Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central launched in 2018. Now, less than two years later, many businesses that have adopted it have seen impressive results.
Take Polytropic, a small heated swimming pool manufacturer in France. When Polytropic hit a growth rate of 25%, they realized they needed a new solution that delivered real-time information across all parts of their business. That’s exactly what they got with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
If you’re wondering if Business Central is right for your business, here’s what you need to know.
What is Business Central?
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system from Microsoft, that is part of the Microsoft Dynamics family. While it’s an ERP, it is also a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, providing an adaptive, multi-functioning platform.
Business Central launched in April of 2018. The software can be used in the cloud, on-premise, or a combination of both, making it a flexible option for businesses to access anywhere at any time.
Benefits of Business Central
As the successor to both Microsoft NAV and Dynamics GP, Business Central comes with a wide range of benefits for small-to-medium sized businesses, with flexible integrations for multiple departments within an organization. These include:
- Financial visibility at a glance
Business Central creates a single source of truth for real-time, connected data across departments. Users can see data reports and analysis through built-in dashboards.
This also contributes to accelerated financial close and reporting, while maintaining compliance.
- Seamless integration with other Microsoft applications
Part of the power of Business Central is its ability to connect with other Microsoft product suites. For instance, it comes with built-in Microsoft Power BI dashboards. It also integrates with Office 365, such as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and Microsoft Outlook.
This contributes to further potential opportunities — for example, if a quote request is emailed, the sales representative could generate a price using Business Central within Outlook.
- Optimize the supply chain
Business Central also offers opportunities to optimize within the supply chain, such as predictive stock replenishment and auto-creation of purchase orders while tracking item locations throughout movements.
- ERP meets sales and customer service support
Beyond finances and the supply chain, Business Central is also built for improving the customer experience. Since it shares CRM functions, the customer relationship management aspects help track customer interactions and view opportunities for upselling, cross-selling, renewal, and more.
Business Central also enables sales members to manage service requests, process payments, respond to inquiries, and more using Outlook.
- Manage projects on time and on budget
Workflows also benefit from Business Central. Teams can create, manage, and track projects through the use of timesheets, advanced job costing, and reporting capabilities. Real-time insights allow project managers to ensure profitability while meeting deadlines.
- Data security and compliance
Business Central also comes with enhanced privacy capabilities, such as allowing users to set up data classifications. Businesses can also implement audit trails and transmit data securely using automatic Microsoft datacenter encryption.
Who is Business Central For?
Business Central is a popular choice for small-to-medium sized businesses. Its integrated functionality works across departments and business sizes, including:
- Financial managers
- Supply chain managers
- Customer relationship managers
- HR managers
- Project and resource managers
- Warehouse managers
- Service order managers
- Manufacturing
- The list goes on…
Why Should You Consider Business Central for Your Business?
You might consider Business Central if:
- You’re an SMB that has outgrown their accounting software
- Your departments have been siloed with different software for different uses – and you want to find better team collaboration and system consistency
- You use other Microsoft products for your business and are looking for a system that integrates with your existing software
- You’re relying on inefficient, old-fashioned methods – like pricing quotes manually
- You can’t keep up with demand (the phrase “not enough hours in the day” comes up frequently)
- It’s time to upgrade multiple software systems – such as both your ERP and CRM
- You don’t have a single source of truth for your data
- You need better data security and compliance
- You want more mobility with your applications — such as the option to go between the cloud and on-premise
- You are looking for a system that is highly customizable and flexible to your needs
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers many opportunities. If you’re in the market for a new ERP, CRM, or looking to enhance your digital transformation journey, it should be on your list for consideration.
The best way to decide if Business Central is right for your business is to work with an experienced software consultant. At SHEA Global, our ERP experts have a proven track record of identifying business problems and finding the perfect solution.
Reach out to us today to see if Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is right for you.