How to Use Power BI and Dynamics to Keep Executives Informed

Does your executive team want better insight into real-time business operations? Do they need access to customized data visuals, whenever and wherever they want? Quality accounting processes that gather the right data are important, but your organization’s decision makers also need a way to view those numbers as soon as they’re collected.

Microsoft Power BI allows you to set up each user with exactly the metrics they want, using visuals that are easy to understand at a glance. Keep your executive team up-to-date using Power BI and Dynamics 365 Business Central or Dynamics NAV. By linking Power BI to your accounting solution, your CRM solution, and other applications, you can easily translate your data into impactful visuals.

What is Power BI?

Power BI is a business analytics visualization tool that allows us to export and view data from software solutions including Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 Business Central. With a clean interface and a wide variety of visualization tools, Power BI can provide each of your team members with access to exactly the metrics that matter most to each of them.

Because it’s a visual tool designed to help you with decision making in real time, it’s important for you to be able to access Power BI from anywhere, anytime. It can be embedded in Dynamics 365 Business Central, and easily used on a laptop, tablet, or phone. 

How Do You Get Started?

Since Power BI offers so many options, it can be overwhelming to use at first. Pre-built content packs can be downloaded from Microsoft AppSource to help you get started with the tool.

You can set up different graphs and other visuals to show real-time information. Next to each visual, you can drill down and access more granular data. You can also generate reports that can be opened with your device’s .pdf viewer.

Power BI can also be used to create alerts for a particular event. For example, you could create an alert to notify you if revenue growth dips below zero, and another alert to notify you when it goes back above zero.

Using Power BI is an iterative process. It offers very powerful data visuals, but you’ll want to sit down with your executive team and make sure you really know what they’re looking for. Frequent Excel users, for example, will prefer filter panes and slicing, while others might focus on metrics that are very specific to their role within the company. After a few weeks, check in with your team to find out which reports and graphs they’re using the most, and adjust the Power BI application accordingly.

Interested in Power BI or Dynamics 365 Business Central?

If you’d like to know more about integrating Power BI with Dynamics 365 Business Central or Dynamics NAV, watch our on-demand webinar: Keeping Your Executive Team Happy on the Road with Power BI and D365 for Sales. If you have additional questions about how you can improve data insight for your business, or want to chat with one of our Dynamics and Power BI experts, contact us today to schedule a consultation or demonstration. Western Computer has over 30 years of experience with business software solutions, and we’re here to help. 

About the Author

As Western Computer's VP of Sales, Tony oversees sales and business processes to ensure that the company's large customer base is supported.

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