When Comfizone, an award-winning mattress manufacturer, was created, they built their system on an ad-hoc IT system that wasn’t scalable. While it worked for the time, teams quickly became disconnected and data was scattered between multiple sources. This led to problems in reporting as information was bottlenecked between teams as well as a lack of transparency throughout the business.
The company knew that they needed an ERP update so they turned to to unite departments and create seamless workflows. One area that especially benefited from these solutions is Comfizone’s logistics department. This team is responsible for planning delivery routes based on the information provided by the sales team. As soon as information is confirmed, the data is automatically sent to dispatch teams who can arrange delivery. This entire flow has been automated and runs solely on Business Central.
The new ERP system in Comfizone has resulted in greater visibility and transparency company-wide. Data is easily visible throughout the entire organization and is no longer siloed or isolated. Processes are now much more efficient and the company has been able to coordinate everything from a single dashboard.
Comfizone is just one of many companies who have implemented Dynamics 365 and Business Central to replace outdated and ineffective ERP or CRM systems. Dozens of other companies rely on the system to connect teams, increase data transparency, improve processes, and drive decisions.
Below, JourneyTEAM will provide additional details on the features and capabilities of both Dynamics 365 and Business Central and how an integration between the two creates seamless end-to-end processes.
Why are Dynamics 365 and Business Central Separate?
This is perhaps one of the most frequently asked questions we get at JourneyTEAM. The answer is simple: despite these being two separate systems, they’re integrated. Each of them work together to provide detailed, accurate data, increased flexibility, and a centralized marketing and sales planning and operations systems. For acquisition or merger projects or for small startups, they can especially benefit from these two separate, but integrated systems.
Accurate, Clean Data
Within your marketing system, data is kept simple. Typically, it’s an abundance of phone numbers, email addresses, or names--many of them duplicate or incorrect. False information isn’t cause for much concern on the marketing side as it will be verified and corrected as it moves down the lifecycle. However, false data in your operating system can be very problematic as this is the data you make decisions from. Every piece of data needs to be checked and corrected before it enters your operating or accounting system. That way, when you login, you’ll only be shown real transaction data and correct information which enables you to make better, more informed decisions. Plus, your data is kept clean as it moves through your business processes.
Flexibility
The power of the cloud has expanded where you can get data from. Today, your ERP system can aggregate data from sources like WooCommerce, Magento, Shopify, eBay, Amazon, and more. Dynamics 365 is an incredibly flexible and powerful CRM system that can handle trillions of data with ease. As it gathers data, it identifies similar data, coordinates that communication, and sends it directly into the ERP.
Centralizes Marketing and Sales Planning and Operations
If your operations planning and sales inventory are running separately, integrating them can bring a number of benefits to your business. Essentially, it allows you to simplify processes and communication between your sales and marketing teams and allows your teams to identify sales opportunities from the same interface.
Let's say that one of your customers has recently purchased several pieces of industrial parts or machinery from your business. Centralizing your SIOP would allow another sales team to sell the same customer preventative plans, service contracts, etc. The moment this purchase is completed, your teams would be alerted, allowing you to make faster decisions and increase profits.
Additional benefits of a centralized SIOP is that it supports enterprise-wide data visualization and analysis, ensuring that each of your teams has access to all your data.
Finally, by integrating these two systems, the true complexity of your business processes is masked, allowing you to present a more simple business dynamic to your customers.
Connects to Other ERP Systems
In the past, if you had a new acquisition, startup, or merger project, you had to migrate their entire ERP system into yours. Not only is this process time-consuming, but it’s also disruptive. features dozens of built-in connectors that allow you to avoid the interruption of an ERP migration. You can easily connect their existing system to yours, giving everyone access to important business information.
Solutions Made for You
One of the biggest things that Microsoft prides itself on is it’s scalable solutions. Both Dynamics 365 and Business Central are incredibly flexible and agile and can be customized to fit your exact needs From the high-volume, complex organizations all the way to the simple startup, these two solutions are designed to work for you.
Next, we’ll discuss the features of both Dynamics 365 and Business Central that can improve your end-to-end processes.
Data Visualization
Within Dynamics 365 and Business Central is the . Power BI is a powerful business analytics solution that allows you to visualize data from throughout your organization, providing valuable insights and more informed decision-making. Once data is gathered, it’s presented in a dashboard that offers a closer look into various parts of your business.
For example, let’s say your organization regularly works with a currency feed service. Using Power BI, you can pull the data from the system and create a shareable data visualization of your entire inventory. Various teams can drill further down into this data to get the insight they need. A sales manager can check to see if parts are available for a potential customer and an inventory manager can see which items are running low at specific locations.
All this can be done without ever leaving your ERP system, eliminating the need to build an expensive or time-consuming integration.
Seamless Integration with Business Central
Microsoft has built-in connectors with Business Central that make for a quick, easy integration between the two systems. Once they’re turned on, they immediately go to work synchronizing all the data within your inventory so you can view all your parts and items as a single number.
Built-in connectors are especially useful for small businesses or startups who are either looking to get started with Microsoft solutions or for companies looking for a simple, low-volume, and easy integration. However, if you’ve significantly customized your , you may want to consider another solution as there’s little room for customization within the connectors.
Import/Export File Method
Within Dynamics 365, users can use the import/export feature to move data from an existing spreadsheet into the system. This tool also allows you to:
- Automate tasks.
- Choose which columns are included or excluded on your spreadsheet.
- Get support for multi-table reports or custom fields.
- Create lines and headers for sales invoices.
If you’re looking to build an integration between other tools, this feature is a great way to do that. You can first build or create your initial design for a field or table mapping completed, export it, and drop it into Dynamics 365.
Power Automate
Microsoft created as a workflow automation tool. It allows users to build and automate processes to help users save time and effort on repetitive tasks such as getting notifications, collecting data, syncing files, and more. Power Automate features dozens of connectors that can integrate with external systems like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Trello, Dropbox, and of course other Microsoft solutions.
Power Automate also features tools that help you:
- Save time by turning automating repetitive workflows.
- Create a business process flow that keeps users consistent and reduces errors.
- Encourages faster decision making.
- Keep data safe and secure.
Here’s just a few examples of what you can do with :
- Have an automatic calendar event created whenever an event is created in Dynamics 365.
- Extract data from an email and have a record created within the Dynamics 365 CRM.
- Get a weekly summary of new opportunities.
- Automate approvals with an email or push notification.
- When an email is flagged, a new task in Dynamics 365 is created.
API Integration
If you work with multiple applications, you can easily integrate with each one using the Dynamics 365 direct API integration tool. Setting up this integration doesn’t take a lot of time; however, it can be more expensive and difficult to maintain. Yet the speed, convenience, and efficiency that comes with Power Automate more than makes up for the expense.
Why Microsoft is Best for Your Business
There are hundreds of CRM and ERP applications available. So you may be wondering why you should choose Microsoft. The answer we at JourneyTEAM give most is because of the flexibility. No matter how complex, specific, or lengthy your processes are, Dynamics 365 and Business Central can be configured to meet them. Using these tools, you can create faster, more efficient business processes that drive decision making and improve your end-to-end processes. Ultimately, these tools can better your marketing, customer service, and sales approach.
Additional benefits include:
- The ability to drill deeper into data using flexible, agile reporting tools. This in turn helps you to make more informed decisions.
- Grow your customer base as each system works together to accurately track new leads or opportunities.
- Prevents data from getting siloed as all information is stored in a single location.
- The ability to improve customer satisfaction and retention with powerful case management tools.
The list of benefits of using Microsoft tools is endless. While you may start with just Dynamics 365 and Business Central, you may quickly adopt additional tools to further advancement and development.
Enjoy Customized Support from JourneyTEAM
Even though the set up of these two systems is relatively easy, customizing them to your business processes can be difficult. Luckily, there’s JourneyTEAM, a Microsoft Gold Partner who can provide customized support to your business. From step-by-step installation assistance to answering a few simple questions, we’re happy to provide whatever level of support you need. If you’re ready to get started with Dynamics 365 and Business Central, contact JourneyTEAM today.
JourneyTEAM was recently awarded and the Microsoft Eagle Crystal trophy as a top 5 partner for Dynamics 365 Business Central software implementations. Our team has a proven track record with successful Microsoft technology implementations and wants you to get the most out of your organization’s intranet system. Consolidating your communication, collaboration, and productivity platform with Microsoft will save time and money for your organization.!
Article by: Dave Bollard - Chief Marketing Officer | 801-436-6636
JourneyTEAM is an award-winning consulting firm with proven technology and measurable results. They take Microsoft products; Dynamics 365, SharePoint intranet, Office 365, Azure, CRM, GP, NAV, SL, AX, and modify them to work for you. The team has expert level, Microsoft Gold certified consultants that dive deep into the dynamics of your organization and solve complex issues. They have solutions for sales, marketing, productivity, collaboration, analytics, accounting, security and more.
Reading your blog is like having a rewind on ERP and its module. Thanks for sharing,
You are welcome. Glad you find it helpful.