Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central 2020 wave 2 is nearly here. So, what’s the big deal? Every year Microsoft releases two ‘waves’ of updates with new and updated functionality. For 2020, wave 2 promises a raft of functional and technical improvements; we can’t wait to start rolling them out.
At a high level, the improvements focus on improved performance. They include file storage handling, geographic expansion and support for Group VAT, customer-requested features and deeper integration with Microsoft Teams.
Technology changes
Changes and improvements to core technologies include:
- Seamless service: enhancements to overall performance, reliability, security and supportability.
- Productivity: enhancements to modern clients and features such as printer management and preview handling.
- Microsoft Power Platform integration: further integrations with Power Platform, including connectors and virtual entities.
- Modern development tools: further improvements to make it easier for developers to use Visual Studio Code.
- Better with Office 365: integration with Microsoft Teams 365.
- Geographic expansion: onboarding for Brazil, Ireland and Lithuania.
- Customer-requested enhancements: a range of features harvested from the Ideas portal and other customer feedback channels.
- Customer migration tools: to simplify the journey for Dynamics customers to Business Central online.
Functional changes
Further to the above, functional changes in wave 2 include new features and important upgrades to existing capabilities, including:
- Company Hub: will replace Accountant Hub and will be available for all users.
- Global VAT reporting: will be introduced to help SMBs comply with their legal and financial reporting requirements.
- Consolidating file format support for D365 Finance: to reduce file transformations and simplify accounting across and between an organisation’s different divisions.
- Auto-resolve Common Data Service conflicts: to reduce conflicts caused by data updates.
- Bank reconciliation improvements: including functionality to cancel posted reconciliations and improvements to employee ledger payments.
- Copy journal function: to assist with posting accruals and reversing journals.
- Notify users of high-risk changes: for immediate notification of changes (in addition to being recorded in the Change Log).
- Track packages: to enable Business Central to call into shipping agents and track additional sales documents, so packages can be tracked more efficiently.
Making a good product better
If we had to single out two improvements from all the above, we’d go for Teams integration and Company Hub.
Microsoft Teams has emerged as 2020’s most robust and reliable videoconferencing and collaboration platform. Tight integration with Office 365 has been critical to its success. Bringing it in closer to Dynamics 365 will further enhance its usability for business operators.
Company Hub, on the other hand, will make it far easier for businesses to access and work with their partner companies. It can function as a home page or a task page, depending on your needs. Migration from Accountant Hub is simple and we expect it will give clients significant productivity and collaboration improvements.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 – give your business an advantage
It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Business Central here at Eagle360. As a business application solution for small and mid-sized organisations, we think it has no rivals. We’re proud to be Microsoft Partners and offer all Dynamics 365 modules. We can deploy them as on-premises or cloud solutions, custom-tailored to your business’s unique needs. Key modules include:
- Dynamics 365 for Sales
- Dynamics 365 for Customer Service
- Dynamics 365 for Field Service
- Dynamics 365 for Marketing
Engaging with customers online, whether for sales, service, general queries or other transactions, has never been more important. Does your business make it easy for customers to engage?
Contact us today to learn more about how Eagle360 can help your business succeed.