I was on a call with a coworker doing our daily huddle. During this meeting, we go through open support issues and projects. We quickly realized that our five most pressing support calls all shared a single root problem. Every single one of them was one of our few remaining On-Premise Dynamics 365 clients.

On-Premise Dynamics 365 support issues always have an extra level of complexity, especially when we have to access the back-end infrastructure to reset a service or apply an update. Here are a few of the support calls that we are working on today:

• Client 1 – Unable to access CRM through a web browser when not on premise to provide support. Something is wrong with their ADFS Authentication. The quick solution was to add us to their VPN and now we are accessing CRM through a VPN. They are moving to the Cloud in the next few weeks, so we probably won’t resolve this issue
• Client 2 – A phantom service in their data warehouse is updating contact records in their SQL database hundreds of times per day. We need back-end access to their SQL Database to troubleshoot what is happening
• Client 3 – Workflows are not triggering in their sandbox. Discovery Service has been reset but that does not fix the problem. We have had a case open with Microsoft for over a week
• Client 4 – Their discovery service for some reason points to a different URL than their other CRM services – We think that is probably the root cause of a number of connection issues.
• Client 5 – Having issues with remote users accessing CRM through Outlook. When accessing via Chrome, users have no issues. We suspect a VPN issue.

So what is the common denominator of all of these issues? They all were support calls for Dynamics 365 On-Premise, all of these clients are small businesses – less than 100 employees, and all have small support staff who have not been trained in how to manage and support Dynamics 365 and all of them.

One issue that they all have in common – if we could convince them all to migrate to Dynamics 365 Online none of these issues would be a concern. Either they would never happen, or Microsoft support could quickly resolve the support issue. In addition, Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE is now a Cloud First product which simply means that all the best features will be delivered first in the cloud. Many of these features will never make it to Dynamics 365 On-premise. These great features are only available if you move your CRM to the cloud.

What else do you get with Dynamics 365 Online – well here is a short list

• Always have access to the latest version of Dynamics 365 – On-Premise is currently stuck at version 8.2, while Online is getting ready to update to version 9.1. Also, upgrades are a painless experience – usually requiring less than 15 minutes of downtime. Upgrades are going to get even easier thanks to Microsoft’s new constant update policy.
• Access to New apps like Field Service, Project Service and Marketing for Dynamics 365
• Integration with LinkedIn Sales Navigator
• Access to Azure Services including Machine Learning and AI
• Ability to create Portals to surface data to customer, employees, and partners
• OneNote Integration
• PowerBI
• An easy to configure Outlook experience
• Simple mobile access via phone or tablets
• Surveys through Voice of the Customer
• A Financially backed 99.9% uptime guarantee
• Daily and on Demand Data backups
• Free Sandbox Instances
• The new Unified Interface for mobile, web and Outlook 

Still on the fence about why you should move your CRM to the cloud?

Microsoft has recently announced an update to Dynamics 365 On-Premise, but even with this update, it is clear that the future of Dynamics 365 CE is in the cloud. To keep up with the latest features designed to provide better customer experience start planning your migration to the Cloud today. Dynamics 365 on-premise puts you at a disadvantage to your competitors. If you are a small to mid-sized business and struggling with your on-premise Dynamics CRM, it is time to benefit from a move to the cloud.

We have given many good reasons to move your CRM to the cloud. If you are a Dynamics 365 on-premise user and ready to plan your migration to the Cloud, contact us to begin planning today. Our team of professionals can move your Dynamics 365 (Or CRM 2011, 2013, 2015 or 2016!) to the cloud while preserving your data AND preserving and enhancing your customizations. Give us a call today and let’s get started!