Know what a Microsoft update changed, before your team spends the week finding out by hand.
Microsoft ships four Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations service updates a year and requires you to take at least two. When Microsoft applies an update automatically, it updates your sandbox seven days before production. In that window, someone has to confirm your critical processes still work, your customizations and ISV solutions still behave, and the update itself didn't quietly move a configuration setting.
Microsoft has marked its Regression Suite Automation Tool (RSAT) for deprecation, with support ending May 15, 2027. Its formal deprecation record lists the deployment option as on-premises and names no replacement feature; Microsoft has not stated the position for cloud deployments. Whatever RSAT's fate on your deployment, DES-Core™ ReleaseGuard™ is a recurring regression-assurance service, not a tool you have to run yourself, and it works whether or not you use RSAT.
Download the ReleaseGuard™ overview (PDF), a one-page summary to read, save, or forward to a Dynamics owner, CIO, or finance leader.
What ReleaseGuard™ delivers, every cycle
Regression library, refreshed
A test library built from your own design documents and configuration, regenerated whenever your documents change, so it stays current rather than fixed at the moment it was first written.
Configuration drift report
A read-only comparison of your sandbox configuration before and after the update: exactly what changed, and what didn't.
Findings delta
Every change traced to a cause: the update itself, a customization, an ISV solution, or your own data.
Acceptance pack
One document per cycle for your named process owners, with a review call, in the window between your sandbox update and production.
Optional add-on: scripted scenario execution. We run your critical business scenarios in your sandbox, recording pass or fail with the data trail.
How it works
Document ingestion
We ingest your design documentation and existing test scripts, build the first library, and capture your configuration baseline.
Inside the 7-day window
Post-update snapshot, drift report, findings delta, scenario execution if contracted, then the acceptance pack and review call.
Stays current
Your documents live in a shared folder we re-sync from; when they change, the library changes with them.
Read-only by default
Any read of your environment is exactly that. Scenario execution, if contracted, runs only in your sandbox under a tester role you grant.
Consultant-led
A named senior F&O architect leads every cycle. Our team reviews and finalizes every deliverable before it reaches you, then walks it through with your process owners on the review call.
What we need from you
- Cloud Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations on Microsoft's mandatory service-update cadence.
- A Tier-2 or higher sandbox environment.
- Your design documentation (functional and technical design documents, configuration workbooks, existing test scripts) in a shared folder we can re-sync from.
- Read-only access, set up during onboarding.
- Named process owners for the review call each cycle.
What a service update quietly breaks
Most of what a service update breaks doesn't announce itself. It shows up weeks later as a process nobody trusts, a workaround nobody remembers agreeing to, or a stuck order nobody can explain. These are the failures we look for on every cycle:
Orders that won't close
A production or batch order gets marked finished, but the work-in-process balance never zeroes out. Finance can't close the period without a manual adjustment, and on some floors that adjustment becomes a standing procedure instead of a one-time fix.
License plates and locked work
A license plate or a piece of work gets stuck locked to a user or a device, and the floor waits on someone to manually unlock it before work can continue.
Planning output nobody trusts
Master planning starts throwing action messages or net-requirement numbers that don't match reality, and instead of fixing what changed, people start overriding the system by hand.
Integrations that fail silently
An interface to a warehouse, label, or transport system stops working with no error and no completion notice, so nothing tells anyone a transfer didn't happen until something downstream is already wrong.
In our experience, catching these by hand costs a business one to two weeks of consultant, IT, and business time per update, five thousand to fifty thousand dollars, on a cadence of up to eight updates a year. ReleaseGuard™ checks for them in the window between your sandbox update and production, before they reach your floor.
Pricing
| Item | Fee | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding, one time (entry band, up to 10 standard processes) | $12,500 | Document ingestion, first library, configuration baseline, read-only access setup. |
| Per cycle, up to 10 standard processes tested | $8,000 | Library refresh, configuration drift report, findings delta, acceptance pack, review call. |
| Scenario execution add-on, per cycle | From $5,000 | Scripted scenario execution in your sandbox, under a tester role you grant. |
| Per cycle, 11 to 30 processes tested | Quoted | Same, at greater test-volume scale. |
| Per cycle, 31 to 100 processes tested | Quoted | Same, at greater test-volume scale. |
| Per cycle, 100+ processes tested | Quoted | Custom scale, quoted to fit your process count. |
| Customizations, ISV solutions, integrations, and custom code testing that deviate from standard functionality | Quoted | Priced as an additional band or quoted separately, never folded into the entry-band fees above. |
Entry band: standard (out-of-the-box) processes, up to 10. Consultant time is included in every fee above; there is no hourly line. Billed per cycle actually run: if you pause an update, you are not billed for it. Remediation, fixing what a cycle finds, is change work at our normal terms, quoted separately. Larger process counts (11 to 30, 31 to 100, 100-plus) are quoted to fit your environment.
Why DES
We're a Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations consultancy headquartered in Austin, Texas, delivering globally across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and China. Every one of our consultants is certified in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, and we've delivered hundreds of Dynamics AX and D365 F&O implementations. ReleaseGuard™ runs on DES-Core™, our proprietary intelligence engine: cutting-edge AI and automation build the library and the configuration comparison, so consultant time goes to judgment, not clicking. Our team reviews and finalizes everything before it reaches you.
Common questions
Does ReleaseGuard™ replace RSAT?
Microsoft has marked RSAT for deprecation, with support ending May 15, 2027. Its formal deprecation record lists the deployment option as on-premises and names no replacement feature. Microsoft has not stated the position for cloud deployments. ReleaseGuard™ is not an RSAT replacement; it is a regression assurance service that works whether or not you use RSAT, and it does not depend on RSAT's fate.
Do we need Copilot?
No. ReleaseGuard™ requires no Copilot licensing.
What happens to our existing test scripts?
Onboarding ingests them, along with your design documents and configuration workbooks, to build the first library. Nothing is discarded; the library regenerates as your documents change.
Is it safe for production?
Any read of your environment is read-only by default. Scripted scenario execution, if contracted, runs only in your sandbox, under a tester role you grant.
How is it priced?
Entry band, standard (out-of-the-box) processes, up to 10: $12,500 one-time onboarding, $8,000 per Microsoft update cycle actually run, plus a scenario execution add-on from $5,000 per cycle if you want scripted scenarios run in your sandbox. Consultant time is included; there is no hourly line. 11 to 30, 31 to 100, and 100-plus processes are quoted. Customizations, ISV solutions, integrations, and custom code testing that deviate from standard functionality are priced separately. Contact us for a quote sized to your process count.
See if it fits your update calendar.
Not ready to commit yet? A no-cost first look at your F&O environment through our DES-Core™ intelligence engine, reviewed by our team before it reaches you, is available for a limited number of engagements. Or go straight to a call with our founder.