Richard Humphreys |
In a new blog post, Scott Guthrie, executive vice president for Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise Group has unveiled a number of new business solutions and capabilities that are coming to Microsoft Dynamics 365.
“You don’t have to look far to find companies that are disrupting their industries by applying software and technology to transform customer experiences, improve operations and create new opportunities,” Guthrie said. “As the rate of disruption increases, customers are looking to transform the very nucleus of their companies – the business processes and systems used to run operations, connect with customers and manage teams – to drive better business outcomes. But many of those systems, particularly the CRM and ERP systems of the past, are siloed, complicated and outdated. The result: customers are slowed down by fragmented, disconnected and unintelligent business applications that don’t give them a holistic view of their business.
Guthrie said that there is a better way. “Last July we introduced Dynamics 365, powered by Microsoft Azure, turning what was rigid and disconnected into a set of intelligent cloud services that allow any business to start small with just what it needs, scale on demand as its needs grow and add additional solutions as its needs change,” he explains. “With Dynamics 365 we deliver modern, intelligent experiences and services that connect all the data across your enterprise to help you make better, faster decisions and achieve optimal outcomes.
“Since the release we’ve seen customers like HP, AccuWeather, Ecolab, Helsana and the Renault Sports Formula One Team transform their businesses using Dynamics 365. Today we’re excited to share the new capabilities our teams have been working on and how they can help you transform your business.”
One of the new features is integration with LinkedIn that will help salespeople deliver better outcomes using insights from LinkedIn Sales Navigator and LinkedIn’s 500 million professionals. According to Guthrie, Sales Navigator with Dynamics 365 will dramatically increase the effectiveness of salespeople by tapping into their professional networks and relationships, giving them the ability to improve their pipeline. It will do this by:
- Leveraging signals across email, CRM and LinkedIn to get contextual recommendations for the next best action within Dynamics 365 for Sales, facilitating introductions directly through the company’s network, and sending InMail, messages and customised connection requests
- Engaging buyers with tailored content throughout the account lifecycle, and getting account and lead updates including news mentions and job changes
- Building strong relationships with existing contacts through access to LinkedIn profile details including photos, current roles and work history.
To help companies better manage and nurture their employees, Microsoft is also introducing a new application for HR organisations called Dynamics 365 for Talent. From sourcing and recruiting, to onboarding and retention, Dynamics 365 for Talent provides a 360-degree view of the workforce with modules that empower an organisation to:
- Access the best talent, more quickly, with LinkedIn Recruiter integrations that enable dynamic candidate profiles to give managers and interviewers the most up-to-date information
- Deliver personalised onboarding experiences that accelerate employees’ ability to deliver impact with targeted activities and learning resources, along with access to relevant contacts
- Maintain an up-to-date view of employee experiences through a consolidated HR profile spanning Office 365, Dynamics 365 and LinkedIn profile information
- Drive operational excellence, measure business impact and improve program effectiveness with integrated intelligence that lets you maximise your human resources.
“The new Dynamics 365 for Talent with LinkedIn integration will bring together the place companies find talent and the world of work in Office 365 in a new, modern HR experience designed to make companies and employees more successful, available starting in July,” Guthrie said.
Microsoft is also enabling customer-centric retail experiences with Dynamics 365 for Retail, a new intelligent cloud service that provides retailers with an integrated end-to-end view of their operations with centralised management and clear visibility across stores, employees, customers, inventory and financials.
Features include modern, mobile-optimised point of sale experiences that empower front line employees to deliver exceptional customer service and improve sales; powerful omni-channel capabilities that allow shoppers to engage with retailers on their terms and to buy, fulfil and return anywhere; and data driven retail experiences that enable customer engagement at every touch point.
As well as all of this, Guthrie outlined several additional updates that will be made across Dynamics 365 including Dynamics 365 Business Edition apps for sales and marketing, available in preview July 1; new industry-specific solutions available in Microsoft AppSource; and plans to deliver Dynamics 365 from local datacentres in the UK and Germany.
Find out more here.