Transforming Data into Decisions with Dynamics 365

29 Apr Transforming Data into Decisions with Dynamics 365

Posted at 06:55h in Dynamics 365 by Simon Spencer

Data is the most valuable resource for any organisation. Leveraging it can lead to better, more informed decision-making. Dynamics 365 is Microsoft’s suite of tools for data analysis — and Dynamics 365 Business Central is a business management solution that streamlines the whole process of understanding your data.

In this article, we’ll go over the importance of data-driven business decision-making, as well as how Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central can help you ensure that you’re using your organisational data wisely and effectively. We’ll also take a look at how you can get started with Dynamics 365 Business Central today.

The Importance of Data-Driven Decision-Making

Data is simply one of the most important assets that any modern organisation has. It can be used to both stay on course when something in your business is working or help guide new methodologies or technologies to drive innovation.

Indeed, 60% of businesses are using data to make key decisions on innovation within their organisations. Those who fully leverage their data can better understand their processes and customers. This means they’ll be ahead of the curve in adopting new technologies and approaches.

Data is useful for establishing baselines for monitoring performance. Understanding the impact of your processes can help you more accurately improve their effectiveness. For example, comprehensive information on customer satisfaction can help guide your strategy for improving Customer Experience (CX).

With this, it’s more important than ever to ensure you have the tools available, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, to be able to make good decisions for your business. After all, no single human can find every trend within your organisational data.

Taking advantage of data tools opens the doors for your organisation to accurately and effectively use data. It can show you what decisions are working and help you identify areas of improvement. Let’s dive further into exactly how Dynamics 365 Business Central can help.

Key Features of Dynamics 365 Business Central for Data Analysis

Dynamics 365 Business Central is Microsoft’s answer to the question of data analysis. Within Business Central, you have everything you need to truly understand, internalise, and apply your organisation’s data to ensure that you can achieve continued success with your business data.

Integrating seamlessly with the rest of the Dynamics 365 suite of applications, Business Central is essential for any modern business. Here are some of the key features that exemplify why this is the case.

Real-time insights

Business Central’s Intelligent Cloud Insights, presents you with some key performance indicators (KPIs) and headline statistics at a glance. These insights and KPIs can be customised to match your business goals. Need to investigate these further? Clicking a data card or insight link will take you to the corresponding ledger.

By providing you with actionable summaries of your business data, Business Central will be able to give you everything that you need to truly understand what your business needs to succeed, and what’s working well.

Customisable reports

Making informed decisions requires clear visibility into your business performance. That’s where powerful reporting comes in. Dynamics 365 Business Central allows you to create custom reports tailored to your specific needs, giving you a comprehensive view of your key metrics.

The reporting tool has powerful customisation options, allowing you to craft reports that match your requirements and fit your company branding. You can easily filter and search through your ledgers to speed up report generation. The clean and intuitive interface helps here too, making navigation and creating reports a breeze.

Advanced analytics with Power BI integration

Power BI is a Business Intelligence platform that connects with various data sources and produces visual outputs. Indeed, Power BI’s data visualisation capabilities are second to none — letting you have rich and detailed reports in a matter of seconds.

Business Central integrates seamlessly with Power BI, empowering your dashboards, insights and reports with smart and unified data visualisations. While Business Central’s reporting tools are still useful for quick and high-volume reporting, Power BI reports offer more customisations on how data is displayed.

This seamless integration gives you the flexibility to work between both Business Central and Power BI dashboards while using the same data and integrations. You can even configure your primary Business Central dashboard to display BI reports automatically.

The synergy between these two platforms is key. Business Central provides a solid foundation for your data, while Power BI unlocks its full potential through advanced visualisations and in-depth analysis. Using both in tandem can help you get the most out of data insights.

Microsoft Teams Integration

A hurdle that you’re likely to face when transitioning to data-driven workflows is sharing data insights with the rest of your team. Business Central dashboards are useful for those who regularly access them and reports can be shared with key stakeholders. However, it can be hard for team members to view KPIs and insights.

Microsoft offers a Teams integration, providing read-only access to Business Central data to employees through Microsoft Teams. This app streamlines collaboration by connecting your team directly to your business data within Teams. Now you can share details, look up contacts, and monitor KPIs – all without ever leaving the Teams interface.

How To Get Started with Dynamics 365 Business Central

In this article, we’ve emphasised the importance of data-driven decision-making. Data can guide innovation, improve customer experience, and improve performance monitoring.

Dynamics 365 Business Central is an essential tool for the modern workplace. It ensures that you can fully take advantage of the benefits of data within your business. Business Central offers powerful insights, reports, and integrations that help you understand your data, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions.

If you’re looking to get started with Dynamics 365 and need a helping hand, reach out to us today. Our experts are here to guide you through the whole process of getting started and will help you hit the ground running.