The Dynamics 365 April Release is live!

Today April 5th, marks the official availability of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 April 2019 Release. This update is one of two for the year and contains over 350 new capabilities across the Dynamics 365 suite of apps, Business Central, and the Microsoft Power Platform (Flow, PowerApps, Power BI). Many of these capabilities have been available for weeks in public preview and/or sandbox environments, but today they’re all generally available for deployment in production environments.

The original release notes, available here, were published on January 21st, updated on February 21st, and are official today, April 5th. Since being updated in February, the release notes have updated to include additional features and tools that are available today, with a select few being rolled out over the coming weeks.

What’s new in Dynamics 365 Business Central?

In Dynamics 365 Business Central, the all-in-one business management/ERP system that’s a part of the Microsoft Business Applications product line, enhancements are being applied with the intention of improving overall user satisfaction with the product. Focal points include reliability, scalability, accessibility, and performance, accomplished via new time-saving new tools, increased personalization options, and general interface adjustments. For more detail on how the April release will affect Business Central, you can read our in-depth blog post about the April Release for Business Central here.

New apps & system-wide updates

Another significant aspect of the Dynamics 365 April release is the introduction of three new applications powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Dynamics 365 Virtual Agent for Customer Service, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, and Dynamics 365 Fraud Protection are three powerful apps that use data, research, and other tools to mold how they work within your organization. Providing virtual agent bots, intelligent actions, and e-commerce regulations to improve online shopping experiences, these apps make use of advanced data analysis to reduce employee workload in sales, service, and marketing departments.

The release notes span 443 pages in total and contain a range of updates for every app in Dynamics 365 and the Microsoft Power Platform. A new version of Microsoft Forms, Forms Pro, is introduced as well with new features to get the most out of surveys and polls. Regarding the Power Platform (Microsoft Flow, PowerApps, & Power BI), updates will be rolled out at a more gradual pace due to the complex nature of each of the apps. PowerApps will have a focus on simplifying existing concepts and adding new features so developers can build even higher-quality apps. Upgrades in Power BI will aim at making it easier for organizations to build a data culture where decisions are based on facts. Among these are an improved relationship view, custom policies, AI-powered insights, drill-through enhancements, and  collaborative improvements like report commenting. Lastly, updates to Microsoft Flow will contain new AI-enabled features, connections/integrations, and compliance regulations.

Do I need to apply the update manually?

No! Updates are rolled out gradually and will be automatically applied to production environments either on April 5th or over the course of the rest of the month. Features that were available in preview will be migrated over to production environments on April 5th or by the end of April as a part of Microsoft’s safe deployment process. The gradual roll-out minimizes risk for potential issues and ensures that organizations will not need to plan ahead for downtime.