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Microsoft Dynamics CRM: Should You Migrate to the Cloud?

Author: Tom Moore | | August 25, 2021


 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is Microsoft’s enterprise solution for customer relationship management, helping you keep track of all your contacts and relationships with clients and prospective clients. But as Microsoft increasingly becomes a cloud-first company, should you migrate Dynamics CRM from your on-premises deployment to the Microsoft Azure cloud?

 
Thinking about migrating Dynamics CRM to the D365 in Azure is especially timely, given a few important end of support (EOS) dates:

  • Mainstream support for Dynamics CRM 2016has already ended in January 2021.
  • Extended support for Dynamics CRM 2011ended in July 2021.

 
If you don’t want to fall out of compliance, or miss out on new features and functionality, and expose yourself to security risks, you need to upgrade your Dynamics CRM software—but should you remain on-premises or move to the Azure cloud? In this article, we’ll discuss the factors to consider, as well as a few tips for your Dynamics CRM cloud migration.

Should You Migrate Dynamics CRM to the Cloud?

For most Dynamics CRM users, migrating to the Azure cloud will be the right choice. Migrating Dynamics CRM on-premises to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Online comes with several benefits, including:

  • Higher availability: Microsoft guarantees 99.9 percent uptime for Dynamics 365 Online—that’s a total of less than 9 hours of downtime for every year you use the software.
  • Greater flexibility: Cloud solutions such as Dynamics 365 Online are accessible from anywhere, at any time, improving users’ flexibility and productivity.
  • Cloud integrations: In the Azure cloud, it’s easier to integrate your Dynamics CRM data with your enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, as well as other apps and services in the Microsoft ecosystem such as Office 365 and Power BI.
  • Fewer maintenance obligations: Cloud vendors are responsible for application support and maintenance, so your IT team doesn’t have to worry about unexpected problems and crashes.

 
Of course, your own business goals and requirements may be different—so be sure to speak with a trusted Azure migration partner who can help you decide on the best path forward.

Tips for a Dynamics 365 Azure Cloud Migration

  • Understand the new features and functionality that will be available with your move to the cloud. This is especially important for organizations who are still on an older on-premises version of Dynamics CRM, and thus haven’t used this new functionality before. Consider how you might leverage features such as automation to improve employees’ productivity and efficiency.
  • Take the time to review your on-premises enterprise data before proceeding with the cloud migration. Is there unused or out-of-date information that needs to be pruned? How will the on-premises CRM database map to the Dynamics 365 database in the cloud?
  • Additionally, consider combining your Dynamics CRM cloud migration with another Azure cloud migration, such as Office 365.

Conclusion

Moving your Dynamics CRM deployment to the cloud is no easy feat—which is why you’ll likely need a Dynamics CRM cloud migration partner. As a Microsoft Gold Partner, Datavail has helped hundreds of our clients successfully migrate their applications and data to the Azure cloud.

To learn how we helped one client move their on-premises Dynamics CRM deployment to the cloud, check out Datavail’s case study “Financial Services Company Modernizes Their CRM with Azure Cloud.” You can also get in touch with our team of Azure experts today for a chat about your own business needs and objectives.

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