Over the last decade, the way we work, where work is done, and business models have changed exponentially. Now is the time to move to the cloud and get the right solutions to empower your people to deliver more value to customers no matter where they are working from. With Mirad Maglic, Business Applications Group Lead for CEE Multi-Country, we talked about the new features of the Dynamics 365 Business Central solution and how small and midsized businesses can develop in the most innovative ways.
You have been working with small and midsized businesses (SMBs). In your opinion, how can SMBs compete in the intense markets filled with big international corporations and other SMBs?
Our style of living and working has altered. Digital transformation has become a requirement for business continuity and can have a transformative impact, opening new doors for small and medium companies and creating employee opportunities. That is why every business wants to innovate faster and be more productive so they can grow and compete better. We see a big interest from leaders of SMBs where they want to ensure their people are enabled to deliver on customer expectations, no matter where they are or what comes next. I am glad that we are able to contribute to the digitalization of companies by implementing our solutions into their business. One such solution is Dynamics 365 Business Central, a comprehensive business management platform that helps small and midsized companies connect their finance, sales, service, and operations teams within a single, easy-to-use application. Because of the high interest from our customers, we are localizing this solution to six more countries – Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mongolia, and Georgia. Companies from these countries will be able to confidently move to the cloud and unlock the insights needed to adapt faster, work smarter, and perform better. By doing so, they will get an accurate and comprehensive overview of their business, which simplifies business processes, improves interaction with customers, and facilitates decision-making.
As an extensive business solution, what is Business Central offering to companies and organizations? What will SMBs get if they deploy this solution?
Dynamics 365 Business Central can be used in all industries, making business operations connected and, therefore, efficient. For example, in the dental industry helps to manage and attract new patients, resulting in an ever-improving patient experience. By using this solution, one dental clinic was able to bring in more clients, strengthen relationships with existing ones, and give value to crucial elements like service quality, ongoing online monitoring of activity, the human element, customer confidence, and proximity that we can provide. Hotlines and digital channels are examples of interconnected systems promoting connection. A food packaging small company experienced rapid growth in 2020, so Dynamics 365 Business Central offered it a comprehensive ERP solution to track all finance and operations functions. Pairing it with Power BI for reporting brought the CEO’s decisions down to just 20 minutes a day—from over 20 hours a week relying on spreadsheets. Another great example is a company that offers products and advice related to milk production. The company decided to set up a central platform based on tools from the Microsoft Dynamics 365 suite. The new platform takes care of order processing, stock management, and financial administration, integrating them with each other while also making it possible to work anywhere and record customer information in a central database.
In addition, if you carry a lot of articles in stock, stock management and purchasing are very important for keeping an overview, placing new orders on time, and preventing having too much or too little stock at hand. Business Central helps businesses to keep an overview of stock, letting the user know what to buy and when to do so.
When a business decides to implement this solution, how long does it take to have the solution up and running?
When the company orders the appropriate number and type of licenses, access is just one signature away. Of course, this will work for you if you are a person with experience with ERP systems and want to quickly launch a small system for you or a friend of yours. If you are a medium-sized company with more complex business processes, then our partners will offer you a full-scale implementation of an ERP system, of course, in accordance with modern trends for the rapid implementation of individual phases with a smaller scope. Small and medium-sized businesses with standard processes and one to nine users can install the system in just one day. A medium-sized business (10-100 users) typically needs help with setup, data import, and employee training, and this type of project typically takes two to six weeks. Launching at large enterprises strongly depends on the complexity of business processes. Regardless of their size, companies benefit from the extremely flexible ERP system that adjusts to their needs and business procedures. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a base for raising business’ quality and optimal growth.
