What is our primary use case?
Our organization uses Dynamics 365 Sales for global sales collaboration. Previously, CRM was being treated as Outlook, with everyone in the organization receiving it by default regardless of necessity. The organization realized they needed only people above certain senior designations to use it. SAP was very complicated, while Dynamics 365 Sales became simple for senior leaders to use, reducing time spent from 2-3 hours per week in SAP to 15-20 minutes in Microsoft Dynamics when done properly.
This made it feasible for senior leaders and members above certain designations, including senior middle management, to utilize it. We significantly reduced the number of users. While SAP was accessible to 40,000 people, Dynamics 365 Sales is now accessible only to 2,000 people, which led to optimization.
What is most valuable?
The graphical interface of Dynamics 365 Sales is superior to SAP's interface. It is far more configurable, which enhances ease of configuration, user adoption, and usage. In SAP, filling 20 fields required visiting 10 different pages sequentially, whereas now everything can be done on a single page.
If Dynamics 365 Sales had deeper integration with LinkedIn, it would provide a unified view of internal CRM contacts and their LinkedIn profiles. This integration could help identify additional senior stakeholders and update master data when people have left companies.
What needs improvement?
Beyond what Dynamics 365 Sales currently provides, any improvement would require a combination of processes, changes, and user behavior modifications on our side coupled with the product. The product has launched numerous features, including AI capabilities, though I haven't found use for many of them.
Reducing feature bloat would be beneficial, especially considering different organizational needs. In a federated B2B company, CRM usage is limited to fundamental fields. Performance improvements, such as reducing field loading time from three seconds to one second, don't significantly impact average users.
In our B2B organization, which consists of numerous companies each generating several million dollars in revenue, teams only need 5-10 strong features. Additional features are primarily useful for central sales revenue operations teams handling reports and analysis. For average users in a B2B services organization, the current feature set is sufficient.
Over the last few months, we have received many AI features and co-pilot integration into Teams. However, additional CRM features are not necessary for our usage.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Dynamics 365 Sales for six months.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
There were no challenges when Dynamics 365 Sales was deployed. I was part of the user group rather than the deployment effort. A large transformation team briefed us and demonstrated the system. The transition from SAP was welcome as Dynamics 365 Sales is significantly better. We now have mobile phone access and Teams integration, with an intuitive layout that is easier to handle.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We haven't experienced any significant problems. Any local issues have been resolved within two hours, making it quite reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have a global deployment across our organization in approximately 180 countries through Microsoft Azure cloud. We can all work together on the same Microsoft platform, accessing data from across the world on Dynamics 365 Sales by applying country filters.
The deployment team was substantial, with a central team managing deployment across 150 countries, consisting of approximately 20 to 30 people.
How are customer service and support?
The overall technical support of Microsoft deserves a rating of 10 out of 10.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used SAP, which was considerably more difficult to use. SAP lacked mobile phone access and Teams integration. Dynamics 365 Sales provides a more intuitive and efficient experience.
How was the initial setup?
The deployment was actually a migration from SAP to Dynamics 365 Sales, conducted country by country. In the US, it took six to eight months. For India, the changeover was announced four months before implementation, with data migration taking approximately four months for that geography alone.
What about the implementation team?
A central team managed the global deployment across 150 countries, comprising approximately 20 to 30 people.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We transitioned from SAP to Dynamics 365 Sales. The migration was smooth, and users appreciated the improved interface and functionality compared to SAP.
What other advice do I have?
As a user, five essential features are sufficient rather than having 50 different options. In our business model, where individual businesses handle 10-20 high-value accounts, simplicity is key. The solution serves as a global record-keeping system for others to access information.
I would rate this solution 9 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?