Microsoft emphasizes Dynamics integrations at Business Applications Summit

Microsoft emphasized Dynamics 365 integrations, the Power BI platform, and machine learning at the launch of the 2018 Business Applications Summit in Seattle.  Company executives and product managers are highlighting new and upcoming capabilities in multiple apps, including Dynamics 365 for Marketing, Sales, Talent, and Field Service.

The company is also using the event to promote some of its newest application areas, including mixed reality scenarios using HoloLens (and Field Service), PowerApps for low-code developers, and the underlying Azure foundations for professional developers. Timed with the Summit, Microsoft also opened up release notes detailing upcoming changes for October, 2018.

"Our belief is that data is at the center of the opportunity ahead of us," said James Phillips, CVP of the Business Applications Group at Microsoft. "Data is coming out of everything...everything is being wired up with telemetry, every motor is emitting telemetry, every web search."

In many cases, the basic layout of CRMs has not changed dramatically between 1978 and the 2010s, but Phillips said that that is changing with Dynamics 365. He described D365 as introducing new characteristics.

Think about mixed reality... [and the] ability to augment the reality in front of you. You think about social networks, mobile the ability to have micro-apps with you all the time collecting data at the right moments. [Unification] is particularly important in the cloud, where there's an opportunity or a potential to have your data fragmented all over the place. Having it in a unified form [is key] when you're promising to deliver stuff.