A Shot of Business Central and A Beer Episode 16
Updated: Aug 17, 2021
A Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central podcast | Episode16 A Shot of Business Central and A Beer
Intro
Welcome back everyone. Today on the podcast Ken and Michael will be enjoying the Midwest's most popular craft beer while they chat with special guest Mark Heick, who is the implementation director at Solution Systems. Ken and Michael will also dive deep into the best features that are scheduled to be released in the Business Central 2020 Release Wave 2 and for their featured app segment they take a look at Lanham's E-Ship and EDI.
Segments
Intro and Beer Reviews
A Shot of Business Central News: 16.3 Update
Special Segment: Interview with implementation specialist Mark Heick
Feature Segment: 2020 Release Wave 2 Key Features
Featured App: Lanham's E-Ship and EDI
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A Shot of Business Central and A Beer Show Notes
Segment 1: Beer Review
It’s another fine day. Glad you’re with us here on a Shot of Business Central presented by Solution Systems, a Gold Microsoft Partner.
Ken Sebahar and Michael Intravartolo here along with our special guest Mark Heick. What’s new and exciting fellas?
Beer
Boulevard Brewing Co. Unfiltered Wheat Beer – Hazy American Classic
Boulevard Brewing Co. About: About them video: http://www.boulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Boulevard_1080.mp4?_=1
Story began in 1984 and with a dream and some hard work it came to life.
According to website, Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat Beer is a lively, refreshing ale with a natural citrusy flavor and distinctive cloudy appearance. This easy drinking American-style wheat beer has become our most popular offering, and the best-selling craft beer in the Midwest.
Recommended Glassware: Pint Glass
ABV (Alcohol by Volume) = 4.4%
IBUs (International Bitterness Unites) = 14
Beer Advocate score = 81
See a lot of mentions of a best by date on the bottom of the can. Why is this a big deal?
Hazy gold with two fingers of white head. No lace. Smell is sweet bready and an herbal hop note. Taste is sweet bready malts and a kiss of herbal hops. Mouthfeel Is light to medium with good carbonation. The finish is mildly dry and balanced. Overall a tasty and easy drinking beer. Best by Date 19 Apr 2020.
Segment 2: Shot of Business Central News
Minor update 16.3 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central online 2020 release wave 1
Some interesting Platform hotfixes
The issue of columns being misaligned and the list is scrolled when you press the TAB key is fixed.
The issue of the Sort function in customized views not working if the page has specific SourceTableView properties is fixed.
Some interesting Application hotfixes
The error message that displayed when you open the payment reconciliation journal is fixed.
The Detail Trial Balance report not printing each G/L Account on a new page is fixed.
The Dimension priorities not working when you use the Depreciation task is fixed.
The Inventory Valuation report producing and empty page is fixed.
A list of all the hotfixes can be found here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4563407/update-16-3-for-microsoft-dynamics-365-business-central-2020-release-w
Bank Reconciliation Improvements
The Bank Acc. Reconciliation page will have more space for data, and allow a better overview and understanding of the bank statement lines and the related bank account ledger entries.
A Bank Reconciliation report that can be used to report on both ongoing and posted bank reconciliations and statements is provided.
Telemetry Improvements (Telemetry is the emitting of data to Application Insights to gather data for analysis. This lets you see data to help you diagnose and analyze problems that effect BC’s performance.)
Installing AppSource Apps Updates in the Business Central Administration Center
Rollout has been completed. Customer can now discover and install all AppSource apps update in the Business Central Admin Center.
The managing apps feature was introduced in the 2020 Release Wave 1 but it now has the ability to install apps right from Admin Center.
Great for seeing every app and if a new version of an app is available. You can then install the update right from the manage apps page.
And with a little bit of coding, you can automate the installation of updates. Here’s some ample code: https://github.com/microsoft/BCTech/tree/master/samples/AdminCenterApi
Speed Improvements
Makes pages we use often quicker to open.
Manage Apps Feature
D365UG North American User Conference
All virtual
$749 to register
Talk about Microsoft Inspire and it being all virtual and what I thought of the event.
Segment 3: Interview With Implementation Specialist Mark Heick
Mark's interview questions
Let’s get to know you a little bit…
1. Tell us about yourself:
a. Related work experience and roles at Solution Systems
b. Hobbies and interests
2. What do you most enjoy about your current role as Implementation Director?
Let’s get inside the mind of a Dynamics ERP Implementation Director…
3. Which types of companies do you believe are a good fit for Business Central? (Type of company, size company, company culture, etc.)
4. Everyone knows that not every ERP implementation project is a success. What do you see as the biggest differentiators between the companies that are able to implement their new systems successfully and those that are not as successful?
5. As the Implementation Director who has oversight for new Business Central implementations, how do you judge/determine that an implementation project is successful?
a. Does the customer always agree with our assessment of “success”?
b. Is there a way to ensure that everyone’s idea of “success” is the same?
6. Hindsight is 20/20 and there are always “lessons learned” when going through any big project whether it is an ERP project at work or a kitchen remodel at home. What are some of the most common “In hindsight, we should have…” things you’ve heard after the Business Central implementation has been completed?
7. You have been implementing Dynamics On Premise software for years, and we have transitioned to where most of our implementations are now cloud-based.
a. What are some of the key changes you have seen as more companies move to the cloud and what have you had to do differently?
i. “Positive” changes/improvements?
ii. “Negative” changes/risks?
b. Conversely, what are some the of the key things that haven’t changed?
8. What are some of the top benefits of organizations are seeing when deploying Business Central Online?
Let’s have some fun… first a few BC-related questions…
9. Microsoft has granted you 3 wishes on how you would like to improve Business Central in any way possible to improve implementations and user adoption. What are they?
10. The bar is closing and you’ve only got 30 seconds to convey some words of wisdom to an acquaintance who is about to embark on a new implementation of Business Central or some other cloud-based ERP solution and you really want them to be successful. What do you tell them?
Speed Round
11. Would you say implementing Business Central Cloud takes more, the same, or less time than an on-premise implementation?
12. Does the customer expect a cloud implementation to be shorter or longer than an on-premise implementation?
13. During this pandemic the less contact we have with other people the better it is to combat the spread of the Coronavirus. That being said, can a Business Central cloud implementation be completed 100% remotely?
14. Do more customers like or dislike not having total control of security and software updates?
15. Let’s say a customer is running a legacy software on premise, they have years and years of data, and many customizations. Are you confident each and every customization could be converted to an extension for a cloud migration to Business Central?
16. If you implemented Business Central Cloud for the Dallas Cowboys, do you think the seamless integration with Power BI would uncover years and years of wasteful spending that has ultimately resulted in absolutely no Super Bowl appearances for the past 20 years?
And let’s wrap up with some beer-related questions...
17. What was your favorite beer when you were 21 years old?
18. What is your favorite beer today?
19. You suddenly develop an allergy to all alcohol that will stay with you for the rest of your life, but somehow there is one specific brand/type of drink (cocktail/beer/wine, etc.) that doesn’t negatively affect you. What do you hope that drink is?
Segment 4: Feature Segment - Business Central Remote Capabilities
Visibility to Database/file capacity
Limits on 80 Gig storage and warning if copy of environment will exceed 80 Gig.
Definitely a needed feature with the option to add more production and sandbox environments. Also, better to plan for it than just experience a slow-down.
Support for unlimited Prod/Sandbox environments
Add'l Prod. Enviornments can be purchased and DB limit will increase for each new Prod. Number of Sandbox environments allowed per Prod. still TBD
Not too sure how the pricing will work for this one but with larger companies adopting Business Central as their ERP it was time.
Database access intent to read-only for reports
Database access intent changed to improve performance - only for some reports (49). These reports will use a read-only replica of the database to optimize performance of the report and minimize impact on other users.
Everything that can be done to improve performance is welcomed.
Default Unit Cost for Non-Inventory Items
For use in assigning cost to sales, assembly, or production orders. Update on the Item/SKU Card.
No need for manual updates just specify the default values to use in the new documents and journals.
Bank Reconciliation improvements
Multiple bank-related changes: Cancel a Posted Bank Rec, automate reconciliation of differences, allow 1:Many matching, Preview Posting, No. Series improvements, assisted setup for Banks and opening balances.
One of Business Central's biggest strengths is its ability to make you more efficient and it efficiency is always welcomed when dealing with bank reconciliations. You can now cancel a posted bank reconciliation on the Bank Acc. Reconciliation page in Business Central just in case you make a mistake.
Also, I like that the Bank Acct. Reconcilation page will have more space for data to allow for a better overview of statement lines and the related bank account ledger entries."
Notify users of high-risk changes in selected Setup fields
Define a list of fields containing high-risk data that you want to be notified about.
For security purposes you can define a list of fields that contain high-risk and business-critical data that you want to be notified about when they are changed.
Use the Copy Journal function on General Journals and G/L Registers when reversing entries
New function on the General Journal page (with opposite sign option). Also can do from the G/L Register page.
Easy way to reverse entries. Use the Copy Journal function to create a copy of a general journal batch with opposite signs (a reversing journal) and a different posting date or document number. You can also do the same from the G/L Register page.
Business Central in Microsoft Teams
Integrates Business Central data with Microsoft Teams conversations to make decisions faster as a team.
This is the feature I'm looking forward to the most of the 2020 Release Wave 2. Microsoft hasn't released too much information on how exactly this will work but we know the ultimate goal is to be able to bring Business Central data into Microsoft Teams to further collaboration and make quicker decisions.
Migrations to BC Online BC14 On Premise to BC Online (16)
Migrate straight from 14.X On Premise to BC Online (16.X)
Microsoft is obviously pushing "The Cloud" and this is just one more way they are making it easier for you to migrate to it.
Migrations to BC Online BC15 On Premise to BC Online (16)
Migrate straight from 15.X On Premise to BC Online (16.X)
Microsoft is obviously pushing "The Cloud" and this is just one more way they are making it easier for you to migrate to it.
Pages with Fact Boxes are more responsive
Three changes: (1) the primary page part loads first and then fact boxes, (2) the fact boxes run in the same session unless developer has implemented a Page Background Task, (3) when collapsed, fact boxes are not loaded when opening a page but are run on-demand when a fact box is expanded.
Once again, going back to speeding up Business Central. I personally have not experienced pages with Fact Boxes loading slower, and maybe they were not, and Microsoft is purely doing this to speed up responsiveness.
Role Centers open faster
The Role Center is cached the first time it is opened, and the structure loads first and then the data.
Great for speeding things up. I'd like to know how long the cache period is for.
Data audit system fields are added to every table
4 new fields added to every table that are automatically populated: LastModifiedOn, LastModifiedBy, CreatedBy, CreatedOn.
This gives developers an easy and performant way to program against historical data, such as writing AL queries that return changed data since some specific point in time.
Restoring environments to a point in time in the past
New option to restore to any point in time within the past 30 days, even if minor/major updates have been deployed. Can restore into a Sandbox first to test/confirm the restore point. Process is to rename the Production environment and then restore the backup with the Production environment so both environments are now simultaneously accessible. Maximum of 10 attempts per environment/per month.
Great feature! Especially with a lot of the issues that have creeped up due to AL and extensions.
Sandbox environments can be updated to a Public Preview version
Use this new feature to copy the Prod. Envrionment to a sandbox so that the Preview can be applied and the upgrade process can be tested and confirmed before the release is rolled out to production.
Nice tool to make sure everything will update and no issues arrive when the official rollout is available.
Segment 5: Featured App - E-Ship and EDI by Lanham Associates
Pack, ship, or receive product with accuracy and ease using Lanham’s E-Ship and E-Receive solution.
1. Scan the barcode containing the Sales Order.
2. Scan the product as you pack it.
3. Finish packing the box.
4. Close the packages, and print labels and packing slips for each.
5. Close the order.
E-Ship
Ship the right items and quantities to customers correct address the first time to avoid carrier penalties and return authorizations. This means money saved.
Send customers a notification that their order is on the way and share tracking information in a timely manner.
Create labels easily.
Rate Shop Carriers.
Integrates with Business Central so you can see Customer Information, Shipping Information, and Product Information quickly when needed.
Ship from a single Sales Order or a group of Sales Orders.
Works with Multiple Shipping points.
During the packing process you can capture serial and lot numbers and automatically generate detailed packing lists, invoices, or bills of lading as needed.
This same process generates package level detail for ASNs and GS1 128 labels when using Lanham EDI.
The shipment weight and dimensions are captured as the package is closed.
Lanham also offers EShip package related carrier extensions via web services as separate products for FedEx, UPS, and USPS.
Lanham E-Receive
Streamlined Inventory Receiving into your Warehouse
If needed, during the receiving process Lanham E-Receive can capture weight and dimensions, create cross references to vendor item barcodes, capture serial or lot numbers, and print barcode labels if needed.
E-Receive receives inventory against purchase orders, transfers, and customer returns.
Also has a provision for over receiving and obtaining accounting approval to keep or return extra product.
Lanham E-Ship and E-Receive fact sheet: https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE4C5FP
Pricing
It is not a per user charge for E-Ship and E-Receive rather it’s a charge per feature. Features range in price up to around $150 per month.
I don’t have any idea how they do this through the Business Central extension?
Lanham EDI
Lanham EDI manages your trading partner compliance inside Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.+
1. To get the order.
2. To increase accuracy and achieve labor savings with less risk.
3. To reduce or eliminate chargebacks
4. To catch errors before they happen.
Lanham EDI mapping cross reference engines allow you to access data from within Business Central.
Save time through automation.
Save money by choosing to use Lanham’s Managed Services, your own inhouse EDI person, Partner Assistance, or even Lanham Assistance. Whatever works best for you.
Supports more trading partner maps, documents, and 3PL functionality than any other Business Central EDI provider.
Designed to work closely with E-Ship to capture package level detail in E-ship to automatically create and send ship notices from EDI.
Pricing = Appears that there is no per user charge for EDI. Price based on Features. Features range up to around $150 or so per month.
Closing
Thanks everyone for listening.
Please subscribe to the podcast, share it, or tell a friend about it.
See you next month!
