Microsoft launches Dynamics 365 / CRM v9, separating platform from apps

Msft slide from June 2017 preview of the v9 release  

Microsoft has made version 9.0 of its Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement apps generally available for new instances.

v9 includes updates that had been part of the previously-named July 2017 update that was previewed in June. Microsoft has highlighted three key classes of change in v9: the user interface for the tablet and phone; a transition to Azure services rather than the legacy CRM Online server architecture (at least for new systems); and the separation of the software architecture between app (sales, customer service, field service, etc.) and platform.

Sign up for a trial of the new release here. Update details for developers can be found here.

v9 only relates to the "enterprise edition" apps at this point, but the work related to separating the platform from the apps is expected to be a key component of Microsoft's ability to shed the enterprise and business edition model and instead offer a suite of Dynamics 365 composable apps - some which offer different tiers of the same capabilities like the SMB sales app now in preview - with fewer legacy conflicts.

Microsoft representatives have told partners that ...