How do you approach tricky technical challenges while keeping teamwork smooth and effective? During one of our recent Aerie in-house technical R&D sessions, we dove into solution layering in Dynamics 365 to address a specific issue. The challenge? Handling multiple solutions within a client’s environment and tackling the complications that came with it. Here’s how we teamed up to simplify processes and deliver results that stick.
The Challenge
Imagine this—your main solution is updated, and you delete an entity no longer needed. Yet, somehow, the entity stubbornly remains in the environment. Why? Because two older solutions still reference it. Not only that, but lingering references in these older solutions prevented changes from reflecting properly in test and production environments. Frustrating, right? This challenge was causing inconsistencies and inefficiencies in managing our client’s Dynamics 365 environment.
The Proposed Solution
To resolve the issue, our team, led by Chris Nelson, mapped out a clear and strategic plan. The goal was straightforward but ambitious: simplify the environment by consolidating multiple solutions into one. This would prevent duplication, minimize errors, and ensure that updates made in the development environment accurately flowed to test and production.
Here’s the action plan we developed to get there:
- Inventory the Environment: Start by identifying every solution currently active in test and production.
- Unified Solution: Consolidate the entities from these solutions into the main development solution.
- Merge and Deploy: Push the unified main solution to test and production environments.
- Clean Up: Once everything is synced, delete all non-main solutions from development, test, and production.
Quick Fix, Long-Term Gains
While the larger plan built toward a more streamlined workflow, our team also addressed immediate concerns. To resolve the pressing problem, Eric Maruca suggested re-pushing the older solutions alongside the main one. This synchronized all changes and cleared unmanaged layers in test and production.
But what about the bigger picture? During the meeting, the team tackled an important question: Should we keep one large, monolithic solution or break it into smaller, more manageable ones? Our perspective favored a single solution, citing its simplicity and reduced risk of errors when managing Dynamics 365 environments.
Results and Takeaways
By re-pushing the older solutions to sync all changes, we achieved an immediate fix. And, by committing to a consolidated main solution, we set the foundation for efficient, accurate solution management moving forward.
By addressing challenges head-on and leveraging advanced tools like the XRM Toolbox, we’re able to provide clear, scalable solutions for our clients’ most complex needs. Have questions about Dynamics 365 management or curious about how to optimize your own workflow? Our team is here to help.
Reach out today to learn more about our expertise and how we can support your business goals!
