Transition from Unmanaged to Managed Solutions with Dataverse ALM

In Dynamics 365 and Power Platform development, managing and deploying solutions efficiently is key to success. With the introduction of Dataverse ALM (Application Lifecycle Management), developers now have a robust framework to streamline their development process. This blog will explore the transition from unmanaged to managed solutions within Dataverse ALM, highlighting the benefits and best practices.

Understanding Unmanaged Solutions
Unmanaged solutions have been the traditional approach for solution development in Dynamics 365. These solutions allow developers to modify and customize various components within an environment directly. While unmanaged solutions offer flexibility and rapid development, they can lead to challenges during deployment and maintenance.

Challenges with Unmanaged Solutions

• Overwriting: Unmanaged solutions can easily overwrite existing customizations in the target environment, potentially causing conflicts and unintended consequences.
• Manual Tracking: Tracking changes to unmanaged solutions requires manual effort, making it prone to errors and oversight.
• Dependency Management: Unmanaged solutions often lack strict dependency management, making ensuring consistent deployment across environments difficult.
• Version Control:Maintaining version control becomes cumbersome with unmanaged solutions, as there is no built-in mechanism to track changes or roll back to previous versions.

Introducing Managed Solutions
Managed solutions, on the other hand, bring a structured approach to solution management. They are typically created by packaging and exporting unmanaged solutions and then importing them into target environments. This shift from unmanaged to managed solutions brings numerous benefits regarding version control, security, and scalability.

Benefits of Managed Solutions

• Version Control: Managed solutions clearly separate the solution layers, enabling developers to track and manage changes more effectively. This ensures better version control and facilitates rollbacks if needed, reducing the risk of unintended changes.
• Modularity and Reusability: Managed solutions promote modular development, allowing developers to package and distribute components as reusable building blocks. This modular approach enhances collaboration and reduces redundancy, saving time and effort during development.
• Security and Compliance: Managed solutions offer enhanced security by allowing administrators to control the level of access and customization within the environment. This ensures better governance and compliance with data protection regulations.
• Seamless Updates: With managed solutions, updates and bug fixes can be packaged and deployed as patches without affecting existing customizations. This enables a smoother and more efficient update process, minimizing downtime and disruption.

Best Practices for Transitioning

• Planning and Analysis: Before transitioning to managed solutions, it is essential to conduct a thorough analysis of existing unmanaged solutions and their dependencies. A well-defined plan will help mitigate potential risks and ensure a smooth transition process.
• Incremental Migration: Rather than attempting a full-scale migration, it is advisable to adopt an incremental approach. Start by migrating smaller, less complex solutions to managed form and gradually move towards more critical components. This minimizes disruption and allows for better testing and validation.
• Testing and Validation: Rigorous testing is crucial during the transition phase. Verify that the managed solutions function as expected and maintain the desired behavior. Involving end-users and stakeholders in the validation process is important to gather feedback and ensure a seamless user experience.
• Documentation and Training: Document the transition process and update your development guidelines to reflect the shift to managed solutions. Conduct training sessions to familiarize developers and administrators with the new processes and best practices.

Conclusion
Transitioning from unmanaged to managed solutions within the Dataverse ALM framework brings numerous advantages regarding version control, security, and scalability. By leveraging managed solutions, organizations can streamline their development process, reduce risks during deployments, and ensure a more efficient application lifecycle management. Embracing this shift requires careful planning, incremental migration, and thorough testing. With the right approach and best practices, experts at Online24x7 harness the power of managed solutions to drive innovation and deliver high-quality solutions within the Dynamics 365 ecosystem.