Microsoft Dynamics 365® is a suite of cloud-based, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications that Microsoft began offering in the fall of 2016 as a full Software as a Service (SaaS) business application. Dynamics 365 is structured as an easy upgrade for what was Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online®, but not as a simple upgrade for other traditional Dynamics ERP offerings. (The topic of upgrades from Microsoft Dynamics to Microsoft Dynamics 365 is somewhat complicated, so if you’re a current user of any traditional Dynamics ERP offerings, I recommend reading this blog post.)

According to Microsoft, the general gist of Dynamics 365 is that it’s a series of applications that can, in combination, provide an all-in-one, prospect-to-cash ERP solution for all your business needs. If you don’t need all of the functionality provided by all of the apps, you can save money by only subscribing to the apps that you do need. In addition to offering seven main modules, as seen in the picture below, Microsoft has also launched an app marketplace called AppSource, where apps developed by partner resellers and Independent Software

Vendors (ISVs) can be purchased to add functionality to the primary offerings from Microsoft. The screenshot below shows the applications currently being featured on the Microsoft website:

Unfortunately, most of these apps aren’t using terms that we’re familiar with in the world of ERP solutions.