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Throwback Thursdays - The Evolution of Processes, Workflows, and Dialogs

Post Author: Joe D365 |

As Microsoft has continued to develop and enhance CRM for Dynamics 365, a few of the areas that they have continuously improved through the years are processes, workflows, and dialogs. In today's blog, we will be taking a closer look at how CRM processes, workflows, and dialogs changed from 2011-2015. Get your time machine ready! We are about to throw things way back!

When Microsoft rolled out Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, it only came with workflows and dialogs. In CRM 2011, workflows operated in the background and were not real time. Additionally, CRM 2011 featured dialogs, which are interactive or simultaneous processes that provide the user an interface that presents step-by-step options in order to guide the user through a specific process.

Evolution of Processes, Workflows, and Dialogs
A Workflow in CRM 2011

For Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Microsoft expanded processes to include workflows, actions, business process flows, and dialogs. In CRM 2013, some things like dialogs were left the same, while workflows were enhanced to be able to run in the background or in real-time and could require the user to provide input in order for the workflow to operate. New additions for CRM 2013 included actions and business process flows. In CRM 2011, merging operations could only be done by writing code. CRM 2013, however, introduced actions, which can be used to create a new operation that can be used to merge multiple operations into a single operation. Actions include operations such as create, update, assign, or delete. For example, an action could be written to merge the update and assign operations. Business process flows were also introduced as a way for the user to be able to visualize a business process flow as well as guide a user through the steps of a process, like a Support Case or Lead Generation.

Evolution of Processes, Workflows, and Dialogs
A Workflow in CRM 2013

Evolution of Processes, Workflows, and Dialogs
A Business Process Flow in CRM 2013

Evolution of Processes, Workflows, and Dialogs
A Business Process Flow within a Case in CRM 2013

For Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015, some things stayed the same including actions and dialogs. Other items were improved including workflows. Workflows were made to start manually or automatically based on specific conditions such as if a customer sends an email that goes into a CRM queue. That email going into the queue can automatically trigger the creation of a Case. Another big improvement in CRM 2015 was that business process flows include branching logic, which allows the user to drive the business process based on how the user answers questions or fields. For example, the user has a yes/no question in the first step of the business process flow. The user answers "yes," the business process flow will take them down path A. If the user answers "no," the business process flow will lead the user down path B, which includes different questions and business process steps.

Evolution of Processes, Workflows, and Dialogs
A Business Process Flow in CRM 2015

Evolution of Processes, Workflows, and Dialogs
A Business Process Flow within a Case in CRM 2015 - Need to Escalate? Yes, the process flow displays Additional Information

Evolution of Processes, Workflows, and Dialogs
A Business Process Flow within a Case in CRM 2015 - Need to Escalate? No, the process flow displays Complete

We hope you enjoyed our time travelling adventure today! It's fun to look back, right? Well, it's even more fun to look forward! Stay in the loop as Microsoft continues to refine and improve processes, workflows, dialogs, and so much MORE by subscribing to our daily blog and checking out the PowerObjects Dynamics 365 page.

Happy CRM'ing!

Joe CRM
By Joe D365
Joe D365 is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 superhero who runs on pure Dynamics adrenaline. As the face of PowerObjects, Joe D365’s mission is to reveal innovative ways to use Dynamics 365 and bring the application to more businesses and organizations around the world.

One comment on “Throwback Thursdays - The Evolution of Processes, Workflows, and Dialogs”

  1. Thanks for this article - I remember back in CRM 3.0 creating workflows was almost done by writing the code by hand. I'd love to see a screenshot of that!

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