Introduction

It's time to dust off those reading glasses! Microsoft has recently unveiled the much-anticipated Dynamics 365 Release Wave 2 for 2023, which promises a plethora of novel features and functionalities. As we explore this fresh tide of innovation, let's zero in on the top 10 features that are set to redefine the user experience on Power Platform and Dynamics 365.

1. Power Platform: A Glimpse into the Future

The Power Platform, a cornerstone of Microsoft's suite of business intelligence tools, is slated for some significant enhancements in the 2023 release wave 2. This platform is an amalgamation of four key products: Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power Virtual Agents, complemented by two add-ins: AI Builder and Power Pages.

Power BI: Empowering Data Visualization

A key aspect of the Power Platform's upgrade is the enhancement of Power BI. Aimed at individual creators, Power BI is set to improve the creation experience by aligning it with Microsoft 365 and incorporating GIT and source control integration for collaborative Business Intelligence solutions.

Power Apps: Boosting Productivity

Power Apps is set for a copilot-induced evolution. By expanding the use of copilot, Power Apps is introducing AI-assisted experiences that will enhance developer productivity and elevate the user experience with modern controls and rich collaborative functionalities.

Power Pages: Elevating Site Building

Power Pages is focusing on improving the copilot maker experience, thereby facilitating easy site building. This upgrade will encompass Power Pages capabilities for maker usage, onboarding, and seamless connectivity to data sources.

Power Automate: Streamlining Workflow Creation

Power Automate aims to simplify the workflow creation process by using natural language across cloud flows and desktop flows. Additionally, it intends to improve process mining and authoring experiences while making it easier to manage tasks at scale.

Power Virtual Agents: Enhancing User Interactions

Power Virtual Agents is set to roll out General Availability for capabilities including Multi-Lingual bot support, Generative Answers and Actions, Standalone IVR and IVR integration with Dynamics 365 Customer Service, and integration with the Conversational Language Understanding service.

AI Builder: Streamlining Document Processing

AI Builder will equip makers with the capability to process structured and unstructured documents with ease. Using the power of GPT, responses to customer requests can be pre-generated according to enterprise guidelines. These would be available in a human validation station, allowing makers to review and enhance the content generated by intelligent Copilots.

2. Dynamics 365: Sales and Marketing Like Never Before

Dynamics 365, a critical part of the Microsoft ecosystem, is set for a series of upgrades in the 2023 release wave 2. Let's delve into the new features and improvements that are set to enhance the sales and marketing experience.

Dynamics 365 Sales: Streamlining the Sales Process

The Dynamics 365 Sales application is set to receive a host of updates, from improvements in sales engagement to the integration of AI capabilities. The sales accelerator, now known as Sales Engagement, is set to get a new look, reducing form loading time and enhancing the overall navigation experience.

Dynamics 365 Marketing: Personalizing Customer Outreach

Dynamics 365 Marketing is gearing up for a seamless and personalized customer outreach experience. With the help of AI, marketers can quickly rewrite and change the tone of content. With the 'quiet times' feature, marketers can prevent messages from being sent during unwanted times.

3. Viva Sales: Fresh Insights in Lead Management

Viva Sales, a relatively new addition to Microsoft's suite of tools, is set to receive some crucial upgrades as part of the 2023 release wave 2. A highly anticipated feature is the support for the Lead table, which will allow sellers to match email messages to leads, schedule meetings with leads, and create new leads from emails.

4. Microsoft Dataverse: Enhancing the Maker Experience

Microsoft Dataverse, the data backbone of the Power Platform, is set for an overhaul. The focus is on enhancing maker experience, improving app building productivity, enabling seamless connectivity to external data sources, and integrating into the Microsoft 365 Copilot ecosystem.

5. Governance and Administration: Enhanced Visibility and Control

The 2023 release wave 2 promises significant enhancements to governance and administration tools. The introduction of Managed Environments will provide administrators with additional controls and visibility into their low code adoption. Moreover, improvements to the Power Platform admin center will make it easier to manage operations at scale.

6. Pro Development: Simplified Onboarding

Pro development is set to offer an extension for VS Code in addition to a native Visual Studio experience. The introduction of the new Developer Hub will simplify onboarding for developers new to the platform, allowing them to get straight to writing code and setting up CI/CD.

7. Dynamics 365 Customer Service: Enhancing Customer Interactions

Dynamics 365 Customer Service is due for significant upgrades. These updates will streamline the workflow for customer service agents, including new capabilities like overflow handling for lengthy queue wait times and summarizing support cases with Copilot.

8. Dynamics 365 Guides: Augmenting Mixed Reality Workflows

Dynamics 365 Guides is set to introduce several new capabilities like Object Anchors, Azure Remote Rendering, and availability on Government Community Cloud High. Integration with systems of record for seamless mixed reality workflows is a key focus.

9. Dynamics 365 Commerce: Streamlining B2B Interactions

Dynamics 365 Commerce is leveraging AI for effortless creation of engaging product content for digital commerce sites. New B2B investments aim to streamline the workflow for B2B sellers, distributors, and buyers.

10. Dynamics 365 Business Central: Enhancing Core Functionality

Dynamics 365 Business Central is set to enhance core functionality for intercompany and consolidation management. Improvements to warehouse capabilities and creation of more Power Automate templates are also planned.

Microsoft's 2023 release wave 2 is an exciting milestone in the journey of Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform. This release brings with it a host of novel features and improvements that promise to revolutionize the user experience. As we gear up for this new wave of innovation, it's time to explore and embrace the future of Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform.