12.11.2020

Tailor Business Central to the individual needs of the organization

Workspace personalization

In addition to the typical interface customization, Business Central provides many solutions to expand the system’s capabilities. Among them we distinguish:
• Microsoft AppSource
• Microsoft Power Platform (among others PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, Power BI)
• Extensions (Visual Studio Code + AL)

AppSource

AppSource is a platform through which Microsoft and partner companies provide ready-made business solutions. Some of the available applications extend the functionality while others offer access to completely new services. It is important that AppSource can be considered a trusted source, because each solution is thoroughly tested before it is released.

 

Microsoft Power Platform

PowerApps
PowerApps is a package of applications and services connected by one common development environment. As a result, PowerApps allows intuitive development of applications using data from various sources (e.g. SharePoint, Excel or Dynamics 365). With this technology, you can use data from Business Central to create almost any mobile business application. Interestingly, PowerApps applications can use the phone’s native functions such as a camera, GPS or pen control.

Microsoft Flow
Microsoft Flow allows you to automate workflows for selected business scenarios. Using the intuitive graphic editor, you can build complex flows using branching, conditional logic (IF) and loops. With this technology, you can automate many processes running between Business Central and external applications. Here are some examples:

  • Request approval in Outlook for a purchase order in Business Central
  • Create an item on SharePoint when an entry in Business Central is added
  • Send an email when a new customer has been added to Business Central

Power BI
With Power BI, you can unify data from Business Central and other sources. Creating interactive dashboards and transparent reports. In addition to ready-made reports, Power BI offers extensive opportunities for analyzing business data.

Source: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/admin-powerbi

Extensions

In addition to using ready-made applications and Microsoft Power Platform, programmers can expand the system’s capabilities using the Visual Studio Code programming environment and the AL programming language. As a result, you can create extensions with seamless integration with Business Central.

The article was based on materials from the Microsoft Learn website.