Confused between the Dynamics 365 Outlook App and the Dynamics 365 Outlook client?

Overview and history of the Dynamics 365 Outlook App and the Dynamics 365 Outlook client

The ability to work with your CRM through Outlook, almost completely seamlessly was one of the real strengths of Microsoft CRM and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Many of the sales implementations of Microsoft Dynamics CRM were won by this – as many sales people spend much of their working day managing communication with their clients and prospects.

However, the Outlook client (correctly termed the Dynamics 365 Client for Outlook or Dynamics CRM Client for Outlook) has always been resource-greedy. (As an estimate, it added 2GB of memory to the memory requirement of a computer.) It also requires the full Outlook. This meant that it only worked with desktop and laptop computers, whereas more and more users are accessing their Dynamics 365 via a phone or a tablet – at least some of the time. It also became more finicky with the expansion of browser support from Internet Explorer only to all browsers in 2012.

For a number of reasons, the Outlook client, while loved by sales people – when it worked – was the bane of technical support people’s life.

Microsoft addressed these problems by introducing the Outlook App. The app is a web-based tool which focusses on enabling the managing of communication between users and prospects but does not give full CRM functionality. It also does not permit offline access, although that is much less of a problem now than it would have been sixteen years ago when the Outlook Client first appeared.

Both Outlook Client and the Outlook app work with Outlook, but they have different functionality and footprints. The Dynamics 365 App for Outlook is a Microsoft Office add-in that provides a Dynamics 365 assistant for Outlook desktop, web or mobile. The Dynamics 365 Client for Outlook is a Windows application that provides all Dynamics 365 core functionality directly from Outlook.

The Outlook client was deprecated in the v9 release of Microsoft Dynamics 365, in April 2018. My e book about the deprecations and new features of v9 is here. However, due to user feedback that deprecation was rolled back in the following release.
Here are the key features of the Outlook client and the app, which should help you find the right solution for your organisation and users. It is quite possible that you will need both and even that some users will require both.

Feature comparison of the the Dynamics 365 Outlook App and the Dynamics 365 Outlook client

Challenges with the Outlook App

• It does not like more than one org of Dynamics 365 at a time
• It has to be removed via Outlook

More information about the Outlook App for Microsoft Dynamics 365

As always, there is a pethora of information about the Outlook App.  I have provided a few links here.

• Overview of Dynamics 365 App for Outlook
• Dynamics 365 App for Outlook User Guide
• Deploy Dynamics 365 App for Outlook