If you haven’t heard, Microsoft just announced a new release of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, called 2020 Wave 2, aka BC 17! In my first go-round in the Partner Channel, new NAV releases were like government elections. They came out every other year or so and there was big fanfare. Given the effort to upgrade, most clients who had just gone live in the previous release were doomed to endure their soon-to-be outdated software for at least a couple of years. As they would fall behind with features, all too often a client, who had recently started using this older version of NAV, would request functionality that did not exist in their “outdated” database. They would have to pay for a modification, that was already obsolete, or wait until they upgraded to get the needed functionality.
Ta-da!
Now that I’m back in the Partner Channel again, I no longer fret about clients going live in the previous version of Business Central. Upgrades from one version of Business Central to the next and even from several versions back to the newest are done in the blink of a weekend. This is especially good news as Microsoft can now address gaps and needed improvements much faster than with the old release schedule. For example, in the initial launch of Business Central, we endured the poor performance of the modern client. With each new release of Business Central, Microsoft has tightened up performance and added user-requested functionality.
What’s new?
With Business Central 17 coming out earlier this month (October), I reviewed and spent time testing the new version, and I wanted to share with you a few of the enhancements I’m excited about. I hope you find some exciting improvements too!
- Users will be able to return to the report request page after a report view and they will have the option to change the assigned printer before a report is printed.
- Business Central 17 has an improved integration to applications in the Power Platform and it is now possible to integrate Business Central with Microsoft Teams.
- All Users will benefit from changes made related to navigation. No longer will Users be faced with multiple Navigate buttons the menu ribbon, like below.
The “second” Navigate button has been renamed Related!
- Users who have access to multiple companies will be able to easily access these companies even if the companies reside in different tenant environments.
- Database administrators will appreciate the Retention Policy that can be applied to Change Log entries.
- Folks involved in their organization’s procurement process can maintain default unit costs for Non-inventory \ Service Items.
The good stuff
But the new functionality I find most interesting is the ability to convert Contacts to Vendors or Employees with . This may lead to additional functionality with 3rd Party Payroll companies and Employee portals. But as Microsoft continues to add bits and pieces to Contacts, it strengthens my belief there’s still more to come in Relationship Management (the CRM “module” already embedded in D365 Business Central). There are many other enhancements in Business Central 17 to review and enjoy. My colleagues have been sharing their favorites on the and .
Now I am still waiting for consistency on the drop-down options under each button. As an example, I’ve never understood why the Action button on the Item gets you access to the Ledger Entries. You cannot do anything to Posted Ledger Entries. Fortunately, Microsoft has really improved their feedback channel, and anyone can submit ideas and requests for enhancements via the .
For me, seeing the improvements and additional functionality Microsoft has rapidly made to Business Central from version 13 to version 17 hearkens back to another time of rapid development with BC’s predecessor, Dynamics NAV. It’s like comparing Navision 1.2 to Navision 4, or NAV 2009 to NAV 2018. It just keeps getting better. If you’d like to discuss what Dynamics 365 Business Central 2020 Wave 2 / BC version 17 could mean for your business, contact me at robb@getyournewview.com.
Note the features cited here are planned by Microsoft. These features may or may not be included in the General Acceptance release of Business Central version 17.
Blog by: Robb Delprado, – Driving Actionable Results and Real Change.
