Details are starting to emerge on the upcoming version 9.0 of Dynamics 365, and specifically on the differences between the new Business Edition and the Enterprise Edition.

In short, the Business Edition is the 'same product' and will run on the same platform as the Enterprise Edition, but comes with some restrictions on data storage, the number of custom entities which can be created, and the number of app market add-ons that can be installed, amongst a few other finer details.





UI Refresh Hits The Mark?

What immediately jumps out when devouring the details of BE & v9.0 more broadly, is the new UI that is being paraded.

So let's have a look:





I think there is a lot of merit to this.

Everything is nicely spaced, the sans-serif font is easy on the eye, colour has returned to the UI, controls are simplified, sections are visible and proper tabs make a (I think) welcome return - all in a seeming rejection of the recent design trend of the 'flat UI'; where everything on a Dynamics form was lost in a sea of white, and writ in an ugly serif font (in Europe, anyway) - which was never the easiest thing on the eye.

It had seemed that in a generally mad rush to follow trends and make applications and OS' look like Apple's mobile iOS, with Dynamics, Microsoft had in fact inadvertently undesigned us back to the DOS days.

With this refresh, it is nice to see Dynamics 365 moving towards a recognisable Office-style design sensibility which I would say has been gradually evolving - and improving - for a few years.

Which I think explains my next observation...





Business Edition Leads The Way

Yes, you read that right.

From a gaping black hole of any real knowledge of the Business Edition since its first announcement, comes the revelation that BE will be the first to benefit from this newly refreshed, 'Unified Client' interface (so-called as it applies across all devices) - and it will follow in Enterprise Edition at some as yet unspecificed future date.

That would seem to suggest that in developing out the Business Edition, Microsoft came to focus on a few things that I would argue are truer of smaller customers:

They generally want more bang for their buck

They don't usually spend a lot of money on training

They are more likely to have tried or previously used simpler alternatives such as Insightly, Pipeliner, Zoho etc., which have simpler, cleaner interfaces designed for a reduced set of functions and ease of use

They want to get stuck into the system and not sit staring at it not knowing how to use it - it needs to be intuitive and immediate

They like Office and its modern look-and-feel across all devices, its pick-up-ability and ease of use

They increasingly expect, or demand, this same ease of use and immediacy from their cloud-based business applications, and see no reason why serious business software should differ from Office apps in this regard

Yes, smaller customers are the demanding, entitled new Milennials of the cloud business software world!

More seriously, it is reasonable to argue that they are more likely than Enterprise customers to demand this kind of focus on ease of use; not that it is a case of one aspect vs all others, but there are a lot of other concerns in an enterprise implementation that are not on the minds of most SME customers - this drives a difference in how SMEs perceive value vs Enterprise clients.

In summary it is understandable and welcome that Microsoft have built this new UI first into the Business Edition, and in doing so answered a lot of questions that SMEs may have increasingly had as to why the product is better for them than some previously-named, cheaper alternatives.

I am certain though that Enterprise customers will also welcome the new User Interface making it into their product in a subsequent update.

Finally, there will be some sighs of relief amongst Microsoft Partners and consultants that Dynamics 365 Business Edition is essentially the same product as Enterprise Edition - barring some restrictions, it being still quite customisable, still extendable, and still sitting on the same technology platform - and that this also means there ought to be a smooth migration from Business to Enterprise Edition as Customers' requirements change.

Any thoughts to add?