The Product Catalogue is one of the most misunderstood (and misused!) parts of Dynamics 365. Often, I see it either:
❌ Completely side-stepped
❌ Misconfigured in ways that lead to unnecessary costs
But it doesn’t have to be this way!
Recently, I had the exciting opportunity to speak with Suresh Ashkok and dive deep into my journey as the CEO of a Sydney-based boutique Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform consultancy. For over four years, I've been working with offshore teams from a variety of countries, navigating the highs and lows of remote collaboration.
Suresh challenged me to cut through the typical complaints about language barriers and time zones and instead get real about my experiences—both the wins and the challenges.
I recently stumbled across an intriguing Japanese proverb: "If you get on the wrong train, get off at the next station – the longer you stay, the more expensive the return trip will be." While it speaks of trains, this adage is a powerful metaphor for many facets of life, especially for navigating failing projects—like CRM implementations.
In simple terms, the wrong train won't take you where you need to go—or if it does, you'll arrive painfully late and exhausted by unnecessary detours. In your CRM journey, the wrong train could mean several things:
What you're likely noticing, however, isn't the 'wrong train' itself but the lack of results. Results that may be:
Pinpointing which wrong train you’re on is less important than figuring out how to get on the right one. Identifying the root cause will, however, help ensure you don't repeat the same mistake.
In this video Gill Walker takes you beneath the waterline and shows you what it takes to deliver a successful CRM Solution - and it is not choosing the best technology. She shows you what is usually only seen by people who have delivered successful CRM Solutions more than once!
Successful CRM solutions have a lot of components, a lot of moving parts. There is far more that is not visible than is visible.
As this video demonstrates, the 'right' technology is less important in my opinion, than many other factors and yet far more effort goes into selecting the technology, sometimes too driven by licence costs, than the other aspects which have more impact.
There are several key components - education and scoping are recurring themes. Not surprisingly, these are the pieces that are often either omitted or done badly - so we should not be surprised that the results are often lacklustre, as the foundations were unimaginative - at best.
Why did I select a picture of crockery for this blog - rather than a celebratory cake? Here’s why. When I realised that this month was twenty years since I founded Opsis, I had to research what gift is traditionally given for a twentieth anniversary. I was surprised to learn that the traditional gift is China.
In the twenty years since Opsis came into life, with the vision of helping organisations with Microsoft CRM, Microsoft CRM has changed beyond recognition. It has gone from a single product – that only had sales and service, as marketing only appeared in v3 – to the keystone of a suite of products that support almost all aspects of your business. This journey from Microsoft CRM to Power Apps as part of the Power Platform family has been fascinating to watch and I am blessed to have been part of it.
Not surprisingly, the integration options that enable you to share data between Power Apps and other software have matured by leaps and bounds. I remember when a clunky and memory hogging Microsoft Outlook add-on – a feature that gave Microsoft CRM a huge edge over the competition as they had limited or no email functionality - was a real benefit. Early versions of Dynamics had the ability to share data with Word and Excel, and so solved some data analysis and simple reporting challenges. One of the areas where Microsoft have always done well is leveraging existing functionality in other members of their family to provide richer functionality without reinventing the wheel.
Opsis is an expert Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Power Platform and CRM strategy consulting company. Our focus is your CRM success, with Microsoft Dynamics 365 / Microsoft Power Platform or any CRM technology - not licence sales or billable hours. As Principal CRM Success Catalyst, Gill oversees all business operations, strategic planning and execution, yet she still believes in offering personal attention to each and every client, so as to understand their needs and offer tailored solutions. We are based in Sydney, with clients in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane and across Australia. Gill is the creator of SuccessRM - your blueprint for CRM success. We offer: