Dual-write implementation workshop overview

  • 10 minutes

The Dual-write implementation workshop is conducted remotely. It should include high-level aspects of the Dual-write implementation workshop and provide a sampling of the types of questions that are covered in each section.

Application strategy

Application strategy considers the various apps, services, and platforms that will make up the overall solution. This topic focuses on answering questions, such as:

  • Which Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications or services will be deployed as part of the solution?

  • Which, if any, of the applications are already live?

  • What will be the approach to integrate across different apps, including data integration, dual-write, Microsoft Azure Logic Apps, and more?

  • Will the out-of-the-box maps or custom-built maps be used?

  • What is the estimated go-live timeline for each app?

  • Is a trial being used during the build phase?

Business process strategy

Business process strategy considers the underlying business processes (the functionality) that will be implemented on the Dynamics 365 platform as part of the solution and how they will be used to drive the overall solution design. This topic focuses on answering questions, such as:

  • What are the top processes in scope for the implementation?

  • What is currently known about the general fit for the processes within the Dynamics 365 applications?

  • How are processes being managed within the implementation, and how do they relate to subsequent areas of the solution such as user stories, requirements, test cases, and training?

Based on the processes that are in scope, the solution architect who is conducting the review might ask a series of feature-related questions to gauge complexity or understand potential risks or opportunities to optimize the solution based on the future product roadmap.

Integration strategy

Integration strategy considers the design of communication and connectivity between the various components of the solution. Within this topic, you will try to answer questions, such as:

  • How is the number sequencing handled for each of the integrations (table to table)?

  • Will the filtering of source data be required?

  • What are the integration triggers?

  • Will high volumes of data be used?

  • What are the business processes that will trigger a bulk creation or update to integrated records in different applications?

Environment and capacity strategy

The deployment architecture considers those aspects of the solution that are related to cloud infrastructure, instances, and the processes that are involved in operating the cloud solution. Within this topic, you will try to answer questions, such as:

  • How many production environments will be deployed, and what are the factors that went into that decision?

  • Are trial environments used during build?

  • Will the various apps be deployed under the same tenant?

  • Will the various apps be deployed in the same region?

  • What are the data sovereignty requirements?

  • Do you have alignment of your release process across the different apps?

  • What is the monitoring plan for dual-write integration status and errors?

  • What are the plans to monitor capacity requirements for data redundancy across different data repositories?

Data strategy

Data strategy considers the design of the data within the solution and the design for how legacy data will be migrated to the solution. Within this topic, you will try to answer questions, such as:

  • What will be the approach to migrate data?

  • Is the initial sync feature planned to be used as part of data migration?

  • Is the responsibility matrix established for data migration activities?

  • What historical data will be migrated and synched?

  • Will more data migration activities occur post initial go live?

  • What is the cutover approach for data migration?

Test strategy

Test strategy covers the various aspects of the implementation that deal with validating that the implemented solution works as defined and will meet the business need. Within this topic, you will try to answer questions, such as:

  • Does your test plan include testing dual-write synchronization across all apps?

  • Does the test plan focus on performance for business processes (for example, prospect to cash)?

  • Does the test plan include testing planned and unplanned outages/maintenance of different apps?

  • What are the desired performance metrics for dual-write integration, especially for key scenarios?

  • Who is responsible for reviewing metrics after each iteration and are these metrics included in the design?

  • What are the expected service levels, such as the time that it takes for a record to synchronize across apps?

Security strategy

Security strategy considers the design of security within the Dynamics 365 components of the solution and the other Microsoft Azure and external solution components. Within this topic, you will try to answer questions, such as:

  • Have you tested the access to data across different apps?

  • Does your test plan focus on the security aspect as well?

  • Is the security model aligned across different apps?

  • What is the plan to align the security model and make it scalable for future changes?

Gaps and risks

Gaps and risks detail all identified gaps and risks, including questions that might exist from the implementation team.