GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO OPTIMISE DYNAMICS 365 F&O LICENSING

It had been a while since any news in the D365 Finance ERP world had caused such a stir in the industry.

For several months, Microsoft has announced that it will reinforce license assignment policies directly within customers’ ERPs.

According to the latest published RoadMap, starting September 1, D365 Finance users will receive a warning if their current license does not allow them to access a part of the application enabled by their security role. From November 1, if the user has not regularized their corresponding license, they will not be able to operate.

At REVERTIS, we have developed a very clear and effective internal audit tool that provides both a global and user‑by‑user overview of the current license assignment situation, the percentage usage of different D365 Finance features, and any existing gaps. At the same time, we propose a highly optimized method that allows you to align correctly and optimally with Microsoft’s newly applied restrictions, while ensuring the continuity of your operations and the access and features used by your users.

We believe it is the Partner’s obligation to accompany, support, evaluate, and correctly advise each client’s situation, safeguarding their interests by always proposing the best options and adjusting licensing costs while respecting the manufacturer’s current legal and regulatory requirements.

We recommend reviewing the situation well in advance to prevent the resulting reconfiguration from causing a significant financial surprise or impact.

Talk to us to let us know your situation, and we will be happy to advise you on the actions to take and the optimization possibilities each specific case can achieve.

To put things in context, the licensing model of Dynamics AX 2012 and earlier versions did not impose operational restrictions. This allowed free work in development stages and environments, planning production growth gradually. Microsoft trusted that companies would purchase the correct number of licenses, although throughout our experience, we have found clients who were not properly licensed. In these cases, we have always advised clients on the licensing model to apply, according to their needs and workforce. The model in use allowed a certain degree of flexibility within reasonable limits.

As the manufacturer and owner of the software, Microsoft has always had the authority to perform audits and verify the number of users. In some cases, this has revealed the need to correct irregular situations caused by incorrect or incomplete information and lack of guidance from the Partner to its clients.

When D365 Finance licensing and its various cloud attach models began to be commercialized, we saw that the licensing model initially allowed flexibility similar to previous AX 2012 versions. Even in these scenarios, we found clients who were not properly advised to review security roles and ensure adequate user licensing. In these cases, licensing and security profile generation was often treated as a mere formality rather than an important part of the project implementation or migration. Starting August 31, Microsoft will apply a restrictive limitation on license assignment.

At REVERTIS, we have been working on these situations for years, properly assigning security profiles and the correct types of licenses to users, which they inevitably need to perform their tasks correctly. This methodology has two main advantages: simplifying the tool’s usage for each user (showing them only what they need to see and use) and ensuring management that both data access and licensing costs are properly controlled. Reviewing these elements with our methodology will allow you to avoid unnecessary extra costs and provide greater control over the information each of your users can see and perform in your business environment.

Moreover, due to the security and confidentiality implications of these aspects, we have always considered that establishing proper profiles, roles, and licenses is one of the initial tasks in any D365 Finance implementation or migration project.

Over the years, we have developed the know-how to optimize the necessary licensing costs, not only for this solution but also for any other environment or work tool within the Microsoft Cloud ecosystem.

At REVERTIS, we believe our clients should be properly advised and licensed. Our clients can always upgrade to higher models when their needs increase and require it.

We have demonstrated this both in Microsoft 365 and D365 Finance. Every time we review the licensing of a new client working with more than 50 Microsoft 365 licenses, we typically generate 20% cost savings simply by properly reallocating each license based on the actual usage each user makes of the applications and available features, without changing the users’ working methods.

Similarly, both in D365 Business Central and D365 Finance, we can offer automations that allow you to reclassify some of your current users to Team Member licenses, always guaranteeing the execution and use of their needs within the system.

In the specific case of D365 Finance, this optimization is not strictly limited to reviewing security profiles; in some cases, by proposing simple operational changes, we have been able to reduce the number of full licenses and switch to Activity or even Team Member. Other times, with certain developments, we have optimized license usage. The economic difference is substantial. For us, it is so important that we believe clients should include these evaluations and concepts in all implementation and/or migration projects.

At REVERTIS, we believe that both consulting/programming costs and licensing costs should be fair and necessary, and we are here to help you in your case.