Is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central right for you? Discover the top benefits of D365 Business Central for small and mid-sized businesses.
If you are in the market for a modern business management solution that can adapt to your company’s growth, you may have heard of Microsoft’s cloud-based ERP solution, Dynamics 365 Business Central. Designed for small to mid-sized organizations, Business Central lets you run your entire business operations from one unified solution.
First launched in 2018 and recently named the best ERP system of 2024 by Forbes Advisor, Business Central serves a variety of industries, including professional services, manufacturing, transport and logistics, finance, hospitality, retail, and more. If you’re wondering whether Business Central is right for your business, here is what you need to know.
What is Dynamics 365 Business Central?
Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-based enterprise resource management (ERP) system from Microsoft. The solution is built from the ground up as a multitenant service, comprised of multiple microservices running on the Microsoft Azure cloud ecosystem. While it is an ERP solution, it also offers customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities. This means that you can accelerate your sales while also being able to optimize your supply chain, manage financials, and more. Essentially, it offers a comprehensive all-in-one solution that can manage your entire business.
As part of the Dynamics 365 suite of solutions, Business Central can be used as a stand-alone application but also easily integrates with other Dynamics 365 applications and the Microsoft Power Platform to meet the growing needs of your business.
Its predecessor was Dynamics NAV, and Business Central is widely touted as the next generation of NAV. Business Central shares many of the same capabilities that made NAV popular but offers more flexibility and customization and can do a lot more right out of the box. It provides the flexibility of being hosted in the cloud, on-premises, or as a hybrid. The cloud version is more prevalent and offers ease of use, especially for small businesses.
Top Benefits of Dynamics 365 Business Central
What are some of the main business benefits of Dynamics 365 Business Central? We’ve rounded up the top 8 benefits to give you a better understanding of how the cloud version of this ERP solution could transform your business.
✅ D365 Business Central Benefit 1: Low Cost of Ownership
As a small or mid-sized business looking to control your cash flow, Dynamics 365 Business Central helps you keep costs low. You can leverage all the benefits of cloud ERP software with a lower total cost of ownership, compared to an on-premises solution. This is because you don’t have to invest in infrastructure or deal with upgrade and maintenance costs. The subscription-based monthly fixed fee model means that you do not need a large upfront payment, and your costs will remain predictable. You will also not need servers, management, or dedicated IT resources, to use Business Central online, compared to other on-premises options. Finally, you can use Business Central right out of the box, which means you can get up and running in no time.
✅ D365 Business Central Benefit 2: Offers a Single Source of Truth
Dynamics 365 Business Central will create a single source of truth for your company data across departments. This means your data is stored in a secure, primary location that will be constantly updated in real-time with the latest information. This allows everyone in the company to use the same data when making decisions or creating financial reports. You can also view data reports and analysis easily through built-in dashboards. By using connected data across finance, accounting, sales, purchasing, and inventory will help you make better business decisions, and facilitate business growth.
✅ D365 Business Central Benefit 3: ERP Meets CRM in One Platform
While Business Central is an ERP solution, it also has capabilities to help you improve customer experiences and solidify relationships with your customers. The CRM features let you track customer interactions, and get insights on upsell, cross-sell, and renewal opportunities across your sales cycle. You can also create flexible pricing and discount structures for individual customers and groups. In terms of customer experience, you can easily address customer returns or after-sales issues, manage service requests, track repair details, and easily respond to inquiries, and more.
✅ D365 Business Central Benefit 4: Warehouse and Supply Chain Management
Dynamics 365 Business Central is equipped with robust warehouse and supply chain management features. You can optimize your supply chain with predictive stock replenishment and automatically create purchase orders based on sales forecasts and expected stock-outs. You can also optimize your warehouse storage facilities and streamline receiving and storage by using templates to determine the best placement of items. Use real-time to better fulfill your orders and get intelligent recommendations on how to speed up shipments.
✅ D365 Business Central Benefit 5: Flexible and Easy to Scale
Another key advantage of Dynamics 365 Business Central is its flexibility. Thanks to cloud technology, your company data is easily accessible to you and your employees. This means you can virtually run your business from anywhere, regardless of location or device, as long as you have internet. This flexibility also means that Business Central is easily scalable and allows you to easily grow with ease as your business expands.
✅ D365 Business Central Benefit 6: AI-Powered Capabilities
Business Central gives you access to the latest technology to facilitate innovation. Copilot in Business Central (a next-generation everyday AI companion) can help boost productivity and improve performance. It can help users automate processes, create product descriptions, streamline order entry, and more. Business Central also offers a cash flow forecasting, sales and inventory forecasting, and late payments prediction feature powered by Azure AI.
✅ D365 Business Central Benefit 7: Seamless Integrations
If your business already uses other Microsoft business applications such as Microsoft 365, you’ll be happy to know that Dynamics 365 Business Central seamlessly integrates with all other Microsoft applications and product suites. Plus, it already comes built-in with Microsoft Power BI dashboards. You can also download and integrate apps or extensions from Microsoft AppSource or your Microsoft Dynamics Partner to further customize your solution and meet a unique business need.
✅ D365 Business Central Benefit 8: Data Security, Compliance, & Disaster Recovery
Dynamics 365 Business Central can offer your business enterprise-level security. As a cloud solution, it already has in-built features to ensure your data is backed up and securely stored. Using numerous features such as authorization, authentication, data encryption, and auditing, you can further safeguard your application. Business Central also has features to ensure your business is compliant. If you are conducting business globally, Dynamics 365 Business Central lets users adjust settings, so their data is collected and stored in ways that comply with local laws. Business Central online architecture and administration capabilities also ensure uninterrupted access to your critical business data and processes. Automatic backups, built-in redundancy, and high availability protect your data and keep it accessible during and after a disruptive event.
Is Dynamics 365 Business Central Right for Your Business?
Now that you have a high-level understanding of how Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central can help your company, you may be wondering if this solution is right for your business. Here are a couple of questions to consider:
Are you a small or mid-sized business?
Have you outgrown your accounting software?
Do you rely on manual methods or have multiple software systems?
Do you need a solution that is flexible and highly customizable?
Are you looking for better data security?
Dynamics 365 Business Central is designed for small to mid-sized businesses and can be right for you if you’re looking for an all-in-one solution to help you run your business.
Find the Right Dynamics Business Central Partner
If you are considering this solution for your business or just need more information, sign up for a free 1-day assessment with our team. Kwixand Solutions is a Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Partner based in Vancouver, BC, Canada and can help you assess whether Dynamics 365 Business Central is right for you and what the process, costs, and timeline would be to implement it for your business. Our team of experts have decades of experience with helping businesses select the right technology, solve their challenges, and help achieve their goals through digital transformation.
Learn More About Dynamics 365 Business Central
Looking for more information on D365 Business Central and how it can benefit your small or mid-sized business? We have rounded up our top resources to help you learn more about this cloud solution.
Intro to D365 Business Central
Exploring D365 Business Central Benefits
D365 Business Central Migration
