3 Dynamics 365 Certifications RETIRING AND Why You Shouldn't Panic

By Microsoft MVP and MCT · Pluralsight Author

Published August 6, 2024 · Updated January 15, 2026 · Learning & Credentials

Microsoft announced they will retire 3 Dynamics 365 Certification by the end of the year! In this video we will learn what the 3 certifications are, and the single exam that will replace all of them!

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Video Summary

Here are the key points from the video:

  • Microsoft will retire three more Dynamics 365 certifications (MB-210, MB-220, and MB-260) on November 30, 2024, along with their associated exams and renewal assessments.
  • The retirement aims to streamline the certification process and ensure skills related to Microsoft’s AI apps, cloud services, and other emerging technologies are validated.
  • A new certification, Microsoft Certified Dynamics 365 Customer Experience Analyst Associate, will replace the retired ones. It will be available in late September 2024 and cover Dynamics 365 Sales, Customer Insights Journeys, and Customer Insights Data.
  • Microsoft will introduce applied skills certifications, such as “Creating and Managing Journeys with Dynamics 365” and “Creating and Managing Segments,” to complement the new certification.
  • Those preparing for the retiring exams should take them before November 30, 2024. Existing certification holders should renew their certifications one last time before the retirement date to keep them active for an additional year.

For more information, read the transcript blog below, or watch the video above!

Video Transcript

Microsoft just announced it will retire three more Dynamics 365 certifications this year. If we look at 2024, Microsoft already retired three certifications in total: the MB-300, the DP-500, and the PL-100 exams. But now they announced that they will retire three more, and they’re all about Dynamics 365. The following three exams are going to be retired: the MB-210 exam, the MB-260 exam, and the MB-220 exam, along with their associated certifications. In this video, we will cover when retirement will happen, what happens when a certification gets retired, and we will also talk about the certification that will replace all of them because, good news, we have a replacement certification.

In a recent blog post on the Microsoft Tech Community, Microsoft said, “We’re pleased to announce that we’re evolving Microsoft credentials for Dynamics 365. These changes help ensure that skills related to Microsoft’s AI apps and services, the cloud, and other emerging technologies are validated, helping you build the skills you need to be successful in these job roles. We’re also streamlining the certification journey so that you have a more straightforward path to prove those skills.” Now, I’m sure a lot of you might have expected this to happen, as in 2023 we had quite a few changes to the different Dynamics 365 products. We went from Dynamics 365 Customer Insights and Dynamics 365 Marketing, which had both outbound marketing and real-time marketing, to all of them being merged into a single product: Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, which had two main pillars: the data pillar and the journeys pillar. So, we had those big changes last year, and last year Microsoft renamed the certifications. They did already do that change for the certification names, but after looking at it again, they decided it was not enough.

The big retirement date is November 30, 2024, so we still have quite a bit of time. But on November 30, the Dynamics 365 Sales Functional Consultant exam (MB-210) will be retired, as well as the Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Journeys Functional Consultant Associate exam (MB-220), and finally, the Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Data Specialty certification and exam (MB-260) will be retired. All of them will be retired on November 30. That’s something that Microsoft doesn’t do often; the certification and the related renewal assessment will also be retired on November 30. Usually, Microsoft gives a few extra months for that renewal to still be active, so if you had that certification and you could renew it, you could still have it active for one extra year. But for this certification, Microsoft just decided that we will close everything down on November 30.

Now, what happens when a certification retires? The certification will still show up on your profile and transcript, so it will still be there and it will be active for one year after you pass the exam or after you have renewed it. After that, it will show up as an expired certification. So, on your transcript, you will still see that you already passed that certification, but it will be expired, similar to if you did not renew it. But the good news, we have a replacement certification available, and Microsoft didn’t give us that many details, so we don’t have an exam number, but there are things that I can share with you. The new Microsoft Certified Dynamics 365 Customer Experience Analyst Associate certification will be the new name for the certification and will be released in late September 2024. It can help you prove that you have the skills to elevate the customer experience, strengthen customer relationships, and earn customer loyalty by using Dynamics 365 Sales, Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Journeys, and Dynamics 365 Customer Insights Data.

We are basically replacing three different certifications with only one certification, and there are some pros and cons to that. On the pro side, you will now need to pass only one single certification to prove knowledge in all three products (or two products, depending on how you’re looking at it). It will be cheaper, as now you will only need to pay for one certification instead of three, and you will only have one certification to renew every year instead of three. On the con side, you must master all three (or both products, depending again on how you look at it) in order to get certified. So, if you’re only a Dynamics 365 Sales expert, well, now you will need to understand and master Dynamics 365 Customer Insights in order to get that certification. We don’t have product-specific certifications anymore, and again, it’s not well-suited for those who only know one of the products and not all of them.

In addition to this replacement certification, we will also be getting some applied skills. Microsoft confirmed that we will get at least two different applied skills for Dynamics 365 Customer Insights. The ones that we know about so far are: one called “Creating and Managing Journeys with Dynamics 365” and another one called “Creating and Managing Segments.” Those are the only two we know about for now, but I’m sure Microsoft will do more as they seem to be releasing a ton of applied skills lately.

Now, some Q&A or some questions that I get often: What if I’m studying for one of the three exams that get retired? If you’re currently preparing for any of the three exams, go take them before November 30, 2024. Again, it will stay on your transcript forever to show that you have that knowledge. It will expire after one year, but still, if you’re studying for it and you want to prove either to your employer or to yourself that you have that knowledge, go take that exam before November 30, 2024. If you already have one of those certifications, make sure you renew it one last time before November 30, 2024. I also understand if you’d prefer just simply not to renew it and let it expire one year after November 30. All of them will be expired anyway, so I would suggest that you still go renew it, but I understand if you don’t want to. But anyway, you want to make up your mind before November 30 because that’s when the renewal assessment will also go offline.

Now, if you’re a Microsoft partner, we know that those certifications are part of the requirements for being a Microsoft partner. So, don’t worry, Microsoft is aware of that. There will be new certifications or changes in the partner program that will be communicated from the partner program on what certifications or applied skills you need to remain at your level of Microsoft partner.

This is it for this quick video. What do you think about this retirement? Do you think Microsoft is making a good move in merging those three certifications into one single one, or do you prefer that we have separate certifications per product? I feel it’s a bit the same discussion we’re having on the Power Platform side, where some people wish there were a certification for Power Automate, one for Power Apps, and so on, instead of having one certification for all products. But let me know what you think in the comments, and make sure you like this video and subscribe to the channel to get the latest Microsoft credential news.