How Work 365 Affects Your Existing CRM Customizations

Modified on Fri, Aug 29 at 1:38 PM

Applies to: Dynamics 365 Online Environments with Work 365
Audience: System Administrators, CRM Developers, Solution Architects

Overview

Work 365 integrates seamlessly with Dynamics 365 by extending its capabilities rather than altering existing customizations. It adds parallel forms, fields, views, plugins, and workflows to support subscription billing, automation, and portal features. This article explains the impact of Work 365 on your CRM environment and what to expect during and after installation.

Key Concepts

Term	Description
System Entities	Built-in Dynamics 365 tables such as Account, Product, Invoice, etc.
Form/View Customizations	UI components added by Work 365 to display billing and subscription data
Plugins/Workflows	Event-based automation logic that supports Work 365 business processes

Work 365 Core Solution Customizations

Forms, Views, and Field Additions

System Entity	Custom Fields	Custom Form	Custom Views
Account	✅	✅	❌
Invoice	✅	✅	✅
Invoice Line	✅	✅	❌
Opportunity Line	✅	✅	❌
Order	✅	✅	✅
Order Line	✅	✅	❌
Price List	✅	✅	❌
Product	✅	✅	✅
Product Association	✅	✅	✅
Quote Line	✅	✅	❌

⚙️ Plugins and Workflows

System Entity	Event/Trigger Type
Account	On-Demand Workflow, Update Event Workflow
Invoice	Plugin on Create/Update/Delete, On-Demand Workflow
Invoice Line	Plugin on Create/Update
Order Line	Plugin on Create
Quote Line	Plugin on Create

Work 365 Portal Solution Customizations

Portal Entity Customizations

System Entity	Custom Fields	Custom Form	Custom Views
Account	❌	✅	❌
Contact	❌	✅	✅
Invitation	✅	❌	✅
Invoice	❌	✅	✅
Invoice Line	✅	❌	✅
Product	✅	✅	✅
Web Role	❌	❌	✅

Important Considerations

✅ No Impact on Existing Forms
Work 365 does not modify your existing customizations. Existing forms, workflows, views, and plugins remain untouched.
Adds Parallel Forms and Views
Work 365 adds its own custom UI components that run alongside your current setup, ensuring non-invasive extensibility.
⚠️ Isolated Business Logic
All plugins and workflows introduced by Work 365 are scoped to its internal operations. They do not interfere with other CRM logic unless explicitly called.

Best Practices

Before Installation:

Install Work 365 in a sandbox environment first.
Backup your production environment.

Post-Installation Review:

Review the forms, views, and workflows introduced by Work 365.
Ensure that system users understand the new components.

Developer Awareness:

Communicate with your CRM development team so they can account for the customizations when building new automation or integrations.

Additional Resources

Work 365 Installation
Customize Forms and Views in Dynamics 365