Microsoft launches Dynamics 365 Business Central in Australia

Microsoft has today launched small-medium business management software Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central in Australia and New Zealand.

The product, an SMB-focused build of the software giant’s enterprise Dynamics and Dynamics 365 enterprise ERP solution, has been designed to bring simplicity to everyday business functions and integrates with other Microsoft cloud services including Office 365.

Microsoft is hoping to capture market share from businesses that are outgrowing their straightforward back-office accounting software applications, promising insights from data across accounting, sales, purchasing inventory and customer interactions to guide growth.

“Australian SMBs are looking to grow,” Microsoft Australia’s business applications group lead  Michael O’Keefe said.

“They recognise the value that business software can have in terms of making them more efficient and responsive to customer needs. Business Central has been designed specifically for these organisations.

“This is a cloud-based solution that can grow with the business. It offers end-to-end functionality – and a far more comprehensive suite of capabilities than many of the entry-level accounting systems.

“Business Central is highly intuitive, cost-effective, and it integrates neatly with other business solutions such as Office 365 and Power BI to provide end to end business transformation opportunity.”

Microsoft is releasing the solution locally with the help of launch channel partners which include Empired, Microchannel, Dialog, Rhipe, KPMG, Fenwick and DXC.

O’Keefe said Business Central was a cloud-based follow up to Microsoft Dynamics NAV, the on-prem ERP that emerged following Microsoft’s purchase of accounting suite software developer Navision for US$1.45 in 2002.

“This is one of the first Dynamics product in our suite that is really going to be partner-led in terms of the sales motion,” he said. “We’re giving [partners] the opportunity to take repeatable solutions to market, through the cloud and through Business Central.

“The key integration point for most customers is that we have a lot of Office 365 in the market, we’ve got a huge adoption base of Power BI and those two products integrate into Business Central as well.

“So it gives customers the opportunity to continue to integrate the line of business systems that they’ve either bought from us or are looking to adopt as they move their ERP requirements up into the cloud.”

Microsoft in May revealed that a version of Office 365 Business Central, called Wiise, would be taken to market by KPMG and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, with CBA to promote the ERP directly to its business customers from within the NetBank and CommBiz online banking portals.