CDM SOLUTIONS
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FULL TRANSCRIPT (with timecode)
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Hey everybody, it's Dan Lammot from threshold.world, back here with you today to talk about the Common Data Model for Nonprofits and the Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator. Today, we're going to talk about the Frontline Humanitarian Logistics capabilities that are included in version 3.0 of the CDM and accelerator. A little bit of background on Frontline Humanitarian Logistics or FHL, this effort that Microsoft has undertaken is really an output of sector wide collaboration that was brought together with NetHope and a variety of different NetHope members to come up with a data standard for Frontline Humanitarian Logistics. I strongly encourage you to visit the NetHope Solutions Center to read all about this project and program. You can see that the Frontline Humanitarian Logistics data standard itself is available here in Word Doc format. The guide is a great reference and NetHope has also included the participating members and organizations here on the site, also. One of the things that you see at the bottom of this page, which is really unique and incredibly encouraging as it relates to the Common Data Model and the FHL data standard, is this collaboration both between the sector participants and supporters of the sector, as well as the some of the major technology companies that many people would normally consider as competitors. They've all come together around this initiative, specifically because of the leadership of people like Mike Smith from Oxfam and the group at the NetHope Center as well.
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Very proud to have a windows view into this effort and be able to be a contributor. If you want to be able to get access to this FHL model inside the CDM and accelerator like always to go out here to Microsoft Docs and you can read about all the details of the Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator. And here on GitHub, you're also going to see a couple of key documents published with 3.0. One is the nonprofit reference, which will have the entity relationship diagram or the how to guide that will go through today.
00:02:12:21 - 00:02:46:02
But you're also going to find the FHL Mapping Guide, which is Microsoft's first effort to incorporate key components of the FHL data standard into the Common Data Model for Nonprofits and the Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator. So we'll take a look at this ERD to be able to dig into the details. One difference you're going to notice with this versus many of the other modules that we've discussed in the series is that there isn't an FHL specific application that comes with the accelerator.
00:02:46:20 - 00:03:20:11
And the reason for that is that the process model and the data standard that are represented by the FHL data standard and then incorporated into the CDM for Nonprofits is really about a cross-organizational view of how to leverage data to facilitate the end to end process of Frontline Humanitarian Logistics. You're not going to wrap that up into a tidy little application because it includes things like identifying needs, sourcing those needs, dealing with warehousing and a whole host of other processes and so forth.
00:03:21:06 - 00:03:57:17
Essentially what you're going to see inside the CDM is that this model has been mapped into the model and the model has been extended to support specific FHL processes. And then in the guides, you're going to find alternatives for manifesting the rest of the model in Microsoft services like Dynamic's 365 Finance and or other partners that are aligned to the model folks like Unit4 and Oracle NetSuite. So it's a little bit under the covers, which I point out because you might go look for an FHL app inside the accelerator and you're not going to find it.
00:03:58:05 - 00:04:29:14
So let's take a look at the entities that that are here as part of the model. As is always the case, you're going to see a number of different colors on the screen. The gray entities like an account and contact are the out of the box common data service entities. The blue entities represent the entities that have shipped with prior versions of the Common Data Model for Nonprofits. The yellow entities here represent the FHL specific extensions to the CDM and then the kind of orange ones up here are also coming with version 3.0.
00:04:29:22 - 00:05:13:10
But they're listed as part of the assessment model that we've covered in a in a separate session. If you want more details on that, go look at the Assessment 3.0 session that we've also got listed here. So let's take a look first at the things that are around the FHL entities so you get some context of where these fit in and then we'll dive into the FHL entities themselves. So first, on the left hand side, you'll see a host of entities here that range from kind of donor commitment to designation, plan, payment, asset and plan giving. So forth, this is the fundraising cluster of entities that are part of the Common Data Model for Nonprofits, the key entities that are relevant for this are going to be the donor commitment, the designation plan and the payment asset.
00:05:13:24 - 00:05:44:22
Those represent the donors delivery of specific goods and or services that can be fed into program delivery through the FHL model, which I'll get to in a moment. And key to that central to that is this payment asset entity payment assets been in the CDM since version one. And it represents essentially the in-kind gift from a donor that's inside of the CDM as part of the fundraising model. So pay attention to that as we get a little bit further along.
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And then on the right hand side, you'll see the full delivery framework model that's part of the CDM as well. And importantly, the connection directly into the delivery framework entity. Delivery framework, as you probably remember, represents an activity. So it could be a program, a project, a specific task and so on and so forth. But that's the linking point of where the organization is actually going to go do the work itself. And then, as I mentioned before, with 3.0, you're also going to get these connections to assessment and operation, which represent the operation and assessment model, and that provides the facility for there to be a supply and demand process around Frontline Humanitarian Logistics.
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So let's take a look at how these three things come together and then I'm going to go through the assessment model. So let's say we have a donor that offers pallets of water, for example. Those goods are going to be represented in payment assets upon donation. Let's say we have an operation that's following a sudden onset natural disaster and there are assessments being made that are then going to result in requests for specific goods like perhaps water, to support the individuals that don't have access to clean water in that environment.
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And then let's also say that as part of that operation, a nonprofit who may already be on the ground or operating in that particular location has a capability for delivering those types of goods and services, which would be represented by the delivery framework. And they're going to track all of the capabilities or excuse me, all of the results for that operation down to the indicator values and ultimately the recipients of those goods and services as well. So you really have this nexus of, you know, sort of things coming in through fundraising capabilities being executed through the delivery framework, and then, of course, assessments being made as part of operations.
00:07:39:04 - 00:08:14:19
So that ultimately comes into the kind of two anchor entities in this initial FHL extension to the common data model, which are item request an item. So an item request represents the need for a specific material or service. And if you look at the attributes over here on the top right hand side, you're going to see that there's a type there's a requested by a delivery date, some estimated cost information, and you even get some location specific details like Polygon, Longitude and latitude and geo reference and so forth.
00:08:14:21 - 00:08:48:11
So that essentially talks about what do we need, when do we need it and where is it needed. Then at the other end of the spectrum, we have the actual items and these items represent the specific things themselves. Think that this is kind of like the top end of the inventory master. And that's really important because this is your anchor point to a supply chain management system or to a warehousing application and so forth. And if you dig into the FHL data standard, you're actually going to see that item is one of those key master anchor entities.
00:08:48:18 - 00:09:24:22
And so this is that really important connection point between the CRM capabilities that are offered with something like the CDM and the accelerator and the supply chain logistics and asset management capabilities that you'd see in something like Dynamics Finance, the Dynamics Supply Chain, Unit4, Oracle NetSuite and so forth. So that's your really key anchor point across the entire model. And then the item requests is that other key anchor point that's going to have all those same ties to those other places as well. So that's a quick overview of the FHL CDM extensions and 3.0 of the Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator.
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As is always the case, if you want to go out and check the application out itself, you can go to App Source to the Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator. Either get it now or do a test drive and check it out. Thanks very much for watching.