Microsoft has surprised us with a series of changes to the update system for its Finance and Operations product, which will affect us from April 2024. These changes have to do with the number, frequency, flexibility and name of the updates. Here I tell you what you need to know to stay up to date and not get lost in the mess.
Number and frequency of updates
Until now, Microsoft bombarded us with seven updates a year to Finance and Operations, in the months of February, April, May, July, August, October and November. Starting in April 2024, the number of updates will be reduced to four, which will be done in the months of February, April, July and October. These updates will be larger and more powerful, and will include new features, performance improvements, and bug fixes.
This change has its advantages:
Reduce the work and time we spend testing and validating updates.
Minimize disruption and risk from frequent updates.
Increase platform stability and consistency.
Facilitate the planning and management of implementation and customization projects.
Flexibility and upgrade options
Another aspect that changes is the degree of flexibility and the options we have to schedule and pause updates. Until now, we could pause up to three updates in a row, as long as we updated at least twice a year. Starting in April 2024, we will only be able to pause one update, and we will have to update twice a year.
In addition, the scheduled update schedules are modified. Until now, we had a single four-week window to choose when the UAT (User Acceptance Testing) environment was updated. The PRO (Production) environment was updated the following week. Starting in April 2024, we will be able to choose between two complete scheduled update windows, four weeks apart. This means that we will be able to update during the first four-week window, or update during the second four-week window. The PRO environment will be updated the week following the week we have chosen for the UAT environment.
In the following image you will see an example of the April update and the two windows that we will have at our disposal:
This change also has its positive side. It gives us more options and flexibility in scheduling updates, which can make it easier to coordinate and organize teams and resources.
As a summary, in the following image you see how this year's updates and their corresponding automatic windows will be organized:
Nomenclature of updates
Finally, another change that is introduced is the nomenclature used to name the applied update packages. Until now, the nomenclature followed the 10.0.XX format, where XX was the update number. Starting in February 2024, the nomenclature will follow the format CY24Q2: 10.0.39*, where the first part refers to the calendar year and quarter (Calendar Year YY, Quarter Q), and the second part refers to the version of the product. The asterisk indicates that this is a major update corresponding to the release of wave 1 and wave 2.
This change aims to simplify and clarify the identification of updates, as well as facilitate their communication and documentation. It has no effect on the operation or performance of the platform.
Thus, the following updates will be as follows:
Release version | Preview availability | Preview latest possible update | General availability (self-update) | First autoupdate schedule for production start date | Second autoupdate schedule for production start date |
CY25Q4: 10.0.45* | July 28, 2025 | August 8, 2025 | September 12, 2025 | October 3, 2025 | October 31, 2025 |
CY25Q3: 10.0.44 | April 25, 2025 | May 2, 2025 | June 6, 2025 | July 4, 2025 | August 1, 2025 |
CY25Q2: 10.0.43* | January 27, 2025 | February 7, 2025 | March 14, 2025 | April 4, 2025 | May 2, 2025 |
CY25Q1: 10.0.42 | October 25, 2024 | November 1, 2024 | December 27, 2024 | February 1, 2025 | March 7, 2025 |
CY24Q4: 10.0.41* | July 29, 2024 | August 9, 2024 | September 13, 2024 | October 4, 2024 | Nov 1, 2024 |
CY24Q3: 10.0.40 | April 26, 2024 | May 3, 2024 | June 7, 2024 | July 5, 2024 | August 2, 2024 |
CY24Q2: 10.0.39* | January 29, 2024 | February 9, 2024 | March 15, 2024 | April 5, 2024 | May 3, 2024 |