When we talk about Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, it’s not just the CFO, Controller and Finance Professionals who benefit. The Chief Operations Officer, responsible for the overall operations of the business, will also love it.

Here’s why your COO’s job will be easier with Business Central, creating efficiencies and keeping the rest of the team happy.

1) Log in Anywhere, Anytime

Most of our clients need to work when they’re outside the office. With on-premise solutions (such as Dynamics GP), this often means trying to connect through a VPN, which can be frustrating. Some clients use IP addresses instead of VPN to remote in, which creates even more complications.

If their IP address changes when they work remotely somewhere else, somebody has to change their IP address settings. This creates unnecessary IT requests that slow down productivity and frustrate the IT department.

Logging in from anywhere at any time is the biggest advantage for our clients, from executives to employees. We’ve had no resistance whatsoever when introducing Business Central. They’re ready to get on something that makes their life easier, especially when it comes to simple, reliable access.

2) No Fear of Hacking

With all the hacking incidents targeting on-premise systems, security has become a top concern for executives everywhere. Here in the Southeast, including the Birmingham and Alabama area, it’s happening at hospitals, medical facilities, everywhere.

The truth is simple: we cannot beat Microsoft’s Azure for security. Nobody can.

When I meet with COOs and other executives, this point resonates deeply. Not only can their employees work remotely more efficiently, but they can also sleep better knowing their financial and operational data has enterprise-grade protection.

3) Credentials are Easy to Manage

Some Dynamics GP systems are already being hosted somewhere, they don’t have servers in-house. With Business Central, they can eliminate that hosting relationship and no longer have to contact their hosting provider for every user change.

Business Central works through your Microsoft 365 admin portal, allowing you to make any changes you need internally. Everyone uses the same credentials they already use for Outlook to access Business Central. This makes life so much easier for the financial and operations teams.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard executives frustrated about waiting days for their hosting provider to add a new user or change credentials. With Business Central, that pain point completely disappears.

4) ALL Departments Can Get Data

Here’s where Business Central really shines for operations leaders: All areas of the company can take advantage of accessing data in real time including customer data, purchasing, inventory, workflows, approvals – everything you need in Business Central in ways they never could with GP.  BC was created with everyone in mind where GP usually was limited to only the financial and a few other departments due to licensing and security limitations. 

Dynamics GP didn’t have the same kind of read/write user type as Business Central. It offered a limited user option, but it wasn’t nearly as flexible as what Business Central provides.

What we’re finding is that people in operations can now log into Business Central and get the information they need without requiring custom reports like SSRS reports or other specialized outputs. Through proper security settings in Business Central, we can limit exactly what each user can see.

GP was a bottleneck when it came to getting information in real time to the people who needed it. Business Central eliminates that problem. The whole premise of the “365” in Business Central is to make sure people can get the data they need at the time they need it. They do not need to wait for accounting to give them reports once a month that show history instead of real-time information.

Business Central encourages direct access where GP didn’t. This level of accessibility transforms how departments can collaborate:

• Sales teams can log in, create quotes, and convert them to orders, even with a BC Teams license.
• Customer service reps can look up order status without waiting for someone to send them a report.
• Leadership can access real-time dashboards instead of relying on outdated monthly summaries.

The Bottom Line on Dynamics 365 BC

For the COO who needs to keep operations running smoothly across all departments, Business Central removes friction and creates efficiency. When your team has the right information at the right time, they make better decisions and solve problems faster.

At DLD Business Solutions, we’ve guided numerous companies through the transition to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, and the operations improvements are consistently impressive.

If your COO is looking to streamline operations and empower team members across the organization, contact us or call us at 205-533-9458 to learn more about how Dynamics 365 Business Central can help.