ERP - Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/tag/erp/ The future of agentic CRM and ERP Mon, 27 Jul 2026 20:12:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.5 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/cropped-cropped-microsoft_logo_element.png ERP - Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/tag/erp/ 32 32 .cloudblogs .cta-box>.link { font-size: 15px; font-weight: 600; display: inline-block; background: #008272; line-height: 1; text-transform: none; padding: 15px 20px; text-decoration: none; color: white; } .cloudblogs img { height: auto; } .cloudblogs img.alignright { float:right; } .cloudblogs img.alignleft { float:right; } .cloudblogs figcaption { padding: 9px; color: #737373; text-align: left; font-size: 13px; font-size: 1.3rem; } .cloudblogs .cta-box.-center { text-align: center; } .cloudblogs .cta-box.-left { padding: 20px 0; } .cloudblogs .cta-box.-right { padding: 20px 0; text-align:right; } .cloudblogs .cta-box { margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 20px; } .cloudblogs .cta-box.-image { position:relative; } .cloudblogs .cta-box.-image>.link { position: absolute; top: auto; left: 50%; -webkit-transform: translate(-50%,0); transform: translate(-50%,0); bottom: 0; } .cloudblogs table { width: 100%; } .cloudblogs table tr { border-bottom: 1px solid #eee; padding: 8px 0; } ]]> Explore migration options for Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics GP, and Microsoft Dynamics SL customers http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/business-leader/2026/07/28/explore-migration-options-for-microsoft-dynamics-nav-microsoft-dynamics-gp-and-microsoft-dynamics-sl-customers/ Tue, 28 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/business-leader/2026/07/28/explore-migration-options-for-microsoft-dynamics-nav-microsoft-dynamics-gp-and-microsoft-dynamics-sl-customers/ Business Central provides a modern cloud ERP foundation that helps organizations streamline operations, improve visibility, support AI-powered productivity, and build on a platform that continues to evolve.

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For many organizations, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Dynamics GP, and Dynamics SL have supported critical business processes for decades. These solutions have helped customers manage finance, operations, projects, inventory, and day-to-day business workflows. 

But business needs are changing. Organizations are looking for ways to improve agility, strengthen security, reduce IT complexity, connect data across systems, and take advantage of continuous innovation in the cloud. For customers running legacy on-premises enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, now is a good time to evaluate the path forward and determine how Dynamics 365 Business Central can support the next stage of growth. 

Business Central provides a modern cloud ERP foundation that helps organizations streamline operations, improve visibility, support AI-powered productivity, and build on a platform that continues to evolve.

Dynamics NAV 

Dynamics NAV has long been a trusted ERP solution for small and midsize businesses. The final version was released in 2017, with extended support ending in January 2028.  

The following changes will take effect on April 30, 2031: 

  • Annual Service Plan (Enhancement Plan and Advantage Plan) coverage ends 
  • Additional perpetual user licenses for existing Dynamics NAV deployments can no longer be purchased 
  • Subscription licenses for Dynamics NAV (via Solution Provider Agreement (SPA)) are no longer renewable 
  • Subscription use of Dynamics NAV through Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) is expected to end. 

After April 30, 2031, customers will no longer be able to renew Service Plans or subscription licenses, or purchase additional perpetual users for existing Dynamics NAV on-premises deployments.

What this means for customers 

Customers running Dynamics NAV should begin evaluating their long-term ERP strategy now. Planning ahead provides greater flexibility to assess migration options, engage with your Microsoft partner, and prepare for future business requirements. 
 

Moving forward with Dynamics 365 Business Central 

For customers running Dynamics NAV, this represents a natural point to evaluate the next phase of your ERP strategy. Dynamics 365 Business Central provides a modern, cloud-based foundation to support growth, streamline operations, and enable connected, intelligent business processes. 

Business Central brings together finance, operations, and data in a single platform—delivering real-time visibility, built-in AI capabilities, and the flexibility to evolve as your business needs change. 

Discover what Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central can do

See how Business Central helps organizations streamline operations, improve visibility, and adapt faster with a comprehensive cloud ERP solution

Dynamics GP and Dynamics SL 

Similar lifecycle updates were announced for Dynamics GP and Dynamics SL. In June 2025, Microsoft shared key milestones for these products— with product availability ending on April 30, 2031 for Dynamics GP and January 15, 2030 for Dynamics SL. For more details, read the explore migrations blog. Like Dynamics NAV, these systems have supported business-critical processes for years. Now, many organizations are evaluating how to modernize their ERP environments—seeking solutions that offer continuous updates, cloud scalability, and deeper integration across their technology stack. Across Dynamics NAV, Dynamics GP, and Dynamics SL environments, the common priority is clear: move from maintaining legacy systems to building on a platform designed for today’s future business needs. 

Why migrate to Business Central today? 

Organizations running legacy on-premises ERP solutions should consider migrating to Dynamics 365 Business Central as part of a broader modernization strategy. 

  • Modernize core operations. Business Central is a comprehensive cloud ERP solution spanning finance, operations, inventory, sales, service, manufacturing, and projects. 
  • Leverage AI and automation. Built-in AI capabilities help automate routine tasks, improve customer service, and support more informed decision-making. 
  • Stay current without disruption. Continuous updates help reduce the need for large, costly upgrade cycles while improving performance, security, and functionality over time. 
  • Connect across Microsoft tools. Deep integration with Microsoft 365, Teams, Outlook, Power Platform, and Azure enables connected workflows and real-time insights. 
  • Reduce IT complexity. Moving to the cloud reduces the burden of managing infrastructure, backups, patches, and upgrades while improving security, scalability, and resilience. 
  • Standardize on a modern ERP platform. For organizations operating across multiple legacy systems or business units, Business Central can help simplify operations and create a more connected foundation for future growth. 

How to migrate to Business Central 

Microsoft provides guidance and tools to help customers transition from on-premises ERP solutions to Business Central. The first step is to work with a Microsoft partner to assess the current environment, including customizations, integrations, data, reporting needs, security requirements, and business processes. 

From there, customers can define the right migration approach, timeline, and implementation strategy based on their current ERP environment and business goals. 

A typical migration includes: 

  • Assess and plan: Evaluate current ERP version, customizations, integrations, reporting, and business requirements. 
  • Prepare the environment: Identify upgrade paths and determine how customizations will be handled. 
  • Move and validate data: Migrate core business data, validate accuracy, and test business processes. 
  • Enable users and optimize: Configure roles, reporting, and integrations while training users. 
  • Go live with confidence: Transition to the cloud environment and establish a foundation for ongoing innovation. 

Transition support 

You may be wondering how the transition to Business Central will impact your workflows, operations, and reporting. Our engineering team is prepared with comprehensive overviews of how each capability functions to help you get started. Here are some resources that show direct companions for common workflows: 

Migrating from Dynamics NAV, Dynamics GP, or Dynamics SL to Business Central is an opportunity to move to a modern, cloud-based ERP platform that continues to evolve through ongoing updates, new capabilities, and AI innovation. While every migration requires thoughtful planning and change management, organizations that begin evaluating their options now will have greater flexibility to plan their migration, prepare their users, and transition on their own timeline. Working with a trusted Microsoft partner can help ensure a smooth migration and establish a strong foundation for continued innovation and growth as business needs evolve. 

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Microsoft Dynamics 365: An agent-ready business applications platform http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/business-leader/2026/07/23/microsoft-dynamics-365-an-agent-ready-business-applications-platform/ Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/?p=202870 Instead of integrating AI around enterprise resource planning (ERP), organizations can bring agents into the flow of work, where business decisions and transactions already happen.

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For decades, business applications have been used by organizations as systems of record capturing what already happened. Opportunities were updated after the call. Orders logged after the decision. Journal entries posted after the close. While that model was reliable, it was inherently reactive. 

This is now changing, as intelligence is built into business applications they are becoming systems of action, where AI agents don’t just record work, they help carry it out, with people setting the guardrails. For organizations using Dynamics 365, this is a shift from systems that primarily record business activity to systems that help move work forward under human-defined controls. 

Making this practical takes more than agent reasoning. Agents need a governed way to access business context, connect to transactional systems, and act through the same rules, permissions, and audit trails already built into the application. That is the role Dynamics 365 Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers play.

What Dynamics 365 MCP servers change for your business 

Dynamics 365 MCP servers make the business applications platform agent-ready. Agent-ready means agents can connect to and operate inside the transaction layer of the business application, using the same data models, rules, permissions, security guardrails and audit trails as any user of the system.  

Instead of integrating AI around enterprise resource planning (ERP), organizations can bring agents into the flow of work, where business decisions and transactions already happen: 

  • Faster cycle times, by moving approvals, forecasts, and transactions forward with Dynamics 365. 
  • Lower integration overhead, by using the application layer customers already govern instead of building custom connections for every process. 
  • Reduced manual effort, as agents clear routine steps while people stay in control of thresholds and approvals. 
  • Better-informed planning, as agents work from trusted operational data and planning context. 

Today, Dynamics 365 exposes over 650,000 MCP actions across sales, finance, supply chain, human resources, field service, customer service, and project operations. That is the same depth of capability users rely on inside the application, now available to agents.  

When an agent qualifies a lead, adjusts a forecast, or processes a transaction, it runs within the Dynamics 365 transaction layer, using the same data, rules, permissions, and audit trails already in place.  That reduces the need to build separate APIs or bolt-on governance layers for every scenario. 

And given Dynamics 365 is MCP compliant, it can connect to compatible agents across supported platforms, enabling multi-agent interoperability, and customer choice, not lock-in. 

Use Model Context Protocol for finance and operations apps

How partners use MCP to build AI agents with Dynamics 365

Partners are at the front edge of this shift. They have industry expertise, domain knowledge, and customer relationships to turn platform capability into real-world outcomes.  

Cegeka: AI in high-stakes, regulated workflows 

In manufacturing and life sciences, Cegeka operates in environments where precision is not optional, it is regulated. Their Quality Impact Recall Agent is designed for manufacturing focused organizations managing quality incidents that propagate in two directions: backward through batch genealogy to determine what was produced and forward through customer commitments to identify who received it. When performed manually, this process can take hours or even days, according to Cegeka. 

How do you introduce AI into a business process where 99% accuracy is considered a failure? In the rigid, transactional world of ERP, processes like product recalls leave no room for hallucinations or best guesses.  

Thomas Van Dorpe, AI ERP Architect at Cegeka 

Cegeka’s approach anchors the agent in ERP data, with a Traceability Add-in that maps batch and lot relationships across the supply chain. The agent can trace from a defect signal back to affected batches and forward to affected customers. Microsoft Copilot Studio orchestrates the agent logic, and MCP connects Dynamics 365 to Microsoft 365, where supplier communications, corrective workflows, and regulatory documentation get initiated.

Across Cegeka’s broader portfolio, their Tender Agent built on Microsoft Power Apps, Copilot Studio, and Dynamics 365 Project Operations helps procurement teams collect and compare supplier quotes, manage request for proposal (RFP) processes, and convert approved tenders into structured work. A Configuration Comparison Agent monitors compliance-relevant drift, while a Regression Testing Agent automates test creation for periodic release validation. The use cases differ; the architectural approach does not.

proMX: Scaling agents across project-based operations 

A different pattern emerges with proMX, a partner with deep roots in Dynamics 365 Project Operations. Rather than building a single, monolithic agent, they are assembling a portfolio of capabilities aligned to how project-based organizations operate, including change orders, approvals, time and expense, project management office (PMO) support, and lessons-learned retrieval. Their focus is concrete: energy, utilities, construction, and consulting firms that manage delivery projects, track time at granular levels, and execute financial adjustments on a scale. 

proMX is also using its own environment as the proving ground, serving as a customer zero for the Dynamics 365 Project Operations Activity Approvals Agent. They started with time-entry approvals where high volumes of short-duration entries were stalling billing prep and slowing month-end close. 

The agent went from preview to full internal rollout in a matter of weeks, reaching 50% adoption across proMX’s internal PMO. Approvers stay in the loop, rules and thresholds are defined up front, and approvers see what the agent recommends before anything posts, while the repetitive work of clearing routine entries gets handled automatically. proMX reports that approval cycles shortened, billing prep accelerated, and month-end close becomes smoother. 

For us, this was never about building an AI demo. Reaching 50% internal adoption shows that the Approval Agent is not just technically possible, it brings enough benefits for people to try and stick with it. 

Sebastian Sieber, Global Director Technology, proMX

Their flagship in-market offering is the Change Order Agent. It handles a class of cross-record adjustments that typically break lighter-weight automation: reallocating budgets across projects, splitting labor and non-labor components, and preserving alignment between cost and sales. The agent interprets the request, maintains the integrity of underlying values, generates the required change-order records, and triggers the downstream system processes. 

The architecture extends the Dynamics 365 stack. Copilot Studio orchestrates the agent logic, Microsoft Dataverse and Power Apps handle execution. And MCP connects the pieces, with proMX building targeted MCP servers only where gaps exist in the standard surface. For more complex, multiagent scenarios, Microsoft Foundry provides the scaling path. It’s a win on both sides: their unique value stays protected, and their solution keeps working as Dynamics 365 evolves.

TrueGradient: Expanding the ecosystem with AI-native companies 

TrueGradient is an AI native company offering an integrated business planning platform spanning demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and price and promotion planning. It represents a growing wave of AI native companies building on Dynamics 365 and MCP, forming a new cohort within an evolving partner ecosystem. 

Forecast Enrichment Agent handles the analytical heavy lifting, selecting an appropriate forecasting model for a given scenario, while a companion agent turns those forecasts into planning decisions. MCP serves as the connective layer into Dynamics 365 and the other ERP, data, and commerce systems customers already run. 

Anchor customers such as Angelcare, Anand Sweets and more are live on Microsoft ERP and expanding in contract value. At Angelcare, a consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturer with baby and pet care brands sold in more than 50 countries, Angelcare reports a 12% improvement in demand forecast accuracy, with engagement targets that include 10–20% gains in trade promotion efficiency and roughly 10% reductions in working capital and logistics costs.

Our vision is to integrate AI-driven tools into our operations, and we selected TrueGradient for its cutting-edge Self-Serve AI platform and deep expertise in CPG and retail. We are seeing promising results.

Stephane Huot, VP Supply Chain & Logistics, Angelcare Group

The broader signal matters as much as the metrics. Companies built around AI, like TrueGradient, are choosing Dynamics 365 and MCP as the trusted place where their insights turn into real business actions at scale. That’s a sign the ecosystem isn’t just longtime partners updating what they offer, it’s growing in new directions.

Bring AI agents into the workflows your business already runs

The agent model is not theoretical, it is beginning to deliver impact across business processes and industries within our partner ecosystem. We are seeing agents move from experimentation to execution, with early results in real-world scenarios.

This is what agent-ready looks like in practice: agents connected to business data, governed by business rules, and trusted to take on real work. Not just assisting but acting in the system where work already happens. 

Customers can gain faster time to value while operating within existing Dynamics 365 controls, the same permissions, security guardrails, and audit trails as any user. Partners benefit from a shorter path from idea to repeatable, AI-driven outcomes. And across the ecosystem, MCP serves as the connective tissue that makes agents interoperable, auditable, and production‑ready.  

Start with the process that matters most

Explore partner-built agents already running on Dynamics 365 or identify the first manual process your organization can convert into an agent-driven workflow using Copilot Studio, Microsoft Foundry, and Microsoft Marketplace

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Copilot Cowork: From conversation to action across skills, integrations, and devices http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2026/05/05/copilot-cowork-from-conversation-to-action-across-skills-integrations-and-devices/ Thu, 14 May 2026 21:13:38 +0000 Today, we’re announcing additional capabilities in Cowork to expand on what it can make possible for you.

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Over the past few years, AI has transformed how we access information and get answers. The next step is helping people take actions. That’s the shift behind Copilot Cowork. 

We recently introduced Copilot Cowork through the Frontier program to move beyond chat and into execution—helping you delegate real tasks and have them completed for you. Since then, we’ve seen people use Cowork in ways that go far beyond simple prompts: orchestrating inbox workflows, conducting deep research, generating structured documents, and even building full web pages.  

What is becoming clear is that once AI understands your work, it can start contributing to it and working alongside you. Cowork is built on Work IQ, our intelligence layer that understands your data, your tools, and your organization. That foundation allows Cowork to plan, act, and produce outcomes that are grounded in how your business runs and not just what is available on the public internet.  

Today, we’re announcing additional capabilities in Cowork to expand on what it can make possible for you.

Join the Frontier program to get started

Work doesn’t just happen at your desk—bringing Cowork to iOS and Android mobile

A key part of our Copilot vision is bringing AI into the flow of work, wherever that work happens.  

Cowork already runs in the cloud, so you don’t have to worry about closing your laptop or if your PC is running. Now, we’re introducing Cowork on iOS and Android so you can delegate work the moment you think of it—on your commute, between meetings, or away from your desk—and come back to a finished outcome. Instead of completing those tasks, you can hand them off and keep going while the work progresses in the background.

Turning work into reusable intelligence with Cowork Skills

A lot of work follows repeatable structures and that’s where skills come in. A skill is a reusable set of instructions that guides Cowork on how to complete a task or workflow. Instead of starting from scratch each time, you can capture how you want something done—your structure, your tone, and your process—and ask Cowork to apply it consistently.

We’re introducing built-in skills across Microsoft 365 to help with common workflows like creating documents, coordinating meetings, and conducting research. You can also create your own custom skills, whether you’re standardizing a team process or automating recurring work.

Over time, these skills become a shared layer of intelligence that helps teams scale how work gets done.

Connecting work across your tools with Cowork plugins

We also know that work doesn’t live in a single place. It spans documents, data, and line-of-business systems. To meet that reality, Cowork is connecting more deeply to the tools your organization already relies on so it can operate across systems.

We’re introducing new native integrations across Microsoft products, including Fabric IQ with Power BI, so you can bring your data directly into Cowork workflows. We’re also expanding integrations with Dynamics 365 across sales, customer service, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications to support scenarios like pipeline reviews, case resolution, and order approvals.

Available now, we’ll be releasing connectors to popular third-party solutions such as LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group), Miro, monday.com, and S&P Global Energy, with more to come.

Organizations can also build custom plugins to extend Cowork to their unique systems and processes. Learn how to addcreate, and manage plugins in Copilot Cowork and start building yours today.

Try Copilot Cowork

We’re still early and moving fast. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been continuously expanding what Cowork can do and you’ll continue to see rapid improvements as we build alongside how customers are using it.

Copilot Cowork is available through the Frontier program, with new capabilities rolling out continuously. Learn more about the latest updates on the Microsoft Technical Community and get started using Cowork in your own workflows today.

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Forrester studies project more than 100% ROI for enterprises and 16-month payback for midmarket organizations using Dynamics 365 ERP http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/business-leader/2026/02/26/forrester-studies-project-more-than-100-roi-for-enterprises-and-16-month-payback-for-midmarket-organizations-using-dynamics-365-erp/ Thu, 26 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000 Enterprise resource planning decisions will shape how organizations operate, scale, and compete for years to come.

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Enterprise resource planning (ERP) decisions are among the most consequential investments a business can make; shaping how organizations operate, scale, and compete for years to come. Yet many ERP transformations have historically carried risk: high costs, long timelines, heavy customization, and uncertain returns.

To bring clarity to these decisions, Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct two independent Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) studies examining the business value of Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP on enterprises and midmarket organizations.

From fragmentation to integration: Why ERP modernization matters

Across both 2026 studies, Forrester’s projections showed organizations from a similar place: fragmented ERP landscapes, siloed data, manual processes, and highly customized legacy systems that were difficult to upgrade or scale. These environments could limit real-time visibility, slow decision-making, and increased operational risk; particularly as organizations grew, expanded into new markets, or managed increasingly complex supply chains. These constraints didn’t just slow operations; they could limit a leader’s ability to respond to volatility, growth, and supply chain disruption with confidence.

In response, organizations turned to Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP to consolidate finance and supply chain operations with a unified, cloud-based platform. By centralizing data and standardizing processes, organizations can improve operational efficiency and gain timely, actionable insights across the business.

Importantly, this shift reframed ERP from a back-office system of record to a platform for informed, faster decision-making that connects data, people, and processes across the enterprise.

Quantifying business value with Forrester’s TEI methodology

The strength of the TEI studies lies in their focus on quantifiable business impact. Forrester evaluated benefits, costs, flexibility, and risks over a multi‑year period, modeling a composite organization based on real customer interviews and survey responses. This approach allows leaders to evaluate ERP investments using a transparent financial framework rather than vendor claims alone.

Enterprise ERP: Financial impact at scale

In the enterprise TEI study, Forrester modeled a composite organization representing large, complex businesses using Dynamics 365 ERP. The analysis projects that over three years, the organization achieved:

  • 101% return on investment (ROI)
  • Net present value (NPV) of $12.9 million

These results were driven by a combination of operational efficiency gains, productivity improvements, and cost reductions, particularly from consolidating legacy systems and reducing infrastructure and IT operations spend.

The study highlights that value did not come from isolated features, but from standardizing processes, unifying data across finance and supply chain functions, and reducing reliance on heavily customized, on-premises ERP environments.

Key enterprise findings business leaders should note

For business decision makers evaluating ERP at scale, several findings stand out:

  • Improved operational efficiency and productivity can be enabled through streamlined workflows and better access to real-time insights
  • Reduced infrastructure and IT operations costs can be enabled by retiring multiple legacy systems and shifting to a cloud-based ERP model
  • Faster, more confident decision making enabled by unified financial and supply-chain data

Together, these benefits contributed directly to the projected positive NPV and ROI modeled in the study, reinforcing ERP modernization as a business investment, not just an IT upgrade.

Midmarket ERP: Enterprise-grade value without enterprise complexity

While enterprises face complexity at scale, midmarket organizations often face a different challenge: how to grow without adding disproportionate cost or operational overhead. Forrester’s Total Economic Impact™ study of Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP for midmarket organizations examined how modern ERP can support expansion, improve visibility, and standardize operations without the burden of traditional enterprise‑scale implementations.

In the study, Forrester modeled a composite midmarket organization based on customer interviews and survey data. The analysis projects that the organization would achieve:

  • Payback in 16 months
  • Net present value (NPV) of $3.3 million over three years

These outcomes were driven by streamlined finance and supply chain operations, automation of manual processes, and the replacement of disconnected legacy systems with a single, cloud‑based ERP platform. By consolidating systems and standardizing processes, organizations can reduce operational friction while supporting improved visibility and control across the business.

Key midmarket findings business leaders should note

For midmarket decision-makers, the study highlights several critical outcomes:

  • Enabled faster time-to-value, with measurable financial returns realized in just over a year
  • Enabled improvements to operational efficiency and productivity through streamlined finance and supply chain processes and automation of manual tasks
  • Potentially reduced complexity and IT overhead by replacing disconnected legacy systems with a unified cloud ERP platform

These benefits contributed directly to the projected positive NPV and rapid payback modeled in the study, reinforcing ERP modernization as a financially disciplined investment for midmarket organizations focused on growth and resilience.

Why independent research matters for ERP decisions

ERP investments shape the future of an organization for years—sometimes decades. That’s why independent, third-party validation is critical. The Forrester TEI studies do not ask leaders to accept conclusions at face value; instead, they provide:

  • A transparent financial model
  • Explicit assumptions and risk adjustments
  • Clear linkage between operational improvements and economic outcomes

For executives, CFOs, COOs, and IT leaders, these studies offer a common language for aligning stakeholders and setting realistic expectations for ERP transformation.

Go deeper: Explore the full Forrester TEI studies

This summary only scratches the surface. The full Forrester Total Economic Impact™ studies include detailed benefit breakdowns, cost considerations, and financial modeling that business leaders can adapt to their own organizations.

For organizations considering ERP modernization, these studies provide a data-driven foundation to evaluate options, build a credible business case, and make informed decisions with confidence.

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Agentic AI for inventory to deliver: From procurement to fulfillment http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/business-leader/2026/02/02/agentic-ai-for-inventory-to-deliver-from-procurement-to-fulfillment/ Mon, 02 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/?p=199930 From procurement and production to fulfillment and customer satisfaction, inventory-to-deliver impacts every aspect of the supply chain.

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When customers place an order, they expect speed, accuracy, and reliability. Behind the scenes, inventory-to-deliver processes are what makes that promise possible, helping to ensure the right products are available at the right time to meet customer expectations while controlling costs. For operational professionals, inventory isn’t just a number on a spreadsheet, it’s the lifeline of the supply chain. It determines whether you can fulfill demand without delays, avoid costly stockouts, and keep working capital flowing. From procurement and production to fulfillment and customer satisfaction, inventory-to-deliver impacts every aspect of the supply chain.

In today’s fast-paced market, poor inventory visibility can lead to stockouts, excess holding costs, and missed revenue opportunities. Conversely, a well-orchestrated inventory strategy drives efficiency, reduces waste, and strengthens resilience against disruptions. It enables businesses to optimize working capital, improve cash flow, and deliver on promises consistently. So, how can an agent-ready enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform reinvent the inventory-to-deliver process?

Microsoft Cloud and agent platform enables inventory to deliver transformation

Microsoft Dynamics 365 can transform inventory management from a reactive task into a strategic advantage with an agent-ready foundation that spans across finance, supply chain, sales, and operations for a single source of truth that is both scalable and secure.

This same data foundation enables customers to buy, build, and customize agents to infuse across processes. For a refresher on understanding the agent landscape available today, visit Reinventing business process with AI: Agents in record to report where we explore the difference between first party, third party, and custom agents.

An animated pie chart that goes from zero to 75%. Below it reads, "of COOs trust AI for high-stakes work. The image fades to a second slide which reads, "Operations teams are using agents to boost speed and capacity." The stat is from the 2025 Work Trend Index.

Automate vendor communication with a first party agent from Dynamics 365

The Supplier Communications Agent in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management is designed to automate routine procurement communications between purchasing teams and vendors. Traditionally, these interactions—such as following up on purchase orders or confirming changes—are manual, repetitive, and often handled via email, even in organizations using electronic data interchange (EDI). The Supplier Communications Agent can streamline these low-complexity tasks by automating vendor outreach and updates, freeing procurement professionals to focus on strategic activities. This not only seeks to improve efficiency but also reduces overall procurement costs by minimizing time spent on administrative work.

Explore partner agents to support the inventory to deliver process

Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers are configurable bridges between the business data within your line-of-business apps and the partner or custom-built agents you want to use. MCP serves as a universal intermediary, unlocking access to a unified platform and app data, modernizing how AI agents are interoperable with your apps. Let’s explore a few partner-built agents that will help you realize value across your supply chain today.

Warehouse Advisor Agent by MCA Connect

The Warehouse Advisor Agent leverages machine learning and predictive analytics to automate and improve key processes such as slotting, inventory consolidation, and cycle counting. By analyzing real-time data and historical trends, the agent delivers actionable insights that help warehouse teams make smarter, faster decisions.

This solution is ideal for warehouse managers, operations leaders, and supply chain professionals in distribution and manufacturing industries who are looking to reduce inefficiencies, improve inventory accuracy, and increase labor productivity. It integrates seamlessly with Dynamics 365’s Warehouse Management System (WMS), enabling users to deploy intelligent automation without disrupting existing workflows.

Inventory Acquisition and Re‑Balancing Agent from RSM

The Inventory Acquisition and Re‑Balancing Agent from RSM enables smarter inventory decisions by analyzing demand signals, supply availability, and stock imbalances in Dynamics 365. The agent can recommend rebalancing and acquisition actions to reduce stockouts, minimize excess inventory, and improve working capital efficiency.

Inbound Load Agent from Fellowmind

Fellowmind’s Inbound Load Agent can streamline inbound logistics by intelligently composing and optimizing loads based on demand, capacity, and operational constraints within Dynamics 365. The agent seeks to help logistics teams reduce transportation costs, improve warehouse utilization, and simplify complex inbound planning decisions.

Get started with agents for inventory-to-deliver processes

The Microsoft platform brings together secure, scalable cloud services with Dynamics 365’s unified ERP capabilities to streamline the entire inventory-to-delivery process. By leveraging real-time data and intelligent workflows, businesses gain supply chain agility to better meet customer expectations with precision. Partner-built agents, powered by MCP, amplify this value, enabling autonomous actions and predictive insights that transform operations from reactive to proactive. Together, these innovations create a resilient, future-ready foundation for delivering efficiency and growth at scale.

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Agentic AI in retail: How Dynamics 365 powers Commerce Anywhere http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/business-leader/2026/01/08/agentic-ai-in-retail-how-dynamics-365-powers-commerce-anywhere/ Thu, 08 Jan 2026 15:00:00 +0000 Retail frontier firms don’t just digitize commerce, they operationalize intelligence.

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Retail Frontier Firms are evolving their operating models to keep pace with increasingly dynamic markets, using AI to support more responsive and resilient decision-making and execution across commerce channels. Rather than improving individual functions in isolation, these organizations are rethinking how commerce operates end to end, enabling AI agents to work alongside people to support faster, more consistent outcomes across the business. This evolution is accelerating as retailers navigate rising customer expectations, sustained margin pressure, volatile demand, and ongoing labor constraints: conditions that benefit from decisions being made and executed more continuously.

In Retail Frontier Firms, AI capabilities are embedded where decisions and value are created: in stores, at the digital shelf, across merchandising, pricing, fulfillment, customer service, and checkout. AI agents interpret signals from customers, inventory, suppliers, and channels and help coordinate actions across the enterprise. This supports retailers as they respond to change with greater speed, consistency, and scale across touchpoints.

This operating model is enabled by agents that share context and operate cohesively across the retail ecosystem. At the core of agentic commerce is Model Context Protocol (MCP), which provides AI agents with access to a shared, enterprise-grade understanding of products, inventory, pricing, policies, and customer intent. By grounding agents in a common business context, MCP helps support aligned, governed, and consistent decision-making across channels and functions. The future of retail is increasingly shaped by a human and AI agent operating model, connected by shared context and open protocols.

  • Model Context Protocol (MCP) unlocks hundreds of thousands of business functions for secure, real-time use by agents, developers, and applications. 
  • Agent Communication Protocol (ACP) enables agents across merchandising, supply chain, store operations, and service to collaborate end to end, helping reduce fragmentation and align execution across functions.
  • Payment and transaction agent protocols extend AI capabilities through checkout and settlement, supporting trusted, compliant transactions across in-store, online, and conversational commerce.

Together, these capabilities support a more outcome-driven operating model focused on availability, margin, conversion, service levels, and loyalty. Humans define strategy, priorities, and guardrails, while AI agents help orchestrate execution across day-to-day operations: supporting modern retail operations designed for Commerce Anywhere.

As consumer expectations continue to rise, shoppers increasingly demand seamless, continuous interactions where they move effortlessly from social-commerce discovery to mobile checkout, in-store pickup, curbside fulfillment, or voice-activated reordering. Frontier retail responds to this shift by dissolving the boundaries between channels and touchpoints, allowing commerce to adapt in real time to customer intent, location, and context. For brands, this means the ability to deliver frictionless, anticipatory commerce at scale by meeting customers wherever they are, with relevance and speed, without adding operational complexity.

The industry is rapidly shifting away from static, siloed channels toward autonomous, context-aware agents that orchestrate buying journeys seamlessly across stores, digital experiences, and conversational interfaces. Agents move beyond traditional personalization. They actively guide product discovery, shape contextual offers, negotiate availability, and coordinate fulfillment, helping to continuously optimize inventory, pricing, promotions, and supply-chain decisions behind the scenes. As personalization and automation become table stakes, agentic AI emerges as the strategic engine driving scalable growth and sustainable Commerce Anywhere.

Introducing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce MCP Server

Agentic commerce introduces a new operating model in which AI agents collaborate through MCP, enabling continuous decision-making and coordinated execution across the retail value chain. The new Dynamics 365 Commerce MCP Server exposes core retail business logic including catalog, pricing, promotions, inventory, carts, orders, and fulfillment as MCP-enabled capabilities. Expected to be in preview in February 2026, this will allow retailers to build agentic commerce experiences where AI agents can securely discover, decide, and execute retail workflows across digital, physical, and conversational channels.

By combining the ERP, Analytics, and Commerce MCP servers, Dynamics 365 supports a more agent-driven operating model in which front-office experiences and back-office operations are connected and optimized, helping retailers operate with greater agility and readiness for Commerce Anywhere.

How retailers can begin adopting agentic commerce today

Retail leaders can begin moving toward agentic commerce by adopting AI agents in three practical ways:

  1. Starting with agents embedded in Dynamics 365
  2. Extending capabilities through custom-built agents using MCP
  3. Leveraging partner-built agents across the broader retail ecosystem

Together, these approaches allow retailers to progress at their own pace while aligning agent adoption to their operating model, business priorities, and maturity.

1. Start with agents embedded in Dynamics 365

Purpose-built agents are designed to address common retail challenges and operational friction points. Dynamics 365 agents and retail industry agents can be embedded directly into core business processes, allowing teams to realize value quickly.

Microsoft retail industry agents, like the Catalog Enrichment Agent and Personalized Shopping Agent are examples of vertical-specific agents designed around retail data models, workflows, and decision patterns that support scenarios like product discovery, assortment accuracy, and personalized engagement without requiring custom development.

Today, in Dynamics 365 the Supplier Communications Agent is a good example of embedded agents in action. Retailers can proactively monitor supply signals and engage suppliers in real time to confirm availability, align delivery timelines, and respond to changes earlier. This supports faster coordination, fewer surprises, and more reliable execution at scale.

2. Build custom agents using MCP

Retail operations are shaped by business logic that is unique to each organization: driven by merchandising strategies, store formats, service models, and supply-chain constraints. Microsoft Copilot Studio enables retailers to build custom AI agents that encode their own rules across replenishment, allocation, fulfillment, and store execution, aligning agent behavior directly to how the business operates.

These custom agents can operate across planning and selling in the flow of work using MCP-powered access to enterprise systems. Inside Microsoft Teams, Merchandising Managers and Planners can collaborate in real time with agents that access products, demand forecasts, supplier relationships, inventory, and pricing through Dynamics 365 ERP MCP.

On the selling side, through the Dynamics 365 Commerce MCP Server, your custom agents can extend intelligence into customer experiences. Agents can discover products, personalize offers, assess availability, reserve inventory, and complete transactions across digital, physical, and conversational channels while operating with a unified view of pricing, promotions, and fulfillment.

3. Extend agentic commerce through partners and the ecosystem

Retailers can further accelerate agent adoption by leveraging partner-built agents designed for specific retail scenarios and industries. Commerce MCP enables software development companies and system integrators to build agents more quickly by reducing integration overhead, standardizing access to retail data, and maintaining enterprise-grade trust and compliance.

Early partner solutions already demonstrate the breadth of what’s possible, from store associate productivity and clienteling to conversational commerce and business-to-business (B2B) buying experiences, including:

  • Amicis: The Store Commerce Agent is a voice-first, screen-aware assistant designed for in-the-moment store execution. It can help associates complete high-friction tasks like returns, exchanges, order lookups, and policy checks in Dynamics 365 Commerce using natural voice commands, while adapting to what’s on the POS screen.
  • Evenica: The B2B Licensee Product Request Agent uses conversational AI and image recognition to support licensees in finding beverage products. When a product is not available in the catalog, the agent can create a request case to support the product intake process.
  • Argano: The Retail Clienteling Agent offers a conversational clienteling experience by bringing together customer insights, product data, and agentic AI into a single, governed workflow. It helps retail associates improve customer relationships by delivering personalized, brand-aligned interactions before, during, and after in-store appointments.
  • Sunrise: The Commerce Companion is a suite of retail agents that help simplify everyday store operations across inventory and fulfillment to purchasing and store processes. Using natural language, it is designed to deliver fast, accurate answers and guided actions, which can enable associates to serve customers efficiently while keeping operations moving smoothly.
  • Visionet: FashionGPT Agent can turn natural-language shopping intent into real-time retail execution across product, pricing, inventory, and promotions. It drives the end-to-end shopping journey and help turn conversations into measurable actions across channels.

Together, embedded agents, custom-built agents, and partner solutions give retailers flexible entry points into agentic commerce supporting near-term impact while laying the foundation for a more adaptive, AI-enabled operating model across Commerce Anywhere.

Agentic retail with Dynamics 365 in action at NRF 2026

At NRF, we will demonstrate how Dynamics 365 works with Copilot and agentic capabilities to support Commerce Anywhere and more efficient, end-to-end retail operations. We will share examples of how retailers are using Dynamics 365 to evolve their operating models and advance Frontier Firm capabilities.

Visit us during NRF expo hours at Level 3, Booth 4503, and join the related theater sessions at our booth:

  • Beyond the Boutique: How Frette Uses AI to Transform Store Experience
    January 11, 2026 (Sunday), 2:00 PM ET
    Session led by Sunrise Technologies
  • Reimagine retail business processes with Agentic ERP
    January 13, 2026 (Tuesday), 2:30 PM ET

The future of retail belongs to frontier organizations that can sense, decide, and act in real time. With agentic commerce enabled by Dynamics 365, retailers gain the foundation to move faster with confidence, aligning strategy, execution, and customer experience through intelligent agents that operate seamlessly across every channel. We look forward to connecting with you in New York and exploring how agentic business applications in Dynamics 365 can support your next step forward.

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The era of agentic business applications arrives at Convergence 2025 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/business-leader/2025/12/09/the-era-of-agentic-business-applications-arrives-at-convergence-2025/ Tue, 09 Dec 2025 16:00:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/?p=197006 At Convergence 2025, December 9–12, we’ll explore how organizations can build an AI-first autonomous enterprise powered by data, copilots, and agents working together across Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Microsoft Cloud.

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The way we work is transforming. Generative AI and agentic business applications are catalysts for a profound shift in how we create, collaborate, and make decisions. What once took hours now happens in moments. Ideas move faster, insights surface sooner, and the boundaries between human creativity and machine capability are blurring. This isn’t the future—it’s unfolding now, and it’s changing the very fabric of how businesses operate.

It’s a move from systems of record to systems of action. In this new era, AI agents go beyond support—they help interpret signals, uncover patterns, and initiate actions and continuously optimize processes on your behalf. At Convergence 2025, December 9–12, we’ll explore how organizations can build an AI-first autonomous enterprise powered by data, copilots, and agents working together across Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Microsoft Cloud.

From automation to autonomy: The AI-first organization

Businesses have long pursued automation to streamline operations. The next leap is autonomy—systems that interpret signals across the business, adapt workflows in real time, and anticipate decisions. Autonomous enterprises go beyond efficiency—they are driven, adaptive, and human-centered, with intelligent systems that understand context, collaborate across processes, and deliver measurable outcomes.

We believe the recognition of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Leader placement in Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ and IDC MarketScape reports reinforces our ability to connect front-end and back-end operations into one intelligent ecosystem. Our leadership is grounded in the breadth of the Microsoft Cloud, the depth of our data estate, and our ability to bring AI, analytics, and business applications together as a unified platform to accelerate end-to-end AI transformation.

Agentic business applications are built on three connected pillars: data, Copilot, and agents—working together to change how work gets done.

1. Data: The foundation of agent autonomy

Most business processes begin with data. Finance close, order-to-cash, customer insights, case resolution, supply chain planning, field service, HR workflows—each depends on complete, connected, trusted information. When this data is fragmented across systems, agents can’t act with autonomy, and AI can only answer questions instead of accelerating outcomes.

Dynamics 365 spans both front-office and back-office operations—customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP)—providing a continuous, end-to-end view of customers, employees, finances, supply chain, and operations. This structured, governed, and auditable data is the backbone of business processes—how work flows, how controls are enforced, and how organizations maintain compliance at scale.

As business model innovation becomes even more important, we continue to invest deeply in these core applications. We’re expanding capabilities across ERP and CRM, investing in bringing Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft Copilot Studio, and Microsoft Power Platform closer to Dynamics 365 than ever before. From connected frontlines to adaptive supply chains, business applications are becoming composable, intelligent, and outcome-driven—helping customers innovate more quickly while maintaining trust, security, and governance, adapt faster, redesign workflows, and build the operational integrity required for agent-powered processes. At Convergence 2025, you’ll see how Dynamics 365 continues to evolve as the operational engine of AI-first organizations.

At Microsoft Ignite 2025, we announced major advances in how agents connect with ERP systems. The Dynamics 365 ERP Model Context Protocol (MCP) server is evolving from static actions to a dynamic, configurable framework that adapts as business needs evolve. A new analytics MCP server extends this capability to structured metrics and insights, supporting agents to reason over governed operational and financial data—not snapshots or exports, but live business signals. Together, these updates unify data, logic, and actions into a common protocol that can simplify integration and accelerate automation.

And with MCP designed for massive scale—including support of millions of ERP actions—organizations gain the performance and extensibility required for agent-powered business processes at enterprise scale.

People collaborating in an office setting.

The entire Microsoft data and application stack—Dynamics 365 ERP and CRM, Dataverse, Fabric, and more—forms the operational engine of agentic transformation. It provides the structure, governance, and adaptability required to support AI-powered business models and next-generation workflows.

2. Microsoft 365 Copilot: Your strategic productivity partner

microsoft 365 copilot: built for work

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Copilot continues to help transform productivity across many roles. It helps sales teams move deals forward, finance teams accelerate reconciliation, and service teams resolve issues before they escalate. But Copilot is more than an assistant—it’s the connective layer that links people, data, and systems, understanding intent, orchestrating workflows, and guiding decisions across Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Microsoft 365.

3. Agents: Plan, decide, and act

We expect AI agents will be core to how businesses operate—planning, deciding, and acting across systems to accelerate outcomes. These agents will interpret signals, identify patterns, and initiate actions to keep the business in motion.

Microsoft’s strategy spans the full agent ecosystem: first-party embedded agents inside Dynamics 365, agents for specialized industries that can be customized and extended by partners, specific partner-built agents, and custom agents created by organizations through Microsoft Copilot Studio. All share the same security, governance, and identity foundation.

For small to mid-sized businesses, Dynamics 365 Business Central brings agents directly into everyday finance and operations. The Sales Order Agent creates, validates, and updates sales orders which can help improve accuracy and speed by reducing manual entry and exception management. The Payables Agent automates vendor invoices and reconciliations, improving control while freeing finance teams from repetitive tasks. Together, these agents help Business Central customers modernize core processes with governed, AI-powered actions that keep work flowing across purchasing, sales, and accounting.

Across Dynamics 365 finance and operations, embedded agents are transforming core processes—from time and expense entry in Project Operations, to supplier outreach in Supply Chain Management, to reconciliations in Finance and technician scheduling in Field Service. These agents help reduce manual effort and bring greater precision and autonomy to everyday operations.

At Convergence 2025, we’re also thrilled to announce the public preview of the Product Change Management Agent Template—an AI-powered solution that transforms how manufacturers manage the process of change across equipment, products, and processes changes. Built on Copilot Studio, the agent automates workflows and connects critical systems, helping teams cut approval times from weeks to days, reduce errors, and bring innovations to market, faster. Learn how customers like Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) are using this agent template to optimize their manufacturing operations.

Partner-built agents that extend industry workflows

Partners are building agents that extend domain workflows and connect directly to Dynamics 365 through the MCP. These solutions show how agent-to-agent coordination and cross-system reasoning will define the next era of enterprise automation.

Shop Floor by RSM helps manufacturers gain real-time visibility across production by bringing job details, quality checks, and operational signals into one experience. It can surface issues as they occur and support teams in resolving them quickly, helping to reduce disruptions and maintain consistent output. By connecting workers, data, and actions on the floor, the agent can support more resilient, adaptive manufacturing operations.

The PayFlow Agent by HSO helps finance teams manage vendor payment inquiries with greater speed and accuracy. It analyzes incoming emails, retrieves live payment data from Dynamics 365, and responds with up-to-date status information—which can reduce manual effort and help vendors receive clear, timely communication. The agent streamlines payment cycles and can improve transparency across accounts payable.

The Quality Impact Recall Agent by Cegeka helps organizations identify product quality issues and trace their impact across inventory and customer shipments. It coordinates notifications, guides corrective steps, and streamlines recall preparedness, which can help teams act quickly when risks emerge and maintain trust in the products they deliver.

Factorial connects to the Dynamics 365 Business Central MCP Server to deliver a new agent-to-agent experience. You can use a single Copilot interface to pull, exchange, and act on data across the systems. For example, within expense workflows, Factorial’s agent can request, validate, and reconcile financial data directly with Business Central.

Zensai’s agent integrates with Dynamics 365 Business Central to transform an organization’s operational signals into aligned goals and check-ins inside Microsoft 365. Built in Copilot Studio and connected through MCP for Dynamics 365, the agent converts finance, compliance, HR, and sales insights into structured, cascaded goals within Perform 365. At Convergence 2025, you’ll see how these first-party, partner, and custom-built agents form a connected ecosystem—and how organizations are already using them to move from automation to autonomy.

Convergence 2025

Convergence has always been where our community comes together to learn, connect, and imagine what’s next—and this year we’re reigniting that tradition at a moment of extraordinary change.

Throughout the event you’ll see how organizations are moving from systems of record to systems of agency, and how you can apply these ideas to accelerate your own AI transformation. I’m excited for you to experience everything we’ve been building.

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Microsoft Dynamics 365 named a Leader in three Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ reports: Cloud ERP for Service-Centric Enterprises, Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises, and Cloud ERP Finance http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/business-leader/2025/12/01/microsoft-dynamics-365-named-a-leader-in-three-gartner-magic-quadrant-reports-cloud-erp-for-service-centric-enterprises-cloud-erp-for-product-centric-enterprises-and-cloud-erp-finance/ Mon, 01 Dec 2025 16:00:00 +0000 http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/?p=196476 We’re excited to announce Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a Leader in three Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ reports.

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In today’s economy, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have evolved far beyond traditional back-office functions. They are now strategic drivers of growth, agility, and resilience. Modern business leaders require ERP solutions that deliver more than transactional processing; they need intelligence, insights, and automation at scale. Selecting a platform with embedded AI today helps set your organization up for tomorrow’s competitive advantage.

We’re excited to announce Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a Leader in three Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ reports:

We believe the recognition of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Leader placement in all three Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ reports shows our commitment to delivering end-to-end coverage for modern organizations. Our expertise is especially critical as most businesses today need the flexibility to manage both products and services, backed by the trust and security of a robust financial backbone. With embedded AI capabilities at the core of Dynamics 365, enterprises can confidently unify operations, adapt to evolving market demands, and help ensure their financial systems are secure, scalable, and future-ready.

Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Service-Centric Enterprises

The Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Service-Centric Enterprises as of September 2025
*This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request.

The ERP landscape is evolving rapidly. Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for service-centric enterprises predicts “by 2027, 62% of ERP application spending will include AI capabilities, a significant leap from just 14% in 2024.”1 Dynamics 365 is at the forefront of this transformation, helping businesses harness AI to drive efficiency, agility, and growth.

Dynamics 365 is a software as a service (SaaS) ERP, delivered from Microsoft Azure data centers worldwide. It combines natively developed ERP components with a robust partner ecosystem to deliver industry-specific functionality. Serving midsize to large service businesses across EMEA, the Americas, and APAC, Dynamics 365 is designed for scale and flexibility.

Our core competencies

  • AI-powered innovation: Embedded AI through Microsoft Copilot delivers actionable insights and automates finance, operations, and service processes. Tasks like account reconciliation and cash flow forecasting can become simpler and smarter.
  • Connected ecosystem: Smooth integration with Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, Power Platform, and Azure enables unified data and workflows across the enterprise.
  • Industry-specific capabilities: Our partner ecosystem extends Dynamics 365’s functionality for specialized industries, supporting flexibility and scalability.

Key strengths driving leadership:

  • AI-powered capabilities: Advanced AI empowers organizations with actionable insights and automation to enhance critical business processes.
  • Integrated business management: Core financial and operational systems seamlessly connect with productivity and collaboration tools, enabling holistic visibility and informed decision-making.
  • Cloud platform advantage: Built-in integrations with enterprise-grade cloud services provide scalability, security, and a unified data foundation for innovation and growth.

Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises

The Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises in September 2025
*This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request.

Microsoft is also recognized as a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Management and Finance solutions, which in our opinion underscores our commitment to helping upper-midsize and large enterprises transform operations with intelligent, connected systems.

Dynamics 365 integrates with the broader Microsoft ecosystem. Azure provides scalability and security; Microsoft 365 enables collaboration, and Power BI delivers actionable insights. When data flows freely and tools work together, businesses can operate faster, smarter, and with greater confidence.

Key strengths

Three core strengths for driving enterprises success:

  • AI-powered automation: Advanced AI and Copilot technologies enable intelligent automation and empower organizations to create custom agents for streamlined and tailored workflows.
  • Unified cloud platform: Seamless integration across Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem delivers a secure, scalable, and unified foundation for business operations.
  • Global capabilities: Comprehensive localization and language support helps ensure Microsoft solutions meet the needs of organizations worldwide.

Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP Finance

The Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP Finance October 2025
*This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance has been recognized as a Leader in the Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP Finance for its Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute. In an era where CFOs face mounting pressure to deliver agility, transparency, and predictive capabilities, Dynamics 365 Finance stands out as a transformative solution.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance is a robust platform designed for enterprises operating across multiple geographies. It offers extensive financial dimensions, user-defined tags, and a global chart of accounts, enabling organizations to manage complex, multi-entity environments in over 50 countries. These capabilities support compliance with diverse regulatory frameworks while maintaining operational efficiency.

One of the most innovative features is Microsoft Copilot Studio, which empowers users to build AI agents using natural language. This functionality allows finance teams to automate repetitive tasks, freeing up time for strategic decision-making.

Key strengths driving leadership

  1. AI automation
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 leverages Copilot and embedded AI agents to deliver advanced automation across core business processes. These capabilities support predictive analytics, automated transaction processing, and real-time insights, empowering finance leaders to:
    • Enhance forecasting accuracy by analyzing both historical and live data.
    • Minimize manual reconciliations, freeing up valuable time.
    • Identify anomalies in transactions to help reduce compliance risks.
  2. Customer-driven innovation
    Microsoft’s product development is guided by direct customer feedback, gathered through surveys, advisory boards, and innovation hubs. This approach has resulted in:
    • Low-code automation tools that enable teams to build workflows without developer support.
    • Enhanced dispute resolution features, streamlining interactions between organizations and their customers.
    • Capabilities that optimize cash flow management, supporting business business resilience in dynamic markets.
  3. A global partner ecosystem
    Transformation is a collaborative journey. Microsoft’s extensive global partner network brings specialized expertise in cloud migration, industry-specific solutions, and deployment support. Whether operating in manufacturing, retail, or professional services, organizations benefit from:
    • Tailored implementations that help accelerate time-to-value and mitigate risk during transitions from legacy systems.
    • Co-development opportunities that foster innovation and deliver best-in-class solutions for unique business needs.

Why this matters for CFOs

The role of the CFO is evolving from financial steward to strategic advisor. Today’s finance leaders must deliver insights that drive growth, manage risk, and enable agility. Dynamics 365 equips CFOs with tools to:

  • Predict outcomes using AI-powered analytics.
  • Automate routine tasks, freeing resources for strategic initiatives.
  • Collaborate seamlessly across global teams through integrated workflows.

Looking ahead: The future of finance

As we approach 2026, the finance landscape will continue to shift toward intelligent automation and predictive capabilities. Microsoft’s vision for agentic AI promises a future where finance teams operate with unprecedented efficiency and foresight. From managing exceptions autonomously to delivering real-time scenario planning, these innovations will redefine what’s possible in enterprise finance.

Organizations that embrace these technologies today will be better positioned to navigate uncertainty, capitalize on opportunities, and maintain a competitive edge.

Your path to a smarter future

Microsoft Dynamics 365 exemplifies how technology empowers business leaders, including CFOs, operations executives, and IT strategists, to move beyond transactional processes and become architects of enterprise strategy. We believe being recognized as a Leader in three Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ reports: Cloud ERP for Service-Centric Enterprises, Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises, and Cloud ERP Finance, Dynamics 365 sets the standard for modern ERP solutions.

With its combination of AI-powered automation, customer-centric innovation, and global scalability, Dynamics 365 delivers intelligent, adaptable solutions for organizations across industries and geographies. Whether optimizing operations, transforming supply chains, or streamlining finance, Dynamics 365 offers a clear path forward—one that blends intelligence, agility, and trust.

As organizations embrace the opportunities of an AI-powered future, Microsoft remains dedicated to empowering enterprises with solutions that are intelligent, seamlessly connected, and built to scale. Discover how we are positioned by Gartner and read the full Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ service-centric, product-centric, and finance reports for deeper insights. 

See how organizations using Dynamics 365 are enhancing operational efficiency, boosting flexibility, and unlocking intelligent insights throughout their business processes.


  1. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Service-Centric Enterprises, Robert Anderson, Johan Jartelius, Tomas Kienast, Sam Grinter, Denis Torii, Chaithanya Paradarami, 13 October 2025.
  2. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises, Greg Leiter, Tomas Kienast, Johan Jartelius, Denis Torii, Dennis Gaughan, 13 October 2025.
  3. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Finance, Mike Helsel, Irmina Melarkode, Nick Duffy, Nisha Bhandare, 27 October 2025.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designations. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s Research & Advisory organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Gartner is a registered trademark and service mark and Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

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Microsoft named a Leader in IDC MarketScape for AI-Enabled Large Enterprise ERP Applications http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/business-leader/2025/11/04/microsoft-named-a-leader-in-idc-marketscape-for-ai-enabled-large-enterprise-erp-applications/ Tue, 04 Nov 2025 16:00:00 +0000 Microsoft has been recognized as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape for AI-Enabled Large Enterprise ERP Applications, highlighting our innovation and customer-centric approach to intelligent business solutions.

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Business Leaders today are under increasing pressure to deliver operational excellence while navigating fragmented systems, manual workflows, and rising expectations for real-time insights. For Frontier Firms, traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms are no longer sufficient. Businesses now require agentic ERP solutions that enable scalable growth, intelligent automation, and data-driven decision-making.

According to IDC’s May 2025 SaaSPath Survey, 44% of organizations surveyed plan to invest in AI-powered ERP and 22% of organizations surveyed say they plan to replace their current systems if generative AI isn’t included in the next release.1 This marks a pivotal moment for innovation and Microsoft is in the forefront.

Microsoft’s commitment to AI-powered ERP

Microsoft’s ongoing investment in Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP empowers finance and operations Leaders to meet evolving needs. We’re proud to be named a Leader in the first AI-centric IDC MarketScape: Worldwide AI-Enabled Large Enterprise ERP Applications 2025 Vendor Assessment.

We believe this recognition highlights the strength of Dynamics 365, particularly its Copilot and agent capabilities, redefining procure-to-pay and record-to-report processes with intelligent automation, predictive insights, and streamlined integration.

The evolution of Copilot: From assistant to agent

The IDC MarketScape notes, “Microsoft AI strategy is one of the first announced in the industry. It is progressing with Microsoft Copilot, transitioning from an assistant and advisor to an agent. The agents are developing in Microsoft Dynamics 365 as tasks and basic workflow agents, to more encompassing agents across larger business processes. In addition, Microsoft Copilot Studio lets teams design and govern agents, publish them into Microsoft 365 surfaces, and enforce data controls with Microsoft Purview.” For decision makers, this signals a strategic opportunity to drive operational transformation, help reduce manual overhead, and unlock scalable innovation through AI-powered ERP.

Why Microsoft was name a Leader

Microsoft was positioned as a Leader in the 2025 IDC MarketScape for Worldwide AI-Enabled Large Enterprise ERP Applications based on three strengths: “AI vision,” “comprehensive stack,” and “adaptability, extensibility, and improved KPIs.” The IDC Market Scape notes that, “Microsoft Dynamics 365 is designed for AI from the infrastructure through models, data, and orchestration to apps and extensibility layers. It is built for composability, extensibility, config, security, and global scale. References noted they like the full-stack approach.”

This full-stack approach is important. By integrating AI at every layer—from infrastructure to applications, Microsoft ensures that organizations can innovate quickly, scale confidently, and adapt to changing business needs.

Real-world impact: Customer success stories

The true measure of any technology is its impact on customers. Across industries, Microsoft customers are driving efficiency, flexibility, and intelligence in their operations with Dynamics 365:

These stories illustrate what’s possible when organizations embrace AI-powered ERP: streamlined processes, enhanced decision-making, and future-proofed enterprise systems.

Looking ahead: The future of ERP is agentic

As the pace of business accelerates, the need for dynamic, AI-led ERP systems will only grow. The IDC MarketScape suggests that organizations consider Microsoft if they “need to move to a dynamic, AI-led ERP system to bring significant benefits to their organization.” Whether you’re looking to streamline processes, enhance decision-making, or future-proof your enterprise systems, Microsoft is ready to help you lead.

We encourage you to explore the full insights in the IDC MarketScape excerpt: IDC MarketScape: Worldwide AI-Enabled Large Enterprise ERP Applications 2025 Vendor Assessment.

At Microsoft, we believe the future of ERP is agentic—intelligent, adaptive, and deeply integrated with the way people work. We are committed to helping our customers harness the power of AI to drive operational excellence, unlock new opportunities, and achieve more.

Source: IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor’s position within a given market. The Capabilities score measures vendor product, go-to-market and business execution in the short-term. The Strategy score measures alignment of vendor strategies with customer requirements in a three-to-five-year timeframe. Vendor market share is represented by the size of the circles.


1 SaaS Path Survey, 2025: Executive Summary — Examining the SaaS Buyer’s Journey

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3 ways to navigate changing tariffs with AI agents http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/dynamics-365/blog/business-leader/2025/10/30/navigate-changing-tariffs-build-an-agent-that-keeps-up-with-your-supply-chain/ Thu, 30 Oct 2025 15:00:00 +0000 Stay ahead of shifting tariffs with an AI agent that monitors trade updates, automates compliance checks, and helps your supply chain adapt to global changes in real time.

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Tariffs change at lightning speed, threatening profits and forecasts. But for companies that stay ahead, volatility can become an edge—unlocking smarter sourcing decisions and resilience competitors can’t match. The 4,400-page Harmonized Tariff Schedule alone changes dozens of times a year.1 One week, your steel imports have a 15% tariff. The next week? Maybe 25%. Or maybe zero if a new trade agreement sneaks through.

Every shift in the 4,400-page Harmonized Tariff Schedule puts supply chains at risk. A single misclassification can mean six-figure fines, delayed shipments, or missed revenue targets. Compliance teams burn endless hours chasing updates, while procurement and operations scramble to adjust forecasts and supplier contracts. And despite all that effort, if there is an unexpected policy change, most companies pay the price in lost time, money, and customer trust. The reality is that no human team can easily keep pace with this level of volatility and should instead look to agents and AI to help reduce the busy work and stay ahead of disruptions.

Tariffs are a textbook example of where agents have the potential to excel. No team can realistically monitor 4,400 pages of classifications that shift as chaotically as they do today. Agents take on the repetitive monitoring and data tracking that overwhelm even the best compliance team. When these kinds of tasks are handled by agents, leaders and teams can focus on decisions that move business forward. Microsoft offers multiple ways to make that real, whether you want to start small or transform your entire approach to tariff intelligence.

The Microsoft advantage: 3 ways to build tariff intelligence

Microsoft offers three distinct paths for tackling tariff changes, whether you’re ready for a complete transformation or need to start small and scale up.

1. Use first-party agents in Dynamics 365

Dynamics 365 offers a built-in supplier communication agent that automatically researches supplier information and generates outreach so you can quickly navigate tariff changes and supply chain disruptions. It pulls data from your procurement history, current inventory levels, and supplier performance metrics to identify suppliers that can answer questions about capacity, lead times, and alternative shipping routes.

When tariff changes threaten your delivery schedules, you can quickly compose communications that include relevant data from multiple systems. You no longer need to hunt through spreadsheets to find supplier contact information or manually request alternative sourcing options.

Supplier Communications Agents in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management showing impact analysis

2. Build custom agents in Copilot Studio

With Copilot Studio, you can build custom agents that can calculate the impact of tariff changes on your products and contracts when asked, surface sourcing alternatives, and flag agreements that may need renegotiation.

These agents can connect to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule and Outlook as knowledge sources, and monitor supplier communications for mentions of tariffs, delivery delays, or capacity constraints. Document scanning capabilities mean contracts, shipping manifests, and regulatory updates become searchable, contextual data that informs agent recommendations. Behind the scenes, Microsoft Dataverse maintains data integrity and security with its unified structure and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). You can deploy quickly without sacrificing governance.

These agents can also connect with your Dynamics 365 and other enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, whether that’s SAP, Oracle, or another platform, alongside your product data, supplier information, and procurement contracts through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

MCP is an open standard that enhances the relevance of agent responses. It facilitates the connection of AI agents to various data systems and standardizes how applications provide context to large language models (LLMs). With integration between LLM applications and external data sources, the protocol is useful for building AI-powered tools and workflows like customized tariff agents.

Security and compliance controls are built into the platform, so you can deploy agents rapidly while maintaining governance over what data they can access and what actions they can take. Want an agent that can read tariff schedules but not modify procurement contracts? Copilot Studio makes those boundaries clear and enforceable.

3. Explore partner solutions through the agent ecosystem

Microsoft’s partner ecosystem extends your capabilities with specialized agents tailored for industry-specific needs. Partners like Avanade are already building tariff and trade solutions that plug directly into Dynamics 365, so you can scale faster with proven expertise.

Avanade’s Tariff Navigator provides a single, intelligent agent experience to assess tariff exposure, model “what-if” scenarios, and proactively adjust purchasing, sourcing, and pricing decisions. The cost of inaction is steep and includes margin erosion, unexpected cost spikes, and reactive decisions that weaken competitiveness. And trying to tackle these challenges alone often leads to fragmented efforts and limited impact. Avanade is a trusted advisor with deep technical expertise and experienced industry specialists. Its consultative approach means Tariff Navigator is built around your people, tailored to how they work and the unique business challenges they face.

Using Microsoft’s low-code technologies, Avanade also allows for fast deployment of customized approaches that integrate with your existing systems and empower your teams to act quickly. The result is a practical, business-first application designed for measurable impact.

The Tariff Navigator solution by Avanade doesn’t just manage tariffs—it strengthens your organization’s ability to compete in a volatile global market. It’s about protecting profitability today while building the agility to seize opportunities tomorrow.

Beyond tariffs: Building resilience for what’s next

Tariff management offers you the opportunity to reimagine how supply chain operations handle complexity and uncertainty. The same agent architecture that helps you navigate trade policy changes can tackle other operational challenges, such as supply chain disruptions and vendor performance monitoring.

Agents you build in Copilot Studio or access from Microsoft Marketplace and the partner ecosystem have the potential to help organizations prepare trade agreements, navigate natural disasters, accidents, and other events that reshape supply chains temporarily or permanently. From a Suez Canal blockage to a geopolitical shift that reroutes global trade overnight, agents help you adapt fast.

Ready to take on changing tariffs?

Tariff volatility isn’t slowing down, and the next policy shift could hit tomorrow. The question is whether to react after the fact or build resilience now to better navigate future disruptions. Microsoft empowers customers to get started today, with custom or prebuilt agent options, depending on your needs. Dynamics 365 gives you the intelligent foundation and embedded supplier communications features. Copilot Studio lets customers build custom agents that track schedules, calculate impacts, and surface risks. Or you can use our partner solutions, like Avanade, to extend and customize agents. Either path puts AI agents to work for you, protecting margins, safeguarding compliance, and addressing volatility before it disrupts your supply chain.

Next steps


1Harmonized Tariff Schedule, United States International Trade Commission.

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