Dynamics 365 October 2018 release notes available and why you should care

Microsoft recently decided to change its update policy for Dynamics 365/CRM online – see Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (administrator guide) – manage updates  for more details. One of the important changes is that all customers will need to be on the latest version from February 1, 2019 onwards. Therefore it is highly recommended to keep up to date with upcoming changes. Microsoft therefore committed to delivering the release notes of upcoming versions a couple of months in advance.

You can read the October 2018 Dynamics 365 release notes (239 page PDF) yourself and if you still need to catch up on the Spring 2018 release notes – there is a now a Business Applications Release Notes page -  or you can read about the highlights below:

• Microsoft previews what is coming in Dynamics 365 this October by @maryjofoley
• My favourite PowerApps/Dynamics CE features in the October 2018 release by @scottdurow
• Favourite features announced in October 2018 release by @ramontebar
• Winter in July – release notes for next Dynamics 365 version by @jukkan
• My highlights from the October 2018 Business Application release notes by @joegriffin

Dynamics 365 monthly reading list July 2018

Technical topics (Configuration, customization and extensibility)

• Displaying related entity data using calculated fields
• Timeline: the new and improved social pane in Dynamics 365 unified interface
• June Power BI Desktop Update: Dynamics 365 9.0 OData endpoint
• How to find the Object Type Code for any entity
• Row-level security in Power BI with Dynamics365
• Using SSIS to mask data to assist with GDPR compliance (Kingswaysoft)
• Internet of Things (IoT) device considerations for Dynamics 365 and Connected Field Service
• Modernizing the way we update Dynamics 365
• Using Canary and Plugin Trace Viewer to track down performance issues
• Introducing PowerApps Preview Program
• Dynamics 365 – about the unified interface  (Updated documentation)
• User Security Manager – XrmToolBox Plugin – new features added
• Dynamics 365 for Outlook version 9 – Installing and using the updated add-in
• Announcing the new sales companion sample app (PowerApps & Dynamics 365)
• Tip #1137: learn language and study the API to simplify your code
• FAQ for Dynamics 365 update policies (Updated documentation July 12th 2018)
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Online release notes
• Enable and use activity logging (Updated documentation June 2018)
• Thank you GDPR! A new Dynamics 365 security feature is available – audit user read access to CRM records
• Chart your security roles in Dynamics 365
• Record specific Power BI reports in Dynamics 365 (only one click away)
• Conditionally enable plugin context logging via secure configuration
• Convert Dynamics CRM 2011 Datetime to server local time in a plugin
• Passing data between a CRM form and a custom HTML web resource
• Use fetchxml in Power BI with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement
• Resolve $ undefined error for CRM HTML web resources
• Sample code for autonumbering in Dynamics 365
• Custom indexes and solution upgrades

Topics for Dynamics 365 business analysts, project managers, power and end users

• How to integrate Power BI with Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations
• Dynamics 365 Spring 2018 release overview
• Displaying Dynamics 365 data in your PowerApps application
• How to prepare for a Dynamics 365 global data migration
• Dynamics 365 – our big leap into CDS
• PowerApps – restricted entities requiring Dynamics 365 licenses
• How to optimize omnichannel customer journeys with customer journey analytics
• Select the right analytical option for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement
• Beyond Email: 9 other ways to use marketing automation in Dynamics 365

Dynamics 365/CRM Podcasts

Keeping up to date with all of the information on Dynamics 365 is quite a challenge – luckily a number of people  - did a great job by creating these podcast shows which help me during the daily commute

• The CRM MVP Podcast hosted by Gus Gonzalez
• CRM.Audio – The Dynamics 365 Podcast hosted by Joel Lindstrom
• Microsoft Business Applications Podcast  hosted by Mark Smith aka @nz365guy
• XrmToolCast hosted by Daryl LaBar and Jonas Rapp

All of these podcasts are available on Spotify but you can also use another podcast listener tool