Have you been seeing the app screen when you try and log onto D365? Have you been ignoring it for months wondering what it is all about? If either of these are yes here are a few ramblings from myself on apps and why I like them.
Apps provide a non code method of giving different sitemaps, forms, views and workflows to specific user groups. For example if you have a team for New Business and another for Existing business / Contract extensions although they may both create / edit the Account, Contact and Opportunity. The form layouts they need may be totally different and the New Business People may also be looking at Leads.
Use the security Roles to give them the correct access to the entities.
Although you can also use security roles to apply to forms this doesn’t help if the 2 teams have the same security roles.
The solution is to create an app.
I have done this through the new solution interface https://make.powerapps.com.
Before you start create a solution and put in the entities, forms, views and site map that you want to base it on.
Now create an app (call it New Business) and apply your site map to it.
Select the relevant forms and views for this ‘team’ by going to the entity, selecting the section and then ticking / un-ticking from the list on the right.
When you have done this, save and then publish. This app should then be visible when you log on.
As a system administrator you can manage the security roles associated to it. You even get a unique url you can give to your users so they go straight into the correct app.
Easy isn’t it? All you need to do now is repeat the process to create an app for your Existing Business team giving them their personalised D365 experience.
If you use the mobile app why don’t you create another just for your phone experience?
Anyway that’s my quick overview on apps and why I like them. Easy to click past and ignore but, when you spend a little while with then they can make the end user experience a lot smoother with minimal effort and more importantly no code!
