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Dynamics 365 upgrade process: taking Microsoft's updates without surprises
The Dynamics 365 upgrade process for cloud apps is no longer a project every few years. Microsoft ships updates on a set calendar, and your job is to read what changes, test it in a sandbox, choose the update window and check the system afterwards. Done the same way every time, this keeps extensions, integrations and reports working through each release, and users are not caught out by new screens.
Updated
How updates reach each Dynamics 365 app
Microsoft publishes the features for each six-month period in its release plans, with wave 1 starting in April and wave 2 in October. How the update lands differs by app.
Business Central online gets a major update for each wave and smaller monthly updates in between. Admins see them in the admin center and can set the update date and window within the period Microsoft allows. Finance and Operations apps follow Microsoft's One Version service updates, which you schedule and can pause within set limits. Sales, Customer Service and other Dataverse apps take the wave changes, and admins can switch on early access in a sandbox to see them weeks ahead.
Dynamics 365 upgrade process by app
The Dynamics 365 upgrade process to repeat each cycle
- 1
Read the release plan
List the new features and deprecations that touch your modules, extensions and integrations. Removed features matter more than new ones.
- 2
Update a sandbox first
Copy production to a sandbox and apply the update there, or turn on early access, weeks before the production date.
- 3
Run regression tests
Test the processes that pay the bills: order to cash, purchase to pay, month end and key reports. On Finance and Operations, the Regression suite automation tool replays recorded test cases.
- 4
Check extensions and integrations
Confirm partner apps have compatible versions, and that API calls, dual-write maps and scheduled jobs still run.
- 5
Set the window and tell users
Pick a date outside month end and peak trading, and tell users what will change on screen. Short notes or a two-minute video work well.
- 6
Verify after the update
Log in, run the smoke tests, check integration queues and error logs, and keep the issue list open for a few days.
Common reasons a Dynamics 365 update goes wrong
- ✓A custom extension uses an event or object that Microsoft marked obsolete in an earlier release.
- ✓A partner app was not updated in time for the new version.
- ✓Nobody tested the integration that runs only at night or at month end.
- ✓The update runs on the last day of the month while finance is closing.
- ✓Users meet a changed screen with no warning and report it as a fault.
- ✓The sandbox was copied months ago, so tests ran on data and setup that no longer match production.
Upgrading from an older on-premises version
Moving from Dynamics AX, NAV, GP or an old on-premises CRM is not an update but a migration, with its own data and design work. See our pages on Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365 Finance, Dynamics AX to Business Central and Business Central cloud migration. Once you are in the cloud, the cycle above replaces the large upgrade projects.
Questions about the Dynamics 365 upgrade process
Can we skip Dynamics 365 updates?
Not for long. Cloud apps stay on supported versions by design. You can choose the timing and, for some apps, pause within limits, but every tenant moves forward.
Who should run the regression tests?
Key users from each process, with a short script per process. IT or a partner can automate the repeat tests, for example with the Regression suite automation tool on Finance and Operations, but the people who know the work should sign off the result. Our Dynamics 365 training plan guide covers keeping user material current after each update.
How much effort does each update take?
For a stable system with a test script ready, the work is mostly testing plus a short check afterwards. Systems with many extensions or integrations need more, which is a good reason to keep custom code small.
Talk to us about your project.
Tell us what you run today and what has to change. A senior consultant replies with a written next step.