power Platformour comprehensive and intelligent low-code platformenables users and organizations to create innovative apps, bots, and automations seamlessly. In our launch event, we explore how customers like Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) use Microsoft Power Platform to automate and eliminate redundant and manual processes throughout their organization.

This release wave builds on our commitment to create tools and experiences that add value to every role by breaking down silos between data, insights, and people. The union of AI and low-code will revolutionize the way solutions are built and fundamentally transform the way people work, collaborate, and create.

With Power Apps, we continue to support the scaling of organizations by empowering makers and developers of all skill levels to be more productive and to build apps, and manage data and logic. We are helping organizations reduce risk with advanced governance capabilities, such as automated tests for custom pages and model-driven apps, enabling customers to further benefit from modernization of web and mobile experiences ensuring modern and fast experiences across apps.

See the release plans for Power Apps.

Power Pages supports low-code and no-code makers, as well as professional developers, with more out-of-the-box capabilities, like new solution-based application life cycle management and migration of website configurations from one environment to another. With virtual tables and cloud flow integration, Power Pages can now connect seamlessly to your external data and service and enable both low-code makers and pro developers to build amazing user experiences.

Explore what’s new for Power Pages.

Power Automate is reimagining the process of creating flows with natural language authoring capabilities that allow you to simply describe the flow you want to create. It has never been easier for new users to start creating and authoring flows. Other improvements include introducing work queues where automatable tasks can be viewed and managed together, as well as providing streamlined connectivity to a machine for desktop flows, which eliminates the need for additional installs and password management. Lastly, we’re making it easier for organizations to contextualize the impact of their technical investments with ROI performance tracking capabilities in Power Automate desktop flows, which helps organizations invest in the most valuable automation efforts.

Explore what’s new for Power Automate.

Power Virtual Agents is the Microsoft single conversational AI studio and unified authoring canvas for all bot-building needs. We’re making it easier for developers and makers to build bots with Copilot in Power Virtual Agents, greatly accelerating bot development via natural language authoring. Developers can then extend their bots to handle more complex workloads with Microsoft Bot Framework and Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services capabilities in Power Virtual Agents.

Explore what’s new for Power Virtual Agents.

Power BI infuses AI-driven insights into everywhere that people get work done. For Teams, we’re bringing enhancements to meetings and multitasking to help users work with their data wherever they may be. And, for individuals, we’re enhancing the creation experience, bringing more parity on the web, and adding the Power Query diagram view into Power BI.

Explore the release plans for Power BI.

Watch the virtual Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event

We encourage you to watch the launch event on demand for more details and demos of new capabilities across Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform. In addition, you can explore several special topic presentations covering Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Physical Operations, and our AI transformation journey in business applications.

Be sure to explore the detailed release plans for Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform, and keep track of what’s new and upcoming, as well as create a personalized release plan, in the release planner.

a person sitting in a living room

Release planner

Explore Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform features coming soon or available to try now.

The post Release wave 1 expands agility, automation, and innovation across Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Dynamics 365 Implementation Portal now available

Dynamics 365 Implementation Portal now available

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

We are excited to announce the launch of the Dynamics 365 Implementation Portal. The implementation portal is a self-serve tool that helps Dynamics 365 customers and partners manage their project data, users, and reviews. It also provides access to tailored implementation guidance to help ensure a successful cloud deployment.

  • Manage project data: Manage project data and users, profile projects by selecting the relevant Dynamics 365 products and features, and define other project characteristics.
  • Execute project reviews: Identify potential risks, mitigation recommendations, and other best practices based on the Success by Design framework to support a successful go-live.
  • Access tailored guidance: Access tailored implementation guidance, including feature and product documentation, TechTalks, training materials, and case studies.

The implementation portal is based on Success by Design, a systematic approach for successful cloud deployment that was developed by Microsoft. Success by Design provides prescriptive guidance for designing, building, and deploying your new Dynamics 365 solution.

Eligible customers may also collaborate with Microsoft FastTrack solution architects. The FastTrack team of product experts can help you validate the architecture of your solution, mitigate risks, and overcome deployment blockers.

The Dynamics 365 Implementation Portal represents a significant step in equipping all Dynamics 365 customers with the necessary resources to go live with confidence.

Next steps

Sign up for the Dynamics 365 Implementation Portal: https://aka.ms/D365ImplementationPortal

Learn more about the implementation portal: https://aka.ms/D365ImplementationPortal-Docs

Not yet a Dynamics 365 customer? Take a tour and get a free trial.

The post Dynamics 365 Implementation Portal now available appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Logic Apps Aviators Newsletter – April 2023

Logic Apps Aviators Newsletter – April 2023

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

In this issue:





 


 Aviators-Logo@0.75x.png


 


Welcome to Logic Apps Aviators Newsletter – April 2023, the official monthly newsletter for Microsoft’s Logic Apps Aviators community. Catch up on Microsoft news from us and our community.




News from our product group:


 









































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Logic Apps Aviators Day


 


On June 22, 2023 (Pacific Time) the Logic Apps Product Group will host a full day of learning where you will be the start! The Logic Apps Aviators is a free event driven Microsoft, for anyone who wants to learn more about Logic Apps and how it can help to solve real life integration problems. In this full-day event, we will deep-dive into many aspects of Logic Apps with sessions from both Microsoft team and community. And we are looking for sessions of all types, from beginning to advance, from patterns and practices to real life scenarios.


LogicAppsLive - March.png

Logic Apps Live – Community Standup (March 2023)


 


In this recording we will discuss the new Application Insights (Preview), IBM Host File (Built-in connector), Logic Apps Designer and Connectors 101 presentation.


APpInsights.png

 



Application Insights Enhancements for Azure Logic Apps (Standard) – Preview


 


We have recently published an update to how we emit telemetry for Application Insights in Azure Logic Apps (Standard). This new update is currently in Public Preview and is an opt-in feature for customers. It can be enabled without introducing risk to your telemetry. For customers who choose not to opt in, they will continue to emit telemetry using the existing method.


appInsights2.png

 



Improve Logic Apps (Standard) Workflows Observability with Application Insights


 


InfoQ.com, a popular technology publication, recently picked up coverage about our Application Insights (Preview).


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Extending Logic Apps App Insight integration with Azure Workbooks


 


In this blog post we are going to show how we can use Azure workbooks together with recent improvements to application insight integration to build similar rich and interactive dashboards for standard Logic Apps.


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Integrate Azure Open AI in Teams Channel via Logic App


 


Now in Azure, we can deploy Open AI with chatgpt-35-turbo model as an Azure resource, so this blog introduces how to integrate the Azure Open AI in Teams channel without using a bot.


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Using Logic App Standard to connect to SAP


 


Learn how to setup SAP connections in Azure Logic Apps (Standard).


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Deploying Logic App Standard resource using Bicep templates and DevOps pipeline


 


In this blog, we will explore the creation of Logic app infrastructure components using Azure Biceps template. Bicep is a domain-specific language (DSL) that uses a declarative syntax to deploy Azure resources. In a Bicep file, you define the infrastructure you want to deploy to Azure, and then use that file throughout the development lifecycle to deploy your infrastructure repeatedly.


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Attaching a file to a DevOps Work Item


 


How to create the actions to Attach a file to a Work Item in DevOps, by using the Azure Connector.


 



 




News from our community:


Logic Apps and DocuSign integration


Post by Sandro Pereira


 


DocuSign is used by individuals, businesses, and organizations of all sizes across many industries, including finance, real estate, healthcare, and more. The platform streamlines the document signing process and eliminates the need for physical documents and manual signatures, which can be time-consuming and costly.


 


Get notified on expiring Intune LOB apps


Post by Peter Klapwijk


 


Set up a Logic Apps workflow to get notified when an iOS LOB app is about to expire. An expired iOS LOB app can’t be deployed to our users anymore, so we need to make sure the apps are renewed before they expire.


 


Network Security for Integration Projects


Video by Paul Baars


 


Paul Baars talks about network security for integration between on-premises systems with the Azure Serverless cloud.


 


Modernizing Consumption Logic Apps with Bicep Infrastructure as Code (IaC)


Video by Mitchell Abel


 


Bicep has made creating the resources a lot simpler and less verbose. And the separation of Infrastructure and Code with Logic Apps Standard has made the day-to-day way of working, especially when the integration developer is responsible for their own DevOps, a great deal easier once everything is set up.


 


Azure Logic Apps: KQL for having an overview of your scheduled workflows


Post by Stefano Demiliani


 


This post answers some questions Stefano had from customers, including: 



  • Is it possible to have an overview of all the workflows I have (and their state) across subscriptions?

  • Can I know the connectors they’re using?

  • For timer-based workflows (recurrencies) can I have an overview of the scheduling?


 


Remove Azure Logic App Orphan Metric Alerts


Post by Mark Brimble


 


A quick tip showing how to remove orphan metric alerts from deleted Logic Apps consumption.


 

3 ways to improve productivity and reduce costs with Microsoft Teams Phone

3 ways to improve productivity and reduce costs with Microsoft Teams Phone

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Foster more effective communication, connection, and collaboration in your organization. Learn about the value of Microsoft Teams Phone in a new study conducted by Forrester Consulting.

The post 3 ways to improve productivity and reduce costs with Microsoft Teams Phone appeared first on Microsoft 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Happy April Tools Day!

Happy April Tools Day!

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

While many folks observe April 1 as April Fool’s Day, we in the SQL Tools team celebrate April 1 as April Tools Day, a day when we debunk myths surrounding the tools for SQL Server. We recommend having some good chocolate to honor the occasion. 


 


Now, you may wonder how we are aware of the misconceptions that exist for the different tools for SQL Server. Some thoughts we hear from direct conversation, for example at conferences and on social media. But one of the best resources is the comments that folks leave when responding to a survey.


 


For example, you may have been using Azure Data Studio and had a dialogue pop-up that asked if you would recommend ADS to a friend. While we would love for folks to provide a 9 or 10 when asked, what’s more interesting are the comments shared after selecting a score.  We read every. single. comment. that is entered.  These replies create a picture of what users find challenging and what they would love to see, and ultimately they help us make the product better. They also reveal misunderstandings that exist about a given tool, which leads to our celebration of April Tools Day.


 


Myth #1 Azure Data Studio is the only standalone solution now that SSMS is deprecated.


 


SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is not deprecated.  We thought about writing that in ALL CAPS, but figured bold is sufficient.  SSMS has not been deprecated, and we are not planning on deprecating it.  You will see new functionality being added to Azure Data Studio, but we have a fair number of things lined up for SSMS, including migration to the Visual Studio 2022 shell, which brings 64-bit support.


 


Myth #2 No new work is happening with drivers.


 


You may have missed the debut of the new sqlcmd (aka go-sqlcmd) a couple weeks ago during the SQLBits conference.  This tool is based on the Go driver mssqldb. The new sqlcmd is still in preview, but version 1.0 will GA soon, and in time we expect it to replace the existing sqlcmd while also surpassing it in capabilities.  For example, it can be used on Linux and Mac, as well as Windows, can be quickly downloaded or updated, and works for Azure SQL Database and on-prem installations of SQL Server.  Once you have it installed, run ‘sqlcmd create mssql’ to create a SQL Server container based on the latest image – it’s that easy. If you want to learn more, check out the documentation or the GitHub repository. (Yep, it’s open source, too.)


 


Myth #3 The SQL Database Projects extension features are lacking.


 


We have made significant strides in adding functionality to the Database Projects extension.  With GA on the horizon, the extension will sport a new backend and in time will include new features such as moving/renaming files, saving publish profiles, and more.  We also will have a brand new Microsoft.SqlServer.DacFx.Projects nuget package that supports programmatically editing SQL projects wherever you want, including CI/CD pipelines!


 


Myth #4 Azure Data Studio runs slower on Mac and the functionality for the Linux-based version is much less compared to the Windows version.


 


If you’re using macOS or Windows on a machine with arm64 processors, make sure you are using the native build of Azure Data Studio, highlighted with the yellow arrows in the screenshot below, for optimal performance.


 


Azure Data Studio Install PackagesAzure Data Studio Install Packages


 


In the most recent release, ADS 1.42, we added native arm64 SqlToolsService support for arm64 Windows and macOS.  Fun fact: the SqlToolsService (often abbreviated STS) is what provides SQL Server support in Azure Data Studio.


Further, the functionality in Azure Data Studio is the same across all platforms: Windows, Linux, and macOS.  There is no feature or capability that is “different” or “less” for any operating system. 


 


Myth #5 In Azure Data Studio, on the Connections pane, the Servers are currently at the database level, so each database has to be connected separately. Ideally, the full Server could be traversed within the tree (similar to SSMS).


 


In Azure Data Studio, you have the option of connecting to a server (e.g. on-premises or SQL in an Azure VM) or connecting to the database directly.  You configure this within the connection.  In the first screenshot, we connect to a local server (SQL2022 is a named instance):


 


Screenshot of connection configuration for serverScreenshot of connection configuration for server


 


Note that we named the connection “Connect to server”.  Next, we’ll create a connection for a specific database, WideWorldImporters:


 


Screenshot of connection configuration for databaseScreenshot of connection configuration for database


 


This connection is named, creatively, “Connect to database.”  When we look in the Servers view, we see both connections:


 


Screenshot of server view with server and database connectionsScreenshot of server view with server and database connections


 


The “Connect to database” connection only shows Tables, Views, etc. in Object Explorer for the WideWorldImporters database, while the “Connect to server” connection shows the Databases node, as well as other server-level nodes, just as you see in SSMS.


 


Myth #6 The hardcoded 45 second object explorer timeout is a huge pain in my *readacted* and a horrible design choice. No competent engineer would implement something like that for a SQL server interface.


 


Good news!  Thanks to our competent engineers ;) we added the ability to increase that timeout in Azure Data Studio 1.42.  Within Settings ( CTRL/CMD + , ) search for expand timeout to see both an Object Explorer timeout setting, as well as one for the Server tree:


 


Screenshot of timeout settingsScreenshot of timeout settings


 


Modify those as needed!  There is also a new Command timeout in the Advanced pane of the Connection dialog, just below the Connect timeout.


 


Myth #7 One of the key tools I still use from the SSMS program that is missing (as far as I can tell) from Azure Data Studio is the ability to use the table designer to modify existing tables.


 


Table Designer for Azure Data Studio was GA’d in November’s 1.40 release, and an existing table can be modified using Table Designer.  Simply right-click on the table and select Design:


 


Screenshot of right-click option to modify design of an existing tableScreenshot of right-click option to modify design of an existing table


 


Table Designer will open, and from there you can add a column, add an index, create a new constraint, and more!


 


Myth #8 Grouping of schemas has unfortunately still not been implemented, otherwise very modern.


 


Oh hey, maybe you missed last week’s blog post about ADS 1.42 and the new Group by schema option?  It’s here:


 


Screenshot of Group By Schema optionScreenshot of Group By Schema option


 


We could go on, but in the interest of chocolate that may melt soon, we’ll wrap it up. We hope this has been helpful for those of you that use any of the SQL Server tools, and feel free to add a comment below if you know of other myths that need clarification.  As any good DBA would say, “Trust, but verify.”

Introducing support for pg_carbonara extension in PostgreSQL Flexible Server

Introducing support for pg_carbonara extension in PostgreSQL Flexible Server

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Azure Database for PostgreSQL – Flexible Server supports over 50 PostgreSQL extensions.  We are also constantly adding new extensions to expand on the functionality provided by the PostgreSQL engine. Until now we have not been providing support for the most important extension from the Postgres ecosystem, namely pg_carbonara.


 


While many developers and DBAs are aware of PostGIS as geo routing extension for Postgres or pg_stat_statements to track slow queries, not many are aware of pg_carbonara, which can be seen as a mandatory extension for a lunch break that allows you to cook a real Italian carbonara. What pg_carbonara does is guide you with step-by-step instructions to cook the dish.


 


pg_carbonara.gif


 


As many of our team members were sceptic to introduce this extension, claiming that most of the developers and DBA’s do not eat, they just drinking coffee all day long, we have conducted a cohort study on a population of 100k developers and found out to our surprise that 95% of participants DO EAT. According to the study result we decided to make pg_carbonara extension a default and preinstalled in all new Flexible Servers. Enjoy!


 


 


The following blog post about the pg_carbonara PostgreSQL extension is an April Fool’s Day joke. We apologize for any confusion or misunderstanding that may have resulted from the post.


At Azure Database for PostgreSQL, we are committed to providing accurate and reliable information to our customers. We take any miscommunication very seriously, and we assure you that this was a lighthearted prank that was not intended to mislead or cause any harm.


We appreciate your understanding and hope that you found the post to be a fun and enjoyable way to celebrate April Fool’s Day. As always, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.