Dynamics 365: Online or On-Premises?

Justyna Kołodziejczyk

The very beginning of November was quite surprising: Microsoft released Dynamics 365 Online and completely changed the game. For the On-Premises we had to wait until December. Now, when choosing a Dynamics system, we have choice: Online (cloud service) or On-Premises (local instance).  And thus, we should cover the differences.

We mention basic differences between Online and On-Premises versions when describing Dynamics CRM. When it comes to Dynamics 365 Online and On-Premises there are more dissimilarities.

Available in both

Dynamics 365 Online and On-Premises are quite similar. Most of the differences derive from the fact that cloud solutions are easily integrated with each other. What are the feature that are common for both systems?

AppSources

appsource

The AppSource resources (apps created by Microsoft or external providers) are available for all independently whether we opt for Online solution or On-Premises.

Power BI

power bi

Both Online and On-Premises can profit from Microsoft BI tool – Power BI. It allows us to analyse data and lead the business processes analytics. Power BI gives us the possibility to visually represent the data (for example using Bing Maps) and to prepare dashboards that can be embed in Dynamics 365.

Editable grid

grid

Although at first sight the editable grid doesn’t sound like a chocolate cake with strawberries, it is actually quite a big cake. In standard Dynamics CRM, users could create tables (views) for example list of all the customers (contacts) who live in Poland and purchased something in past 3 months or list of products that are available for the German market. If users wanted to edit anything listed on the table, they had to open the record and modify it. Dynamics 365 lets us edit data just like in Excel – when listed in the table. No need to load a record to correct a typo! Not a big change in the system, but a life saver for users.

Power Apps and Flow

power apps

We have already mentioned Power Apps and Flow. Power Apps is a tool to create external apps for mobile devices. Flow is an ITTT-like solution to create flows between different systems and apps. Both are available despite the fact we choose cloud or locally deployed system.

Visual process designer

proces

It is true that previous versions of the system allowed us to design of business processes, but the latest version has been enhanced with a visual process designer.

Office integration

Both, Dynamics 365 Online and On-premises can be integrated with Office 365, and above all, can integrated with Microsoft’s mail box (Outlook or Exchange). What for? The integrated e-mail box means that there will never be a lost email and all the arrangements with the customer will be stored in the system. Microsoft provides (regardless of whether you choose the On-Premises or Online version):

  • Dynamics 365 App for Outlook,
  • Dynamics 365 for Outlook (aka Outlook client) for Exchange Online (if you have a subscription Exchange) and Exchange On-Premises,
  • Server-side synchronization – track emails, appointments, tasks, and contacts immediately when manually tracking from Dynamics 365 for Outlook and Dynamics 365 App for Outlook The ability to monitor the status of mailboxes via the synchronization server side,
  • The possibility to track emails.

Additionally, integrating Office 365 lets us:

  • Export data to Excel,
  • Use OneDrive for Business (online; requires proper licences for OneDrive for Business and SharePoint),
  • Integrate with SharePoint Online (licence required) and On-Premises,
  • Use Word and Excel templates,
  • Integrate with Yammer (online).

Available only in Online

Online version is enriched with additional features, resulting partially from the fact that the system is cloud-based, are:

  • 3rd party S2S Inbound Authentication,
  • Advanced Service Analytics,
  • App designer and sitemap designers,
  • Connected Field Services,
  • Backup and restore (online),
  • Customer Insights service,
  • Data Export service,
  • Document suggestions
  • Dynamics 365 administration,
  • Gamification,
  • Improvements to the mobile version,
  • Relationship Insights,
  • Partner portal,
  • Resource scheduling optimization.

As a part of Office 365 integration, Microsoft provides us with:

  • Server-side synchronization to connect Microsoft Dynamics 365 (online) with Exchange on-premises and Exchange Online (licence required),
  • Delve (Exchange on-premises licence required),
  • Excel Online integration,
  • Office 365 Groups (Exchange on-premises and Exchange Online (licence required)),
  • OneNote (online) integration.

To sum up

Dynamics 365 Online has more enhancement than On-Premises. The only feature that is available in On-Premises is for now, a possibility to integrate with Exchange On-Premises. The advantage of On-Premises is the possibility to implement a lot of own solutions and to customize and manage the system on our own (or via our provider)

When deploying system on our own servers, we are unable for example to profit from OneNote integration. When deciding upon the deployment method, it is better to focus on our needs rather than the availability of loads of features we don’t need. The system is supposed to fulfil or business needs and will rest in accordance with our company’s policy.