What Is ERP?

Enterprise Resource Planning, otherwise known as ERP, is an integrated suite of business applications that allows you to bring together all the core processes needed to run any business and improve business management.

From HR to finance, supply chain to manufacturing, procurement and more; ERP systems allow you to use the latest technologies, including AI and machine learning to your advantage for every aspect of your business.

What Is Microsoft Business Central?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an all-in-one business management solution. Business Central isn’t just easy to use, it adapts easily too. The whole purpose of Business Central is to give you an end-to-end view of your entire business, wherever you are.

As an ERP system, it’s designed to cater to all of your business processes, covering everything from finance to warehouse management as well as general reporting and even purchasing. Selecting an ERP solution however, is an area that many struggle with.

Despite Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central being an obvious choice for SMEs globally, many find the selection of an ERP system and support service such as ours at D365 experts such a delicate decision to make that they avoid it completely.

Dynamics 365 FAQ Contents

  • What Is ERP?
  • What Is Business Central?
  • Questions About Business Central
  • Reasons For Not Implementing ERP
  • Guide To Implementing ERP

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General Questions About Dynamics 365 Business Central – Dynamics 365 FAQ

Business Central is pretty much an all new NAV. It’s the new kid on the block. While functionality remains similar, it has some visual differences. NAV will no longer be offering new releases.

While Microsoft may not provide support, D365experts do. We’re Microsoft Business Management Solutions specialists and we provide three different types of support packages as well as the ability to buy extra “blocks” of support when your bundle or package expires.

All of our support has a four hour response time however, on average, all support calls are actioned and dealt with in as little as 30 minutes.

Business Central works for all industries, including retailers, financial, manufacturers and distributors. With a variety of add-ons, there’s something out there for every industry’s needs.

You may hear the term “extensions” used a lot. This refers to small pieces of functionality that augment the main functionality, allowing you to change the way your solution works.

With the help of Extensions, you can change your solution to suit your needs and those of your business.

Yes you can, through Microsoft’s AppSource where you can try or buy the add-ons you’re looking at, all of which work seamlessly with Business Central.

Prices will vary depending on what type of deployment you need, whether it’s cloud, subscription or on-premise. There are two pricing models too, known as Essentials and Premium.

Cloud Option Essentials £52.80 per user per month
Premium £75.40 per user per month
Team Member £6.00 per user per month
Subscription Option Essentials £34.62 per user per month
Premium £50.00 per user per month
Team Member £6.16 per user per month
On Premise Option Essentials £1,341 per user (one off cost)
Premium £1,878 per user (one off cost)
Team Member £268 per user (one off cost)

Essentials covers financial management, basic CRM, supply chain, project management etc. Premium however, covers all that comes with Essentials plus manufacturing and service order management.

Yes you can. You can have full users and team members. One of the biggest changes from NAV to Business Central is that there aren’t concurrent user licenses anymore, simply ‘named’. This means there are either full members or team members. Full user members are those who require use of the feature rich business applications fictionality. Team members however, are those who aren’t tied to any one function, rather they require basic Dynamics 365 functionality.

Here at D365experts, we can set the system up for you.

Implementation costs will vary depending on what you require, whether it’s assisted or full. We’ll work with you however, to determine a final cost and timescale before we begin.

In short, yes. Decreased users will be at a maximum of the user count or 5 max in any one year. However, in order to decrease licenses, we’ll need a notice period of 30 days.

It can be deployed however you want it to. From cloud to on-premise or even on your own servers or the private D365experts cloud service – the choice is yours.

Yes, thanks to an integration tool called Smart Connect. This will allow you to bring data from other solutions that are being used in your business. You can purchase Smart Connect via ourselves, which again is available in a variety of pricing models, from monthly subscriptions to one-off payments.

PowerApps are essentially Mobile Apps, from elected templates that allow you to run everything from iOS to Android and Windows. They also work on internet browsers too.

From the Microsoft Power Platform, you’ll find products such as PowerApps, Power BI and Power Automate. Creating apps for your business processes just got a lot easier thanks to this platform as it brings all of your data together in a common data model. This connects hundreds of sources such as Excel and Twitter, to name a few, as well as on-premise data too.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an end to end business management solution. It offers all business processes from finance to purchasing, inventory to manufacturing, sales, service and much more.

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The Top Reasons Why Many Choose Not To Implement A New ERP

1.It’s not a priority at the moment

While many feel picking and subsequently implementing an ERP system isn’t a major priority, when you consider what you could be doing instead, it suddenly becomes abundantly clear just how important it actually is.

Instead of spending time hunched over computers going in search of data, day in and day out, you could instead be focusing on more creative aspects of your business, or simply enjoy watching a far more productive team, helping your business grow more than it ever has.

You’ll be able to plan more strategically, based on facts and figures in front of you and you’ll be able to streamline a multitude of processes.

2.It’s more hassle than it’s worth

Implementing a new system isn’t a simple case of clicking a ‘go’ button. Yes, it can be time consuming but with the help of a business partner such as ourselves, we’ll make the process as simple and streamlined as possible.

What’s more, choosing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central means you’ll only go through that process once as this ERP system grows with your company, supporting you more and more, as and when you need. With a system that develops with you, you never need to worry about looking for other systems and doing this all over again at a later date as Business Central will remain fit for purpose.

3.I’m worried about making the wrong decision

It’s inevitable that people will worry about choosing the wrong ERP system or the wrong business partner to help them implement the system and support them on their journey.

The real risk however, is not picking the wrong ERP system but simply not moving forward. Embracing new technology and getting yourself prepared for the future is a much better step and one that we, at D365 experts, can help you with wholeheartedly.

4.I don’t make the final decisions

To this, we simply say, prepare a data sheet stating the possible ROI (return on investment) and show the person who does make the decisions. Let the numbers on the page speak for themselves.

A Guide To Implementing ERP

When it comes to actually implement an ERP system, the vast majority of businesses find themselves a little unsure of where they should begin. That’s where we come in to help, we also host a series of “How To Articles” for Business Central.

With the help of our expertise at D365 experts, we can make implementation or even migration from an old system simple and efficient for you.

Not only will we help you implement this incredible system from Microsoft, but we’ll show you how to best utilise it; helping you get the most out of this system to allow your business to grow as much as possible.

Contact Us To Find Out More

If you’d like more help and information on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, then please don’t hesitate to contact us today.

Here at D365 experts, we have a wealth of expertise and knowledge when it comes to the one of the best ERP systems for small to medium businesses.

We will utilise our collective 90 years of experience to make your business management solution much easier and much more efficient too. Call us today on 01268 724 005.

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