I. Overview:

The Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations solution architect is a trusted advisor who consults with organizations and implementation team members to refine business needs into a well-defined and cost-effective solution. The architect is accountable for the integrity and successful delivery of the complete solution design. The architect provides critical guidance and support from pre-sales throughout the remainder of the project lifecycle. They have great breadth of knowledge and experience designing solutions that meet business needs. The solution architect may have a technical, functional, or industry background. The solution architect must demonstrate knowledge of all Dynamics 365 apps and Power Platform. They must have deep understanding of Finance and Operations apps. In addition, they have extensive domain knowledge in one or more industry verticals. This course is designed to prepare those who are aspired to be solution architects and those who are new to this role to learn more about the technical information that solution architects will be dealing with during implantation.

II. Duration: 32 hours (4 days)

III. Intended Audience:

The audience for this course should have previous experience with functional or technical focus in Dynamics 365: Finance and Operations Applications. Primarily for those who are aspired to be solution architect role.

IV. Prerequisites:

• Functional or technical consultant experience with Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations apps
• Familiarity with Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365 ecosystem
• Basic understanding of finance and operations business processes and application navigation
• Experience with customer implementation projects
• Familiarity with data entities, security roles, and lifecycle services (LCS)
• Completion of MB-901 Microsoft Dynamics 365 Fundamentals or equivalent experience
• Previous exposure to solution architecture concepts is beneficial

V. Course outlines:

1. Architect solutions for Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform

• Becoming a solution architect for Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform: The Solution Architect leads successful implementations and focuses on how solutions address the broader business and technical needs of organizations.  This module covers what it takes to get started as a Solution Architect and as key member of the overall project team.
• Discover customer needs as a Solution Architect for Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform: Learn how to ask customers questions about their business processes and feature requirements to create a viable solution.
• Propose a solution as a Solution Architect for Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365: Learn how to propose a solution.
• Work with requirements for Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365: It's important to capture the customer's needs accurately. This module explains how to capture requirements and identify functional and non-functional items.
• Perform fit gap analysis: A fit gap analysis identifies the difference between the known requirements and the proposed or current solution. This module covers performing a fit gap analysis.

2. Use Lifecycle Services to design and plan an implementation of finance and operations apps

• Get started with Lifecycle Services for finance and operations apps: To install and maintain finance and operations apps in the Microsoft Azure cloud or on-premises, you must use Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services to manage the process. Let's get started by looking at the overall functionality and tools.
• Design and plan an implementation of finance and operations apps: With proper planning, your finance and operations apps implementation will be a success. After a customer signs the agreements to purchase licenses for finance and operations apps, your job as a functional consultant starts by managing the application lifecycle and moving toward predictable, repeatable, high-quality implementation.

3. Migrate data and go live with finance and operations apps

• Prepare data for migration to finance and operations apps: When it is time to migrate data, the more you know, the easier it is to control operational complexity and reduce costs. Your customer's business continuity must be your priority. Learn how to prepare data for migration, by using the data management framework to manage data entities and data entity packages in finance and operations apps.
• Work with data management in finance and operations apps: You can export or import data in finance and operations apps by using the Data management workspace. Validate the data by staging the source data, and then move it to the target tables in the finance and operations apps database.
• Perform user acceptance testing in finance and operations apps: After all customer requirements have been handled by either configuration, customization, and integration, you need to know how to perform user acceptance testing (UAT) in finance and operations apps to validate the solution. User acceptance testing is an important step in the go-live preparation. You can perform automated tests by using the Regression suite automation tool (RSAT).
• Prepare to go-live with finance and operations apps: All your hard work becomes a success by moving the implemented solution in finance and operations apps to the production environment. You want a happy customer, a quality solution, and peace of mind during this important phase, which is known as go-live. Learn how to prepare to go live with a finance and operations apps project by using Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services.

4. Implement finance and operations apps

• Get started with a finance and operations implementation project: The implementation lifecycle for finance and operations will help you to understand the best practices recommended to accomplishing a successful journey through a finance and operations implementation, the roles involved, and the tools available to support it.
• Feature management in finance and operations apps: Features are added and updated in every release. The Feature management experience provides a workspace where you can view a list of features that have been delivered in each release. Then, you can use the workspace to view feature documentation and to enable or disable features.
• Design and plan an implementation of finance and operations apps: With proper planning, your finance and operations apps implementation will be a success. After a customer signs the agreements to purchase licenses for finance and operations apps, your job as a functional consultant starts by managing the application lifecycle and moving toward predictable, repeatable, high-quality implementation.
• Implement application lifecycle management in finance and operations apps: Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is the management of computer programs, which includes managing requirements, software architecture, software development, software maintenance, change management, continuous integration, project management, and released management. Learn about ALM to plan, create, test, and implement code for finance and operations apps.
• Get started with Lifecycle Services for finance and operations apps: To install and maintain finance and operations apps in the Microsoft Azure cloud or on-premises, you must use Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services to manage the process. Let's get started by looking at the overall functionality and tools.
• Plan and implement security in finance and operations apps: If you understand the security architecture of finance and operations apps, you can customize it to fit the requirements of your business. finance and operations apps, helps keep your sensitive data safe, and users focused on their roles.
• Implement role-based security in finance and operations apps: Finance and operations apps use role-based security to assign access to components in the system. A user who is assigned to a security role has access to the set of privileges that is associated with that role.
• Perform user acceptance testing in finance and operations apps: After all customer requirements have been handled by either configuration, customization, and integration, you need to know how to perform user acceptance testing (UAT) in finance and operations apps to validate the solution. User acceptance testing is an important step in the go-live preparation. You can perform automated tests by using the Regression suite automation tool (RSAT).
• Upgrade from AX 2012 to Dynamics 365 Finance: Upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 to Dynamics 365 Finance is a significant step towards modernizing business systems, involving thorough planning, data and code preparation, testing, and cutover. This module provides a comprehensive guide to ensure a smooth transition with minimal downtime, covering best practices, toolkits, and tips for a successful upgrade.
• Updates and upgrades for finance and operations apps: The world of enterprise resource planning (ERP) is continuously evolving and helping customers scale up in productivity and streamline their operations. The evolution of finance and operations encourages customers to upgrade their earlier versions to the finance and operations cloud service.
• Prepare to go-live with finance and operations apps: All your hard work becomes a success by moving the implemented solution in finance and operations apps to the production environment. You want a happy customer, a quality solution, and peace of mind during this important phase, which is known as go-live. Learn how to prepare to go live with a finance and operations apps project by using Microsoft Dynamics Lifecycle Services.
• Work with performance and monitoring tools in finance and operations apps: Learn how to use performance tools and Lifecycle Services environment monitoring tools to enhance your validation and testing experience in finance and operations apps.
• Explore extensions and the extension framework in finance and operations apps: Finance and operations apps are customized by using extensions, which let you add functionality to model elements and source code in the Application Object Tree (AOT) by using Visual Studio.
• Work with analytics and reporting in finance and operations apps: Business leaders can make important decisions in their company if they have accurate insight into the underlying financial and operational data. Without data visibility, business leaders are challenged with a nearly impossible task. By using analytics and reporting in finance and operations apps, you can empower every business user, depending on their security rights, to get the insights they need to make those important decisions.

5. Use Success by Design for Dynamics 365 solutions

• Get started with Success by Design for Dynamics 365: Success by Design is the prescriptive guidance (approaches and best practices) for designing, building, and deploying a Dynamics 365 solution.
• Create a solution blueprint for Dynamics 365 solutions: The Solution blueprint workshop is part of Success by Design. This module focuses on creating the blueprint, and conducting the workshop to create it.
• Plan a testing strategy for your Dynamics 365 solution: Testing strategy, identifying gaps in testing plans, and potential risks are discussed in this module.
• Design data models for Dynamics 365 solutions: A data model workshop is part of Success by Design. This module will provide a basic description of data modeling for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and insight into how you can conduct a data model workshop.
• Business intelligence and analytics design for Dynamics 365 solutions: The Business intelligence and analytics design workshop allows you to spend time reviewing the overall business intelligence and analytics planning, fit-gap analysis, design blueprint to provide guidance on maximizing the use of standard features, alignment to product roadmap, and general design guidance. This workshop isn't intended as a fit-gap review.
• Gap solution design for Dynamics 365 solutions: The Gap solution design workshop is designed for implementations that have critical requirements that the standard system doesn't support.
• Create a data migration strategy for Dynamics 365 solutions: The overall goal of the Success by Design framework is to ensure a successful customer outcome for each implementation. The Data migration strategy workshop is designed to help ensure that the approach to data migration is heading for success.
• Review the security model for your Dynamics 365 solutions: A security strategy is key to solutions, and a Security model workshop will help verify that the customer's security model is comprehensive and that it will support their long-term security strategy. This module primarily focuses on customer engagement applications.
• Plan and implement security in finance and operations apps: If you understand the security architecture of finance and operations apps, you can customize it to fit the requirements of your business. finance and operations apps, helps keep your sensitive data safe, and users focused on their roles.
• Integration design for Dynamics 365 solutions: The Integration workshop is part of Success by Design. This module discusses integration strategy and how the Integration workshop will help verify that the project's integration plans are comprehensive and will support initial implementation and long-term needs.
• Dual-write implementation for Dynamics 365 solutions: Dual-write offers an out-of-the-box infrastructure that can provide customers near real-time interaction between Customer engagement apps and finance and operations apps. The Dual-write implementation workshop guides you through key points to help identify and resolve potential blockers to a successful dual-write implementation.
• Implement a performance strategy for Dynamics 365 solutions: The Solution performance workshop provides guidance and best practices for solution design in respect to performance. The workshop will increase awareness of the impact that certain types of configurations and/or customizations have on the overall performance and user experience.
• Cutover strategy for Dynamics 365 solutions: The goal of the Cutover strategy workshop is to help ensure that a good approach is in place for the planning, incremental readiness, testing, and implementation of the cutover. You need to consider many different areas when you discuss a cutover strategy, and this workshop provides the necessary framework to review those key topics.
• Post go-live strategy for Dynamics 365 solutions: The Post go-live workshop gives the implementation team the opportunity to confirm that the solution has delivered the objectives that were initially set.

6. Configure apps in finance and operations

• Get started with configuration and personalization in finance and operations apps: In this module, learners are introduced to the idea of personalizing finance and operations applications to fit their business needs.
• Configure your user interface in finance and operations apps: In this module, learners were introduced to the idea of personalizing the finance and operations user interface to fit their business needs. They learned how to change menus, forms, and reports.
• Configure your data in finance and operations apps: We learn that there are different options in updating data. Dynamics is made to integrate seamlessly with Office products.

7. Validate your skills architecting solutions for customers and products

• Propose a solution as a Solution Architect for Microsoft Power Platform and Dynamics 365: Learn how to propose a solution.
• Discover customer needs as a Solution Architect for Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform: Learn how to ask customers questions about their business processes and feature requirements to create a viable solution.
• Perform fit gap analysis: A fit gap analysis identifies the difference between the known requirements and the proposed or current solution. This module covers performing a fit gap analysis.
• Implement application lifecycle management in finance and operations apps: Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) is the management of computer programs, which includes managing requirements, software architecture, software development, software maintenance, change management, continuous integration, project management, and released management. Learn about ALM to plan, create, test, and implement code for finance and operations apps.
• Challenge project - Architecting solutions for a new product line for customers: In this challenge project, your chosen company may or may not exactly fit the guidelines here, use creative license to evaluate and architect solutions for the new product line they're planning.