Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central – a modern and comprehensive ERP system for everyone
The ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system is an IT system that supports enterprise management in all areas of its operations. The key role of the ERP system is to provide tools that allow for: efficient planning, recording and control of enterprise resources...
What is an ERP system?
The ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system is an IT system that supports enterprise management in all areas of its operations. The key role of the ERP system is to provide tools that allow for: efficient planning, recording and control of enterprise resources in order to ensure the highest efficiency of the company's operations both in individual areas and globally. This can be achieved through full integration of all business processes in one IT system. This guarantees complete data consistency, the ability to map complete process flows, information and documents related to them.
A properly modeled ERP system allows for continuous monitoring of the company's current condition, identification of irregularities and threats, and making appropriate decisions based on a proper and realistic (supported by reliable data) assessment of the situation. Therefore, companies with a well-implemented and complete ERP system can operate in a more predictable and stable manner. At the same time, building an increasingly better position on the market and increasing their competitive advantage.
Who is the ERP system intended for?
Referring to the above, every company needs an ERP system that will guarantee predictable functioning and stable operations of the entire organization. Unfortunately, for a long time, ERP systems were solutions inaccessible to many companies from the small and medium-sized enterprise sector, mainly due to prohibitive license and implementation costs. For this reason, these companies often decided to implement IT systems supporting only selected areas of their activities (such as sales, warehouses, production, accounting, etc.), in which they were necessary. Such an approach did not provide full support for the entire organization, and therefore a comprehensive improvement of the company's operations, which in many cases significantly limited the possibilities and dynamics of development of such organizations.
The next stages of digital transformation that have taken place over the last twenty years have caused quite significant changes in the ERP systems market, thanks to which the current situation is much more favorable. The offer of ERP systems offered on local markets in individual countries (including Poland) has expanded to include new solutions that were significantly cheaper than global solutions provided by renowned manufacturers. Although in many cases these systems did not guarantee comprehensive tools comparable to global solutions, for many organizations they have become a solution that allows for at least partial integration of business processes in one system.
The key milestone in this respect turned out to be the current version of digital transformation, which brought us, among other things, a radical change in the approach to licensing most IT systems used in business, including ERP systems. The previous offer of perpetual licenses from recognized software producers has been expanded to include licensing in the subscription model. With the development of cloud computing, the possibility of purchasing an ERP system license covering IT infrastructure embedded in the public cloud (software in the SaaS model - Software as a Service) has appeared. In the footsteps of software producers, companies offering the implementation of ERP systems with a global reach also followed, offering customers so-called quick implementation services based on the standard functionality and configuration of the offered systems.
As a result of these events, the barrier of access to advanced ERP systems for small and medium-sized enterprises has been almost completely eliminated. Today, virtually every company, regardless of the scale of its operations and the revenues it generates, can afford to purchase and implement a world-class, comprehensive ERP system.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central – a global ERP system
One of such solutions is undoubtedly the MS Dynamics 365 Business Central system offered by the leader of IT solutions, Microsoft. This system was built based on the functionalities of MS Dynamics NAV software developed for over 30 years using modern technologies and programming tools. Thanks to this, it is currently one of the most modern ERP solutions available on the market. Offering a set of proven tools supporting enterprise management.
The MS Dynamics 365 Business Central system was built from scratch based on a three-tier architecture using web services technology that guarantees efficient and fast operation, easy integration with external systems and high reliability. Like its predecessor, it is a system designed for small and medium-sized enterprises, offering rich, standard functionality, high flexibility and scalability, which is key for companies in this sector (often dynamically developing).
This system has a multilingual interface adapted to the user's role in the organization, offering a wide range of personalization (adaptation to individual preferences and needs). The structure and appearance of the interface are consistent with the current trends used by Microsoft in MS Office 365 family solutions, which significantly facilitates the process of using the system also for people who previously worked on other ERP systems. In addition, MS Dynamics 365 Business Central offers advanced integration with the MS Dynamics 365 Sales system (Microsoft's CRM system) and MS Office 365 applications such as Word, Excel, Power BI, Outlook, etc., allowing these systems to interpenetrate within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem and support for selected functions directly from the external application (e.g. entering a purchase document into the ERP system from Outlook, sending an email from a connected Outlook mailbox directly from the ERP system, etc.).
It is also very important that the MS Dynamics 365 Business Central system delivered as a global solution is subject to the so-called localization process for individual markets (countries), the purpose of which is to adapt its functionality to the legal regulations in force in a given country. In Poland, the system has a certificate of compliance with the Accounting Act and is constantly updated and adapted to changing regulations.
Functional areas of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
All the above features of the MS Dynamics 365 Business Central system make it stand out from competing ERP solutions aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises, but these are not the only strengths of this solution. Another very important element is the rich standard functionality of the system covering such areas of the company's operations as:
- Sales and Marketing
- Purchase
- Warehouse
- Production
- Projects
- Resources
- Accounting and Finance
- Service
- Administration.
In each of the above-mentioned areas, we will find a comprehensive set of functionalities enabling the handling and management of many typical business processes. A large part of these functionalities is additionally subject to parameterization enabling the proper modeling of individual processes, allowing for the best possible adjustment of the process flow to the specifics of the company's operations.
In the event of the need to map processes not supported in the standard version of the system, it is possible to implement so-called functional extensions, which provides the possibility of comprehensive support for all business processes of the enterprise in one system. In practice, such extensions may concern the implementation of new functionalities, extension of standard functionalities or construction of data exchange mechanisms with external systems (e.g. PDM, APS, MES, etc.).
W kontekście funkcjonalności systemu na uwagę zasługuje również możliwość obsługi wielu podmiotów gospodarczych działających w ramach grup kapitałowych w jednym systemie oraz automatyzacja transakcji między firmowych i wsparcie dla sprawozdawczości skonsolidowanej.
Taking the above into account, MS Dynamics 365 Business Central is a very valuable ERP system that is able to meet many, even the most unusual, requirements and provide comprehensive support for the operations of enterprises from various industries.
