How Does Power BI Integrate with Business Central?

Power BI is one of the most powerful tools on the market to visualize, segment, and analyze data. What data you ask? Just about anything you could imagine, including your Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central data.

To make all that functionality possible, though, the two systems have to communicate with one another. Watch the video below and/or continue reading to find out how to make that happen.

The Process is much Simpler than you might Imagine ...

If you have past experience with integrating Power BI; GOOD NEWS!  You can forget all the hassle of developing the integration!  That’s right, integrating Power BI with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is so easy almost anyone can do it.  Using the standard templates in AppSource, you can be up and running with power dashboards in less than 30 minutes!

But wait there’s MORE!  Always More! 

Microsoft has included many Power BI charts within the standard Business Central lists and role centers.  You can literally be using Power BI simply by logging into your Business Central system.  This is a great way for novice users to become accustomed to Power BI without being overwhelmed by the possibilities.

For those that want a bit more, you are in luck!  By following the simple process below, you can grab templates from AppSource that give you the soup starter for the type of dashboards that leadership teams have dreamed of for years.

Here is the Step-by-Step Process:

1. Open Power BI from your Office 365 portal or visit PowerBI.com.
   
2. Click the “Get Data” button in the bottom left corner of your Power BI dashboard.
   
3. Under the Discover Content heading Select “Get” in the Services tile.
   
4. In the pop up window, use the search box in the top right to search for “Business Central.”
   
5. Select the template you wish to use, select “Get it Now” to install the app.
6. Once it is installed, select "Connect" under the Connect Your Data heading.
   
7. Pick the Company Name.
   
8. Enter your credentials.
   
9. Wait for your data to populate and you have just integrated Power BI and Microsoft Dynamics Business Central!

I hope you find this short tutorial useful.  If you need more information or help with Power BI, contact us at www.innovia.com or tdoran@innovia.com

Happy Dashboarding!