Dynamics 365 & Power Apps

Data exports are often very necessary, however, allowing users to export data can lead to a number of risks for your organisation, from data breaches to compliance violations. Therefore, monitoring Dynamics 365 data exports closely is crucial and putting data governance practices in place to address this risk.  In terms of tracking or controlling Excel exports in Dynamics 365, there are several features that monitor user activities. However, it’s important to note that none of these tools specifically track data exports by default. Here’s what you can use to gain some visibility into user behaviour: 

• Audit Logs: Dynamics 365 auditing allows you to track activities such as record creation, modification, and deletion, but it does not track export activities. This feature is more focused on monitoring changes within the system itself rather than tracking data that leaves the system. 
• User Activity Reports: These reports provide a general overview of user activity, such as login times and interaction with records, but they do not track data exports. They may show you patterns of user behaviour, but they won’t show you who exported data and when.

So, while Microsoft Dynamics 365 does have some useful tools for tracking user activities, it doesn’t provide the level of detail needed to monitor data exports effectively.  For more control over data exports, you can use a specialised ‘Export to Excel’ tool like the Rocket CRM Export to Excel Tracker. This tool was created to address the glaring issue of Export to Excel function and the problems with existing native monitoring tools, by providing detailed tracking and real-time insights into export activities.    Find out more about Rocket CRM Export to Excel Tracker, which is currently available completely free for a limited time period. 

In August 2024, Microsoft announced that the Outbound Marketing Module in Microsoft Customer Insights – Journeys is being removed. This is to make space for an improved marketing functionality in the guise of Real-time Marketing. Outbound Marketing module users have two options:

1. Move fully over to Microsoft Customer Insights Journeys.
2. Switch to Click marketing software.

Microsoft is not the only one that has recently enhanced its offering. Click (formerly known as ClickDimensions) has added lots of new functionality to its product. Built natively in Dynamics 365 or PowerApps, it offers all the benefits of having your marketing data alongside all your sales and other data. Offering that coveted “single source of truth”. You also get a powerful marketing tool that is far more intuitive for the standard marketer. Outbound Marketing users have until June 30 2025, to take action. Read our guidance on this matter: A guide to transitioning from Outbound Marketing to Real-time Marketing in Microsoft Customer Insights Journeys.  

Data security and protecting your customer data is critical for any business. To safeguard your customer data, you can implement actions and processes to monitor data exports from your Dynamics 365 CRM. However, Dynamics 365 users can find controlling Excel export permissions tricky using the “Export to Excel” function, as it’s too blunt for everyday operations and impractical for some business roles. However, gaining visibility and control over Excel exports with a simple Excel Tracker tool App is possible. Rocket CRM’s Excel Tracker provides valuable insights on data exports, showing details such as who, when, and how many records were exported. This tool enables you to protect your customer data. Discover more about the Excel Tracker tool.

There are two major releases each year, which happen automatically, with nothing needing to be actioned by users. These updates offer new features, innovations and development designed to improve the user experience. We recently wrote about the 2022 Release Wave 1 from Microsoft, and those changes have not begun to be released to the general public. There are also weekly updates to ensure users have the best possible experience. Read the latest update on Dynamics 365 release wave 2024.

Yes, the unified interface is a responsive design so that regardless if you are viewing it on a desktop, mobile or tablet, it is a tidy and seamless experience regardless of the type, size or orientation. Speak to us for a free 30-minute consultation.

Yes, Microsoft Dynamics 365 is highly customizable, meaning it can be configured to meet your business’s unique needs. Unlike other custom-built CRMs, build time and implementation can be quicker and therefore lower cost. The flexibility of the Power Platform, on which Dynamics 365 is built, is powerful enough to deliver a whole host of solutions and features. A CRM can be simple or as complex as a business requires. More questions? Speak to a Dynamics 365 expert.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a cloud-based CRM system offering CE (customer engagement) functionality, including sales, marketing, and service modules. These modules can be used alone and seamlessly integrate integrated and other Microsoft products. The Microsoft Dynamics 365 ecosystems also include broader ERP applications too. Discover more about Dynamics 365.

Power Apps is an application built on the Azure cloud server, which is used to create data forms and apps with low or no code. Microsoft Power Platform is the collective term for a range of products, that includes Power Apps, as well as Power BI and Power Automate. All of these are fed and connected through a common data service (known as the Dataverse). It’s this integrated and unified data management that makes it super powerful and subsequently puts businesses in the driving seat when it comes to managing, analyzing, and leveraging their data across the organization. Discover more about the magic of Microsoft Power Apps.

In recent years, it has become possible to access Dynamics 365 integrations via GMail Google Chrome extension. This extension enables users to track email replies and attachments into Dynamics 365. Use, sort and organize and create new CRM activities without leaving Gmail. Synchronize Dynamics 365 CRM calendar with Google Calendar, amongst any other features and benefits. More questions? Speak to a Dynamics 365 specialist.

It is surprisingly easy for a business to get up and running with Dynamics 365. Despite being a custom-built solution, its low-code architecture enables us to build your platform specific to your business needs in a relatively short period compared to other custom-built CRM solutions. Every business is different and larger organisations with more complex needs will require more time to get set up and go live with their Dynamics 365 CRM, but it is possible to have a business up and running within six weeks of sign-off of the proof of concept. Speak to us about your specific needs and gain more detail on implementation timescales. Speak to us about your  CRM project.