Hi, and welcome to Episode number 22 of the Project Operations Advent Calendar! đ đź
Today we look a bit ahead in time and figure out how you can stay up-to-date for the future.
Microsoft Release Planner
We've already covered several features in Project Operations, but there is of course much more available already and even more upcoming in the future.
But how to figure out what's next? How to know which gap to fill, without Microsoft presenting their solution only a few days later?
With the Release Planner for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, the Microsoft Product Teams maintain an overview across all their different products. With Planned, Upcoming, and recently published features and functionalities this is the roadmap to review.
Besides Dynamics 365 Business Applications and Products like Sales, Field Service, and Copilot, there is a whole section for Power Platform capabilities, like Power Pages, Power Automate, Copilot Studio, Power BI, and everything you can find there.
Let's focus on Project Operations (1) in the context of the series, but please feel free to explore all the different sections.
The structure is always the same. Decide on the Product and the timeline of the features you want to investigate.
Planned (2) Features describing functionalities that aim for a release date within the current release wave - right now, this is till the end of March 2024.
Coming Soon (3) Features will be part of one of the next updates. Usually, there is a monthly release train to deploy updates to the different regions.
An overview of the monthly release updates can be found here.
The last section features are the Try now (4) capabilities, which were just recently part of the update. They are usually available to opt-in via the Parameter Feature Control.
The Release plan can be as well filtered (5), if you search for the latest changes, or items newly added, or also in terms of their planned availability:
Each planned feature contains a title and description (6), often with Screenshots or a little more information via the Learn more button.
Recently added to the planner is a Change history feature that tracks availability date modifications, as illustrated in this example.
The right-hand side of the feature details view contains the latest update date (7) and the currently targeted timeline, including Early Access, Public Preview (8), and finally the General Availability period (9).
Early Access or Preview may not always be available in all cases. However, several new features will be introduced in separate stages. Initially, the data model and some fundamental logic will be provided, and the functionality will be gradually enhanced during the current Release wave. For example, this is for example how Project Budgeting and Forecasting are being developed.
For more information, it's also always recommended to go through the current Release wave documentation (10). This also provides a good overview, usually Microsoft posts videos there that already contain a sneak peek of some new features and processes.
Besides gathering information here, it's also possible to share interesting features with colleagues or customers:
Additionally, you have the ability to generate a customized summary. This can be done across all sections and products within the Release Planner, enabling you to develop a personalized release plan.
To accomplish this, you must first log in using your Work or Personal Microsoft Account. It's important to note that all previous features are available without logging in.
Once logged in, you will recognize the "+" icon changes color to blue - so it's possible to add desired features to your Release Plan. And of course, it is possible to remove already added features at any time.
Your personal release plan can be accessed via the toggle button right on top
The filtered version of the whole catalog now contains the Project Operations section (1) and features (2)Â I've selected as well some Power Platform capabilities (3).
All sections I'm not interested in, are not listed here.
You can share your entire personal experience and release plan with colleagues and clients for collaboration.
When it comes to collaboration, you can improve it by taking notes (2) which can be very useful for writing down possible customer scenarios or for communication purposes in the details view. It's better than just sharing the feature as part of the overall release plan.Â
By default the list of selected features is grouped by the parent topic, in my case, the optimization of the product.
A second option is available if you prefer the sorting based on the planned timeline (1), so the list changes from the topic-based grouping to a monthly overview.
Microsoft Ideas
But what if the feature that was eagerly anticipated cannot be found on the Release Planner? What options do I have?
Luckily, there is a second portal available for everyone to share ideas with the community and the responsible product team at Microsoft.
The Ideas portal is again structured based on the Products, with separate sections per product. In this case, we're of course looking into Project Operations, the Time Entries, and Approvals section more precisely.
There you'll be able to add new and also vote for already submitted ideas by all other community members.
The Microsoft Product Team reviews suggestions based on the number of upvotes and provides an update in the comments section, ensuring a follow-up for you.
During the Release planning phase, the Product Team selects the top-rated and most favorable ideas from the list and schedules them for execution.
Having a direct impact on the Roadmap of a large product portfolio has never been easier than it is here.
Conclusion
Various sources can provide knowledge and insights, such as YouTube channels, LinkedIn posts, and blogs similar to this one. Community forums and Microsoft Blogs, particularly for Power Apps, are also a valuable resource.
However, the Release Planner and Ideas portal for Project Operations are often overlooked and undervalued.
For my work both help a lot - to understand what is planned, often as well as how it's planned, and when it's scheduled to be available.
But also what people are asking for. What are the demands, what are gaps we're not aware of but industries and areas are depending on certain functionalities.
Please also consider that these platforms are only an estimated plan. and plans are often there to change. But also it's just nice to see in which direction the development team drives the products.
I hope you enjoyed today's episode, many thanks from my side for stopping by đđ đź
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