Since Satya Nadella took the reins at Microsoft in 2014, he has led the company as a whole through a variety of important changes. From the important acquisitions to the new-found focus on collaboration with competitors to the concept of One Microsoft, he has also taken one of the most important steps—getting Microsoft into the cloud.

The Path to Business Central

Throughout 2014, Microsoft continued to make investments in and push its cloud products, backing away from per-device licenses for Windows and Office Applications while beginning its platform battle against AWS. In the years since, Microsoft continued to develop and expand the platform before the general release of “Dynamics 365” in 2016.

The Initial Confusion

Dynamics 365 was new, innovative, and technologically powerful. Unfortunately, it also referred to a multitude of options.

At the time, Dynamics 365 could have meant Dynamics 365 (formerly CRM) or Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations, which was broken into Business (formerly “Project Madeira”) and Enterprise (Previously Dynamics AX) editions.

This immediately created confusion for customers who had to try to understand the many plans that were offered, the modules that came with each plan, and the features that came with each module. While the product itself was powerful, it presented a lot of confusion during the product research and RFP stages.

The Much-Needed Rename

Luckily, in April 2018, Microsoft made the move to set the record straight, renaming Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations Business Edition and Enterprise Edition into two distinct brands—Dynamics 365 Business Central (SMB) and Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (Enterprise).

As a leading reseller and specialist in Dynamics 365 Business Central, we will be covering the product in great detail in the coming months, but today would like to take a brief look at what it is, what it does, and what switching to Business Central can do for your business.

Understanding Dynamics 365 Business Central

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is designed to provide a stable, affordable, and well-vetted cloud application for growing small and medium businesses. Built to provide the essentials that growing businesses need, Business Central offers two levels of its own—Business Central Essentials and Business Central Premium—that provide users powerful and reliable way to manage the entire business.

Bringing the power of Dynamics NAV to the cloud, Business Central is an all-in-one business management solution that helps companies connect their financials, sales, service, and operations to streamline business processes, improve customer interactions and make better decisions.

Features and Benefits

The powerful yet affordable Business Central platform shortens laborious processes, simplifies workflows, and integrates with other leading applications from Microsoft and beyond while providing flexibility and customization needed for your unique industry. Among the many features that Business Central offers for growing companies:

  • Powerful Financial Management: Break down the silos and make smarter decisions while speeding up your monthly and annual close and setting yourself up for the following time period.
  • Smarter Supply Chain Management: Avoid stockouts and overstock with business intelligence. Business Central is designed to help you optimize inventory levels, reduce the likelihood of shortages and lost sales while maximizing profitability.
  • Happier Customers: Get to know who your customer is and tailor your communications. Business Central features its own powerful CRM platform that integrates with Outlook as well as the financials so that you know who matters and how to reach them.
  • Take Control of Your Projects: Not a product-based business? Business Central is there for you too. Designed to help your company keep projects on time and under budget, you can leverage the power of Power BI to analyze profitability, time use, job costs, and so much more.
  • Control Your Operations: From forecasting to fulfilment, Business Central gives you the control over every workflow so that you can reach and maintain optimal inventory levels, run a smarter warehouse, and save money.

At Innovative Cloud Solutions, we have helped companies just like yours to understand your ERP options and make the most of the move to cloud applications like Dynamics 365 Business Central and others. Get to know more about this product, our unique process that increases the likelihood of a successful implementation, and click here to schedule a demo.