When frontline CRM or ERP workflows are disconnected from the software teams who work for them, companies suffer from slow feature delivery, unexpected downtime, and new code conflicts.
For organizations using Dynamics 365 ERP, leveraging Microsoft Azure DevOps Services transforms how software is developed in line with operational requirements.
However, implementing a robust DevOps strategy for a Dynamics 365 environment is challenging for IT teams. Partnering with Azure DevOps consulting services helps enterprises build automated pipelines for smoother development.
What is Microsoft Azure DevOps?
Microsoft Azure DevOps is a complete, cloud-based platform engineered to streamline how software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops) teams collaborate. By serving as a centralized hub, it allows developers and IT teams to securely build, test, and deploy high-quality software at an accelerated pace.
Here is Azure DevOps services explained. The SaaS platform is supported by core services for end-to-end development, which include:
- Azure Boards: Track, plan, and discuss work across software teams.
- Azure Repos: Manage source code using cloud-hosted Git repositories.
- Azure Pipelines: Automate building, testing, and deploying software to on-premises servers or the cloud.
- Azure Test Plans: Support planned, manual, and exploratory software testing.
- Azure Artifacts: Create, host, and share package feeds within your organization.
Development teams can use these core services together or individually based on the team’s specific workflow. When used together, these services share data with each other, helping teams get deep visibility across the entire development lifecycle.
Azure DevOps for Dynamics 365
For organizations using Dynamics 365, the system might need customization to support unique workflows and automate business processes, besides receiving automatic updates from Microsoft. Customizing the software manually increases risks such as version conflicts, deployment failures, extended testing, and limited visibility into development.
Azure DevOps is mandatory for pro-code customization in a Dynamics 365 environment—i.e., to manage, package, and deploy changes safely within the Dynamics 365 ERP environment. It provides standard practices that make D365 customization more reliable and transparent.
The approach to custom code changes across Microsoft ERP and CRM is defined here:
Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations
Manual changes to a live Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations system are not possible. Businesses using Dynamics 365 F&O are required to make changes to code through Azure DevOps.
The platform takes the code from developers, checks it for errors, packages it safely, and sends it to the Microsoft Cloud. This setup ensures that the updates don’t cause sudden system downtime for business operations.
Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and Business Central
For apps like D365 Customer Service, Sales, and Business Central, enterprises can make minor customizations or export data manually without Azure DevOps. But it is not recommended for enterprise operations.
For simple updates, manual code customization is acceptable. But if a team of developers is involved in writing custom code, chances are high that they will overwrite and ruin each other’s work.
Azure DevOps copies the changes via pipelines from your safe testing area (sandbox) to your live system, preventing human mistakes.
Business Innovation Through Azure DevOps Agile Development
Today’s fast-paced environments demand quick development for adding new features or functionality. Azure DevOps Agile development in a D365 ERP environment supports application development through careful planning and management of code, real-time collaboration, sprint planning, and continuous feedback.
With Azure DevOps, customization or development within the D365 ERP environment is achieved through a structured path that includes clear planning with Azure Boards, writing the code, and safe delivery through Azure Pipelines.
Creating a unified Development Environment
Application development involves many teams working at the same time for a common goal. Developers, testers, business analysts, and IT teams all need visibility into project development. Azure DevOps streamlines development by integrating various development stages into a centralized place.
Development is streamlined through key phases such as project planning, source code management, continuous integration (CI) and continuous deployment (CD), automated testing, and package release. When connected with Dynamics 365, every customization becomes fully traceable back to the initial business request, reducing communication gaps across teams.
Simplify Source Code Management
Dynamics 365 may need pro-code customization where developers need to write custom code. Azure DevOps uses Git repositories to track and store every single modification on the code.
Multiple developers can work on their own copies of the code without the fear of overwriting each other’s work and merge them together without losing any work.
Instead of saving code on separate systems, everything lives in a secure cloud repository. This makes sure that everyone works on the exact same version.
Automated Continuous Integration and Deployment
Custom code changes between the development phase, testing, and delivery pose risks of human error. Automated CI and CD provide solutions. Instead of manually running the code, the automated CI process compiles the code and builds the deployment package.
Azure Pipelines automatically run tests against new customizations and catch errors before they are deployed. The verified package goes live within D365, ensuring that it works perfectly to meet operational requirements.
Automated Testing
Testing is a critical element in development process. Azure DevOps provides services that automate testing. The platform handles testing through two services: Azure Pipelines and Azure Test Plans.
An Azure DevOps consultant turns testing into a structured process, helping businesses identify functional errors, hidden vulnerabilities, integration problems, and build failures.
The automated testing detects flaws in the code in the pipeline as well as during testing. This helps businesses detect problems earlier instead of discovering them after delivery.
Strengthens DevOps Security
Security is integrated into the platform for reliable access to Azure DevOps services. Security controls cover restricted user access, repository permissions, and pipeline security.
Consultants ensure automatic code scanning, vulnerability checking, and compliance adherence within the build pipeline.
Azure DevOps AI in Modern Development
AI transforms development with intelligent capabilities. This helps developers work more efficiently with:
- Automated code suggestions
- Automated documentation
- Test generation
- Error detection
- Security recommendations
- Deployment optimization
Azure DevOps Consulting Services
Deployment of Azure DevOps should be approached with a clear strategy that matches your development goals.
Professional Azure DevOps consulting services help businesses to integrate Azure DevOps with their Dynamics 365 ERP or CRM environments. This helps users to maximize Microsoft Azure DevOps services for Azure DevOps Agile development.
Thus, through thorough assessment, planning, configuration, pipeline development, testing, and training, LITS SERVICES ensures a successful Azure DevOps implementation for businesses with our Azure DevOps consulting services.
We deliver the best of our DevOps expertise, industry experience, Azure knowledge, training, support services, and post-implementation support to simplify your software development tasks.
Consult with us for suitable, custom-tailored plans. Our Azure DevOps consultants provide a clear roadmap based entirely on your specific software development requirements.
FAQ Section
What is Microsoft Azure DevOps?
It is a cloud platform that brings developers (Dev) and IT teams (Ops) together in one place. It provides tools to track project tasks, store code securely, run automated tests, and safely deploy software to any platform.
Is Azure DevOps free for small teams?
Yes. The Basic Plan is provided free of cost for your first 5 users. It includes full access to Azure Boards, Azure Repos, and basic Azure Pipelines.
Do I need to buy an Azure DevOps license if I already have a Visual Studio subscription?
No. Users with active Visual Studio Professional or Visual Studio Enterprise subscriptions do not need license to use DevOps Services.