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Manage service lifecycle overview

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Applies to: Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 Commerce, Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Dynamics 365 Customer Voice, Dynamics 365 Field Service, Dynamics 365 Finance, Dynamics 365 Guides, Dynamics 365 Marketing, Dynamics 365 Project Operations, Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, Dynamics 365 Sales, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management

This article describes how you can use Dynamics 365 products to help manage the lifecycle of the services that your organization offers to customers or purchases from service providers.

In the dynamic landscape of today's business environment, effective management of the service lifecycle is paramount for organizational success. This fact is particularly true for nontangible services, regardless of whether they're offered to customers as a service or purchased from a service provider. The process of managing the service lifecycle plays a crucial role in ensuring that services are aligned with organizational goals, remain competitive, and consistently meet or exceed customer expectations.

Dynamics 365 offers a robust suite of products, including Dynamics 365 Customer Service, Sales, Field Service, Project Operations, and Supply Chain Management. Collectively, these products empower organizations to streamline and enhance their service offerings. Furthermore, the integration of Dynamics 365 Remote Assist and Guides provides a unique opportunity for optimizing services by applying augmented reality and step-by-step guidance to enhance efficiency and ensure a seamless service lifecycle.

The process of managing the service lifecycle encompasses several essential business processes that are pivotal for sustained success. Organizations that use Dynamics 365 can seamlessly analyze service performance by applying real-time data and analytics to make informed decisions.

Optimization of services is facilitated through continuous improvement initiatives, adaptation to changing market demands, and enhancement of overall service efficiency. Up-to-date service details are imperative for maintaining accuracy and relevance, and they ensure that the organization remains agile and responsive. When the time comes to retire a service, Dynamics 365 provides a structured approach that helps organizations make informed decisions about discontinuation or replacement.

Together, these processes form a cohesive framework that empowers organizations to navigate the intricacies of service management and deliver exceptional value throughout the entire service lifecycle.

The business processes for managing the service lifecycle in a Dynamics 365 implementation should be addressed in the early to mid-design and configuration stages of the project.

Stakeholders

Many people across the organization should contribute to the decision-making process and design of the manage service lifecycle business process area. The following list provides examples of such stakeholders:

  • Service leadership stakeholders include service managers, the director of services, or the vice president (VP) of services. As key decision makers, these stakeholders define the strategic direction of service offerings and align them with organizational goals. Service managers oversee the entire service lifecycle and ensure that it meets business objectives and customer expectations.
  • Product stakeholders include service product owners or product managers. These stakeholders are responsible for the overall success of a service. Product owners collaborate with various teams to define features, prioritize development efforts, and ensure that the service is aligned with market demands.
  • Customer experience stakeholders include customer experience (CX) specialists and customer experience managers. These stakeholders are focused on understanding and enhancing the end-to-end customer journey. CX specialists play a vital role in shaping the user experience and ensuring that services meet or exceed customer expectations.
  • Data analysts are responsible for analyzing service performance metrics and providing insights that guide strategic decisions. They contribute to the continuous improvement of services by identifying trends and areas for optimization.
  • Compliance and risk management stakeholders include compliance officers and risk managers. These stakeholders ensure that services adhere to regulatory requirements and industry standards. Compliance and risk management experts play a critical role in mitigating risks and maintaining the integrity of service offerings.
  • Field service stakeholders include field service technicians and on-site support specialists. In the context of field service management, these individuals are involved in the testing phase. They provide real-world insights into service functionality and usability in diverse environments.
  • Supply chain and logistics stakeholders include supply chain managers and logistics coordinators. These stakeholders are particularly relevant for organizations that have products incorporated into their service offerings. These stakeholders are involved in the supply chain and contribute to the optimization of services by ensuring efficient and seamless integration with the supply chain.
  • Training and development stakeholders include training specialists and learning and development managers. These stakeholders are involved in the training aspects of service lifecycle management. They ensure that all relevant stakeholders are well-versed in the use of new services, especially when tools such as Dynamics 365 Remote Assist and Guides are used.

Manage service lifecycle process flow

The following diagram illustrates the manage service lifecycle business process area.

Diagram of the manage service lifecycle process flow, showing the connections between business process areas.

Each solid gray rectangle on the diagram represents an end-to-end business process. The solid blue rectangle represents the business process area. The diagram shows the subprocesses for the business process area. The arrows on the diagram show the flow of the business process in an organization. If a subprocess can lead to more than one other subprocess, the parallel subprocesses are shown as branches.

  1. Start

    Parallel branches from Start include the following, all of which connect to Analyze service performance: Case to resolution, Service to cash, Order to cash, Source to pay, and Project to profit.

  2. Concept to market

  3. Introduce new services

  4. Manage service lifecycle

  5. Analyze service performance

    Parallel branches connect to the following downstream business process areas: Manage services pricing and Define service cost. Both these business process areas are under the Concept to market end-to-end process that is shown on the right.

  6. Optimize services

  7. Update service details

  8. Is retirement required?

    • The Yes branch connects to Retire a service.
    • The No branch connects to End.

  9. Retire a service

  10. End

Note

There are unshown connections from Optimize services and Update service details, each of which connects to the following end-to-end processes on the right: Project to profit, Service to cash, Order to cash, and Source to pay. Each of these end-to-end processes has a connection to End. Additionally, Manage services pricing and Define service costs have connections to each of the end-to-end processes.

Manage service lifecycle benefits

There are many key benefits that can be used to monitor and measure the success of implementing technology to support the manage service lifecycle business process area. The following sections outline the key benefits that an organization might monitor and measure for the manage service lifecycle business process area.

Improved operational efficiency

Organizations that use Dynamics 365 for service lifecycle management experience a substantial boost in operational efficiency, particularly through the robust features of Dynamics 365 Field Service. The system streamlines field service operations, optimizes resource allocation, and enhances scheduling efficiency.

Through capabilities such as intelligent scheduling and predictive maintenance, organizations witness a reduction in service delivery times and an increase in the number of service requests that are handled per day. Key performance indicators (KPIs) such as mean time to repair (MTTR) and first-time fix rate demonstrate tangible improvements and indicate a more efficient and responsive service operation.

Enhanced customer satisfaction

Dynamics 365 Customer Service is instrumental in elevating customer satisfaction levels throughout the service lifecycle. The platform facilitates seamless communication and engagement with customers to ensure that their queries and issues are promptly addressed. Features such as omnichannel support and AI-driven insights empower customer service teams to deliver personalized and effective support.

As a result, organizations witness an uptick in customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores, a decrease in customer churn rates, and an increase in positive customer feedback. All these results are indicative of the platform's impact on fostering positive customer relationships.

Enriched operational agility

Dynamics 365 Remote Assist and Guides play a pivotal role in enhancing operational agility within the service lifecycle.

By using augmented reality (AR) capabilities, Dynamics 365 Remote Assist enables real-time collaboration between field service technicians and experts. Therefore, it helps minimize on-site visits and reduce downtime.

Guides offer step-by-step instructions to optimize training and onboarding processes. The benefits include a reduction in travel costs, improved first-time fix rates, and enhanced training effectiveness, as reflected in KPIs such as travel expenses, technician productivity, and training completion rates.

The AR features contribute to operational efficiency and flexibility. The results are tangible improvements throughout the service lifecycle.

Data-driven decision making

Dynamics 365 equips organizations with powerful analytics and reporting tools that contribute to data-driven decision making. Through comprehensive dashboards and customizable reports, management gains insights into key metrics such as service performance, customer feedback, and resource use.

As a result, the organization can make informed decisions, identify trends, optimize service processes, and continuously improve the overall service lifecycle.

Seamless integration

One of the standout benefits of using Dynamics 365 for service lifecycle management is its seamless integration across the entire service ecosystem. Whether it involves Dynamics 365 Field Service, Customer Service, Project Operations, or Dynamics 365 Remote Assist and Guides, the cohesive integration ensures a unified approach to service delivery.

This interoperability leads to streamlined processes, reduced manual effort in data transfer, and a more connected service experience. KPIs that are related to system integration efficiency and data consistency across platforms attest to the tangible benefits of this holistic approach.

Next steps

If you would like to implement Dynamics 365 solutions to assist with your manage service lifecycle business processes, you can use the following resources and steps to learn more. (Links are added, when the articles are ready.)

  1. Define service offering and strategy

  2. Introduce new services

  3. Manage service pricing

  4. Define service costing

  5. Manage service lifecycle (the article you're currently reading).

You can use the following resources to learn more about the manage service lifecycle processes in Dynamics 365.

Contributors

This article is maintained by Microsoft. It was originally written by the following contributors.

Principal author: