Migrate first, automate smartly:

unlock Business Central cloud potential

February 6, 2025

Tapping into the potential of smart automation in Business Central

Beyond the hype: AI in business process transformation

The label “Made with AI” is no longer surprising, as AI-powered products are commonplace. In Business Applications, we see them as copilots and agents. To be fair, most organizations are still struggling to find the best use cases, but there is a clear trend to use more AI.

Some organizations are still in the “fear of missing out mode” and will throw money at technology rather than productive solutions. Just like in the early cloud days, when everything needed to be tried, this will change over a couple of years. Still, be it written content or software solutions, AI, with its predictive analysis and workflow automation, appears as a backbone of digital transformation for the future.

Just to put some numbers on the above, about 80% of business and IT leaders expect their industries to ignite transformative changes powered by generative AI within the next three years.

According to McKinsey, generative AI could add up to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy by boosting productivity through automation, among other things.

The risk of overlooking simpler ways to automate

The rapid adoption of AI has triggered a race to implement AI-driven automation, specifically within ERP systems like Business Central. It aims to keep a sharper focus on meaningful tasks while freeing users from repetitive ones.

The issue is that there are different types of repetitive tasks, some of them are random like organizing an e-mail from a customer into a correct order confirmation. Other tasks are non-random, like approving an invoice or days-off request, here a simple “yes or no” suffices, but the task with which the process is executed can be automated.

This is where Microsoft Power Platform can be of use. It enables users to streamline processes, gain insights from their data, and build custom solutions to meet their business needs. It is built as a user-friendly platform for people of different skill levels, so organizations can develop custom applications and automate workflows more easily. Moreover, the use cases may be easier to address than AI.

The risks of skipping migration

There is no good automation without good data. A migration to a common cloud solution can bring organizations closer to having a single source of truth (SSOT) in their data. Skipping data or cloud migration only to rush straight into automation without securing relevant data first, means overlooking the most crucial building block for successful automation.

So, the potential for automation is only realized when businesses can feed AI or other systems with accurate, unified, and up-to-date data. In contrast, siloed data may result in inconsistent, inefficient automation, derailing the very benefits the organization tried to achieve.

Automation without a single, reliable data source is like implementing a complex business solution on inconsistent or fragmented data - it results in inefficiencies, increased risks, and missed opportunities for optimization.

When considering cloud migration for Business Central, it is worth noting that one of the main benefits for organizations is standard integration with Outlook, Teams, and other relevant applications and sources of data. By integrating data, the possibility to drive automation is strongly improved.

Without due consideration to data structure and sources, businesses face ineffective automation processes, higher maintenance costs, reduced ROI, and users who struggle with poor user experience.

Benefit from automation by migrating first

To help organizations reap the benefits of automation, establishing a reliable foundation by migrating to the cloud could be a needed first step. That’s why we have developed Stairway to Cloud – our complete cloud migration package – to assist the Dynamics community in solving this challenge.

With Stairway to Cloud, we help bring NAV/Business Central to a cloud version to consolidate all business data and processes in a centralized system. The data resides in one secure place, and the cloud environment allows for a robust suite of Power Platform or AI-driven process automation.

The package ensures a smooth migration journey with relevant expertise, minimized downtime, and proactive risk management. It uses Discovery X-ray to help companies understand the state of their solution, as over time they may have lost track of the modifications they have made. This automated analysis helps check your current solution’s code readiness for migration and build the basis for defining a migration strategy and moving to the cloud.

How migration flows with Stairway to Cloud

Expand BC’s full potential with Power Platform or AI-driven automation

Many organizations do too much at once. Changing too much functionality and technology at the same time increases project risk and training costs. It is only after you have moved your solution, that the cloud version of Business Central reveals its vast potential for AI-driven insights and scalability.

This is why the final phase of Stairway to Cloud, Enhancement and Digitalization, is a separate step after the initial go-live. It facilitates the implementation of automation solutions on top of BC to free up human resources and introduce smarter workflows like auto-responding to customers.

This tech suite leverages elements like Power Automate to automate repetitive tasks like data entry, Power BI which helps derive actionable insights directly from BC; and Copilot Studio seamlessly brings AI into Business Central. Integrating features like AI Builder allows for adding intelligence to automated processes for advanced predictive analysis and revealing anomalies in large databases. The automation leans on the easy integration of the suite tools supported by over 1000 certified connectors.

Power Platform AI-driven tools natively combine with any business function in the Business Central cloud for smooth and effective automation across departments, like in the examples below:

• Finance: generate accurate forecasts and reveal cost-saving opportunities.

• Sales and Marketing: analyze customer feedback and predict lead conversion.

• Supply chain: forecast disruptions in operations and optimize the operations.

The step builds upon our Digitalization package, also available as a stand-alone package.

Stairway to Cloud as a strategic advantage to start automation

The synergy between Business Central cloud and Power Platform, amplified by AI, is no longer a distant vision. It is a tangible opportunity to take more advantage of your Business Central cloud. Migrating with Stairway to Cloud is more than just moving to cloud – it is a strategic investment into unprecedented efficiency of smart automation within Business Central and beyond.