Jul 2, 2018
Microsoft recently announced Dynamics 365 Business
Central, the official name for the product that was
code-named "Tenerife". This is the long anticipated, fully
"SaaSified" version of "Full" NAV, and it is available now. At the
same time, Microsoft also announced a new Customer Engagement
option, Dynamics 365 Sales Professional, a
feature limited version of their full Dynamics 365 Enterprise
Sales Application at a lower cost. Where do they fit in the
picture?
Don't Say SMB
It's not that SMB (Small and Midsized Businesses) is now a dirty
word in Dynamics, rather Microsoft would prefer not to segment
their Dynamics products by company size anymore. Once you lay the
SMB brand on a product, you kind of remove it from consideration
for any non-SMB. What is more important is the complexity of a
business... any business. This should really be the determining
factor for what product(s) will best suit a customer. All SMBs are
not necessarily simple, as I wrote
here, nor all all large businesses
complex. "Dynamics 365 Business Central" and "Dynamics 365 Sales
Professional" are good examples of size-neutral product names.
Maybe next we will see "Enterprise" changed to "Ultimate", for
size-neutrality across the line.
I can hear you... I'm standing right here...
SMB represents a pretty good sized customer base, it actually
dwarfs all other segments combined in sheer numbers. SMB has also
gotten used to "Special Treatment" from everybody, credit card
issuers, office supply discounts, small fleet programs, government
programs, you name any business need, and there is a special deal,
just for them. Some of these deals are so good, larger businesses
try and pass themselves off as "small" just to take advantage. So
has Microsoft abandoned the SMB? Not at all, they are just leaving
it up to you to figure out what products you need. Would it be
easier if there were a flashing sign over the one product that fit
you best? Maybe, but given the fact that all businesses are
different, wouldn't you prefer making the decision of what is best
for your needs? We'll see.
What's in a Name?
What do you think of when you hear the name "Dynamics 365"? If you
are thinking that this is a single product, you would be incorrect,
Dynamics 365 is a family of products, all focused on "Business
Solutions".
"Isn't email a business solution?" Sure, you
use email in your business, but it is really a communication tool,
so email falls within the category of "Productivity Solutions",
along with everything else that is part of "Office 365". The line
between Business Solutions and Productivity Solutions is a little
fuzzy, even for people who use these terms daily like me. We can
make it even fuzzier by integrating the two sides, but that is a
post for another day. The key here is that Dynamics 365 is a family
of "different" Business Solutions, sharing a top-level name. Some
of these products are vastly different, not only in what they
provide, but the platforms upon which they are built, they ways in
which they are customized, and even the UIs in which they are
presented. In many ways it is like a Chinese menu from which you
can assemble your own custom plate, but in some areas there are
forks in the road that must be taken. Over time some of these forks
will be eliminated, but today you will have to make some forking
decisions.
Dynamics 365 Business Central
One of the first forks in the road that you will come to is what I
call the CE/BC crossroads. "CE" is Customer Engagement, which
itself it not so much a product, but a sub-category of products
that sit on a particular platform that we used to call CRM. I will
cover this below, but know that CE and BC are two different
platforms, which I will also cover below. Business Central (BC), as
I said before is a fully SaaSified version of NAV. What does that
mean? It means that Microsoft has built this product on their own
servers in a multi-tenant configuration which allows for Microsoft
to offer this product to customers on a monthly subscription basis.
This is the same path that CRM took a few years ago, and the same
path that Office 365 was launched on. It is the path of all future
products coming from all modern providers. So that kinda had to
happen.. and it did. Dynamics 365 Business Central is the evolution
of NAV, a product that was primarily an ERP (Finance and
Accounting) system that was primarily targeted to Mid-sized
business. Like many ERP systems, it also has some basic sales
capabilities, so for certain businesses it could be considered an
"all-in-one" solution. In fact, NAV powers businesses of all sizes,
from very small SMBs all the way up to full-on enterprise
customers. Business Central is, for all intents and proposes, NAV
in the cloud, so there is no reason to think it cannot do the same.
Customer Engagement
The Customer Engagement sub-category includes things like Sales,
Service, Marketing, Project Service and Field Service. Notice, it
does not include Finance or Accounting. There is no General Ledger
in Customer Engagement. Therefore, Customer Engagement is clearly
not an "all-in-one" path. You will still need another system for
Accounting and Finance... like for example... Business Central.
"What a minute, you said BC is an all-in-one, so why would I
need two?" Depending on your needs, you may not, BC could be
all you need. How would you know? It will depend primarily on how
complex your Sales needs are, as well as you needs for Service or
Marketing,
or Field or Project services, if you have those. While Business
Central is very strong on the finance and accounting side, its
Sales capabilities are quite light, at least in comparison to the
Sales capabilities of Customer Engagement. Are your sales needs
sophisticated or complex? Do you have a Customer Service or
Marketing need? If so, then you will probably take the Customer
Engagement fork in the road.
Forking Convergence
The great Yogi Berra once said,
"When you come to a fork in the
road.. take it". So if you choose a fork today, do they ever
connect up again? I'm glad you asked; yes they can. For example,
let's say you started with the BC fork, and later your sales needs
became complex. You can certainly add Dynamics 365 Sales
Professional and it could "take-over" the sales aspects of Business
Central. Or coming from the other side, let's say you already had
an ERP system in place that you were satisfied with, so you took
the Customer Engagement Fork for something like Dynamics 365 Sales
and/or Dynamics 365 Marketing. Later for some reason, like maybe
outgrowing QuickBooks, you decide you want to add BC to the mix, no
worries, your sales system doesn't change, it just starts talking
to your BC Finance and Accounting system, via integration.
The Big Mac
Customers will choose a path, based on where their needs are
deficient; if it is Sales, but their ERP is okay, they will head
down the Customer Engagement fork. If their ERP is lacking, but
their sales are okay, they will head down the Business Central
fork. But what if everything is crap? Then maybe these forks become
parallel paths, with the integration occurring as they go forward
down both. Of course it's more than just integrating between CE and
BE, any customer will also want to integrate Office 365 into the
mix. All of this is possible; it isn't necessarily as simple as
checking a box, but this is where your knowledgeable Microsoft
Partner will help. Frankly, your partner will also be able to guide
you on the best path, based on your specific needs, because there
is no solution that is "Best for SMB" or "Best for Enterprise"
anymore. There is only what is Best for You.