Explore the latest enhancements in Dynamics 365 Project Operations 2024 release wave 1

Microsoft releases updates to Dynamics 365 Project Operations twice a year. With each new release, the platform continues to redefine the boundaries of what’s possible, empowering users with cutting-edge tools and capabilities to streamline workflows and enhance productivity. The 2024 Release Wave 1 of Dynamics 365 Project Operations introduces several enhancements designed to revolutionize project management, from AI-powered Copilot features to the introduction of time zone agnostic fields. In this blog post, we highlight key features and updates that the 2024 release wave 1 brings to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Project Operations.

Dynamics 365 Project Operations continues to elevate efficiency with its AI-powered Copilot innovations. With each new release wave, consultants, sales personnel, project and resource managers, and project accountants are equipped with intelligent, natural-language interactions that streamline workflows and enhance productivity. Copilot in Dynamics 365 Project Operations seamlessly integrates with productivity tools like Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft Excel, catering to employees’ preferred working environments. By leveraging Copilot features, Project Operations optimizes operational efficiency across service delivery organizations, from the frontline to the back office.

The 2024 Release Wave 1 of Dynamics 365 Project Operations introduces new dimensions of AI and automation capabilities. Users can leverage the enhancements with Copilot to tailor project status reports. Key capabilities include:

• Allows the customization of project status reports to match specific business needs
• Users can add entities from the insight generator to enhance report context and detail
• Optimizes sharing and saving capabilities for personalized project status reports

The 2024 Release Wave 1 of Dynamics 365 Project Operations introduces a key feature, enabling historical tracking using project sales budgets. This enhancement strengthens control over billed sales progress and assists in providing precise revenue forecasting for project managers. Released initially for the lite deployment type of Project Operations, it’s set to lay the groundwork for integrating this capability into subsequent releases for customers using resource/non-stocked deployment of Project Operations.

• Versioned snapshots: Project sales budgets act as versioned snapshots of estimated billed sales or revenue, offering flexibility for project managers to capture variations throughout the project lifecycle
• Real-time revenue forecasting: The latest snapshot provides an up-to-date revenue forecast, enabling project managers to track billed sales accurately and make informed adjustments as needed
• Detailed revenue analysis: Project managers, along with accountants and stakeholders, gain insights into their progress toward revenue targets by comparing actual revenue against budgeted and forecasted figures
• Adaptive budget revisions: Project managers can revise project sales budgets to accommodate new scopes or changes, ensuring ongoing tracking of billed sales against updated projections

Through this added feature, Dynamics 365 Project Operations brings comprehensive visibility into project progress and performance, ultimately aiding in more accurate revenue predictions and fiscal management.

The Dynamics 365 Project Operations 2024 release wave 1 introduces a solution to common challenges surrounding time entry submission, especially relevant for team members who encounter restricted access to external services due to various circumstances like secure client locations or personal time off. Recognizing the potential for lost pay and invoicing delays arising from unlogged time, the new feature empowers users to delegate time entry responsibilities to selected team members within a defined timeframe.

Key aspects of this feature include:

• Nomination of delegates: Users can designate one or more team members to log, adjust, and submit time entries on their behalf within a specified date range, ensuring continuity without compromising security.
• Delegation setup: The process allows for the addition, adjustment, or removal of delegates through a straightforward interface where users manage their own list of delegates.
• Visibility for project managers: Enables project managers to access a comprehensive list of delegated entries across their team, ensuring oversight and the ability to monitor delegated tasks.
• Delegated time entry management: Within the allowed timeframe, nominated delegates have the capabilities to view, create, and modify time entries for those they represent. Entries made by delegates are clearly marked for easy identification and management.

This new functionality strengthens operational flexibility, allowing for seamless continuity in time tracking and management, thereby mitigating risks associated with unlogged work hours.

The latest release of Dynamics 365 Project Operations, 2024 release wave 1, introduces an intuitive mobile app dedicated to managing expenses more efficiently and effectively. The app is engineered for ease of use, streamlining the reimbursement process for employees which, in turn, contributes to increased productivity. The app is crafted to simplify the process, making it easier for users to enter expense details while on the move. This enhancement not only accelerates the reimbursement process but also significantly increases productivity by reducing the administrative burden associated with expense reporting.

The app is inherently flexible and adaptable, designed to evolve through customer-driven feedback after its general availability. Its intuitive interface and responsive design ensure that users can manage their expenses with minimal effort, whatever their location. By focusing on user experience, the new mobile app aids in the faster processing of transactions, facilitating a more streamlined and efficient financial workflow within Project Operations.

The latest release of Dynamics 365 Project Operations provides a set of time zone agnostic fields to projects, project tasks, project planning, and resource planning. Traditionally, dates and times would convert to GMT before storage, which created the potential for shifts to different days due to time zone differences. The new time zone agnostic field capability stores start and end dates without converting them to a different time zone, maintaining consistency regardless of the user’s location or the system’s default time settings.

Benefits of time zone agnostic fields include:

• Accurate date representation: Time zone agnostic fields eliminate issues caused by time zone conversions that may inadvertently alter dates, ensuring data integrity throughout the project lifecycle.
• Reliable data integration: With no conversion to GMT, integrations and customizations that pull dates from these fields can do so reliably, ensuring that the dates reflect their true values.
• Adaptable project planning: Project setup now adapts to various time zones seamlessly, using agnostic fields for start and end dates that align with the work hour templates in place, facilitating cross-time zone collaboration and contract enforcement.
• Streamlined resource scheduling: Resource requirements and bookings leverage these fields to guarantee that the set start and end dates are accurate and consistent, removing discrepancies caused by users in different time zones.

The 2024 release wave 1 of Dynamics 365 Project Operations includes features that improve efficiency, offer unmatched flexibility, and provide intuitive user-focused applications. Rand Group is your Dynamics 365 Project Operations support partner that can highlight new features that your organization should utilize, train your users on the new features, and perform system checks to ensure all modules are performing as expected after each release wave. Ready to start using these new features from the 2024 release wave 1? Contact Rand Group today to schedule a consultation.