Dynamics 365 (D365) Project Operations, the newest addition to the Dynamics 365 stack, will be delivered in 2020. As an end-to-end project management solution designed to help service-based organizations increase project success and profitability, it replaces D365 Project Service Automation (PSA).
Do the two solutions strike you as strangely similar? You are not alone in this. Let us help you by going through the fundamental differences between Dynamics 365 project operations and project service automation along with the benefits of D365 project operations.
Benefits of D365 Project Operations for your company
Professional companies have a plethora of challenges all the time. Therefore, they need the best project management solution and D365 seems to be a great choice. How? Find out about the benefits of it.
1. Better project management capabilities
D365 Project Operations combines essential aspects of Microsoft Projects with D365 Sales, Customer Service, and Finance to provide you with the exact functions you need to drive project success.
2. Improved deal management experiences
If you deliver great deal management experiences, you have a better chance of winning business. D365 Project Operations can help with resource-based costing and pricing, which may be customized. You can construct pricing models based on your area’s geography and market economics.
It also enables you to use various payment structures to meet the demands of your customers, such as fixed-price, time-and-materials, or even retainer-style contracts.
3. Optimized resource utilization
You’ll be able to optimize resource utilization if you can see resource availability across the board. You can see the project’s requirements as well as the overall availability of resources. Adjusting workloads across your resources to ensure optimal performance is now much easy.
When you can access resource profiles, you can also assign the correct people and resources to the right projects/tasks based on their skill set and availability. This allows you to increase overall productivity, work quality, and project success prospects.
4. Simplified time tracking and expense management
In the fast-paced professional services industry, time and expense tracking can be time-consuming activities. Remembering to log paid hours is only part of the difficulty! Fortunately, D365 Project Operations allows you to submit time and expenses while on the go. You can use the easy mobile app or a browser if you have a web-enabled device.
It also offers a user-friendly interface that assists you in ensuring that your company’s time and expense policies are followed.
5. Streamlined project financials
When you have access to the proper financial data at the right time, you can improve overall business efficiency and performance.
Revenue recognition is a feature that adheres to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This can assist your employees in adhering to accounting rules and procedures.
It also allows you to access accounts payable, accounts receivable, and general ledger functionality by integrating with D365 Finance or through open APIs with a third-party ERP system.
6. Improved overall visibility
D365 Project Operations seeks to centralize all of the important aspects of your project-based business. Because of Microsoft Power BI, you can break down corporate silos. It’s the perfect solution for better visualizing and sharing business data with your team (or across departments).
As a result, owing to configurable dashboards that provide critical facts in easily digestible formats, you can make faster, more informed decisions.
Project service automation capabilities
Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation (PSA) helps businesses build client connections by delivering exceptional project experiences on time and on budget, while also enhancing profitability and staff efficiency. It combines all aspects of your project’s life cycle into a single application.
- Project management is effective.
- Optimization of resources.
- The profitability of the project is predictable.
- Encourages creativity.
Dynamics 365 project operations vs project service automation
Both of these technologies automate and manage projects from start to completion. D365 PSA, on the other hand, concentrates on project management in the front office. On the other hand, D365 Project Operations covers both the front and back offices.
Project Operations; for example, includes some of Dynamics 365 Finance’s project management accounting and cost management features, as well as Microsoft Project’s planning and scheduling tools (which were previously unavailable in PSA).
This includes features such as:
- Project planning
- Resource utilization and optimization
- Forecasting (e.g. expected resources, time, expenses, etc)
- Time and expenses tracking
- Project accounting (current, expected, and how they compare)
- Business intelligence
As a result, D365 Project Operations is better suited for more business functions than PSA with the features such as:
- Account managers
- Project managers
- Resource managers
- Project accountants
- COO
Get in touch
Now, hopefully, the guide was valuable to you. If you must choose to make Dynamics 365 project operations as a part of your organization, you must also know about the Dynamics 365 project operations entities and Dynamics 365 project operations licensing. To know more and get started with the implementation process, get in touch with DHRP professionals now!
