Unified Dynamics Experience: Advancing Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations with One Dynamics One Platform

Microsoft’s One Dynamics One Platform (ODOP) initiative marks a significant shift in how Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (D365 FO) integrates with the Power Platform. This effort brings enhanced development, administration, and application lifecycle management (ALM) capabilities to businesses, making operations more streamlined, collaborative, and innovative. In this article, we’ll explore how these changes impact everyday workflows and offer tips on getting the most out of these new tools.

Unified Development Experience – A New Era for Developers

Released in June 2024, the Unified Development Environment (UDE) allows developers to work entirely in the cloud, enabling code editing, debugging, and deployment without traditional local setup complexities. This shift has been especially beneficial for teams looking to adopt modern development practices.

Real-World Application

Imagine a global development team working on customizations for D365 FO. In the past, each developer had to log into a separate virtual machine (VM) for their development environment. Maintaining these VMs often included managing operating system updates, installing dependencies, and ensuring compatibility—all of which compounded when working on multiple client projects. This resulted in significant overhead for setup and maintenance, cutting into time that could have been spent on actual development.

With the Unified Development Environment (UDE), these challenges are eliminated. Developers no longer need to rely on VMs to start their work. Instead, development can begin directly from their local workstation through Visual Studio, enabling a more streamlined workflow. This not only reduces the time required to set up and maintain environments but also simplifies switching between client projects.

Additionally, UDE integrates seamlessly with Dataverse, allowing developers to synchronize data effortlessly across Power Platform applications. This integration is especially useful for creating solutions that extend D365 FO functionality with tools like Power Apps or Power Automate, ensuring a consistent and connected experience across the entire ecosystem.

To dive deeper into this new development experience, watch the TechTalk: Unified Development Experience for Finance and Operations, where Microsoft experts explore its benefits and practical applications.

For additional details, refer to the Unified Developer Experience for Finance and Operations Apps documentation.

Unified Admin Experience Simplifying Management

The Unified Admin Experience introduces a centralized hub for managing D365 FO environments within the Power Platform Admin Center. Administrators can now handle provisioning, lifecycle operations, and capacity management from one interface.

From Manual Provisioning to Automation

Previously, deploying a new test environment required first negotiating a contract with Microsoft to allocate resources, followed by manual installation through Lifecycle Services (LCS). For tier-2+ environments, this process often included linking the environment to a separately configured Power Platform instance, adding further complexity and setup time. Every action, from provisioning environments to managing configurations, had to be performed manually through the LCS UI, making automation nearly impossible.

This also applied to development environments, which were provisioned as virtual machines through LCS. While the Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations application was installed automatically, additional configurations were required. These included setting up Visual Studio, installing dependencies, configuring local applications, and applying specific settings on each virtual machine to meet project requirements. This had to be done individually for every environment, significantly increasing manual effort and maintenance overhead.

With the Unified Admin Experience, these barriers are eliminated. Administrators can now provision environments directly from templates in the Power Platform Admin Center (PPAC), ensuring consistency and reducing setup time to mere minutes. This streamlined approach also supports the transition to a capacity-based model, allowing organizations to scale environments as needed without lengthy negotiations or delays.

In addition, database copying, which previously had to be performed manually through LCS, can now be automated via Power Platform tools. The new environment types also introduce greater flexibility for copying options, such as Full Copy, Transactionless Copy (code and database without transaction data), and Code Only. These options provide administrators with more control over the copied data and environments, catering to specific testing or development needs while saving time and reducing manual intervention.

In the new model, automation is finally a reality. Environments can be provisioned programmatically using APIs or scripts, enabling faster and more efficient deployments. Development environments no longer need to be ordered and managed via LCS; instead, they can be integrated directly into the workflow through tools like Visual Studio. This modern approach simplifies the provisioning process, accelerates delivery timelines, and allows teams to focus on value-added tasks rather than manual configuration.

To better understand these capabilities, the TechTalk: Unified Admin Experience for Finance and Operations provides a comprehensive overview of how these tools simplify administrative workflows.

For a step-by-step guide, check out the tutorial on provisioning environments and the Unified Admin Overview.

Unified ALM Streamlining Deployments

With unified pipelines, ALM processes for D365 FO are now more aligned with Power Platform's deployment workflows. CI/CD automation ensures consistency across development, test, and production environments, minimizing errors during rollouts.

For a deeper understanding of ALM improvements, the TechTalk: Unified Development ALM for Finance and Operations showcases how to implement and benefit from these unified pipelines.

What Does This Mean for Your Business?

The Unified Dynamics Experience is more than just a technical enhancement; it’s an opportunity to rethink collaboration, innovation, and operational efficiency. Here are three key areas businesses can focus on to leverage these changes:

Development practices are evolving rapidly, and transitioning to cloud-based workflows ensures your team stays agile and productive. By integrating D365 FO with the Power Platform, you can accelerate customization and enhance scalability.
Managing environments becomes simpler with the Unified Admin Experience. This consolidation reduces administrative overhead, ensures consistency, and supports better resource allocation as your business needs grow.
Power Apps allows businesses to rapidly build tailored applications that integrate seamlessly with D365 FO, enabling teams to address unique workflows efficiently without the need for extensive customizations.
AI-driven tools like Copilot are becoming more accessible as part of the Unified Dynamics Experience. Copilot can automate repetitive tasks, provide intelligent recommendations, and improve decision-making, giving organizations a competitive edge while simplifying everyday processes.

Final Thoughts

Microsoft’s ODOP initiative is redefining the future of ERP by making D365 FO more accessible, scalable, and integrated than ever before. Whether you're a developer, administrator, or business leader, these changes provide powerful tools to enhance your workflows and unlock new opportunities.