Mastering Microsoft Dynamics 365 Implementations

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Technical Editor
Contents at a Glance
Contents
Introduction
	Who Should Read This Book
	What You’ll Learn from This Book
	How This Book Is Organized
	How to Use This Book
	How to Contact Wiley or the Author
Chapter 1 Stages of an Implementation Overview
	What Is Microsoft Dynamics?
	The Client Journey
	Implementation Methodologies
		Waterfall and Sure Step
		Agile and Scrum
	Triple Constraints
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 2 What to Do Before You Begin a Project
	Identify Your Project Team and Stakeholders
		Executive Sponsor
		Project Owner
		Business Process Owner(s)
		Project Manager
		Core Team and a Core Team Lead
		Subject Matter Experts
		IT Resources
		Time Commitment by Role
	Identify Your Processes in Scope
		Business Scenarios
	Clean Up Your Data
		Identify Your “Master” Data
		Develop Naming Conventions
		Identify System Owners
		Find and Resolve Duplicates and Incorrect Data
	Define Your Success Metrics
	Possible Benefits
	Building Your Business Case and Securing Funding
		How Much Should an ERP Project Cost?
		Costs to Include in Your Calculations
		Capitalizing Costs
		Contingency
		Return on Investment (ROI)
		Gaining Approval
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 3 Four Keys to Consider When Buying an ERP or CRM Solution
	Selection Process
		Selection Consultant
		Decision Maker
	The Four Keys
		Fit
		Platform
		Implementer
		Cost
	Building Your Scorecard
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 4 How to Evaluate and Buy Business Application Software
	Buying Process Steps
		Qualification Stage
		Discovery and Demonstration Stage
		Selecting Your Vendor
		Leadership or Board Approval
		Moving Forward
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 5 Organizing Your Team for Success and Project Governance
	RACI
		Your Project Team
	Your Partner’s Implementation Team
		Executive Sponsor
		Engagement Manager
		Project Manager
		Solution Architect or Solution Delivery Manager
		Functional Consultant or Consultants
		Technical Consultant
		Development Lead and Developers
		Integration Architect
		Data Migration Specialist
	Project Governance
		Project Communication
		Resource Loading
		Project Schedule
		Document Repository
		Budget Tracking
		Change Requests
		Project Management Plan
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 6 Sprints and Tools Needed to Run Your Project
	Definition of a Sprint
		Length of a Sprint
		Start and End of a Sprint
		Delivering Value in a Sprint
	Backlog
		Project Backlog
		Sprint Backlog
		Allocating Work to Team Members
		Sprint Success Rate
	Sprint Meetings
		Sprint Planning
		Sprint Review
		Sprint Retrospective
		Stand-up Meetings
	Work Definitions
		Epic
		Feature
		User Story
		Requirement
		Research Task
		Design Task
		Development Task
		Test Task
		Other Task
		Test Case
		Test
		Bug (Defect)
		Risk
		Issue
		Change Request
		Code and Changesets
	Azure DevOps
		DevOps Fields
		Progress Reporting
		Analytical Views
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 7 Change Management Throughout Your Project
	Success Criteria
	Use of Satisfaction Surveys
	Nine Steps to Change Management
		Leadership Alignment
		Organization Evaluation
		Outline Your Business Process Change Steps
		Develop a System Vision that Provides Benefits to All Stakeholders
		Communicate Effectively
		Maximize the Team’s Time in the New System
		Train Effectively
		Set Realistic Expectations for the System Just After Go-Live
		Support Your Team Members After Go-Live
		Steps to Business Process Change
		Importance of Adoption
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 8 Organizing Your Business by Processes
	Common Language Businesses Speak
		Operations
		Sales
		Finance and Administration
		Standard Processes
	Process Hierarchy
		Process Category
		Process Group
		Process
		Sub-processes, Tasks, Activities, and Requirements
	Discovering Your Processes
		SIPOC
		Core Team Members
		Rounding Out Your Scope
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 9 Independent Software Vendors—Filling Gaps and Managing Partnerships
	The Purpose of ISVs
	Hosting Providers
		Private Hosting
		SaaS-Style Hosting
		Industry ISVs
		Deciding If You Need an Industry ISV
		Functional ISVs
		Missing Functionality
		Advanced Features
		Missing Connector
		Automation
		Reporting Extensions
		Deciding If You Need a Functional ISV
	Working with ISVs
		Budgeting for ISV Solutions
		Implementation Partner or Customer Managed
		Buying the ISV License or Subscription
		Implementation of ISV Products
		Manage Your ISV Projects Closely
	Microsoft’s AppSource Marketplace
		Product Listing
		Services Listing
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 10 Factors for a Successful Project Kickoff
	Pre-Kickoff Meeting Activities
		Checklist
		Expectations for the Meeting
		Outing
	Kickoff Meeting Content
		Executive Overview
		Introductions and Role Review
		Expectations for Team Members
		Project Management and Communication Plan
		Project Schedule
		Resources
		Navigation Overview [Optional]
		Wrapping Up
	Executive Message
	Expectations for the Project Team
		Time Commitment
		Decision-Making
		Power of Positivity
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 11 Designing the Software Collaboratively
	Joint Application Design Concept
	Joint Process Design and Other Design-Related Definitions
		What Is a Joint Process Design (JPD) Session?
		Happy Path
		“As-Is” vs. “To Be”
	Joint Process Design Iterations
		JPD1
		JPD2
		JPD3
		JPD4
		Keys to Successful JPDs
		JPD Output
	SIPOC
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 12 Requirements Gathering and Staying “In the Box”
	Staying in the Box
		Customization vs. In-the-Box Examples
	Requirements
		Out-of-the-Box Fields as Requirements
		Requirements Link to Processes
		Functional vs. Non-functional Requirements
		Verifying Requirements
	Writing Good Requirements
		Requirements Tips
	Fit/Gap Analysis
		Fit/Gap Spreadsheet
		Trade-Offs
	The Cost of Customizations
		Cloud vs. On-Premise Software
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 13 Conference Room Pilots
	The Purpose of a Conference Room Pilot
		How to Organize CRPs
		Common Elements of CRPs
		CRP Agenda
		Logistics
		Issues and Questions
	CRP Roles and Responsibilities
		Session Leader
		Helper/Expert
		Business Process Owner
		Users/Students
		Who Not to Invite
	CRP Place in the Overall Schedule
		Can You Do a CRP on One Process Group at the Same Time That You Do a JPD?
		Entrance Criteria
	CRP vs. UAT
		How They Are Similar
		How They Are Different
	What to Do Between CRP and the End of the Create Stage
	CRP Goals
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 14 Dealing with Challenges Mid-Project
	Managing the Project Status
		Status Report
		Colors on a Status Report
		Managing Your Budget
		Project Pulse
	Risks and Issues
		Risk Register
		Issues vs. Bugs
	Common Project Challenges
		Psychological Safety
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 15 Customizations vs. Configurations and How You Manage Them
	Customizations vs. Configurations
		Customization
		Configuration
		Integration
		Master Data
		Metadata
		Personalization
		Reference Data
		When to Customize vs. Configure
		Why Choose to Customize
	Tracking Configurations
		Configuration Tracker
		Gold Environment
		Lifecycle Services
	Functional Design Documents
		Overview
		Modification
		Testing
		Development Quotation
		Revision and Sign-off
		Updates
		Design Complete
	The Development Process
		Develop the Solution
		Unit Test
		Code Review
		Functional Testing (Part 1)
		Finishing Up
	After Code Complete
		Deploying the Code
		Functional Testing (Part 2)
		Preparing for CRP and UAT
	The Lifecycle of a Customization
		Managing These Tasks
		Wrap-Up
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 16 Data Migration—Early and Often
	Data Migration Plan
		Proactive Cleaning
		Before the Kickoff
		Data Migration Tool
		Iterations
	Extract
		Finding the Data
		Extraction Tools
	Transform
		Mapping the Data
		Mapping Tools
		Transforming Mapped Data
	Load
		Order of Operation
		Load Time
	Validating the Data
	Technical Validation
		Business Validation
		Functional Validation
	Go-Live Iteration
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 17 Environment Management and Deployments
	Types of Environments
		Developer Environments
		Build
		Test
		Sandbox
		Production
	Environment Plan
		Types of Releases
		Frequency of Code Moves
		Populating Configurations and Master Data
	Deploying Code
		Application Lifecycle Management
		Environment Flow Using DevOps
		Rollback
	Security
		Definitions
		How Best to Manage
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 18 Testing
	Definitions
		Types of Testing
		Common Testing Terms
	Pre-Deploy Stage Activities
		Testing Strategy
		Unit Test and Regression Tests
		Developing Test Cases
		UAT Entrance Criteria
		UAT Exit Criteria
	UAT Sessions
		Purpose
		Additional Benefits of UAT Sessions
		UAT Roles and Responsibilities
		Executing Your Test Plans
		Tips for the Sessions
	Post UAT Testing
		Issues List
		Process Sign-Offs
		Scenario Recaps
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 19 Training for All
	Learning During Interactive Sessions
		JPDs
		CRPs
		UAT
	Learning Modalities
		In-Person, Classroom Style
		Remote, Synchronous Training
		Asynchronous
		Building Your Training Content
		End User Training Content
		Product Help Content
		Microsoft Learn
		Recording Sessions
		Task Recorder
		How Much to Document
	How to Manage and Distribute Your Content
		Learning Management Systems
	Building Your End User Training Schedule
		Pre-Training Learning
		Train the Trainer
		Synchronous Sessions
		Advanced Concepts
		Testing Users’ Knowledge
		Office Hours
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 20 Going Live
	Go-Live Criteria
		Cutover Plan
		Bug Criteria
		Data Migration and Security Criteria
		Support Readiness
		Training Review
		Communication Plan
		Go-Live Scorecard
	Mock Cutover and Final Week Activities
		Disaster Recovery
		System Setup Before Cutover
	Go/No-Go Meetings
		When to Have It
		Voting Criteria
		Meeting Agenda
		Order and Outcome of the Votes
		Next Steps
	Live Cutover
		Impact of the Cutover Start Timing
		Completing Cutover Activities
		Rollback Plan
		Acknowledge the Team
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 21 Hypercare
	Go-Live Support
		Day 1
		Week 1
		Project Change Champions
		Prioritizing Issues
		Weeks 2–4
		First Month End
		Duration of Hypercare
	Role of HelpDesk
		Sample SLA
		Project Team Support
		Support Levels
		Refer Users to Training
		Making the Transition to HelpDesk Later
	Post Go-Live Releases
		Planning for Future Releases
		Hotfix Release
		Scheduled Releases
	Project Team Transition
		Rolling Off the Project Team
		Documentation
		Expectations of Support
		After the Transition
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 22 Support and Enhance Your Project
	Support After Hypercare
		Extending the Transition from Consulting to Support
		Engaging Your Partner for Support
		Microsoft and ISV Support Plans
	After Action Review
		Who to Invite
		How to Run the Meeting
		What to Do with the Feedback
	Ongoing Releases
		Microsoft Dynamics 365 Release Cadence
		Release Testing
		When to Schedule Your Releases
		What to Include in Releases
	Future Enhancements
		New Functionality
		Usability
		Guardrails
		Business Intelligence
		Incorporating Dynamics Data into Your Daily Business
		Integrations
		Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
	Calculating Return on Investment
		ROI Checkpoints
	The Bottom Line
Chapter 23 Bringing It All Together
	Align Stage
	Define Stage
	Create Stage
	Deploy Stage
	Empower Stage
	Additional Resources
	The Bottom Line
Appendix The Bottom Line
	Chapter 1: Stages of an Implementation Overview
	Chapter 2: What to Do Before You Begin a Project
	Chapter 3: Four Keys to Consider When Buying an ERP or CRM Solution
	Chapter 4: How to Evaluate and Buy Business Application Software
	Chapter 5: Organizing Your Team for Success and Project Governance
	Chapter 6: Sprints and Tools Needed to Run Your Project
	Chapter 7: Change Management Throughout Your Project
	Chapter 8: Organizing Your Business by Processes
	Chapter 9: Independent Software Vendors—Filling Gaps and Managing Partnerships
	Chapter 10: Factors for a Successful Project Kickoff
	Chapter 11: Designing the Software Collaboratively
	Chapter 12: Requirements Gathering and Staying “In the Box”
	Chapter 13: Conference Room Pilots
	Chapter 14: Dealing with Challenges Mid-Project
	Chapter 15: Customizations vs. Configurations and How You Manage Them
	Chapter 16: Data Migration—Early and Often
	Chapter 17: Environment Management and Deployments
	Chapter 18: Testing
	Chapter 19: Training for All
	Chapter 20: Going Live
	Chapter 21: Hypercare
	Chapter 22: Support and Enhance Your Project
	Chapter 23: Bringing It All Together
Glossary
Index
EULA