Business Central Goes Beyond Traditional ERP
Microsoft Dynamics Business Central is a powerful cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. It offers a wide range of features and functionalities to help small and medium-sized businesses manage their financials, sales, purchasing, inventory, projects, and operations. Unlike older more ridged ERP solutions it’s also a platform upon which customers and the partner community can develop additional functionality to meet their specific business needs. Microsoft has provided a next-generation architecture that includes Business Central Extensions, the Power Platform, and the Dataverse. When we leverage the full platform, we have an awesome “evergreen” cloud-based solution with an incredible ability to cost-effectively fill in the white spaces. Aptean has utilized all this capability to transform core Business Central into a best-in-class Food and Beverage ERP solution known as Aptean Food and Beverage ERP. In this blog, we will elaborate on how business central goes beyond traditional ERP.
Business Central Extensions
Business Central Extensions are modular components that can be used to extend and enhance the functionality of Business Central. They are packages of code that can be easily installed and uninstalled within the ERP system, allowing businesses to:
- Add new features
- Modify existing ones
- Integrate with other systems
Extensions can be created by Microsoft or third-party developers and can be distributed through Microsoft’s AppSource marketplace. There are a wide variety of extensions available that can be used to extend Business Central in various ways, such as adding new functionality, automating processes, integrating with other systems, or providing industry-specific solutions. Aptean’s Food and Beverage ERP, Insight Works WMS, Scheduler, and others are available as extensions.
Benefits of Extensions
When used with Business Central, extensions provide several benefits. Firstly, they allow businesses to tailor the ERP system to their specific needs and requirements. This means that they can add functionality that is not natively supported by Business Central or modify existing functionality to better meet their needs.
Extensions also provide businesses with a high degree of flexibility and scalability. Because they are modular components, businesses can choose which extensions they want to install and use, allowing them to customize their ERP system to their specific needs. Additionally, extensions can be easily updated or removed as business needs change, ensuring that the ERP system remains flexible and adaptable over time.
Another benefit of extensions is that they can be used to provide industry-specific solutions. For example, there are extensions available for businesses in the manufacturing, retail, and service industries that provide specific functionality and features that are tailored to their needs. This can help businesses to streamline their operations, improve efficiency, and stay competitive in their respective industries.
Power Apps
Power Apps is a low-code app development platform that allows partners and customers to create custom business applications without the need for extensive coding skills. It offers a wide range of templates, connectors, and data sources to help users build apps quickly and easily. Power Apps can be used to create apps for web and mobile devices, which can be accessed from anywhere. The Power Apps platform provides a built-in connector to the Microsoft Dynamics Business Central APIs to enable easy integration. Through the course of the implementation, we can quickly and cost-effectively plug a functional gap with a Power App. As with the extensions, because the Power App uses the APIs it’s rare that a Business Central upgrade would affect it. Aptean has some great Power Apps integrated into their Food and Beverage ERP solution set.
Power BI
Power BI is a cloud-based business analytics service provided by Microsoft. It allows users to visualize and analyze data from various sources, including Business Central. Power BI provides a wide range of data visualization tools, such as charts, graphs, and tables, that allow users to gain insights into their data and make data-driven decisions.
When used with Business Central, Power BI can be used to create custom reports, dashboards, and visualizations based on data from the ERP system. This allows businesses to gain insights into their financials, sales, inventory, and operations, and make informed decisions that drive growth.
Power BI and Business Central Integration
Power BI can be integrated with Business Central in several ways. One way is to use pre-built connectors that allow users to easily connect to their Business Central instance and access their data. This makes it easy for businesses to get started with Power BI and start creating custom reports and visualizations.
Another way to integrate Power BI with Business Central is to use extensions. There are several extensions available that provide out-of-the-box Power BI dashboards and reports for Business Central. These extensions can be easily installed and configured within the ERP system, providing businesses with instant insights into their data.
Power BI can also be used to integrate data from other sources into Business Central. For example, businesses may want to create custom reports that combine data from Business Central and a Client Relationship Management (CRM) system. By creating a data model in Power BI that includes both data sources, businesses can create custom reports and dashboards that provide a holistic view of their operations.
Aptean BI provides a full set of prebuilt key performance indicators (KPIs) and was built using Power BI.
The Dataverse
The Dataverse is a cloud-based data storage and management platform that provides a unified data schema, security model, and business logic for all applications built on the Power Platform. It allows users to create and manage custom entities and tables, as well as define relationships between them. The Dataverse can be used to store and manage data from various sources, including Power Apps, Power BI, and Dynamics 365.
When it comes to Business Central, The Dataverse can be used to extend and enhance the functionality of the ERP system. It allows businesses to create custom entities and tables, define relationships, and manage data from within Business Central. This can be particularly useful when businesses need to store and manage data that is not natively supported by Business Central, or when they need to integrate data from other sources.
For example, a business may want to track additional data related to customers, such as their preferred method of communication or their social media profiles. By creating a custom entity in The Dataverse, businesses can store this additional data and link it to their customer records in Business Central. This information can then be used to personalize customer interactions, improve customer engagement, and drive sales.
The Dataverse can also be used to integrate data from other sources into Business Central. For example, businesses may want to import data from a point-of-sale (POS) system, an e-commerce platform, or a third-party logistics provider. By creating custom entities and tables in The Dataverse and mapping the data to Business Central, businesses can ensure that their data is always up-to-date and accurate, reducing the risk of errors and improving efficiency.
Adroit Can Help
In summary, Microsoft Dynamics Business Central provides a full set of traditional ERP functions out of the box. However, unlike other ERP solutions, the full Microsoft platform including Business Central extensions, the Power Platform, and the Dataverse can be leveraged to create a solution that truly enables our customers to go to market with a competitive advantage. Aptean has created a Food and Beverage specific solution called Aptean Food and Beverage ERP that does just that.