Advantages of Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM

There are somewhere close to 1,000 CRM solutions available on the market today. Not all are made equal.

Many of these platforms are suitable for organizations that only need to do basic customer relationship management. Some platforms are appropriate for larger companies and multinational enterprises. A few meet the stringent requirements necessary for use in government agencies and departments.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM ranks as a top choice for federal, state, municipal, and local governments. It helps them provide fantastic customer service, be available to citizens, and engage in outreach while staying compliant with regulations.

This platform meets security regulations and accessibility standards while giving a modern and fresh customer experience. In fact, it meets every requirement for federal websites and digital services.

Organizations and entities that choose Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM experience seven distinct advantages:

Security
Auditing
Customization and Versatility
Identity and Access Management
FOIA and EFOIA
Digital Design and Performance
ADA compliant and accessible

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM Benefit One: Security

Microsoft is the vendor of choice for those who value data security. Its security considerations include service security, physical security, organizational management, and administrative controls.

It’s also a regulatory-compliant organization with solutions that are FedRAMP approved.

Secure by Design

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM structure is designed to be as secure as possible while facilitating user-friendliness, use efficiency, and ease of collaborative work.

Its security model is hierarchical, and team-, user-, role-, record-, and field-based. The system only gives users access to the information level assigned to their roles or work. It prevents them from accessing any data that they don’t own or share.

Administrators can assign access levels by categorizing users into security roles and groups. You can combine their security roles to customize their access. You can give users one-off access to individual projects. And you can set access by business units (groups of users), record types, and field types.

This is one of the strongest advantages of Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM. It’s an incredibly versatile platform for entities that need a high level of organizational-wide security while retaining granular control.

Data Security

Microsoft is part of the Cloud Security Alliance’s Trusted Cloud Initiative which seeks to safeguard cloud service users’ security, interests, and data integrity.

Its Dynamics 365 CRM service is built according to leading engineering, legal, governance, and compliance guidelines for data integrity.

Its users get the benefit of ongoing cybersecurity, privacy controls, and compliance. Microsoft’s security measures far outweigh what smaller platforms can or are willing to do.

The information is secured with a comprehensive security control framework that includes internal operational policies, cutting-edge technologies, and other governance policies.

Microsoft is a leading technology company for a reason. It stays at the top of its game and is abreast of all the standards, trends, time-sensitive threats, and evolvements in data security.

Physical Security

Software security includes the on-premises physical security and internal management of the organization running the digital solution and the data being stored. These factors have to be considered.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM runs on its Azure platform. Azure runs on a distributed data center infrastructure with regional networks.

The data centers and networks are protected with top-of-the-line security measures.

Access is secure and restricted: visitors must request entry permission before arrival and only those with legitimate business purposes are granted discrete need-to-access entry
Facility perimeter protection: the centers are protected by high concrete and steel fences, cameras, and a patrolling security team
Visitors must pass biometric screening, clear metal detection screening, are only permitted to enter the floor and section they need to and are always recorded
The servers run on redundant infrastructure with multiple power supplies and natural disaster control
Microsoft uses a Threat, Vulnerability, and Risk Assessment approach to spot and manage physical and environmental threats to the data centers

FedRAMP Approved

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM and the Azure platform are FedRAMP approved. The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program or FedRAMP is a government program that standardizes the security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud services and products.

Official FedRAMP authorization signifies that products are secure enough for use by the federal government, contractors, and other organizations.

It’s one of the most stringent and intensive security standards in use. Currently, a scant 267 solutions have acquired FedRAMP authorization. And Microsoft Dynamics 365 is one of them.

Microsoft Dynamic’s FedRAMP approval is a major advantage for risk-averse organizations and agencies.

Security Management and Administration

A core benefit of Microsoft Dynamics 365 is its user-friendly security management. It’s one of the best solutions for managers that need to keep tabs on things.

You can track malware threats, data loss incidents, and other security-related events through it.

Another one of Microsoft Dynamics 365’s best advantages for administrators is its user-friendly and interactive dashboards, charts, and view. It’s a great way to visualize the system’s performance and security data.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM Benefit Two: Auditing and Logging

Audit logging tracks and records the activity occurring within a software solution. Audit trails should document system and user activity, the time when events happen, and the user associated with it. Some systems also record geolocation data.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) describes audit trails as both a core security mechanism and technical control mechanism that promotes user accountability. You get two-fold benefits of having complete auditing while reinforcing the fact that users need to behave appropriately on the software.

The information should be organized chronologically as well as by the affected organization, department, system, or user. It should be easy for administrators to understand the audit trail.

Organizations that are required to audit for regulatory or legal purposes have to choose their software carefully. One that includes only cursory details on which user did what isn’t good enough.

You need a competent solution with verified infrastructure set up for auditing. That’s the benefit of Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM. It’s a secure platform with some of the most advanced auditing capabilities you can get.

You can audit:

Security role changes
Record sharing privilege changes
Record operation creation and changes
Record association or disassociation
Changes by the entity, attribute, and organization
Audit log deletion
Localization records

Administrators have full control over the auditing. You can start and stop it, enable or disable tracking by records or fields, and get a complete picture of the audit customization.

The platform tracks user access along with all changes made to the records. It tells you which user accessed the system and when they did it, what users have done recently, which user updated a record’s field value and when, who deleted a record, what a changed field’s previous value was, and what locale the update was made from.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 provides complete historical oversight with granular auditing and administrative control. Its auditing capabilities satisfy a variety of regulatory requirements for auditing, compliance, security, and governance.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM Benefit Three: Customization and Versatility

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM is a robust, scalable, and flexible system that can be customized for various organizations and personalized to better serve your customers. It works perfectly for small agencies and multinational enterprises.

It’s designed to support four areas of work: marketing, sales, customer service, and field service.

Marketing: it supports multi-channel campaign execution and customer relationship building with integrated analytics and reporting
Sales: it gives an AI-assisted look at your customer base and spots for growth opportunities
Customer service: it uses data and AI to help you deliver better, more personalized service and customer experiences
Field service: it facilitates proactive and connected in-field service responses with automated scheduling and customer self-service tools

These are its base modules which then can be customized to build the ideal customer outreach, relations, and service application.

It’s one of the best options for organizations that have a large service base, need to process large amounts of data, or might need to scale in the future.

Another benefit to consider is that this system is part of the larger Microsoft ecosystem. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is the perfect option for those already working with other Microsoft products, such as Teams, Word, Outlook, LinkedIn, Power BI, Azure solutions, other 365 apps, or third-party apps.

It seamlessly integrates with them while retaining all of the security and safety.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM Benefit Four: Identity and Access Management

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is appropriate for government organizations and other companies that need to maintain identity management for enhanced data security.

Management controls have to be implemented to prevent the wrongful, inadvertent, or inappropriate disclosure or access of sensitive information.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 comes with a suite of identity management features. These include the standard MFA and biometric security mechanisms for sign-ups, sign-ins, and password resets.

But the Azure platform itself allows for deep control over identities, privileges, and access. Azure includes identity security mechanism settings, legacy user protocol control, guest access restrictions, access reviews, role reviews, conditional access policy settings, and more.

You can choose to restrict access to certain technology protocols or control access by user, location, device, or app.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM Benefit Five: FOIA and EFOIA

A system built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM is perfect for organizations that need to deliver information due to the Freedom of Information Act, the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments, or other requirements.

Microsoft prides itself on facilitating streamlined FOIA information retrievals. The Dynamics 365 platform can be used alongside custom-built Power Apps to handle the entire process with ease.

The solution’s scalability makes it appropriate for long-term data storage without becoming error-ridden or unwieldy.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM Benefit Six: Digital Design and Performance

Federal, state, municipal, and other government websites and services are expected to provide users with a good UI and a great digital experience. This needs to be verified with customer feedback and analytics.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 adheres to all of these and includes the mechanisms needed for ongoing testing, customer analytics, and feedback gathering.

It provides an outstanding digital experience through its Unified Interface. Unified Interface is Microsoft’s term for giving users a rich and accessible digital experience with optimized viewing and interactions that are fully responsive across various devices, screen sizes, and screen orientations.

The Unified Interface is a highly technical feature that acts as an experience-optimizing bridge between the underlying solution and the user’s interface.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM Benefit Seven: ADA Compliance and Accessibility

Government websites, applications, and digital services must be accessible to people with disabilities. If not, you can expect to be on the losing end of an ADA Title III lawsuit.

Government website accessibility is mandated and regulated by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act along with Title II of the ADA.

Section 508 requires federal agencies to “develop, procure, maintain and use information and communications technology (ICT) that is accessible to people with disabilities.”

ADA Title II applies to state, municipal, and other local government entities. It protects individuals from being discriminated against on the basis of disability for services, programs, or activities. This title doesn’t explicitly call out websites, however, the Department of Justice did publish ADA web accessibility guidelines for state and local governments.

Compliance is tough. There are a host of ever-evolving accessibility requirements. Solution providers that aren’t paying close enough attention to this put you at risk of violation with every new update.

Microsoft makes compliance easy for you by building its products around the latest web accessibility and inclusive design principles. That includes remaining compliant with several federal regulations including Section 508 and ADA standards.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 includes accessibility features like windows narrator and keyboard-only access, keyboard shortcuts, a screen reader, and other assistive technologies.

It’s one of the best solutions available for organizations that have to provide accessible, inclusive service.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM is the Most Popular Choice for Government Agencies

Microsoft is a dominant ICT vendor and one of the most popular choices for government agencies and departments. Federal, state, and municipal governments rank it as a trustworthy and secure choice.

It meets rigorous compliance regulations and is engineered according to the latest and highest standards.

The Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM system is a smart, flexible, and scalable option for delivering excellent service. The easiest way to engage in secure customer relations is by working with this platform.

That’s why it’s our platform of choice.

To learn more about what our software can do for your municipality, schedule a demo now.