Discover how FormusPro helped Warwick Business School evolve its Dynamics 365 and applicant portal platform, making future change faster, safer and easier to manage.
Warwick Business School needed to evolve its Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and applicant portal environment as organisational requirements had changed, without disrupting a live and highly integrated platform.
FormusPro delivered the programme across two controlled phases. We enhanced Dynamics 365, resolved existing platform issues and strengthened the architecture connecting CRM, the applicant portal and wider Microsoft services. We also introduced more business-managed capabilities, reducing reliance on developers for everyday changes and creating a more scalable platform for future growth.
Applications, profile updates, payments and engagement activity flow into Dataverse through an Azure-based integration layer.
Business-managed content, forms and event journeys reduce developer dependency and speed up future changes.
Enhancements were delivered across a live, highly integrated CRM and portal environment whilst business-as-usual operations continued.
Warwick Business School needed to evolve its Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement solution to meet changing organisational requirements.
The challenge was that this work needed to take place within a live and highly integrated CRM and portal environment.
WBS wanted to introduce new business capabilities and resolve existing platform issues without compromising stability or disrupting day-to-day operations.
The programme also needed to create a stronger foundation for future development, with better governance and an architecture that would make ongoing changes safer, faster and easier to manage.
FormusPro delivered the programme through a controlled two-phase approach.
The first phase focused on reviewing and refining the existing backlog and requirements. Priorities were validated and translated into a clear roadmap and implementation plan.
The second phase focused on delivering agreed enhancements and resolving platform issues. Additional business requirements were managed through a controlled change process, allowing the programme to respond to evolving needs without disrupting planned delivery.
A modular CRM solution architecture was also introduced during the programme. This decoupled deployment units, reduced dependencies and simplified release management as the platform evolved.
Because CRM and the applicant portal were closely connected, each solution change was assessed for potential cross-system dependencies before deployment. This helped support lower-risk releases within the live environment.
The applicant portal combines Umbraco CMS and ASP.NET MVC with Dynamics 365 and Microsoft services.
Umbraco allows business teams to manage portal content and support resources, while Umbraco Forms provides flexible application management. Customer Insights – Journeys forms support event registration and allow business users to update registration journeys without requiring code changes.
Azure Functions manage integration between the portal and Dynamics 365, while SharePoint Online provides document storage.
Dataverse acts as the central system of record. Application submissions, profile updates, payment transactions and engagement activity flow through the Azure-based integration layer into Dataverse, providing a consistent source of truth.
Warwick Business School now has enhanced Dynamics 365 functionality aligned much more closely with its evolving organisational requirements.
Improved deployment governance and release management have created a more controlled approach to change across its interconnected CRM and portal environment.
Business teams also have greater control over everyday changes. Content, forms and event journeys can be managed without relying on developers, reducing the turnaround for some changes from weeks to hours.
The modular architecture and strengthened integration approach have created a more scalable and maintainable platform for future development.
WBS can continue evolving its digital services while reducing the risks associated with introducing change into a complex live environment.
Warwick Business School (WBS) is a world-class business school, part of the University of Warwick, helping people and organisations turn ambition into action.
For nearly 60 years, WBS has combined academic excellence, leading research and real-world experience to tackle the challenges facing business and society. Its work with organisations brings academic insight into the real world, helping partners explore new ideas, respond to change and create practical impact.
That same focus on application shapes the School’s approach to education. WBS develops people who can think clearly, challenge what has gone before and put ideas into practice, giving them the confidence and capability to make a difference.
With more than 65,000 graduates and students across 176 countries, WBS brings together a diverse global network of people, ideas and experience. It is a community that creates opportunities to connect, collaborate and share knowledge across organisations, industries and borders.
FormusPro have become a strong partner for WBS in building this implementation for the long term, rather than simply acting as a short-term contractor. They were extremely knowledgeable and provided crucial expertise to enable us to migrate away from an aging system that reached the end of it’s serviceable life in the business.
This was a daunting project, but Formus have designed and implemented a system that manages a complex recruiting environment alongside B2C sales and outreach. In bringing Admissions, Business Development and Marketing teams all into one platform they eliminated the data silos and work arounds of the past all whilst setting us on a firm Microsoft foundation to align with the institutional direction and making the business AI ready for the future.
They took the time to develop a real ownership of the issues that were being resolved and pushed us to get the solution right rather than settling for half-measures that often feel easier. Many of the WBS team members have become on first name terms with the FormusPro team and they helped steady the ship as we made our way through the initial Go Live into business-as-usual activity.
They have continued to support and assist through their customer success model and will continue to add value long into the future as a strategic partner for us. It would not have been possible without knowledge, flexibility and support and their team have been an invaluable asset in this process.
I would highly recommend them.
The executive team were keen to move to a modern ERP solution but needed to manage the implementation very carefully as the organisation was already in the process of implementing a very large-scale bespoke IT system for its core operations.
FormusPro delivered and extended a university-wide Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform solution. The platform now supports more than 12,000 students and around 150 users across 16 teams. It;s replaced multiple legacy platforms and created a scalable foundation.
FormusPro migrated the platform to Dynamics 365 and Power Pages, simplified six complex processes into two, and introduced self-service features that reduced admin overhead and improved the user experience for both staff and applicants.