Almost every enterprise software (and especially those as popular as Dynamics 365 for Operations) is used across several distinct regions, geographies, countries, and continents. If there was just a single, uniform functionality for every employee at every region, to do their daily jobs, how would you meet the unique legal, regulatory, and business (and employee) needs of individual regions? How would you cater to the cultural, and language-related specific needs?

 

The Need for Localization

If you conduct business transactions and operations globally on a daily basis, you have no choice but to meet the legal obligations for activities that are conducted in different countries or regions.

• Compliance to regulatory requirements in all the regions where you deploy Dynamics 365 for Operations, is not an option but a mandate
• With these laws and regulations enforced, any non-adherence can lead to severe consequences (including massive fines, lawsuits, and even business closures)
• A localization solution that allows global companies to adopt and deploy those features that are required in a particular region is critical
• Localization helps to meet these requirements at the lowest possible cost (and headache) of code maintenance
• With localization, you can also 1) reduce TCO for your global organization, 2) enable standard processes and consolidated reports across different regions, and 3) avoid data redundancy and inconsistency

 

How Dynamics 365 for Operations Helps

One of the many new features in Dynamics 365 for Operations is the country-specific set. Although earlier versions of AX did offer country-specific features through the use of configuration keys, but when turned on, those features appeared in all companies in the Dynamics AX environment. In Dynamics 365 for Operations, you have the option to disable or enable the keys; however, this new feature will make the user interface adapt to the country your legal entity is in, or, depending on the setup, the country you are working with.

 

Implementing Region Specific Functionality

Dynamics 365 for Operations allows you to use country and region specific functionality to meet the needs of individual geographies. When you create the region code legal entity, the local functionality will automatically turn on features needed for that region. However, just changing the user language won’t change the functionality available to the user. As each geography (whether a country or a region) is identified by their respective code, in Dynamics 365 for Operations you can use the country region context for a streamlined outcome.

1. Leverage the Country Region Codes Property: If you’re looking to create country context on a controlled entity, you can do so by setting the ISO code value on the Country Region Codes Dynamics 365 for Operations allots values to the country or region context; if the values match, the element is displayed. Otherwise, it is hidden.
2. Set the Controlling Party: As defined by the organization model in Dynamics 365 for Operations, you can set various parameters such as legal entity, customer, vendor, bank, or worker. The controlling party then determines whether country-specific functionality (or UI elements) will be enabled on the controlled entity. Once you set the country and region context of the controlling party, any controlled entities that have matching country and region context will be displayed. If the country context of the controlling party matches the country context of the controlled entity, the elements will be enabled.
3. Provision Controlled Entities: Depending on whether the country and region context matches, you can enable (or hide) the controlling entity UI. Using the Country Region Codes property, you can hide menus, items, and form controls that are country-specific or specify the country or region where you want certain elements to be visible.

 

Think Global, Act Local

Globalization and advances in technology have resulted in enterprises having a vast network of offices spread across geographies. In a dynamic environment like today’s, meeting regulatory, business, and tax needs of each and every region is quite a challenge. To address these specific government and regulatory requirements of countries, Dynamics 365 for Operations offers the ideal localization service. Next time you set up a new office in a new region, don’t worry about localization, as Dynamics 365 for Operations is going to help you think global, act local!