It’s fair to say that 2020 has been a year like no other and one that will certainly go down in history books! Yet despite the curveball that the global pandemic has thrown at us all, Microsoft’s commitment to customers and business continuity throughout the year has been unwavering. We are proud to partner with them to help customers address their ERP and CRM needs and deliver customized Dynamics 365 solutions to help businesses perform at their best.
Throughout the year, Catapult has posted a multitude of key insights about Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Customer Engagement applications including Sales, Service and Marketing. We have covered topics from Dimensions in Business Central and Power BI through to process automation in Dynamics 365 Sales Insights. As the year comes to a close, we’d like to share the top 5 articles across ERP and CRM that have been most popular amongst our readership. We hope that these articles provide you with some key insights and takeaways that will help you address some of your most pressing questions about Microsoft Dynamics 365.
No 1. Not Just A Dashboard: Why You Need to be Using Power BI if you're On Business Central
You did it – you rolled up your sleeves, put in the time, learned a new system, and, despite the bumps and hiccups along the way, have migrated your entire ERP solution to the cloud. You’re running Business Central and you’re feeling really good about yourself right now. But getting onto the cloud isn’t the end of the journey. No siree, Bob. It’s where the fun begins! And I, for one, would put forth an argument that if you are on the Dynamics 365 platform and not utilizing the Power Platform in one way, shape, or form, then your solution is only partially deployed. Specifically, I would argue if you’re not using Power BI yesterday, you need to get on that today!
No 2. Top Features: Dynamics 365 2020 Release Wave 1 Customer Engagement
It’s that time of year again! Microsoft’s first major release wave of 2020 is now available for early access and there’s lots in store. You can expect some exciting features on the list, all of which are guaranteed to improve the way customers use CRM. If you want to streamline efficiency and make improvements to the way you visualize and access data in your CRM, then look no further.
In this article we will highlight a handful of the top features for this upcoming release and discuss how they can increase productivity and help customers improve their CRM performance.
No 3. BI Backdrops: How Scrims Can Elevate and Enhance Your Power BI Reports
It’s no secret that we’re big proponents for using Power BI alongside your Business Central solution to up your reporting game. All you need to do is read our Not Just A Dashboard article to see why we’re all-in on the Power Platform’s poster child for data mash-up and analytics.
But beyond the tool and the data is the usability and visual experience that Power BI provides. That’s where scrims come in – while the term traditionally refers to screens or materials that serve as a visual aid in theatre and performance, in the world of Power BI it refers to the image layout that organizes and provides visual navigation and organization for your report and slicers.
No 4. Dynamics 365 Team Member License Enforcement: What These Changes Mean and How You Should Prepare
Microsoft is adding restrictions to Customer Engagement users with Dynamics 365 Team Member licenses. Users will no longer be able to access Sales Hub, Customer Service Hub and Custom model-driven apps. All licenses purchased after April 1st 2020 will automatically have the Team Member restrictions enforced by default, but existing customers have until the end of June to migrate. To accommodate these changes, Microsoft will be releasing new app modules which will be tailored to users with a Team Member license.
This article is going to answer some of the top questions we’re getting from our customers about these changes. Including why Microsoft has decided to implement these changes, and what companies with Team Member licenses need to do in order to prepare for the migration deadline.
No 5. Mastering the Month End Close Process with Business Central: Fixed Assets and Inventory
As with other ERP solutions, the month end close process in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is unique. This series leverages what is unique to Business Central in order to help you draft your own period-end checklists. This blog post provides guidance on fixed assets and inventory in Business Central.
Got questions about Microsoft Dynamics 365? Schedule a demo and one of our ERP or CRM experts will get back to you.
