Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a powerful CRM and ERP suite that unifies sales, service, finance, and operations into one scalable platform. Forrester’s Total Economic Impact™ study found that the average organization who implemented Dynamics 365 experienced a net present value (NPV) of $8.09M and a ROI of 106% over three years.
However, simply deploying Dynamics 365 is not enough. Product owners, IT leaders, and transformation teams must ensure employees adopt the platform, use it effectively, and integrate it into daily workflows. Without proper onboarding, in-the-moment support, and change enablement, Dynamics 365 risks becoming shelfware.
To drive ROI, organizations need active governance, continuous training reinforcement, and user engagement strategies that go beyond static help documentation. In this article, we’ll explore why Dynamics 365 adoption is critical, the warning signs of poor adoption, and how enterprises can accelerate onboarding, streamline workflows, and improve process adherence. We’ll also highlight how digital adoption platforms like Whatfix help organizations achieve long-term success with in-app guidance, real-time support, and behavioral analytics.
The Importance of MS Dynamics 365 User Adoption
Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers organizations a powerful way to unify their CRM and ERP functions, streamline complex business processes, and create more agile customer experiences. But these benefits are only realized when employees fully adopt and use the platform as intended.
In Forrester’s Total Economic Impact™ study of Dynamics 365 ERP, organizations that successfully implemented and adopted the platform saw a net present value (NPV) of $8.09 million and a 106% ROI over three years. However, even the most sophisticated software implementation falls short without user adoption, leading to wasted budget, low productivity, and stagnant digital transformation.
To maximize the value of their Dynamics 365 investment, organizations need a contextual adoption strategy that supports users at every stage of the lifecycle. Here’s why:
- Drives faster time-to-value and achieves business goals: The sooner employees can onboard and use Dynamics 365 effectively, the faster the organization sees ROI. Consider benefits like less inventory turnover, better order accuracy, higher on-time delivery rates, and better compliance.
- Reduces errors and rework: In-app guidance helps users follow the correct processes, reducing mistakes in data entry, finance workflows, and customer service tasks.
- Improves data accuracy and CRM hygiene: Proper usage ensures data is captured consistently across sales, marketing, and support teams, which is critical for reporting and forecasting.
- Boosts productivity and satisfaction: When users aren’t frustrated by complex interfaces or unfamiliar workflows, they work more efficiently and are less likely to resist change.
- Supports scalable process governance: A user adoption framework helps ensure adherence to best practices and regulatory requirements across teams and geographies.
- Enables continuous optimization: By monitoring how users interact with Dynamics, organizations can identify process bottlenecks and user friction points. This allows product owners to adjust processes and better support end-users with data.
- Protects against software shelfware: Without user engagement, enterprise apps like Dynamics risk being underused or abandoned, turning a strategic investment into an expensive sunk cost.
Signs You Have Poor MS Dynamics 365 User Adoption
You’ve invested in Microsoft Dynamics 365. The licenses are in place, the implementation is complete, and you’ve rolled it out across departments. But something feels off. Teams still rely on spreadsheets, sales managers complain about missing data, and your support desk is fielding questions that shouldn’t happen post-rollout.
These are more than growing pains, they’re obvious signals that your Dynamics 365 user adoption strategy isn’t sticking. Here are some of the most common warning signs that your organization might be struggling with poor digital adoption:
- Low or inconsistent software usage: If only a fraction of licensed users are regularly logging into Dynamics, or usage is siloed to just a few departments, that’s a red flag.
- Workarounds and shadow systems: Employees defaulting to Excel, email threads, or legacy tools instead of using Dynamics means the platform isn’t meeting their workflow needs, or they haven’t been trained on how to use it effectively.
- Incomplete or inaccurate CRM data in the system: CRM data should be your single source of truth. If customer records are missing details, updates are delayed, or pipeline reporting is off, it’s often a sign of improper use.
- High volume of support tickets or how-to questions: Repetitive requests like “How do I create an opportunity?” or “Where do I log a support case?” indicate that users aren’t confident in navigating the system.
- Long cycle times for basic tasks and workflows: If routine processes—like creating a quote, logging service issues, or onboarding new customers—take longer than expected, it could indicate usability friction, poor workflow design, or a lack of in-app guidance.
- Resistance to change: If employees are pushing back on new workflows introduced in Dynamics, it might be less about the change itself and more about a lack of context, training, or clarity.
- Lagging ROI metrics or stalled KPIs: Missed revenue targets, poor CSAT scores, or operational inefficiencies tied to Dynamics workflows can all trace back to adoption issues.
Managers can’t trust the dashboards: When leadership needs to validate reports manually or questions the accuracy of dashboards, it’s a symptom of low usage or poor data hygiene downstream.
Recognizing these signs early allows you to course-correct. However, with the right enablement strategy, in-app guidance, and real-time feedback loops, there is a straight-forward path to getting Dynamics adoption back on the right path.
How to Improve MS Dynamics User Adoption With Whatfix
Maximizing your investment in Microsoft Dynamics 365 is an ongoing process that spans the entire application lifecycle, from pre-launch, continuous change management, and agile optimization. That’s why 70% of large organizations have invested (or are actively implementing) a digital adoption platform to support their users at key friction points in the application lifecycle.
An Everest Group study found that organizations investing in digital adoption platforms (DAPs) saw up to 25% higher team member productivity and achieved faster application adoption by 30–50%, directly contributing to software ROI and performance outcomes (source).
The following strategies are key to driving effective user adoption at key stages across the app lifecycle and to long-term success with Dynamics 365, all of which are enabled with Whatfix.
1. Pre-Deployment Testing
Many organizations jump from configuration to launch without validating whether their Dynamics 365 instance aligns with how employees work. This often results in unnecessary complexity, unclear task flows, or misaligned terminology that confuses from day one. If users encounter friction during their first experience, adoption can stall before it starts.
Pre-deployment testing is a critical opportunity to spot issues, remove barriers, and tailor experiences to real-world scenarios. It allows application owners to gather feedback early, improve design quality, and set the foundation for higher engagement post-launch.
With Whatfix Mirror, teams can simulate their Dynamics environment, observe test-user behavior, and collect real-time feedback well before going live. This helps surface usability gaps early and ensures a smoother, more intuitive rollout. These replica sandbox environments can also provide hands-on user training, allowing users to gain experience with the system and its workflows without using the live system.
2. User Onboarding & Training
Throwing new users into a complex system like Dynamics 365 with generic user documentation or outdated LMS modules often leaves them overwhelmed and unproductive. Learning is most effective when it’s hands-on, role-specific, and delivered in the moment of need, not when users are pulled into long training sessions divorced from their day-to-day work.
Strong onboarding accelerates time-to-productivity and builds user confidence. When people feel capable and supported, they’re far more likely to embrace and embed the system into their daily workflows.
How Whatfix Helps: Whatfix enables interactive, in-app onboarding experiences tailored to user roles. With Task Lists, Flows, and Smart Tips, new employees are guided step-by-step through real tasks in Dynamics. Every Dynamics deployment is different, with customer tasks and workflows. With Whatfix, tailor your in-app training with role-contextual support in the flow of work. This accelerates ramp time, minimizing dependency on trainers or IT support, and turns new users into high-usage power users.
3. Embedded Support in the Flow of Work
Even after initial training, users run into roadblocks: they forget steps, encounter unfamiliar screens, or simply don’t know how to complete a task. In the absence of real-time support, users turn to coworkers, submit tickets, or worse, abandon the task entirely.
Lack of end-user support at the moment leads to productivity loss and inconsistent process execution. Over time, this erodes confidence in the platform and contributes to shadow systems and workarounds.
How Whatfix Helps: Whatfix embeds Self Help directly into Dynamics 365, giving users contextual answers when and where they need them. They can access walkthroughs, videos, and FAQs instantly—without ever leaving the screen. This empowers users to solve problems independently and keeps tasks flowing.
4. Change Management & Process Governance
Dynamics 365 workflows often evolve after go-live—new integrations, policy changes, compliance requirements, or business rules all affect how users interact with the system. But without consistent change communication and enforcement, those updates rarely reach everyone, leading to outdated behaviors and compliance risk.
Process adherence is essential for data integrity, audit readiness, and organizational alignment. If users aren’t aware of changes or don’t follow them correctly, it can compromise reporting, security, and regulatory obligations.
How Whatfix Helps: With Pop-Ups and Smart Tips, Whatfix helps application owners and change leaders deliver critical updates directly within Dynamics, from process update announcements or highlighting new features. With field validations, application owners and IT leaders can keep data clean by providing embedded support on when data is entered incorrectly. When paired with Whatfix Product Analytics, teams can track whether users are following new processes, identify who needs support, and reinforce policies with targeted in-app interventions.
5. New Feature Adoption & Advanced Capability Usage
After the initial rollout, many organizations hit a plateau. Users stick to the basics and ignore new features or powerful automation tools that could dramatically improve efficiency. Without proper guidance, the full value of the Dynamics 365 investment is never realized.
Driving adoption of advanced features is key to maximizing ROI. It’s not just about training—it’s about surfacing what’s relevant to each user and ensuring they understand the “why” behind the functionality.
How Whatfix Helps: Whatfix enables in-app discovery of new features with proactive nudges and walkthroughs. Analytics helps identify underused capabilities and provides support to specific users. You can guide teams toward automation, insights, and reporting features that enhance their work without requiring retraining or change management campaigns.
6. Continuous Task & Workflow Optimization
After launch, most product owners struggle to understand how users interact with Dynamics on a granular level. Are tasks taking too long? Are users skipping key fields? Are processes getting followed? Without visibility into user behavior, it’s impossible to optimize.
Over time, workflows degrade. Friction points grow, inefficiencies compound, and adoption stalls. Continual optimization must align the platform with real business needs and user behavior.
How Whatfix Helps: Whatfix Product Analytics surfaces actionable insights on user paths, drop-off points, and inefficiencies across Dynamics. Product teams can see where users get stuck, and deploy new Flows, Smart Tips, or UI updates to improve experiences. Combined with Whatfix DAP, these optimizations can be rolled out instantly, without dev cycles.
MS Dynamics 365 Adoption Clicks Better With Whatfix
Digital transformation doesn’t end at implementation. Without adoption, even the most robust enterprise platforms like Microsoft Dynamics 365 fail to deliver business outcomes. To drive real ROI, product owners must empower users at every friction point—from onboarding to ongoing optimization.
Whatfix’s unified suite—including its Digital Adoption Platform, Product Analytics, and Mirror—equips teams with the tools to support, train, guide, and analyze users across the Dynamics lifecycle. With Whatfix, enterprises reduce cycle times, improve process adherence, and achieve the outcomes their software investments were intended to drive.
Ready to get started? Explore Whatfix for Microsoft Applications now to see why software clicks better with Whatfix!
