The era of siloed ERP management is officially ending. Microsoft has drawn a line in the sand: starting January 2026, Lifecycle Services (LCS) will close its doors to new Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (F&O) projects. All future implementations must be provisioned, managed, and maintained exclusively through the Power Platform Admin Center (PPAC).
While existing implementations currently remain on LCS, this move sends an undeniable message to the entire ecosystem: PPAC is the only future destination for Dynamics 365
To understand the death of LCS for new projects, one must understand Microsoft’s overarching strategy: One Dynamics One Platform (ODOP).
Historically, D365 F&O (formerly AX) and D365 Customer Engagement (CE/CRM) existed in parallel universes. F&O lived in LCS, ran on proprietary infrastructure, and used X++ code. CE lived on the Power Platform, ran on Dataverse, and used C#/.NET. Connecting them required complex middleware or “Dual-write” configurations.
The ODOP initiative aims to merge these technological stacks. Microsoft’s goal is for an F&O environment to be treated just like any other Power Platform environment (like Sales or Service).
LCS, built specifically for the unique architecture of old F&O, is incompatible with this unified future. It is a legacy portal sustaining a legacy architecture. The PPAC is the unified management hub designed for the converged stack, centered around Microsoft Dataverse.
Moving from LCS to PPAC is not merely changing portals; it is fundamentally changing how an ERP system is perceived and managed within the IT landscape.
| Feature/Concept | The LCS Era (Legacy) | The PPAC Era (Future State) |
| Core Philosophy | F&O is a unique, standalone heavy ERP beast requiring specialized tooling. | F&O is a high-complexity workload running on top of the Power Platform/Dataverse. |
| Environment Provisioning | Done via LCS portal. F&O environments are distinct entities. | Done via PPAC. An F&O instance is tied 1:1 with a Dataverse environment. |
| Database Access | Just-in-Time (JIT) access to SQL Azure, heavily restricted. | Tighter integration with Dataverse; access managed via modern Azure security standards. |
| Extensibility | Primarily X++ development, managed via LCS Asset Library. | “F&O native” (X++) plus heavy emphasis on low-code (Power Apps), virtual tables, and Business Events via Dataverse. |
| ALM & Deployment | Manual package uploads to LCS Asset Library, deployed via LCS pipelines. | Modern CI/CD using Azure DevOps or GitHub, integrating with Power Platform pipelines for unified deployment across ERP and CRM. |
| Integration | Dual-write (often brittle) required for near-real-time sync with CE. | Virtual entities and native Dataverse integration become the standard, simplifying data sharing. |
While change is difficult, the shift to PPAC offers significant long-term advantages for customers and implementation partners:
IT departments often struggle with managing F&O licenses in one portal and CE/Power Automate licenses in another. PPAC provides a “single pane of glass” for viewing capacity, storage, licenses, and security roles across the entire business application landscape.
By linking F&O environments directly to Dataverse, the barrier to entry for using ERP data is lowered. Makers can build Power Apps or Power BI reports against F&O data using Virtual Tables without needing deep X++ knowledge or complex integration projects.
LCS deployments were often slow and manual. The move to PPAC facilitates “unified engineering.” It allows organizations to use standard, modern DevOps tools (Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions) to deploy changes to both F&O and Power Platform components simultaneously in a single pipeline.
January 2026 is rapidly approaching in ERP implementation terms. A large-scale enterprise project starting in mid-2025 will likely go live after the deadline. Therefore, the time to adapt is now.
For now, Microsoft has indicated that existing implementations managed in LCS will continue to function. However, history suggests this will not last forever. While they may not force migration immediately in 2026, new features, innovations, and perhaps even critical updates will increasingly be prioritized for PPAC-managed environments. Existing customers should begin planning a long-term migration strategy to PPAC.
Stop Selling LCS-First Architectures: Any proposal for a project likely to go live in late 2025 or beyond should assume PPAC as the management foundation. Selling an LCS implementation now is selling technical debt.
Retrain Infrastructure Teams: The role of the “F&O Basis/Infrastructure Consultant” is changing. They need to become Power Platform architects. Deep knowledge of Dataverse environments, solutions, and PPAC governance is now mandatory for ERP practitioners.
Re-engineer ALM Pipelines: Move away from the LCS Asset Library as the source of truth. Invest in building robust CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps that utilize the new Power Platform build tools and F&O deployment tasks.
Challenge Your Partner: If you are about to sign a contract for a new D365 F&O implementation, ask your partner: “Will this be deployed on LCS or PPAC?” If the answer is LCS, demand a justification for why they are deploying you on a platform that will be deprecated for new projects before you even go live.
Evaluate Your Talent Pool: Does your internal IT team have Power Platform skills? If they only know traditional ERP management, invest in upskilling them on Dataverse and PPAC administration.
The requirement to use PPAC for all new D365 Finance & Operations implementations starting January 2026 is the final nail in the coffin for the old era of “Dynamics AX in the cloud.”
Microsoft is forcing the ecosystem to modernize. By unifying F&O infrastructure with the Power Platform, they are creating a more powerful, extensible, and manageable suite of applications. While the transition requires significant re-tooling and re-learning for partners and customers alike, the destination—a unified, Dataverse-centric enterprise platform—is inevitable. Adapt now, or be left managing legacy infrastructure in a modern world.
Amarnath Gupta is a visionary digital transformation leader with over two decades of experience guiding Fortune 500 organizations through enterprise-wide innovation. He has built and scaled Microsoft Dynamics 365 practices into $7.5 million revenue engines, rescued high-risk global implementations, and delivered 35 percent operational efficiency gains, 40 percent faster go-lives, and 30 percent cost optimizations across industries from manufacturing to healthcare and construction.
His passion for marrying deep technical command in Dynamics 365, Azure AI/ML, and Power Platform with strategic P&L governance has spawned proprietary IP solutions like JewelPro™ and OmniClaim Sentinel™. A catalyst for modern AMS frameworks, he leverages predictive KQL analytics and intelligent support automation to slash incident resolution times by 30 percent and cut costs by up to 30 percent.
Amarnath writes about practical strategies for data-driven decision making, end-to-end ERP/CRM implementation best practices, and the future of cloud-native architectures. His work empowers readers to transform underperforming units into high-growth engines while embedding Agile/DevOps and Zero Trust security into every layer.
Amarnath Gupta is a visionary digital transformation leader with over two decades of experience guiding Fortune 500 organizations through enterprise-wide innovation. He has built and scaled Microsoft Dynamics 365 practices into $7.5 million revenue engines, rescued high-risk global implementations, and delivered 35 percent operational efficiency gains, 40 percent faster go-lives, and 30 percent cost optimizations across industries from manufacturing to healthcare and construction.
His passion for marrying deep technical command in Dynamics 365, Azure AI/ML, and Power Platform with strategic P&L governance has spawned proprietary IP solutions like JewelPro™ and OmniClaim Sentinel™. A catalyst for modern AMS frameworks, he leverages predictive KQL analytics and intelligent support automation to slash incident resolution times by 30 percent and cut costs by up to 30 percent.
Amarnath writes about practical strategies for data-driven decision making, end-to-end ERP/CRM implementation best practices, and the future of cloud-native architectures. His work empowers readers to transform underperforming units into high-growth engines while embedding Agile/DevOps and Zero Trust security into every layer.
by Dr. Amarnath Gupta
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