Summary:

In this conversation, Mary Myers from WorldMax discusses her involvement in the Dynamics community and her passion for Business Central. She shares how she got involved in the community and the importance of community support. Mary also talks about the conferences and events she has attended and the growth of Power Platform in Business Central. She explains what Business Central is and its benefits compared to other ERP systems. Mary highlights the role of ISVs in the Business Central ecosystem and the user-friendly interface of the platform. In this conversation, Mary Myers discusses the integration between Business Central and CRM, as well as the use of Power Platform components to extend Business Central. She highlights the benefits of integrating CRM with Business Central for small businesses and the mixed messaging around the need for CRM in Business Central. Mary also talks about the challenges and limitations of using the Dataverse connector for integration and the importance of providing feedback to improve the documentation. She shares her favorite Power Platform applications, including Power Apps, Copilot Studio, and Power BI. Mary offers tips for learning more about Business Central and the Power Platform, such as getting a demo environment, exploring different learning formats, and immersing yourself in the ecosystem. 

Show Notes:

Key Takeaways 

• Getting involved in the Dynamics community is crucial for professional growth and support. 
• Business Central is a Microsoft ERP system that helps small businesses manage sales, purchases, and financials. 
• Conferences and events like Directions North America provide valuable networking and learning opportunities for Business Central users. 
• Power Platform integration enhances the capabilities of Business Central. 
• Business Central is a cost-effective alternative to QuickBooks for small businesses. 
• FinOps is a more complex and expensive ERP system suitable for larger enterprises. 
• ISVs play a significant role in extending the functionality of Business Central. 
• Business Central offers a user-friendly interface and customizable forms for a personalized user experience. Integrating CRM with Business Central can provide small businesses with access to powerful tools and automation capabilities. 
• There is mixed messaging around the need for CRM in Business Central, with some businesses not understanding its benefits. 
• The Dataverse connector for integration between Business Central and other systems can be complex and may have limitations, such as not supporting custom fields. 
• Power Apps, Copilot Studio, and Power BI are popular Power Platform applications used to extend Business Central. 
• Tips for learning more about Business Central and the Power Platform include getting a demo environment, exploring different learning formats, and immersing oneself in the ecosystem. 
• Favorite hot dishes mentioned include green bean casserole and buffalo chicken dip. 

 
Additional Links and Tips: 

Connect with Mary Myers online: 

• Reach out to Mary at World Max if your business wants to talk more about implementing Business Central or Power Platform solutions: https://worldmaxp2.com/ 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-myers-631a0a103 
• Microsoft MVP: https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-US/mvp/profile/759b7c2c-ef18-eb11-a813-000d3a8dfe0d 
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marymyersmvp 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powerplatformpartner/ 

Dynamics Communities Summit Roadshow 

• A full-day event put on by Dynamics Communities that occurs in cities throughout the country 
• Content covers all the Dynamics 365 applications and the Power Platform 
• Check out their website to find when the roadshow is coming to you: https://dynamicscommunities.com/summit-roadshow/ 

Directions North America 

• The largest Partner event for Business Central in North America, with more than 1,200 attendees in 2024: https://directionsna.com/ 
• Features content on Business Central and more content each year covering the Power Platform 

What is Business Central? 

• Microsoft’s small/medium business Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system 
• Includes tracking of sales orders and purchase orders and finance operations 
• “Think of BC as Microsoft’s better QuickBooks” – Mary 
• Learn more about BC: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-365/products/business-central 
• Learn more about BC licensing: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/dev-itpro/deployment/licensing 

• You can buy just one license! Helpful if you’re a very small business. 

Dynamics 365 Business Central vs. Finance & Supply Chain 

• Typically for larger companies because implementation is expensive and takes a long time to implement 
• Learn more about D365 Finance: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-365/products/finance  
• Learn more about D365 Supply Chain: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-365/products/supply-chain-management  
• Note: “D365 Supply Chain” terminology has been replacing the “D365 Operations” terminology. You may see the system referred to as Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, FinOps, F&O, or Dynamics 365 F&ScM 

Some Things to Consider if Deciding between D365 BC and F&O 

• Offline capabilities 
• Transaction count 
• Complex manufacturing 

Independent Software Vendors (ISV) 

• View MSDW’s ISV directory for Dynamics 365: https://msdynamicsworld.com/vendor-directory 

Watch some of Mary’s videos on YouTube to get a demo of the BC interface: https://www.youtube.com/@MaryMyers_WM/videos 

Integrating Business Central with Other Applications: 

• Review the “Customer Relationship Management” (CRM) capabilities within BC: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/marketing-relationship-management  
• Connect to D365 Customer Engagement (CE) apps like Sales and Customer Service: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/admin-how-to-set-up-a-dynamics-crm-connection  

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/admin-common-data-service 
• What’s new in the Dataverse integration: https://youtu.be/-q8Gm7u7R2A?si=5aWHXbD6jcSaqdz1  

• Connect BC to Salesforce: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.ms_composer_ms_dynamics_365_business_central_reference.htm&type=5  
• View the resources Microsoft is putting into connect Dataverse with Business Central: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/release-plan/2023wave1/smb/dynamics365-business-central/planned-features 
• Power Platform integration limitations for Business Central: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/dev-itpro/powerplatform/powerplat-overview  
• Power Automate integration with BC: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/dev-itpro/powerplatform/power-automate-overview 
• How to use a Power Automate to integrate Use a Power Automate flow to timely synchronize Dataverse entity changes – Business Central | Microsoft Learn 

Extending Business Central 

• You can build custom applications, you can use an ISV, or you can leverage Power Platform 
• Learn how to build a Power App with Business Central data: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/across-how-use-financials-data-source-powerapps 
• Power Pages with BC: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/dev-itpro/developer/power-pages-on-virtual-tables-overview 
• Power BI with BC: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/admin-powerbi  

Get a Demo Environment to Try What you Learn 

• https://dynamics.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics-365-free-trial/ 
• Get both a BC trial and Power Platform so you can practice configuring both 

How can you learn more on your own? 

• Microsoft Learn 

• YouTube videos 
• LinkedIn – TONS of content on LinkedIn 
• TikTok 
• Instagram 
• Podcasts 
• Mary’s recommendation – Mark Smith: https://www.nz365guy.com/  
• Tip: Follow a variety of people to get a mix of content