Amanda Mckenzie
Forum Replies Created
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Mark,
Connecting Supply Chain to Power BI does provides near real time reporting. If you are connecting directly to the DB (not using a BYOD or Dataverse), the refresh time will be scheduled through PowerBI, so it will be up to date as of the last refresh. There are limits to this method of connection since it is an ‘active link’ between D365 and Power BI. You are connecting via API so you could experience throttling. Size of your dataset is also a consideration as Power BI enforces limitations. You may find you require premium capacity. You will also have to transform your data in Power BI (adding formatting, filtering, etc.) which adds to processing/refresh time and more complex report building.
If your company has an export to dataverse from D365, this is the preferred method. This delays the availability of new data in your report because it must be exported to dataverse prior to it being available in Power BI, but in my experience, it takes appx 10-15 minutes. You would still need to refresh your dataset in PowerBI as well. By building views in Dataverse, you can limit the data being included in your reporting in PBI.
If you have a BYOD, you can also connect to the server and DB using PBI. This again, allows for building views to minimize the dataset and streamlines report building in PBI. However, I have seen issues with publishing reports to PowerBI online. The IP range for Power BI is vast and our security team doesn’t want to whitelist all of them. This causes the refresh in PowerBI to fail due to connection/security issues.
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Russel,
Taxes are setup via the Tax module through a series of hierarchal configurations. Sales tax authorities, sales tax codes, sales tax groups, item sales tax groups (assigned to Products/released products). Sales tax values which are set on the sales tax code level. The Sales tax codes are then assigned to customer records so, if XYZ customer is set for AZ tax, that code is setup on the card and then charged upon invoicing of the SO.
You can also use the Sales tax group and Item sales tax group to charge tax on an invoice generated from the General Ledger module.
The MSFT documentation is pretty comprehensive for this setup.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/finance/general-ledger/indirect-taxes-overview
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Lizzeth,
See my answers inline.
Staffing model:
-How many IT staff members are supporting your solution?
We have 2 admins overseeing the update process. Roughly 15 SME’s working through a set of test scripts detailing all functions in F&O our company uses. Our developers are consultants, and are engaged when/if errors arise.
-What are the IT roles (PM, BA, Developer, etc.)?
ERP Admin (our admins are more technical than the average role), Developers.
Testing:
-What is your standard testing approach for updates and/or upgrades?
Using LCS update schedule, determine what upgrade you need to take. Implement to a TEST or UAT box when that upgrade becomes available. Since you have to stay within 3 versions, this occurs about quarterly for my company.
-How do you ensure MSFT updates are incorporated without breaking existing functionality?
Test scripts were created which cover every aspect of the system we use. It is especially important to focus on customizations. MSFT often removes extension capabilities, objects, etc. and so dev is needed to fix those. Also important to update any ISV’s you have in conjunction with MSFT versions.
-How often are they performing full regression testing?
The whole “update test cycle” for our company is regression testing. It is done in the Sandbox prior to taking the update to PROD. Again, it occurs roughly every 3 months.
-How many test cases are being executed during regression testing?
Our test scripts are roughly 150 tasks between our 7 legal entities.
Work management:
-Are system enhancements and bug fixes placed on-hold during regression testing?
Our company continues to process bug fixes and enhancements during regression testing. It just depends on the work load at that time.
-Who in your org is responsible for reviewing and understanding the impacts of an update?
The ERP admin is responsible for ensuring all impacts from MSFT updates to PROD are understood and mitigated.
-Once the update(s) is understood, are all regression test cases executed every time there is an update?
YES. For our company, we test every task on each update. The tasks also grow as new processes, or functionality are added. It is a living document and will save you SO much headache down the line.
The most important advice I can give is be proactive. Get in the habit of checking release schedules and notes and planning accordingly.
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Lizzeth,
Because we use SME’s who have day jobs and we also continue with normal projects and implementations our regression testing is about 1 month long. If my team were solely dedicated to regression testing, it could be much quicker. It also depends on the changes being implemented by MSFT. You will notice on the release schedule, some versions have an “asterisk” next to them. Those include large changes that are more likely to break things.
Without knowing your system, it is difficult to say. The first few updates are going to be a learning process. I would give yourself as much time as you can.
