By: Hemantkumar Savla, Senior Specialist – Cloud Services & Software, LTI

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a truly modern business platform, which can help drive digital transformation by meeting unique needs, and is easy to tailor and extend. Moreover, it is a new type of business application that breaks down the silos between ERP and CRM powered by data, intelligence, and helps capture new business opportunities. A couple of weeks back, I was participating in a workshop and we discussed about the current situations/trends in Microsoft Dynamics –

• We have heard enough that we are into the fourth industrial revolution
• The digital world is advancing at an amazing speed, and it is all connected to the cloud
• It’s now time to help our customers succeed; it is important to create new ways to connect people, data & processes and create value for customers
• The pointers triggering the digital transformation journey, and the difference in value it could create for the B2B and B2C customer businesses
• The role of project manager/s in digital transformation initiatives (project/program)

A gist of some questions that we came across with their respective background, was discussed at length.

• How do we enable our customers to strengthen their customer acquisition, differentiate personas and provide customized experiences?
  It is believed that when a customer approaches any product and/or service provider, they are already around 60% into the buying process, and are looking at differentiators among product/service providers before the final purchase.
• How do we empower our customer employees to boost productivity?
  Presently, we see a mix of Baby boomers, Gen X, Millennials (Gen Y), and lately Gen Z into the workforce with their respective percentages, varying as per respective demographics. It is vital to empower employees with the right tools to provide great work experiences, and help boost productivity.
• How do we optimize the operations of our customer base to drive business efficiencies that optimize operations and accelerates responsiveness?
  Customers see a need to optimize business processes and application management.
• How do we help our customers transform products to create new revenue opportunities, using intelligent technology to innovate products and processes?
  Customers see a need to formulize new products and it’s lead time for go-to-market strategy. This shall help them be a predator rather than being a prey to the existing competitive products available from the competition. This shall also help them position as leaders than being laggards.