Most deployment of Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain are SaaS in the Microsoft cloud. With that said, there is an on-premises, self-hosted deployment option. Below outlines some tips for those on-premises to make the deployment and on-going support successful.
1. Requirement Changes. Monitor software and hardware requirement changes.
Regular monitoring of the software and hardware requirements pages will help prevent surprises. For example, SQL Server 2019 became a requirement in Service Update 10.0.21. If this was not known, it all of the sudden becomes an unexpected project.
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2. Service Updates. Keep up to date on service updates.
When issues due arise, Microsoft support will more times than not say the issue or bug is already fixed and you should upgrade to the latest service update. Do this often, our suggestion is once a quarter. While these are forced in the cloud, it is easy to get behind on-premises if not playing for regular updates.
3. Monitoring. Implement your own monitoring tools.
For SaaS in the cloud, Lifecycle Services offers plenty of monitoring tools. On-premises gets none of those. With that said, it is paramount to deploy the correct SQL, infrastructure, and application monitoring tools to ensure uptime and performance.
4. Direct Database Access. Limit direct database use.
As the saying goes, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. On-premises has the benefit of direct access to the SQL database. But this doesn’t mean you should use that. Not only does it lock the deployment into on-premises, but it could also corrupt the application. Only modify data directly if directed by Microsoft Support with a support case. Backup before you do!
5. Number of Environments. Determine correct number of environments.
On-premises deployments require more planning for long-term requirements than a cloud deployment. In the cloud, adding or removing an entire environment is a series of clicks. Not so much on-premises. Ensure to consider the now and the future needs of the business to select the right number of environments. Consider how many ISVs could be implemented that may need a separate environment for testing. Typically, Production and UAT are the minimum number of environments. In our experience, this is too scant and at least three environments should exist, Production, UAT, and QA Testing. The more you have, the more you have to manage but the more flexibility you have for troubleshooting.
Summary
These summarize some of the tips and considerations when choosing to go on-premises vs SaaS in the cloud. Considering on-premises? Contact me for a consultation.