Ep 63 | Interview with Kennie Pontoppidan | A Shot of Business Central and A Beer
A Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central podcast | Episode 63 A Shot of Business Central and A Beer
In Episode 63 of "A Shot of Business Central and A Beer," co-hosts Ken Sebahar and Michael Intravartolo bring you a packed session of Business Central news and insights. The highlight of the episode is an exclusive interview with Kennie Nybo Pontoppidan, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft, who provides an insider's view on the latest BI and analytics updates and future directions of Business Central. Additionally, Ken and Michael discuss the newest developments in Microsoft's AI technologies, exploring their potential impact on the industry, while having the enjoyable backdrop of a cold beer, making for a relaxed yet informative episode perfect for anyone keen on staying ahead in the world of Business Central.
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A Shot of Business Central and A Beer Podcast Show Notes
Beer we're drinking
Shot of Business Central (News)
BC23 to BC24 online update issues: “First Party Sync” error. If this is reported, the solution (provided by Microsoft) is to delete all of the entries in the Service Connections table. We had a developer create a simple extension to do so upon installation and once we run this, the environment updates the next time it is attempted.
Partners: If you are a Microsoft partner focused mostly/exclusively on BC, Microsoft has confirmed they will be assigning Advanced Certification points for the BC Developer exam, so if you are attempting to achieve the Business Applications partner designation but cannot because you had no viable way to achieve any Adv. Cert. points, you now have this option available.
2024 Wave 2 summary:
Highlights new features to be deployed mostly in October, with a few in Nov, Dec, with possible deployment of some features through March 2025.
Detailed Release notes now available with listing of detailed features, 56 total:
Applications: 12
Recurring/Subscription billing app (AR & AP) – see next Shot for details
Improvements for Inventory/Whse. Mgmt related to the Projects module
Improvements to the E-Documents features
Improvements to the D365 Field Service integration
Improvements to the Shopify integration
Copilot: 9
Improvements to existing Copilot features
“Summarize any record with Copilot”
“Suggest Number Series with Copilot”
User Experiences: 3
Access keys with key tips help users quickly explore, navigate, and activate any action in the action bar, navigation menus, and other user interface (UI) elements.
Drag-and-drop multiple files to attach to records in BC
Re-size columns even when Personalization is not enabled
Reporting & Data Analysis: 1
Over 60 new Power BI reports included in BC across finance, sales, purchasing, inventory, manufacturing, and projects.
Development: 11
Improved in-client performance profiling
Tighter integration between VS Code and GitHub
Extend and modify Profiles (Role Centers) from other Extensions/Apps
Improved tools for working with Word-based Report layouts
Governance and Administration: 7
Improvements in managing updates:
Time period to apply major updates extended to 5 months to allow more time for testing
Ability to opt out of minor monthly updates
View app compatibility with future versions in the Admin Center
If migrating from On Premise NAV/BC to BC Online, Links and Notes now will migrate with the rest of your data.
Use Power Automate templates to be notified of Job Queue processes
New tools in the Admin Center to manage per-tenant apps across environments
Country/Regional: 3
For US companies, IRS 1099 form automation (electronic submission/delivery)
Added Countries/Regsions will take BC availability to over 180 countries/regions.
Legislation: 10
Primary focus is on improvements related to the new Sustainability features added in 2024 Wave 1. (Carbon credit tracking, greenhouse gas emissions tracking, Sustainability Manager Role Center, scorecards/goals)
Subscription Billing app for BC – fall 2024:
Singhammer has announced a new licensing agreement with Microsoft that will bring their subscription billing IP to Dynamics 365 Business Central standard starting in autumn 2024.
Microsoft VP Mike Morton stated:
Microsoft has acquired Singhammer's proven subscription & recurring billing solution and will incorporate it into Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as standard functionality. This enhancement will launch with the 2024 release wave 2 and will help our customers run their business more efficiently.
Our commitment to Singhammer and its team is strong, as they continue to dedicate themselves to supporting our mutual customers and resellers.”
The deal will give Microsoft the Singhammer code, but Singhammer will keep their IP rights and can continue to develop their solutions, Friederich told MSDW.
Plans describe new subscription billing and revenue and expense recognition features coming to Business Central including:
Contracts for which you do recurring billing for items and services.
Billing schedules with flexible parameters that cater to typical use cases for recurring billing.
Usage-based billing.
Automated billing.
Deferral integration.
Revenue recognition based on billing schedules.
Contract updates (parameters and prices)
Standard reports for contracts, customers, billing schedules, recognized revenue, future billing dates and amounts, and so on.
Conferences:
Dynamic Communities Summit: San Antonio, TX (Oct 14-17)
Speaking: Data integrity, security, and audit tools to simplify your audit and let you sleep better
A new event, Days of Knowledge Americas 2024, taking place September 12 to 14 in Atlanta, aims to give North America-based Dynamics 365 Business Central partner professionals (developers and consultants) a new way to train, learn, and stay current on a range of topics. With a day of workshops followed by two days of event sessions, Days of Knowledge Americas will offer attendees a chance to focus on skills development without typical client and operational demands of their jobs.
BC News source: MSDynamicsWorld: led by Jason Gumpert, a Microsoft business solutions industry expert who does a great job of curating news across the Microsoft Dynamics solution group. Subscribing to the periodic e-newsletter is a good way to stay informed.
Update 24.3 for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central online 2024 release wave 1
Feature Changes
BC Online Customer Count
Business Central now has more than 40,000 Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central users online. This surpasses Netsuite’s 38,000 customers.
AI Snack Time
Overview
70% of Copilot users said they were more productive, and 68% said it improved the quality of their work.
Overall, users were 29% faster in a series of tasks (searching, writing, and summarizing).
Users were able to get caught up on a missed meeting nearly 4x faster.
64% of users said Copilot helps them spend less time processing email.
85% of users said Copilot helps them get to a good first draft faster.
75% of users said Copilot “saves me time by finding whatever I need in my files.”
77% of users said once they used Copilot, they didn’t want to give it up.
More numbers
Sales:
Saved 90 minutes of time per week
83% felt they were more productive
67% said they were able to parlay the time savings into more time with customers.
Customer Service and Support:
12% reduction in case handling
10% boost in case resolution
HR:
26% reduction in initial response time
Outro
Well, you’ve reached the end of another episode of A Shot of Business Central and A Beer podcast. Connect with us at www.solsyst.com and on all major social media channels. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you always know when the latest episode is available.
See you next month!
