As we’ve covered previously, Microsoft has been pushing for businesses to make the switch to the Unified Interface in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement for some time. Although the legacy interface is scheduled for deprecation in October 2020, some businesses have been given suggested transition dates as early as January 2020. We outline the preparations your organisation will need to make in order to avoid potential downtime and successfully transition to the Unified Interface prior to October 2020.
We have known that the deprecation of the legacy interface was due in October 2020, but it is a surprise to see that companies have been given suggested transition dates that are much sooner; a measure presumably introduced to stagger the transitions over the coming months. Although the Unified Interface provides a raft of improvements to Dynamics 365 users, many organisations have not yet made the switch, due to legacy code that may be affected, potential user training requirements and perhaps even an unawareness of the deprecation of the legacy client.
How can I find out the suggested transition dates for my business?
If you have not already made the switch to the Unified Interface, Microsoft has provided a portal for administrators to log into to view the suggested transition dates for all of your Dynamics 365 instances. This portal is available here and once you have logged in and granted the portal access to your account, you can access the ‘My Environments’ menu option to view your instances. Against each instance, you will see its current suggested transition date. If the date is suitable, you can simply select ‘Approve Transition Date’ against each environment.
Can I change the suggested transition date?
Within reason, yes. The portal provides the ability to reschedule to one of the provided alternative dates. This can be done by selecting ‘Schedule Transition Date’ against each environment. Requests for changes of dates will be granted providing that the new date is before October 1st, 2020. A reason for the change must also be provided. Once the date has been rescheduled, please then accept the updated date if you would like your environment to be transitioned.
What will happen if I don’t approve a suggested transition date for my environment?
There won’t be any change to your environment if you haven’t approved the suggested date within the portal. However, when the suggested date passes, Microsoft will provide another date in the future for you to consider. Please note however that after October 1, 2020, all environments will be updated to the Unified Interface as per the October 2020 release wave.
Once an instance has been transitioned, can it be switched back to the legacy interface?
Once transitioned, you will be able to switch back to the legacy interface for up to ten days post transition; this might prove useful if you encounter unexpected issues. You can make the switch manually for the first four days post transition or after that point, a support request would need to be raised via your usual channel as the manual switch will be disabled.
Conclusion
For Dynamics 365 administrators, it is important that they check the current suggested transition dates for each instance, reschedule where applicable and then approve them accordingly. Strategy 365 will be contacting all affected customers to assist them with this process and to make them doubly aware of upcoming changes. For further support on the Unified Interface, there is an established community with helpful resources and discussions about making a smooth transition.
Useful links
- Microsoft’s Unified Interface Transition Portal
- Microsoft blog post ‘Moving forward with your transition to Unified Interface’
- Unified Interface Community
- Dynamics 365 Unified Interface Improvements announced
