Information is gold in today’s times, and to ensure you derive meaningful insights from information, analytics is crucial. However, to get the information in the form we can use, data needs to go through various steps and utilize databases.
Even though it sounds relatively simple, handling databases and the different processes surrounding them is challenging and can often get stagnant. This would, again, require technical support and knowledge.
In order to overcome this, an end-to-end analytics infrastructure that enables the use of the Bring Your Own Database (BYOD) feature in Dynamics 365 can help. With our Data Analytics Solution for Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management (D365 F&SCM), we help organizations accelerate their time to analytics and implement actionable insights quickly while offering the flexibility they need to adapt to changing circumstances.
In this article, we discuss the various processes employed to realize analytics that make use of BYOD and how STAEDEAN has positioned itself to make it more efficient for business users with its analytics solutions, pre-built BYOD, and more.
What is BYOD?
The BYOD feature was released by Microsoft in August 2016.
Simply put, BYOD allows administrators or businesses to configure their own database, where you can push data into or from a database that you manage, whether on Microsoft Azure or on-premises. This allows you to extract data from Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management and export that data into an external database. In the Microsoft Dynamics 365 ecosystem, this process uses existing or new data entities.
BYOD gives you the complete freedom to take control of your data, unleash its true potential, and change it into the information you require. Besides, you also measure up data with and from other systems, which is only possible with the BYOD setup. This means reduced dependency and less overhead compliance.
What are the processes taking place in a BYOD environment?
Data exporting
In this process, we identify the raw data we will use and move it to the database, like the specific tables or types of data. For instance, imagine you need inputs on customers and sales orders and have a table with customers and a different one with sales orders. We then export information by just picking it up and moving it to BYOD.
Data transformation and modeling
After the data is moved to the database, we transform and model it into information. What do we mean by that? Continuing with the example above, once we move the information to the database, we can attach other elements to the sales order line that we have, like the customer’s name, account, and any additional relevant information. We are turning it into useful information because having data bits independent of each other does not serve any purpose or value.
Data enriching
At times, you may have data that is not directly from D365 F&SCM but from other sources as well, like Microsoft Excel. Going with the same example: You may have the budget information in Excel and not in F&SCM but require it with the rest to fulfill your objective. In this scenario, you can combine the data from F&SCM and Excel in the database by enriching it; and turning the data into a more useful form for the users.
Eventually, the purpose of these above processes is to turn the information into reports that can be visualized by organizations to make better decisions. The data you typically receive from D365 F&SCM is transactional and mostly unsuitable for reporting. Hence, within BYOD, we are transforming it into information that can be easily understandable in visual forms, such as reports, dashboards, etc.
How can STAEDEAN support you?
To complement this entire process, our Data Analytics Solution for Dynamics 365 F&SCM plays a key role. The solution is built on and leverages the Microsoft stack capabilities and, therefore, offers high flexibility and extensibility. Tailored to the needs of your specific industry and automating repetitive tasks, you can save time on tasks such as complex modeling, data cleaning, and extraction in a low-touch approach setup. Moreover, being self-configurable, our goal is to empower business users to perform analysis and generate reports on their own.
Here is how Data Analytics Solution supports the use of BYOD for analytics.
Data preparation and extraction
In the Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP, data exports are done using data entities, which are complex to deal with. They need technical development knowledge and can be challenging to create or modify. Our Data Analytics Solution not only helps you extract/export data from Dynamics 365 F&SCM but also does it much faster and with minimal effort, eliminating the need for knowledge dependency from programmers.
All you need to do is pick and drop; even non-technical business users can do it without much hassle. Data Analytics Solution is primarily used to export data to that database, so it is as simple as just moving the data.
Business intelligence and end-to-end analytics
Once the data has been moved to the database, it is then transformed and modeled into information. With our Data Analytics Solution in hand, you have extended capabilities, where one database is used for receiving the data and another for modeling it, facilitating end-to-end analytics.
To further simplify handling databases and overcome the concerns smoothly, we also provide pre-built analytics solutions that are industry-focused and use one database. For example, STAEDEAN Analytics for Rental, an add-on for our comprehensive STAEDEAN Rental Management, uses a pre-prepared BYOD created by us. Here we pick generic information from D365 F&SCM and put it in the BYOD, which can then be transformed into information with Power BI built on top, offering an easy, quick start for our customers.
What’s next?
Data in silos or not being used correctly does not help organizations in any manner, but the moment we model it into information and in a form you can consume, it can prove to be a game changer. The real value lies in the information—and with more functional users looking to leverage analytics, we need solutions that make it easy to get and use the data.
We understand analytics and BI is complex, and organizations need help with implementation. Therefore, along with focusing more on our products, quality, and project delivery, we also ensure that our service structure is equally strong with a team of industry experts and consultants. With this, we make certain that our customers have a smooth path to realizing analytics faster and more efficiently, while also managing and governing their data end-to-end – a whole package.
To gain a better overview of our Data Analytics Solution's versatile integration, migration, governance, security, and analytics features, please download our solution factsheet from the link shared below.
Arie Nieuwveld
