NEIL PARKHURST

This is the first post in a series explaining the details of the MB2-716 certification. MB2-716 was released around Feb 2017 and is the latest version of Microsoft’s Customization and Configuration exam. I have blogged in detail about the previous exam, MB2-712. During this series I will update all of my earlier posts and add in any new details specific to MB2-716.

I will try to make these posts detailed enough for the CRM Dynamics 365 novice to gain the required knowledge whilst still informative enough for experts to use these posts as revision guides. In fact the process of creating these posts will be my revision for this exam, meaning I will be going on the same journey as you!

The customization and configuration certification seems to be one that developers tend to target, however the exam is also a useful learning objective for CRM Functional Consultants and Business Analysts. A Business Analyst might not routinely customize Dynamics 365 but having a deep understanding of the products capabilities will do doubt enhance their capabilities.

First of all a word of warning for anyone about to embark on preparing for this exam!

The Customization and Configuration exam is big! By this I mean its scope is wide, the result of which is you’ll need to take in quite a bit of knowledge. But “Don’t Panic”. As learning about Dynamics 365 is rewarding and you’ll enjoy the process.

I have two key tips for anyone preparing for these types of Microsoft exam;

1. Allow yourself plenty of time. It is not a race! Give your yourself plenty of time to learn the subject deeply before attempting the exam. The exact amount of time required will vary depending on your experience but a few hours or days is unlikely to be enough.

2. Do not depend on theory alone. You should read as much theory as possible but this is no substitute for hands-on time working with the product. If you want to learn how to customize a system view, understanding how this is done and any limitations is best done by creating some views!

My third nugget of “wisdom” is to keep returning to the skills measured statement. Your preparation needs to be very focused to ensure you don’t’ “waste” time researching subjects not covered. I often start my exam prep by printing off the skills measured and highlighting all of the topics I know I need to focus on. These might be new features I haven’t used or areas of the product I haven’t touched for a while.

So let’s begin by reviewing the skills measured, they’re split into four sections.

• Configuring Microsoft Dynamics 365
  
• Implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365 entities, entity relationships and fields
  
• Create and manage Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions, forms, views and visualizations
  
• Implement business rules, workflows and business process flows
  

Configure Microsoft Dynamics 365

• Configure Microsoft Dynamics 365 settings
  
  • Configure auditing, document management, and collaboration; configure administration settings; perform data management tasks; perform user management; implement themes
• Manage Microsoft Dynamics 365 security
  
  • Identify security roles, define permissions and privileges, configure access levels, configure security roles, assign security roles, implement multiple security roles, manage access, implement the standard security model and hierarchy security, configure business units, manage teams
• Configure email services
  
  • Identify integration options, configure email server profiles and default organization email settings, enable server-side email synchronization, enable folder tracking, map exchange folders, set up and configure the CRM App for Outlook
• Integrate Microsoft Dynamics 365 with other Office 365 offerings
  
  • Select the appropriate Office 365 group integration, create and configure Office 365 groups, integrate Microsoft Dynamics 365 and SharePoint, enable linking to OneNote files, set up and configure OneNote integration, configure OneDrive integration

Implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 entities, entity relationships and fields

• Manage Microsoft Dynamics 365 entities
  
  • Manage entity ownership, manage entity properties, configure system entities, describe activity entities, configure entity ownership and entity properties, implement managed properties, configure custom entities and security roles, delete entities
• Implement entity relationships
  
  • Define relationship types, create relationships, configure cascading rules, identify types of cascading behavior, work with hierarchical data, configure entity mapping, create connections and connection roles
• Define and configure Microsoft Dynamics 365 fields
  
  • Identify field types, define field naming requirements, configure field properties and field display formats, implement option sets and two option fields, configure lookup fields and customer fields
• Configure field customizations
  
  • Configure fields, configure field properties, use calculated fields, use rollup fields, configure global option sets, create alternate keys, configure field security and security roles, use status and status reasons, identify status reason transitions

Create and manage Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions, forms, views and visualizations

• Create and manage Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions
  
  • Recommend usage patterns for Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions, identify solution components, identify solution types, create managed and unmanaged solutions, configure publishers and versions, manage multiple solutions, import and export solutions
• Customize Microsoft Dynamics 365 forms
  
  • Identify Microsoft Dynamics 365 form types, build a form, use specialized form components, implement access teams and subgrids, create editable grids, work with navigation, use multiple forms
• Implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 views and visualizations
  
  • Identify view types; create, modify, manage, and delete views; customize views; create system and personal charts; identify chart types that can be combined; use available series aggregation types; customize charts; import and export charts; create dashboards and dashboard components; customize dashboards; control access to dashboards
• Configure Microsoft Dynamics 365 for mobile devices
  
  • Deploy the mobile client, identify available entities for the mobile client, configure mobile navigation, design mobile form layout, create custom controls, hide mobile form content, create multiple forms, create mobile views and activity lists

Implement business rules, workflows and business process flows

• Implement and manage business rules
  
  • Determine when to use business rules; describe business rule scopes; identify actions that trigger business rules; configure business rules, conditions, and actions
• Implement and manage workflows, dialogs, and custom actions
  
  • Implement workflows; identify workflow types; implement dialogs and custom actions; identify when to use business process flows, workflow dialogs, and custom actions
• Implement and manage business process flows
  
  • Identify business flow components; enable business process flows; implement steps, stages, and categories; implement flows that use multiple entities; use conditional branching; implement role-driven business process flows; run workflows

Microsoft provide free 30 day trial instances of Dynamics 365, so at this point your first step should probably be to create a trial instance ready to begin. You can do that here. Good luck.