e-Con: CPQ for complex product configurations in Microsoft Dynamics 365

Whatever you sell, you want an offer to reach the customer as soon as possible.

Companies that sell a lot of customised products and use Microsoft Dynamics 365 can do so with e-Con CPQ. The integration of e-Con and D365 makes it easy for users to configure complex products and services to achieve accurate quotes and sales orders much faster.

What is CPQ?  

CPQ stands for 'Configure, Price, Quote'. A CPQ application makes it easy to create complex product configurations and convert them into a quotation or sales order. This is because for each configuration, the application ensures that the necessary data is automatically loaded and filed away in the right places in linked applications, such as the ERP and CRM.  

The integration of e-Con with Dynamics 365  

The success of a CPQ application largely depends on its integration with other business applications. E-Con is well integrated into MS D365 in that it can link to multiple applications that are part of the CPQ process. For example, it is possible to retrieve product information in Dynamics ERP (UO), process it in a configuration and then link the quotation to a customer in Dynamics CRM (CE). The power of e-Con becomes clear once you experience how much time this saves. Virtually all required data is loaded prior to configuration using defined 'models'. These models also ensure that no mistakes can actually be made in a configuration, as all steps are predefined.  

In our opinion, the integration works very well, except for one functionality. For instance, when retrieving, it is not possible to combine data from two tables using a 'JOIN'. Remarkable, as this need will be more common for more complex configurations. Fortunately, it is possible to work around this by merging the tables in the source application or e-Con itself.  

Sufficient configuration options 

For companies that sell products or services with a lot of customisation, it is important that a CPQ application offers many configuration options. E-Con provides the user with this by beering basic functionalities, which the user uses to build his own configuration model with fields and rules. You use the fields to call the values in the ERP applications and the rules to perform actions on them. The degree of customisability is therefore high, but this also means that there is a steep learning curve in learning to build these models.  

The speed of results retrieval and processing 

To quickly configure products or services, it is important that the application can also quickly retrieve and write away data. If you consider how much data e-Con retrieves, processes and writes back, the application is actually very fast. Especially processing data from the application you use to start e-Con is smooth. Retrieving information from another D365 application does take more time. If you start e-Con from Dynamics CE and need product information from UO, this can take around 5 to 6 seconds. But this is still faster than collecting this information manually. 

However, we do see that speed decreases with more complex configurations. For configurations where a lot of data needs to be loaded, it is worth looking at the caching settings. Because you can turn caching on and off per line, you can optimise the speed of the application in a targeted way. You can also decide how frequently you want to retrieve data. For example, you can set e-Con to fetch all data on startup, so it doesn't need to load in between. 

Steep learning curve 

Opinions on the user-friendliness of e-Con vary. The design of the e-Con studio in which you build the configuration models looks quite complex for a contemporary application. But if you compare it to other methods of creating complex configurations, it is a step forward. E-Con is designed to be understandable even for developers with limited technical knowledge, thanks to its visual setup and practical tools for building a model. In our estimation, it takes about six months to a year for a new developer to become fully familiar with e-Con. The speed at which you then build a model varies depending on the complexity, but is probably between two and six months. All in all, e-Con has a steep learning curve as far as we are concerned, but once accustomed to it, it works pleasantly and quickly.  

Besides the work of the developer, there is also the end user, who uses the model to configure products or services. End-user usability depends on how the model is built by the developer. You can customise the layout as you wish, although the design remains quite simple. It is also possible to build your own user interface. For instance, you can display the model all at once with all configuration questions, or show the questions one by one to avoid confusion. You can also set warnings; if a configuration is not possible, e-Con will indicate this and send you back a step. 

An indispensable tool for customisation in MS Dynamics 365 

e-Con CPQ offers a great solution for companies that offer complex products and services and manage this in Microsoft Dynamics 365. By integrating between Dynamics 365 applications, e-Con makes it easy to accurately prepare quotes and configure sales order quickly. There is a steep learning curve, but the benefits of e-Con outweigh this. By building a model properly, you can reduce a configuration, which previously took 30 minutes, to about 5 minutes. An efficiency gain worth making for many companies.