D365 Finance & Operations Copilot Capabilities – AI Summaries

 

  

Hello Everyone,

We are all familiar with the transformative potential of AI and generative AI across various platforms. This revolution extends to our area of keen interest—Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP. Specifically, Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations introduces Copilot, a feature designed to leverage AI to enhance the capabilities of our financial and operational management across D365.

Microsoft recently expanded its suite of features with the introduction of AI Summaries in Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations Copilot. In this article, I will guide you through the detailed features of AI Summaries, the prerequisites for their use, and how to enable them in your system.

This article covers below topics.

Ø  Introduction to D365 F&O Copilot

Ø  D365 AI Summaries with Copilot             

·        Introduction

·        Features

·        Prerequisites

·        Feedback Option on Summary Pages

·        Capabilities of AI summaries with Copilot

·        References

Before deep dive into AI Summaries lets have an introduction on Microsoft D365 Finance and Operations Copilot.

Introduction to D365 F&O Copilot:

D365 Finance and Operations Copilot is an intelligent assistant integrated within the Dynamics 365 ecosystem. It leverages AI and machine learning to provide users with insights, recommendations, and automated processes, helping to streamline complex tasks and improve decision-making.

D365 Finance and Operations Copilot Capabilities :

•        Sidecar (Chatbot) – Copilot sits alongside the application as a sidecar and provides conversational support to the user. The sidecar is the primary Copilot interface in finance and operations apps. It provides a natural language chat experience that helps users work with application functionality and data. For example, the generative help and guidance with Copilot (preview) feature is provided as a sidecar.

•        Embedded – These Copilot features add intelligent capabilities to the application itself. In this way, they bring AI to the center of the application experience. For example, in the Confirmed purchase orders with changes workspace, AI capabilities that are built into the page help users understand and react to changes in confirmed purchase orders.

•        Outside – External agents help orchestrate across different apps and tasks. For example, users can use Copilot to ask questions about finance and operations data. For more information, see FAQ for finance and operations data on Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Now lets get into our topic D365 AI summaries with Copilot.

Introduction to D365 AI summaries with Copilot :

AI summaries with Microsoft Copilot are available on many of the most-used pages in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management.

These summaries provide a quick overview of the most important information that's

• Related to the current page / form / record
• Personalized for the current user.

Summaries can include information such as

• The number of lines on a purchase order
• The number of items in a warehouse
• The number of overdue invoices for a vendor.

The information that Copilot provides depends on the current page and user context. For example, the information can vary based on the other pages that the user works with the most, and it's limited based on the user's security roles and permissions.

The detailed Features, Prerequisites, enable / disable features, example summaries and feedback.

Features of AI summaries with Copilot :

Below is the Holistic view of AI Summary features in related business processes.

Copilot Summary - Products and Released Products :

Below screenshot shows the Product summary when you hover over on the item number on the sales order line.

Below screenshot shows the released product summary when you details page of items.

Copilot Summary - Vendors and Customers :

You can see a the below summary details on copilot summary fast tab of details page of Customers and vendors form.

Copilot Summary - Purchase Orders :

You can see a the below summary details on copilot summary fast tab of details page of purchases orders form.

Copilot Summary - Sales Orders :

You can see a the below summary details on copilot summary fast tab of details page of Sales orders form.

     

1-Filter to not fully picked lines : This function will filter the sales lines which are not fully picked which helps user to review them easily.

2-Filter to overdue or nearly overdue lines : This function will filter the sales lines which are overdue or nearing overdue which helps user to review them easily and can take necessary actions.

Copilot Summary - Warehouse Management App :

Warehouse Management mobile app insights are provided to warehouse workers when they sign in (depending on configuration) and are available on demand by going to the Summary page.

Prerequisites:

Below table describes the prerequires of D365 ERP, Power Platform & D365 feature management.

  

Note : All these features in D365 are enabled by default within the feature management workspace. However, if your customer does not need a specific feature and wishes to disable it, they can do so through the feature management settings.

Customers will be excited to explore these new features and may seek additional insights tailored to their business needs.

Feedback Option on Summary Pages :

In the all the Summary pages you have feedback options like / dislike. When you wanted the refined information in the summary pages don’t forget to provide feedback. Depending on the feedback given and in the next run or refresh the page will provide you more accurate results.   

Capabilities of AI summaries with Copilot :

• Generates natural-language summaries of information that's available on the pages where they appear and other related pages.
• Uses the gpt-3.5-turbo generative AI model to generate the natural-language content.
• Summaries and content are generated from data records that are stored in the system.

References :

You can find more information in below Microsoft learn pages.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/supply-chain/get-started/copilot-summaries-overview

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/supply-chain/faq-summaries

 Thanks,

Happy Learning 😊

A reference to Dynamics.Ax.ProcessAutomation is required to compile this module

Hello Everyone,

For our customer, we recently upgraded to version 10.0.40.

Version validation for business scenarios, integrations, and reporting went smoothly in the T-2 and PROD environments.

However, when attempting to upgrade the T-1 Development and Build environments, we encountered the following build error.

Issue :

The deployment of version 10.0.40 was successfully completed through LCS. However, when attempting to build the custom model, an error occurred: "A reference to Dynamics.Ax.ProcessAutomation, version = 0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null is required to compile this module."

Resolution :

When I checked our custom model for referenced models, I did not find the ProcessAutomation model.

After including the ProcessAutomation model, the build was successful.

Therefore, if you have not already referenced this model, you may encounter these issues.

Conclusion :

Include a reference to the ProcessAutomation model in your custom model to resolve the roadblock.

Mean while i was trying to explore what is Process Automation Framework and found below interesting information.

The process automation framework is a set of APIs that allows implement process automation processes.

Process automation is based on a system-critical batch job called poller that runs every minute and invokes various subsystems of the process automation framework.

Please read the below interesting blog written by Francisco Zanon on Process Automation.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/process-automation-framework-francisco-zanon/

Thanks for reading.

Happy Learning :)

Configure D365 Warehouse Mobile App with user-based authentication

Hello Everyone,

If you are using D365 WMS mobile app for your warehouse operations. Now its time to make changes to the authentication from Service based to User based if you have not already moved. 

Its a mandatory change from Microsoft, if not warehouse users will not be able to use the warehouse mobile app for their day to day operations and its effective from 15th July 2024.

To make sure, users continue to work on WMS app, need to transit from service-based to user-based authentication. In this article, will provide the steps to migrate from service-based to user-based authentication.

It requires two level of configuration as follows.

1.      Register an Azure Application 

2.      Create new connection in WMS app

Register an application for user-based authentication

Kindly follow the steps in the respective order.

1.     Login to Azure portal, https://portal.azure.com

2.     In the Azure portal, on the left navigation pane, select Microsoft Entra ID.

3.     In the Manage list, select App registrations.

On the toolbar, select New registration to open the Register an application wizard. 

4.     Enter a name for the application, select the Accounts in this organizational directory only option, and then select Register.    

6.     Your new app registration is opened. Make a note of the Application (client) ID, Tenant ID values, because you'll need it later. 

7.     In the Manage list, select Authentication. 

8.     On the Authentication page for the new app, set the Enable the mobile and desktop flows option to Yes to enable the device code flow for your application. Then select Save.

Select Add a platform.

In the Configure platform dialog box, select Mobile and desktop applications.

In the Configure Desktop + devices dialog box, set the Custom redirect URIs field to the following value:

ms-appx-web://microsoft.aad.brokerplugin/S-1-15-2-3857744515-191373067-2574334635-916324744-1634607484-364543842-2321633333

 Note: It’s important to know, sometimes the above-mentioned URI might not work, in this case you will get an error at the time of sign in under WMS app. The URI mentioned in that error message should be added as another URI.

 Select Configure to save your settings and close the dialog boxes.

You return to the Authentication page, which now shows your new platform configuration. Select Add a platform again.

14In the Manage list, select API permissions.

15Select Add a permission.

16In the Request API permissions dialog box, on the Microsoft APIs tab, select the Dynamics ERP tile and then the Delegated permissions tile. Under CustomService, select the CustomService.FullAccess checkbox. Finally, select Add permissions to save your changes.

17On the left navigation pane, select Overview. Then click the link under Managed application in local directory.

18This will take you to Enterprise application. Confirm that the Application ID value for the app that's found matches the client ID that you copied earlier.

19In the Manage list, select Properties.

20Set the Assignment required? option to Yes and the Visible to users? option to No. Then select Save on the toolbar.

21In the Manage list, select Users and groups.

22On the toolbar, select Add user/group. 

    On the Add Assignment page, select the link under the Users heading.

24In the Users dialog box, select each user that you'll use to authenticate devices with Supply Chain Management.

25Click Select to apply your settings and close the dialog box. Then select Assign to apply your settings and close the Add Assignment page.

26In the Security list, select Permissions.

27Select Grant admin consent for <your tenant>, and grant admin consent on behalf of your users. If you lack the necessary permissions, return to the Manage list, open Properties, and set the Assignment required? option to False. Each user can then provide consent individually.

WWith this registration of the azure application is completed.

Create new connection in WMS app

Install the application on Desktop/Mobile device as you require. The easiest way to install the app on a single device is to install it from an app store, which always provides the latest generally available version. Microsoft Intune can also fetch apps from the app stores. Use one of the following links to install the app from an app store:

• Windows (UWP): Warehouse Management on Microsoft Store
• Android: Warehouse Management on Google Play Store
• iOS: Warehouse Management on Apple App Store

There are multiple ways to create connection, we are explaining the option input manually.

1.     Open the app you have installed, select Set up connection.

2.     Select input manually.

3.      You have the following fields to fill in –

o   Connection name – Name of the connection (can be anything, specific to device).

o   Environment URL – Base URL of environment for eg., https://<environmentname>.operations.dynamics.com

o   Company – Legal entity for eg., USMF.

o   Authentication method – Username and Password.

o   Domain name – microsoft.com (Keep it, as it is)

o   Use Broker – No

o   Cloud – Manual

o   Microsoft Entra ID tenant – https://login.microsoftonline.com/<tenant Id>

o   Microsoft Entra ID Client ID – <Client Id>

Hit Save after filling above mentioned information. 

5.     Tenant ID and Client ID can be referred in azure portal, under registered application. Please find the screenshot for reference. 

o   Application ID = Client ID

o   Directory ID = Tenant ID

Now click on Connect.

7.     Fill only username (this username should belong to one of the users you have added during step 27 while registering app).

8.     Request you to login with the password.

9.     Once you’re logged in successfully you will land to following page.

10   Fill your Worker Id and Password to login.

In step 13 I had mentioned a note, you may get an error while logging in with your username (step 7 of creating connection).

Read the error message and copy the highlighted URI and add it on the Authentication page of your registered app. Then try again.

I hope now you successfully logged into WMA.

Thanks,

Happy Learning 😊

Dynamics 365 FastTrack Architecture Insights: HR Infrastructure Merge

Hello Everyone, 

Introduction:

In this blog post, we will explore the key insights from the Dynamics 365 FastTrack Architecture Insights- HR Infrastructure Merge. The Fasttrack video provides valuable information about the FastTrack program, frequently asked questions (FAQs), timelines, and migration guidelines related to merging HR infrastructures using Dynamics 365. Let's dive in and gain a better understanding of this informative video.

FastTrack Program Overview:
The FastTrack program offered by Dynamics 365 is designed to help organizations accelerate their adoption and successful implementation of Microsoft solutions, including Dynamics 365. By leveraging FastTrack, businesses can receive guidance, best practices, resources, and direct assistance from Microsoft experts throughout their implementation journey.

HR Infrastructure Merge:

1. FAQs
   In the first chapter of the video, the FastTrack team addresses frequently asked questions related to HR infrastructure merging with Dynamics 365. They provide insights into common concerns, challenges, and potential solutions organizations might face during the process.
2. Timelines
   The second chapter focuses on the timelines involved in the HR infrastructure merge. The FastTrack team provides an overview of the different stages, from planning and preparation to data migration and go-live. They emphasize the importance of aligning these timelines with business goals and ensuring a smooth transition.
3. 
4. Migration Guidelines
   In the final chapter, the FastTrack team shares valuable migration guidelines related to HR infrastructure merging. They discuss best practices, recommended tools, data mapping considerations, and important factors to keep in mind during the migration process. These guidelines aim to ensure data integrity and a successful implementation of Dynamics 365 for HR.
5. Current state for Standalone HR & F&O environments
6. Future state for HR + F&O Environments

Conclusion:
The Dynamics 365 FastTrack Architecture Insights video on "HR Infrastructure Merge" provides organizations with critical insights into successfully merging HR infrastructures using Dynamics 365. By leveraging the FastTrack program, businesses can streamline the transition, address common challenges, and ensure a smooth implementation process. Whether you're considering a merger or already in the process, this video offers valuable guidance to support your journey.

Please remember to watch the full VIDEO on Microsoft Learn for a comprehensive understanding of the FastTrack program, FAQs, timelines, and migration guidelines.

Thank you :)

Happy learning !

Glimpse of Data Archival feature in D365 Finance and Operations

Hello Everyone,

Microsoft released long waiting and much required feature called Data Archival in D365 F&O which is very useful for archiving transactions inside D365FO.

Please go through Microsoft learn page to know more about the feature and how to enable it : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/fin-ops-core/dev-itpro/sysadmin/archive-overview

Approach :

• Archives transactional data to history tables in the transactional SQL database.

• History tables have limited indexing, the amount of storage space that's used is significantly reduced.

• Helps prevent processing delays in other areas of the app, by moving the data from the live tables to the history tables.

Data archiving steps :

• Copy the specified data range from the live tables to the history tables.

• Remove the specified data range from the live tables.

Currently Supports :

• Archive general ledger data

• Archive sales orders

• Extend the archive solution to support custom tables and fields - with this can be designed for custom tables as well.

Prerequisites:

• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management 10.0.34 or later.

• The data archive micro-service (Add-on) must be installed on your system from Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services. For more information, see Install the Archive add-in from Lifecycle Services.
• The following features must be turned on in Feature management. For more information, see Enable the features that you need.
  • (Preview) Archive
  • (Preview) Archive sales orders to history tables
  • (Preview) Archive sales orders to history tables using archive service

Data validations /Conditions to consider for archiving (Ex Sales orders)

• The sales orders that you want to archive are fully invoiced.

• Sales invoices that are related to the sales orders are at least one year old.

• The ledger period that includes a related sales invoice is either closed or on hold.

• Inventory has been closed for the period that includes a related sales invoice.

Will come up with more information on Data Archive process and latest updates in next blogs.

Thank you 😊

Happy Learning.

Environment administrator for D365 F&O Production instance

Hello Everyone,

While provisioning D365 finance PROD instance in LCS, service accounts are recommended instead of named user accounts because of the following reasons.

• Environment cannot be able to access if the named user account is used as admin and user is not available.
• Some scenarios where only the Admin user can access an environment are:
  • First log-on after initial deployment to any environment – Only the admin user account can access the environment
  • First log-on to an environment after database movement – Only the admin user account is enabled
  • You will have to add the generic account to the LCS project as user in order to set it as environment admin
  • The Admin user is critical in some situations in the apps, such as when system batch jobs are run. These jobs must run with administrator privileges.

But in some cases, administrators realizes later after provisioning the environment with a named user.

Can change environment admin?

Yes, definitely you can change the environment admin user, but it may require a downtime. 

Impact : Causes downtime to the target finance and operations apps environment.

Prerequisites :

• You must be a project owner in the LCS project.
• The new administrator account must be a member of the same tenant that the environment belongs to.
• Plan for the downtime with appropriate approval in your organization.
• If you are going to change domain for the environment, you need to get new ISV license file(s) that references the new domain.

Update environment administrator :

For updating the environment administrator, please go through the steps explained in below.

1. In LCS, go to your project, and open your environment details page.
2. Select Maintain > Update environment admin.
3. In the dialog box that appears, select another Project Owner or Environment Admin user from your LCS project.
4. Select Save.

Please refer Microsoft docs LINK for more information.

Thank you 😊

Happy Learning.

Middleware options for D365 F&O integrations

 Hello Everyone,

We know, now a days integration requirements are increasing tremendously for d365fo implementations to make smooth communication with customers existing systems. This is to give an overview of different applications available which can help to explore middleware needs for D365 finance requirements and gives ideas how to create our own middleware applications by considering different parameters.

There are several middleware solutions available for integrating D365 FO with other systems. Here are some suggestions with quick overview:

1. Microsoft Power Automate (formerly known as Microsoft Flow): Power Automate is a cloud-based service that allows users to create workflows and automate tasks across multiple applications and services. It has pre-built connectors to many popular systems and applications, including D365 Finance Operations.
2. Dell Boomi: Dell Boomi is a cloud-based middleware solution that enables users to connect applications and data across on-premises and cloud environments. It has pre-built connectors to many popular systems and applications, including D365 Finance Operations.
3. Azure Logic Apps: Azure Logic Apps is a cloud-based service that enables users to create workflows and automate tasks across multiple applications and services. It has pre-built connectors to many popular systems and applications, including D365 Finance Operations.
4. MuleSoft: MuleSoft is a middleware platform that enables users to connect applications, data, and devices across on-premises and cloud environments. It has pre-built connectors to many popular systems and applications, including D365 Finance Operations.
5. Celigo: Celigo is a cloud-based integration platform that enables users to connect applications and data across on-premises and cloud environments. It has pre-built connectors to many popular systems and applications, including D365 Finance Operations.
6. Azure Service Bus & Function apps : Azure Service Bus is a fully managed enterprise message broker with message queues and publish-subscribe topics (in a namespace). Service Bus is used to decouple applications and services from each other, providing the benefits like Load-balancing work across competing workers. Function app which can be fully customized for the requirements and to couple source and target API end points.

When selecting a middleware solution for D365 Finance Operations integrations, it's important to consider factors such as the complexity of the integration, the volume of data to be processed and the level of customization required. It's also important to ensure that the middleware solution has adequate security measures in place to protect sensitive data.

Thank you 😂

Happy Learning.