Onboard your organization and users to Dynamics 365 (online)
Applies To: Dynamics 365 (online), Dynamics 365 (on-premises), Dynamics CRM 2013, Dynamics CRM 2015, Dynamics CRM Online, Dynamics CRM 2016
New to Dynamics 365 (online)? We've put together step-by-step guidance whether you’re still evaluating Dynamics 365 (online), ready to make a purchase, or ready to onboard your organization and users.
Note
This topic is targeted at administrators for Dynamics 365 (online). Many of the features covered in this topic are also available for Dynamics 365 (on-premises). If a feature is available only for Dynamics 365 (online), it’s indicated in the topic. For more information about which features are available for Dynamics 365 (online) vs. Dynamics 365 (on-premises), see Dynamics 365 - Online vs on-premises features FAQ
Step One: Try out Dynamics 365 (online) in a free 30-day trial
If you haven’t already purchased Dynamics 365 (online), we recommend you start with a free 30-day trial. You can try out any of the Dynamics 365 apps, including Sales, Customer Service, Field Service, Project Service Automation, Operations, or Financials.
To get the most out of your free trial, watch this video: How to get the most out of your 30-day trial.
Step Two: Buy and manage a subscription
With Dynamics 365 (online), you can evolve your business on your terms. Start with just what you need to run your business. For example, you might want to start with the Dynamics 365 for Sales app or the Dynamics 365 for Customer Service app, and then add more apps as your needs change. More information: Evolve your business on your terms
There are four ways to buy a subscription of Dynamics 365 (online):
Convert from a trial
Buy direct
Buy through volume licensing
Buy through a cloud solution provider
In this section:
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Convert from a trial
Buy direct
Buy through volume licensing
Buy through a cloud solution provider
Choose your support
Set up points of contacts for communications
Plan your deployment
Manage subscriptions, licenses, and user accounts
Add a Partner of Record to share account details with your partner
Convert from a trial
The simplest way to buy Dynamics 365 (online) is to click the Buy Now button from one of the sidebars in the free 30-day trial:
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Note
If your trial has expired, you’ll receive an email that includes a Buy Today button.
When you convert from a trial, you keep any customizations you made during the trial period.
More information:
Buy direct
To buy direct, go to the Dynamics 365 pricing page. This page includes several different plans to fit your organization’s needs.
Buy through volume licensing
If your organization has 250 or more Dynamics 365 users, you may be interested in purchasing a Dynamics 365 enterprise licensing agreement.
Buy through a cloud solution provider
A cloud solution provider can work closely with you to understand the needs of your business or organization. Learn how to find a Dynamics 365 partner.
Choose your support
Microsoft provides flexible, industry-leading support, services, and resources that enable users to quickly address technical issues and maximize return on your Dynamics 365 investment. Choose a plan that best meets your business requirements. More information: Dynamics 365 Support
Set up points of contacts for communications
Microsoft regularly maintains and updates Dynamics 365 (online) to ensure security, performance, and availability, and to provide new features and functionality. From time to time, Microsoft also responds to service incidents. For each of these activities, the Dynamics 365 admin for your organization receives email notifications. You have control over who should receive these email communications.
More information:
Manage subscriptions, licenses, and user accounts
As a Microsoft Online Services administrator, you manage the Dynamics 365 (online) subscription, including billing and payments, user licenses, accounts and registration. You do these tasks in the Office 365 admin center. More information: Manage subscriptions, licenses, and user accounts.
Add a Partner of Record to share account details with your partner
Many customers choose to work with a designated Microsoft partner to set up, customize, deploy, and administer their Dynamics 365 instance(s). If you have a partner assisting you, this process can be facilitated by selecting a designated Partner of Record (POR) inside the Office 365 Portal. This enables the sharing of select details, such as contact and user information with your POR. Sharing this information will allow your partner to more quickly access information about your account, create support requests on your behalf, and work with Microsoft to assist with your accounts. More information: Manage subscriptions, licenses, and user accounts.
Step Three: Plan your deployment and learn about FastTrack
Microsoft FastTrack for Dynamics 365 is our customer success service designed to help you move to Dynamics 365 smoothly and confidently, so you can realize business value faster. When you participate in the FastTrack program, you will receive guidance on best practices and how to plan for successful rollouts. You will also learn ways to enable new users and expand capabilities – all at your own pace. Additionally, you will have access to Microsoft engineering resources committed to make your experience with Dynamics 365 a success.
More information: Microsoft FastTrack for Dynamics 365.
Plan your deployment
Many decisions you make at the beginning and throughout the deployment process can have downstream effects and impact other phases of the plan. Developing a plan to deploy Dynamics 365 is important in determining the actions to take from inception to go live. The amount of resources involved in planning depends on the size and scope of the project. Large organizations may need a deployment team, while a small organization may assign these functions to a key person.
Often times an organization will employ an independent software vendor (ISV), value-added reseller, or partner to help implement and maintain a Dynamics 365 deployment. Partners bring experience, best practices, and industry expertise that will be valuable in the planning and deployment process. Find a partner if you don’t have one.
More information:
Step Four: Onboard your organization
After you purchase a subscription to Dynamics 365 (online), it’s time to onboard your organization.
In this section:
Sign in to Dynamics 365 (online) and manage your subscription
Add users and assign security roles
Optional: Transfer customizations from your free 30-day trial
Manage storage
Create a sandbox (non-production instance)
Set organization-wide system settings
Import and export data
Set up Dynamics 365 for phones and Dynamics 365 for tablets
Set up Dynamics 365 App for Outlook
Integrate SharePoint document management
Integrate Skype or Skype for Business
Integrate Yammer
Integrate Office Delve to surface trending documents in Dynamics 365 (online)
Guide staff through common tasks with business processes
Customize and personalize Dynamics 365 (online) for your organization
Additional products and services
Preview features in Dynamics 365 (online)
On-going monitoring, maintenance, and administration
Keep track of new features
Troubleshooting, FAQ, and support
Videos, community, forums, and blogs
For developers
Sign in to Dynamics 365 (online) and manage your subscription
Add users and assign security roles
Dynamics 365 uses role-based security. The security role assigned to a user determines the tasks the user is permitted to perform and the data the user is permitted to view. Every user must be assigned at least one security role to access Dynamics 365.
More information:
Optional: Transfer customizations from your free 30-day trial
If you made customizations to your free trial, you can transfer those customizations to your production instance.
More information:
For more advanced scenarios, consider the following development tools: Solution tools for team development.
Manage storage
You can manage your organization’s data storage capacity in connection with your subscription to Dynamics 365 (online). The type of subscription you purchase determines the amount of storage initially allocated to your organization. If you run out of storage, you can add more.
More information:
Create a sandbox (non-production instance)
You can create a sandbox instance (non-production environment) for development, testing, training, and other non-production uses. Then when you’re ready to turn the sandbox instance into your production instance, you can switch it.
You get one free sandbox instance with your purchase of Dynamics 365 (online). You can also purchase additional sandbox instances.
More information:
Set organization-wide system settings
When you first set up Dynamics 365, you’ll want to set system-wide settings.
More information:
Import and export data
Dynamics 365 provides an import tool for importing simple data stored in files. If the import tool doesn't satisfy your data import requirements, you may want to contact a partner. Find a partner if you don’t have one.
More information:
Dynamics 365 (online) also provides advanced tools for exporting to Azure SQL Database. More information: Replicate data to Microsoft Azure SQL Database using Data Export Service
Set up Dynamics 365 for phones and Dynamics 365 for tablets
The Dynamics 365 mobile apps make it easy to stay connected with your prospects and customers no matter where you are, or what mobile device you’re using. Having access to Dynamics 365 data in the field also improves user adoption and productivity.
More information:
Configure mobile offline synchronization for Dynamics 365 for phones and tablets
Dynamics 365 for Phones and Tablets User's Guide
Set up Dynamics 365 App for Outlook
Your users can tap the power of Dynamics 365 from the familiar Microsoft Outlook environment. Working with a tool they already know speeds up the learning curve and makes them more productive.
Before deploying Dynamics 365 App for Outlook, you must connect Dynamics 365 to Microsoft Outlook using server-side synchronization.
More information:
Integrate SharePoint document management
When you integrate SharePoint with Dynamics 365, your teams can store documents with associated Dynamics 365 records and take advantage of all the other document management features provided by SharePoint. More information: Set up SharePoint integration with Dynamics 365
After you integrate SharePoint, you can set up OneNote, OneDrive for Business, or Office 365 Groups:
OneNote. When you turn on OneNote integration, your teams can use OneNote to take or review notes and store them with Dynamics 365 (online) records. More information: Set up OneNote integration in Dynamics 365
OneDrive for Business. Use OneDrive for Business to store private documents while working in Dynamics 365 (online). For example, start working on a document privately, such as a draft sales pitch. When the draft is far enough along, move it to an Office 365 Group for team collaboration. OneDrive for Business provides 1 TB or more of storage and documents are automatically synced to your desktop and mobile devices. More information: Use OneDrive for Business to manage your private documents
Office 365 Groups. Office 365 Groups provides a shared workspace for email, conversations, files, and events. Your teams can use Office 365 Groups to collaborate with people across your company, even if they don’t have access to Dynamics 365 (online). For example, create a group for your sales team, invite other Office 365 users to join the group, and then share documents, conversations, meeting notes, and OneNote information related to specific accounts or opportunities. More information: Collaborate with your colleagues using Office 365 Groups
Integrate Skype or Skype for Business
If your organization uses Skype or Skype for Business, you can take advantage of connectivity features like click-to-call or user presence from within Dynamics 365. More information: Skype for Business and Skype integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365
Integrate Yammer
Integrating Yammer, the enterprise social network, with Dynamics 365 encourages the sharing of information across your organization by bringing Yammer posts right into the Dynamics 365 interface. To integrate Yammer, you must have a Yammer enterprise license set up for each user in Dynamics 365. You can include a Yammer enterprise account license as an add-on to your Office 365 tenant through the Office 365 admin center. More information: Connect Dynamics 365 to Yammer
Integrate Office Delve to surface trending documents in Dynamics 365 (online)
Office Delve proactively surfaces trending documents on a user’s dashboard so they can discover new content and make new connections. More information: View relevant and trending information on a dashboard with Office Delve
Guide staff through common tasks with business processes
To help ensure that staff follow consistent steps every time they work with customers, Dynamics 365 includes several ready-to-use business processes for common sales, service, and marketing scenarios. Dynamics 365 also includes mobile task flows, and business rules/recommendations that you can use to apply form logic. You can use a drag-and-drop designer to create business processes, task flows, or business rules/recommendations.
Dynamics 365 also includes other processes like workflows and dialogs that serve different purposes.
More information:
Customize and personalize Dynamics 365 (online) for your organization
Dynamics 365 provides point-and-click customization tools to make the system work for your business needs. For example, create or modify fields, forms, views, dashboards, reports, charts, and more.
More information:
Video: 6 ways to customize Dynamics 365 without writing code
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To do advanced customizations, we recommend you work with a partner. Find a partner if you don’t have one.
Additional products and services
You may be interested in any of the following additional products and services as you onboard your organization to Dynamics 365 (online).
Microsoft Dynamics Marketing
Microsoft Dynamics Marketing is a powerful, integrated marketing management solution that provides exceptional insights, control over budgets and resources, and the ability to create automated, measurable multi-channel campaigns to deliver tangible results.
More information:
Microsoft Social Engagement
Connect Dynamics 365 to Microsoft Social Engagement to get social insights in Dynamics 365. Microsoft Social Engagement collects data from social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, and presents it in charts and graphs that you can use to spot emerging trends in people's comments, whether positive, negative, or neutral. Drill down into the data and analyze social conversations about your brand. Pinpoint what you're doing right and address potential concerns.
More information:
Portals capabilities for Dynamics 365 (online)
Portals capabilities for Dynamics 365 (online) empower people who prefer to find answers on their own through self-service and community options. Create portals to provide a more personalized experience for your customers, partners, or internal employees. For example, create portals for:
Customers to submit cases and find knowledge articles
Partners to see and manage sales opportunities
Internal employees to create and find best practices
More information: Deliver web engagement experience with portal capabilities for Dynamics 365
Customer Insights Service
Dynamics 365 for Customer Insights is a cloud-based SaaS service that enables organizations of all sizes to bring together data from multiple sources and generate knowledge and insights to build a holistic 360° view of their customers. Use Customer Insights to connect to transactional data sources and model profiles of customers and their interactions. The Customer Insights application transforms profile, interaction, and KPI’s into rich visuals that you can customize and organize to focus on what matters to you. More information: Customer Insights service
Microsoft Dynamics 365 - Gamification
Microsoft Dynamics 365 - Gamification allows employees to participate in individual and team-based games which motivate employees to achieve certain pre-defined metrics by offering prizes, awards, privileges, and recognition. The gamification solution relies on fun, engaging activities that drive collaboration and competition to increase performance and participation. The solution uniquely encourages broader participation by getting more employees in the game through drafting teams. Organizations typically see increased productivity, engagement, and performance as well as user adoption of business applications. More information: Dynamics 365 Gamification Help Center
Versium Predict
Use Versium Predict to increase your marketing and sales effectiveness. Enhance your existing marketing process with predictive analytics that allow you to precisely target your campaigns. Build predictive models, score leads, and more. More information: Versium Predict
Preview features in Dynamics 365 (online)
Preview features are features that aren’t complete, but are made available on a “preview” basis so customers can get early access and provide feedback. Find out what preview features are currently being offered: What are Preview features and how do I enable them?
On-going monitoring, maintenance, and administration
Keep track of new features
Troubleshooting, FAQ, and support
Troubleshooting and things to know about server-side synchronization
Troubleshooting and things to know about Dynamics 365 for tablets
Videos, community, forums, and blogs
For developers
Step Five: Onboard your users
After onboarding your organization, it's time to onboard your users.
Dynamics 365 includes separate apps for Sales, Customer Service, Field Service, Project Service Automation, Financials, and Operations. Having separate apps makes it easy for users to focus on just the tasks they need for their role.
In this section:
Train your users
Install Dynamics 365 for phones or Dynamics 365 for tablets
Install Dynamics 365 App for Outlook
Use Office apps with Dynamics 365
Empower your users with rich dashboards and reports
Get customer feedback with Voice of the Customer surveys
Keep users up-to-date with the latest
How to get help
Train your users
Studies show that you can greatly increase user adoption by devoting time to user training. Jumpstart training for your teams with the following resources:
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We also provide a Training & Adoption Kit that includes eBooks you can download and customize for your business needs. For example, add your company’s brand and create your own customized training. More information: Training & Adoption Kit for Microsoft Dynamics 365
Install Dynamics 365 for phones or Dynamics 365 for tablets
After you set up Dynamics 365 for phones and Dynamics 365 for tablets, your users can install the mobile app themselves.
More information:
Dynamics 365 for Phones and Tablets User's Guide
Install Dynamics 365 App for Outlook
Starting with a tool your users already know speeds up the learning curve and improves productivity.
If you have deployed Microsoft Dynamics 365 App for Outlook to your organization, your users can install the app themselves.
More information: Dynamics 365 App for Outlook User's Guide
Use Office apps with Dynamics 365
Dynamics 365 works with many Office apps in addition to Microsoft Outlook. Working with familiar tools improves user adoption and productivity.
More information:
Empower your users with rich dashboards and reports
Dynamics 365 is all about gaining insights from data. Dashboards collect a user’s most important data in one place in easy-to-read charts and lists. Users can select the dashboard that’s right for their role, or as the administrator or system customizer, you can modify the system dashboards or create new ones. Users can also create their own dashboards.
Dynamics 365 also comes with many built-in reports that your organization can use as is or modify. Or create new reports. When you need to provide deeper insights, take advantage of Power BI.
More information:
Get customer feedback with Voice of the Customer surveys
Create and send out surveys to get valuable feedback from your customers about your products or services. Respondents can take your surveys on a phone, tablet, or computer. You can see your customer's feedback history as you work a sale or resolve a service case. More information: Get feedback by using Voice of the Customer surveys
Keep users up-to-date with the latest
Let your users know and get excited about the latest updates to Dynamics 365. More information: What's new
How to get help
Dynamics 365 (online) provides Learning Path in-app guided tasks and videos in additional to eBooks and more traditional Help content.
More information: