1ClickFactory and QBS Group Merge to Form Companial, an International Network of Microsoft Dynamics Partners

1ClickFactory and QBS Group merge to provide additional service offerings to customers as it becomes Companial, the largest and fastest-growing international network of Microsoft Dynamics Partners.

Leusden, The Netherlands, Vilinus, Lithuania, Feb. 2, 2022 –  1ClickFactory, based in Vilnius, Lithuania and QBS Group, headquartered in Leusden, the Netherlands, announced today, February 2nd, 2022, that the companies are merging to form a new company named Companial.

1ClickFacory and QBS Group are well known in the Microsoft Business Application area, providing services and licenses to Microsoft Dynamics Partners. When 1ClickFactory and QBS Group began its strategic partnership in 2017, it quickly became obvious that both companies’ offerings around technical services, enablement, license operation, support for Independent software vendors (ISV), marketing services and Dynamics Partner engagement were very complementary, all focused on Microsoft Dynamics and Power Platform. Companial comes to market with a clear vision to become the preferred community for every Dynamics professional.

1ClickFactory is a Microsoft ISV Development Center and Gold Certified in Enterprise Resource Planning, Application Development and Cloud Platform. As a global business, it delivers services to 300+ Dynamics Partners in 40+ countries. 1ClickFactory’s high-quality Microsoft Dynamics 365 upgrade, development, and training services, together with its leading Microsoft Azure managed hosting service, help Microsoft Partners offer better business value to customers, delivering solutions on-premises and/or in the cloud.

“I am very excited to join forces and offer a One-Stop-Shop for every Dynamics Professional with Companial. Our clear mission is to exceed expectations by putting our Microsoft Partners at the center of all our efforts, offering outstanding services, developing and supporting Dynamics Partners on their (cloud) journey, and empowering them in all aspects of their business. The central word in our vision is “community”. We do everything to make the community work and to inspire those in it.

Companial promises that it’s easy to do business with us, that we offer a high-quality portfolio of services supporting all Dynamics workloads, and that we provide our Dynamics Partners with appealing offers!

We are dedicated to the success of our Dynamics Partners, and above all we prioritize personal relationships and a personal touch for the good of our community,”
Louis Rustenhoven, Chief Executive Officer, Companial.

QBS Group is the largest Dynamics ecosystem, second only to Microsoft itself. Situated in over 25 countries worldwide, with over 800 Partners that manage more than 40,000 customers, QBS Group was one of the only Dynamics-focused indirect Cloud Solution Providers. With its expertise and personal contact, QBS Group has helped Dynamics Partners transition to the cloud and supported them in driving the digital transformation. Microsoft has recently recognized QBS Group with the Inner Circle Award for Microsoft Business Applications 2021/22, the 8th year in a row QBS Group has received this honor.

“Seeing Dynamics Partners in our ecosystem scale is the number one thing for growth. We recognize that our Microsoft Partners are the wakeboard, and we want Microsoft Partners to be as efficient, capable, and notable as possible. We have had such great experiences with QBS and 1ClickFactory in the past and we are confident that this combination is really going to enable Companial to bring on more customers, do a better job, have a higher level of customer satisfaction, and have a great relationship with Microsoft. A win-win-win situation for everyone!”
Mike Morton, General Manager Business Central, Microsoft.

While the launch of Companial will have no impact on existing relationships and contracts that Dynamics Partners have with 1ClickFactory or QBS Group, Dynamics Partners can expect additional services and offerings that will help them to either establish a Microsoft Dynamics practice or evolve an existing business to enable digital transformation and better satisfy customers. One example is the newly announced partnership with Plataan, one of the leading training providers for Microsoft Dynamics and Power Platform. This partnership will result in a full set of trainings and enablement tools that will be offered under the Companial brand to Dynamics Partners worldwide.

“I am happy to share my thoughts about the integration that is now happening between QBS and 1ClickFactory. We are excited and we think it’s a great move. Collectively, as a community, we have an enormous amount of work to do to take Dynamics customers forward to a bright Dynamics 365 cloud future. And only collectively do we have the resources to make that happen in any kind of sensitive timeframe. We are already enjoying working with your team to move our customers forward and we hope to do much more of that in the future and having a single throat to choke. We look forward to working with you”
Paul White, Chief Executive Officer at The NAV | 365 People

About Companial

Companial is the largest and fastest-growing international network of Microsoft Dynamics

Partners. Companial supports its Dynamics Partners – Resellers, System Integrators, Service Providers, and ISVs – with business and technical services aimed at growing revenue, lowering costs, and improving customer satisfaction. Companial is an official SMB ERP Distributor; Indirect CSP Provider for Microsoft; a Microsoft ISV Development Center; and Gold Certified in Enterprise Resource Planning, Application Development and Cloud Platform. Companial’s high-quality Microsoft Dynamics 365 upgrade, development, and migration services, together with its leading Microsoft Azure managed hosting service, helps Microsoft Partners offer better business value to their customers when delivering solutions on-premises and/or in the cloud. Companial is currently delivering and supporting over 1000 Dynamics Partners in more than 40 countries worldwide.

For more information reach out to: Ursula Koller, ukoller@qbsgroup.com

Visit our website: www.companial.com

How can you win the market with Power Platform in 2022?

Power Platform is just that, a platform. It’s difficult to go to market with a platform proposition to your customers – so how can you start to make money from Power Platform and its associated technologies? If you would like to think about how you can go from Microsoft Dynamics 365 or Business Central to broader Business Applications, you need to think outside of the product box and broadly consider what can be delivered.

Attend this session to learn about how you can begin to commercialize the Power Platform, what scenarios may fit the market, what has worked well for partners already, and what you will need to consider when starting a successful Power Platform practice.

Microsoft New Commerce Experience in CSP – Office Hours

Microsoft has released the New Commerce Experience for seat-based licenses in the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program.
There are some important changes compared to the current CSP subscriptions that you as partner should be aware of.
Therefore, we are pleased to invite you to our Office Hours regarding the New Commerce Experience in CSP, hosted by the Partner Care team.
During these Office Hours, we will go through important updates, and give you the opportunity to ask all your questions.

Date Time
Thursday 3 February 2022 13:00 – 13:30 CET
Thursday 17 February 2022 13:00 – 13:30 CET
Thursday 3 March 2022 13:00 – 13:30 CET
Thursday 17 March 2022 13:00 – 13:30 CET
Thursday 31 March 2022 13:00 – 13:30 CEST

 

Do you really need the Business Central Universal Code Initiative? Are you shocked? Let’s hope not…

What’s the Business Central Universal Code Initiative?

For a while now, Microsoft has been emphasizing the move to the Cloud. We’ve had their ‘Cloud-first strategy’ and then more recently, the ‘Business Central Publisher Program’ targeting ISVs to convince and even force them to adopt the ‘Cloud-first strategy’. Microsoft forces ISVs to put their solutions on AppSource, even if those ISVs are only serving on-premises customers right now. They’ve even gone so far as to announce possible fees in the future if you won’t adopt the Cloud-first strategy. And now, with the Business Central Universal Code initiative, they are targeting everyone to adopt this strategy.

Basically, with this new initiative, selling extensions not targeted for online use to new Business Central on-premises customers could require you to license two additional modules:

  • Module “Implemented code is not in extensions”
    When the Microsoft Business Central base application is modified, customers will need to license this module.
  • Module “Implemented code is not cloud-optimized”
    When code is developed in extensions, but they are not cloud-optimized, customers will need to license this module

The cost of these modules (read: fees) will start at $0 per full user (both Essentials and Premium) per year and will increase over time. Here is the timeline Microsoft is currently aiming for.

And what about those increasing fees?

Recurring fee(s) Timeline Implemented code is not in extensions Implemented code is not cloud-optimized
2022 $0 $0
2023 $75 $0
2024 $125 $75
2025 $250 $175
2026 onwards TBD TBD

Note: Customers who licensed Dynamics NAV or Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premises before April 1, 2022 will not be required to license the non-Universal Code modules in their current configuration. They can add, remove users and first- and third-party functionality without the need to license previous mentioned new modules.

More information about Business Central Universal Code

What’s Microsoft’s Goal?

To put it very simply, Microsoft would like to create a Business Central SaaS world where every (potential) customer can get any (ISV) solution they need to be able to run their organization on Business Central SaaS. Therefore, Microsoft wants you to create solutions that will work in Business Central SaaS. It’s the future for Microsoft Partners and customers in the Dynamics 365 (Business Central) community, and Microsoft wants to see everyone collaborating on this. Microsoft tries to motivate us by charging fees to those who do not cooperate.

The benefits of the Universal Code initiative, according to Microsoft:

  • Universal Code can be implemented everywhere, in Business Central online, in on-premises or Partner-hosted environments.
  • By listing your Universal Code on Microsoft AppSource, you extend your sales force, reach more customers, and connect directly with decision-makers.
  • By bundling your connected Microsoft cloud services with Universal Code, you generate customer stickiness.
  • Universal Code frees up capacity to improve our mutual offerings and we will be able to serve more customers.

Let’s Get Technical about Universal Code

From Q4 2022 onwards, technical enforcement will be introduced in Business Central so that only ‘Universal Code’ is allowed as additional code in customer environments. You need to move to full extensions only, meaning no more code customizations in Base App. That means in your app.json you should use: “target” : “Cloud”, so your code will work both in SaaS and in on-premises environments.

To make your solutions compatible with Business Central SaaS you need to meet the requirements of SaaS, such as:

  • No usage of .Net Interop (please think about Azure Functions)
  • No file system (please think about Azure Blob Storage, Cosmos etc.)
  • No direct access to SQL
  • Web client only
  • No Base App Source Code modifications
  • Lack of events
  • Printing

This means you not only have to think about moving your code to AL, but also about how to overcome the limitations or requirements of Business Central SaaS. You really need to think outside the box and see the opportunity offered by the whole Microsoft Platform instead of just focusing on the Business Central app itself.

You really need to have a look at Azure (Functions, Storage, SQL, Apps, etc.) which offers multiple solutions in the stack to help you meet the requirements of Business Central SaaS. And yes, that requires other skills you probably don’t have in your organization yet.

Conclusion, Impact and Calls to Action

So, are you shocked, or do you need to make use of this initiative? Let’s hope not, because that would mean you have missed all the Microsoft news in the last 3 or 4 years.

Microsoft has shared their vision for the direction of Business Central SaaS.  It should be the easiest-to-use business application suite, delightful, efficient, “video-game” fast, powerful, simple to discover and quick to onboard. All of this should be available for every (potential) Business Central customer, and they want you to collaborate on that by making your solutions available for SaaS (too).

Hopefully you are already there, or at least almost there, but if not, please rethink your organization’s approach or even the right to exist in the next few years. If you really would like to embrace the cloud you need to think outside the ERP box. It’s not a single solution, but just one part of the platform you offer to your customers.

  • Rethink your solution: Get rid of legacy customizations that are included in Business Central nowadays. Think about Buy or Build. If something already exists on AppSource, why are you going to invest in creating a similar app?
  • Embrace Azure: Have a look at your solutions through the eyes of an Azure Solutions Architect. Train your team in Azure (Blob, SQL, Logic Apps, Functions and Cosmos to start with).
  • Pick your battles: Use Horizontal ISV Solutions. Don’t develop something which already exists. Team up with other Partners. Outsource development and maintenance of your apps.
  • Search for Value: Only invest in solutions where you are really adding value to Business Central and your vertical. Have a look at the QBS Marketplace. Tell your PSM that you would like to have a chat with one of our Architects.

 

I would like to close with a quote of Marije Brummel (Azure Solutions Architect);

“No one needs to be left behind!”

Strategic Partnership QBS Group and 1Clickfactory with Plataan

Plataan, based in Hasselt, Belgium and QBS Group, headquartered in Leusden, The Netherlands announced today that they will join forces moving forward. As of January 2022, QBS Group has acquired a shareholder majority of Plataan.

This transaction is an important step in the strategy of QBS Group to enhance the portfolio of partner growth services delivered to the worldwide Dynamics partner channel. It perfectly fits in the vision of the group to be the most preferred community and center of expertise for every Dynamics professional in the world.

In 2021 Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (BC) SaaS growth figures showed that it is now imperative that Dynamics partners become proficient in the relevant Dynamics 365 Business Central competencies, skills and knowledge. The tremendous growth of Business Central SaaS is also reflected in the accelerated intake and number of certifications of new Business Central professionals in the “Business Central Booster” Training Program delivered by Plataan. This program is a virtual online program designed to learn through practical, hands-on exercises whilst being guided by an experienced certified trainer. Apart from the Booster programs for Dynamics Business Central, Plataan is offering training courses for Microsoft’s Power Platform, Office 365 and the Customer Engagement workloads.

With this important strategic announcement, QBS Group and Plataan move into a league of their own when it comes to training capabilities, capacity and coverage to serve the Dynamics partner channel:

We consider Plataan as a leading strategic training partner for our community of current and future Dynamics partners. The ambition of Plataan to build all-inclusive online competency programs for Dynamics partners perfectly fits with our unique set of technical services covering Business Central, F&O, PowerApps and Customer Engagement and our expertise in Traditional and CSP (Cloud) licensing. We’re all looking forward to a great collaboration with multiple benefits for our partner community!
Louis Rustenhoven, CEO QBS Group & 1ClickFactory

 

Both companies are true partner focused organisations. Both have a ‘Microsoft Dynamics only’ strategy. No other Value-Added Distributor in the worldwide Microsoft channel can claim this. Our (digital) training offerings and capabilities combined with the sales & marketing and deep technical skills of QBS Group & 1ClickFactory together plus their wide international distribution network create a great fit! The Dynamics partner community can expect from us more attractive training offerings, including offerings around the domain of D365 Finance & Supply Chain and Power Platform.
Vincent Bellefroid, Partner Plataan

 

Directions EMEA: Moving to Dynamics 365 Business Central SaaS: How to Deliver a Thriving Revenue Stream

The Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central SaaS customer base is increasing exponentially due to growing demand for upgrades, and new customers queuing up outside Microsoft Dynamics Partners’ doors. As more customers push for a move to the cloud, increasing focus on your cloud-first strategy to meet that demand means you can beat your competitors. But if you do increase your focus on the cloud and Business Central SaaS, how do you make sure that pays off for you in the long term? Join our ISV session to learn how to generate more service revenue from Dynamics 365 Business Central SaaS.

Dennis Schulte, Region Lead QBS DACH

Speaker Dennis Schulte, Region Lead QBS DACH

With more than 14 years in the Microsoft Business, Dennis knows today’s challenges a Partner has, very well. Was he responsible in several roles for Sales, marketing, Business Development and working as general manager for a German Partner, he is now working at QBS and 1ClickFactory for more than 3,5 years. Starting to be responsible for the business development of 1ClickFactory in the DACH Region and to serve the DACH market as Account Manager and Business Central expert he is meanwhile leading the QBS DACH Community since September 2021.

 

Join the session on Thursday, October 28, 2021, | From 12 – 12.-12.45 | Room: Brown 3

 

Here you see all QBS sessions at Directions:

  • Herman van Leeuwen: There is a solution for almost every business challenge, but where can you find it? Wednesday, October 27, 2021 | From: 11:00:00 to 11:45:00 | Room: AMBER5+6
  • Chris Parkes: Go to Market with Power Platform. Wednesday, October 27, 2021 |  From: 11:00:00 to 11:45:00 |   Room: Coral 3
  • William van Voorthuijsen: How to rapidly sell Business Central as a 100% fit, and let your customers recognize the value immediately. Thursday, October 28, 2021 | From: 11:00:00 to 11:45:00 | Room: AMBER5+6

Have a look at the sessions of 1Click Factory at Directions


Pass by at our booth S09 – we are looking forward to seeing you at Directions EMEA in Milan.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us!

Directions EMEA in Milan and we as QBS Group will be there!

It was a tough year without meeting each other in person, having the network possibilities at events and not seeing each other in the conference of Directions. But the focus at this event will be on the fall release of Dynamics 365 Business Central, efficient use of the new development environment, cloud infrastructure and Power Platform.
Gain first-hand knowledge about Dynamics 365 Business Central and the Power Platform.

Innovate your business to successfully deal with technological requirements, and new pricing and sales policies. Offer customers outstanding extensions, innovative solutions, and apps in AppSource using Business Central, Azure Services, Microsoft Power Platform, AI and Machine Learning Collaborate with Microsoft and other Dynamics partners worldwide to enhance your offerings and SMB market presence.

Join Directions EMEA 2021 in Milan on October 27-29, 2021 and get inspired by the QBS presentations during our expertise sessions.

See you in Milan!

 


How to rapidly sell Business Central as a 100% fit, and let your customers recognize the value immediately.

William van Voorthuijsen
William van Voorthuijsen

Target audience: Sales & Marketing, Leadership, Consulting

In this session, you will learn the tips and tricks on how to sell Business Central SaaS to customers in the lower end of the SMB space. We all know that those customers don’t expect high implementation costs. They would rather love to recognize the value of Business Central immediately at low costs and as a great fit with their business. Learn how to complete standard Business Central with some great AppSource offerings and rapid implementations making use of wizards so that your end customers are up and running very quickly as well as recognizing the value of using Business Central in their business.

Session Info – Thursday, October 28, 2021 – 11.00 a.m. – Room Amber 5+6


There is a solution for almost every business challenge, but where can you find it?

Herman van Leeuwen QBS group
Herman van Leeuwen

Target audience: Sales & Marketing

The cloud transformation offers the opportunity to use a dedicated ISV solution rather than developing customizations. Today there are over 1,500 Business Central solutions published on AppSource. Herman will explain how you can find the right solution.

Session Info – Wednesday, October 27, 2021 – 11.00 a.m. – Room Amber 5+6


Go to Market with Power Platform

Chris Parkes
Chris Parkes

Target audience: Sales & Marketing, Leadership

Power Platform is just that, a Platform. It’s difficult to go to market with a platform proposition to your customers so how can you start to make money from Power Platform and associated technologies?  If you would like to think about how you can go from Dynamics 365 or Business Central to broader Business Applications, you need to think outside of the product box and broadly consider what can be delivered.  Attend this session to learn about how you can begin to commercialise power platforms, what scenarios may fit the market, what has worked well for partners already and what you will need to consider to get ready to start a successful Power Platform practice.

Session Info – Wednesday, October 27, 2021 – 11.00 a.m. – Room Coral 3


Have a look at the sessions of 1Click Factory at Directions

Pass by at our booth S09 – a nice surprise is waiting for you!

We are looking forward to seeing you at Directions EMEA in Milan.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us!

QBS Group has been announced 8th time in a row by Microsoft for Inner Circle for Microsoft Business Applications 2021/22.

QBS Group has achieved the prestigious 2021/2022 Inner Circle status for Microsoft Business Applications for the 8th time in a row. Since starting up, QBS Group has received this outstanding honorable award every year. Inner Circle members have performed to a high standard of excellence by delivering valuable solutions that help organizations achieve increased success.

Membership in this elite group is based on sales achievements that rank QBS Group in the top echelon of Microsoft’s Business Applications global network of partners. Inner Circle members have performed to a high standard of excellence by delivering valuable solutions that help organizations achieve increased success. According to Microsoft the Business Applications Inner Circle partners represent the top 1% of the total Business Applications ecosystem.

“In a year of deep business transformation for every company and every industry on the planet, it is extremely rewarding to be able to recognize Microsoft Business Applications partners from every corner of the world that accelerated our joint customers’ digital transformation and drove unsurpassed customer success,” said Cecilia Flombaum, Microsoft Business Applications Ecosystem Lead. “Our Inner Circle members are chosen based on their business performance as well as capabilities as an organization, whether that’s creating IP, developing solutions, or having an industry leading focus on digital transformation. Microsoft is honored to recognize QBS Group for their achievements this past year, their dedication to our customers, and their innovation around the Microsoft Cloud.” 

We are very excited that QBS is part of the exclusive Inner Circle members club in 2021/22. QBS has achieved this award for the eighth time in a row. Our promise towards the QBS partner community and our deep dedication to the Microsoft Dynamics World is still unbroken. We will make optimal use of this membership to continuously improve and strengthen our position in such a great partner community. This gives us a unique position that I know Microsoft appreciates and our partners can benefit from.” Michael Hartmann, CEO of QBS Group

 

 

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast 1 July 2021

This series of webcasts is intended to share the latest information on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and related ISV solutions, both from a technical, functional and business perspective.
And along the year we will keep you informed about the latest news from Microsoft biggest events like Inspire, Directions ASIA, North America and EMEA.

Topics – 1 July 2021

Part 1: Dynamics 365 Business Central Update
Dynamics 365 Business Central Update (20 Minutes)

Part 2: PowerPlatform and CRM update
PowerPlatform and CRM update (20 Minutes)

Part 3: Solitea
Solitea (15 Minutes)

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

Cosmos versus Azure SQL and how to integrate with Dynamics 365 Business Central #MSDYN365BC

One of the highest-scoring FAQs from partners and customers moving to Business Central is about direct access to the SQL Server database in combination with the maximum database size.

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Since Dynamics NAV in the last ten years only ran on SQL Server this is what most partners know. Large customers often buy CPU licenses and since they have a SQL Server this is what they often start using as a Data Warehouse too.

The cloud equivalent of SQL Server is Azure SQL and this is fully supported by Business Central. In fact, this is what Microsoft uses for hosting the SaaS platform.

One might be tempted to use Azure SQL then also for cloud data storage, but this may not always be the best choice. On Azure, we have more than just a hammer.

Azure Cosmos Database is a good alternative in Azure if you are looking to store large amounts of data from different sources that you want to use in a Web Shop or other Web-Based solution.

The question that rises is then, what would this cost, and how do I send information back and forth between Cosmos and Business Central.

The pricing model for Cosmos is different from Azure SQL in a sense that you pay for real throughput and storage. The storage model is cheaper than the model for Azure SQL.

Cosmos is also auto-scale and auto indexed even though I expect that most of the workload from SMB customers will not be affected by this a lot.

Cosmos vs. Azure Data Lake

In this article we discuss Cosmos as an alternative to Azure SQL. Cosmos is not the only alternative and in the next articles, we will also discuss Azure Data Lake and other blob-based solutions.

Working with Cosmos & Business Central

As you may expect from my profile the main topic of this blog is the technology required to get data to move from Business Central to Cosmos. For this there are two options and I’ll describe both and share code examples.

In both cases we are going to use the Cosmos Rest API.

The AL way

The first option and probably the option of choice by experienced AL developers is to call the API directly from Business Central. This is a straightforward HTTP request where we send json information to a Cosmos container. The thing that may require to fiddle with a bit is the security tokens, but this has been laid out in the example code. You can find code examples on our GitHub.

The C# way

Another option which will most likely be the preferred option by developers who are new to our community is to call the Business Central REST API from an Azure Function and push that data into Cosmos using some C# code. This is also part of the examples you can find on GitHub.

Best of both worlds

Both options can also be combined. This depends on how you want to schedule the synchronization. Scheduling can be done using a Logic App that synchronizes data every x minutes, or hours, or you can push the Azure Function from the Business Central Job Queue. Alternatively, you can even call the Azure Event Grid from a Business Central Webhook and use that to transform data from Business Central to Cosmos.

The Azure Function also allows data to be stored from other data sources such as a SOAP endpoint.

Pitfalls and tips

You can store all kinds of data in Cosmos, based on containers just like Azure Blob Storage.

Cosmos is a no SQL database so it does not force you to follow schemas.

The consequence of the lack of schema’s is that it becomes the responsibility of the owner of the database to make sure data in a container is consistent and all json files follow the same structure.

As an example, let’s assume you have created a container with Item Inventory by date and you want to add location code as a new field. You need to update old records with the location code or create a new container with fresh data.

The example code provided on the GitHub contains a Version No. field and some extra Metadata about the json stored in the container. This allows you to have multiple versions of a record in the same container and store, for example, items and resources in the same container. This can have an advantage if you need an aggregation across Business Central entities in one container.

Because throughput is the main driver for cost in Cosmos it can also be beneficial to duplicate data across containers if there is a clear difference in data requirements across certain BI dashboards. For example, certain dashboards only require a customer name, where other dashboards require post codes or city.

Since data is stored in json format you can store parent and child information in one container, such as Sales Headers and Lines.

Creating a new Cosmos Instance & Database

One of the reasons Cosmos can be interesting for the SMB market and Business Central users is that it provides a free entry level of 25GB and 1000ru. This should suffice for an average Datawarehouse combining data from Business Central and other entities.

Cosmos versus Azure SQL and how to integrate with Dynamics 365 Business Central #MSDYN365BC
API

You can choose any API you are familiar with, but the examples on our GitHub are based on Core SQL. This syntax is relatively close to Transact SQL that most Business Central power users are familiar with.
Cosmos versus Azure SQL and how to integrate with Dynamics 365 Business Central #MSDYN365BC

 

Serverless or Provisioned

Probably serverless since we are having very incremental workloads. If we don’t use Cosmos, we only pay for storage.

Account Name

The account name is a generic name, used for all databases, just like an Azure SQL Server.

Other options may be left default or may vary based on your organizational backup and security policies and are not part of the scope of this document.

Creating a Database and a Container

In our code examples, the Database and Container are created by the Azure Function in C# if you try to write to a Database and/or Container that does not exist. The AL code does not contain examples of creating a Database or Container automatically. If you go for AL only you need to either write this code or create them manually via the Azure Portal.

Cosmos versus Azure SQL and how to integrate with Dynamics 365 Business Central #MSDYN365BC

 

GitHub
https://github.com/qbsgroup/QBS.BusinessCentral.Cosmos
https://github.com/qbsgroup/QBS.AzureFunction.Cosmos

 

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast 27 May 2021

This series of webcasts is intended to share the latest information on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and related ISV solutions, both from a technical, functional and business perspective.
And along the year we will keep you informed about the latest news from Microsoft biggest events like Inspire, Directions ASIA, North America and EMEA.

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

HELP! My Application Insights EXPLODES!

At QBS Group we are promoting the use of Application Insights. We do that not because we are nerds and love new technology, but also because of simple home economics.

Before the introduction of Application Insights last year, we would often see long-running support tickets between our partners and Microsoft to troubleshoot problems with Business Central. Application Insights changed that almost overnight by giving partners and even customers the option to see where problems are caused.

Although we did not do any exact math, we feel it is safe to say partners can save hundreds, if not thousands of euro’s by using Application Insights.

What exactly does it cost and how do I monitor it?

But what does Application Insights cost per tenant or per ISV Solution in AppSource and do the economics still apply?

Running an Application Insights resource in Azure is not free of charge. The first 5GB per month is paid for by Microsoft with a retention period of 90 days. This sounds like it should suffice and in most cases it does. However, some of our partners reported to us that they had examples where they had much more data than that which resulted in a cost of tens, even hundreds of euros per month to host Application Insights.

Together with Microsoft, we investigated the issues, and we feel we should share these experiences with you.

Executive summary

As an executive summary, the conclusion is that having an Application Insights instance that starts charging you for a Business Central tenants telemetry is a warning of problems as such. An average tenant should not produce enough telemetry to cause the invoicing process in Azure to start.

So, what can trigger Application Insights to explode, what can you do about it and lastly, how can you avoid having to pay hundreds of euros for an overflow of telemetry cause by, for example, an App from AppSource with programming errors.

We investigated a few instances that we have access to which were large. A few tenant instances, an AppSource ISV instance and an Embed App instance.

How to analyze the cost

To analyze which events cause the problem we used this KQL query that Microsoft provided and that they shared on GitHub now too.

traces

| where timestamp > ago(30d)

| project eventId = tostring( customDimensions.eventId )

| summarize count() by eventId

HELP! My Application Insights EXPLODES!

For now, we will ignore AL000EAV because Microsoft confirmed it as a bug. I will get back to that at the end of the blog.

We need to focus on the other events, RT0004, RT0019, RT0009 and RT0020. This means (Pre) Open Company and Web Service calls.

In fact, RT0019 is called 160.000 times which is the equivalent of once per second. In other words, someone is polling something, and the solution is probably to implement an event driven system like Azure Event Grid. The culprit here was a partner customization.

Let’s look at another example.

HELP! My Application Insights EXPLODES!

A whopping 67 million counts into a Web Service from Business Central. In fact, this happened on a few days with the 30 days period generating 50GB of telemetry on one single day generating a 300+ euro invoice for this ISV.

In this case we narrowed the problem to Azure Blob Storage called millions of times to ping if a file exists.

What does this cost exactly?

HELP! My Application Insights EXPLODES!

HELP! My Application Insights EXPLODES!

Don’t kill your own system

The examples we found that were overflowing Application Insights can all be related to software that behaves in a polling mechanism used for interfaces leading to excessive amounts of web service calls both inbound and outbound.

We believe Business Central is not designed for this and with the Azure world, better options exist that are event-driven rather than timer driven. Logic Apps and Azure Event Grid are just two examples that we will share more examples of in the near future.

Avoid large bills

Lastly, I promised to explain how to avoid getting large invoices for Application Insights. Your customers may install an App from AppSource that results in a cost on your tenant without you knowing.

Also, let’s be honest, a bug by Microsoft may also cause a lot of records in your systems and it would be fair not to have to pay the same company for that.

The solution is to cap the amount of data and setup email alerts in a case large number of events are created in the system.

For a Business Central tenant, we recommend capping on 50MB per day and raising an alert by email if one event id is created more than 5000 times per day. Of course, there can be exceptions to this rule.

ISV’s can limit to 1GB per day to start and let the system grow over time if the number of (hopefully paying) customers grows. We recommend ISV’s to look at Application Insights on a daily bases and monitor delta’s rather than just large numbers. You can also raise alerts if you see a new tenant id coming in which probably means someone installed your solution from AppSource.

You can read how to set this up on Microsoft Docs or by registering to the QBS Academy Application Insights Class.

Useful links:

Microsoft  BCTech AppInsights

Microsoft BCTech AppInsights FAQ

From Dynamics 365 Business Central to Business Applications

How do I move from Dynamics 365 Business Central into Business Applications?

When thinking about the next steps in the evolution of the Microsoft Business Applications platform, there are two, key things that need to be understood and recognized by partners currently proficient in Dynamics 365 Business Central.

They are, specifically, the Microsoft Power Platform and the Microsoft Dataverse.

The Power Platform and in particular, Power Apps bring huge potential for partners to expand their services portfolio and therefore, generate increased annuity revenue per customer around Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Knowing that the future of Dynamics 365 Business Central is linked to the Dataverse is only the start of the journey; Understanding what can be achieved through seamless integration with the Power Platform and Power Apps is crucial to being successful along the way.

What is the technology platform and why should I care?

The Power Platform consists of three component parts

  • Power BI
  • Power Automate
  • Power Apps

Power BI is all about creation of visual dashboards and making data-driven insights available to everyone.  Power Automate is all about enabling automation of business processes through workflow.

Power Apps is where it gets particularly interesting because partners can leverage Dynamics 365 Business Central virtual entities directly as if they were native Common Data Service entities meaning that Business Central data can be used outside of the application making this a genuine alternative to writing extensions in certain scenarios.

This new ability to build custom apps to solve common business challenges, with mobile device support by default is extremely powerful.  Consider a stock check app that a mobile device user can use to update data directly whilst only requiring lower cost Power Apps and Team Member licenses to enable this.

When we start to think outside of the traditional Business Central box, other scenarios also become apparent.  The possibility of creating deal and pipeline management capabilities for customers, based on the exact same account and contact set of data that is already within Business Central and surfaced through the common user interface, which is already familiar to all other flavors of Dynamics 365 Business Applications is an obvious example that springs to mind.

Of course, once these apps are created, they can be sold and deployed multiple times over, on an annuity revenue model, per user, per month, just like the Microsoft technologies they have been created to support, hence the increased revenue opportunities previously mentioned.

What are the challenges through this evolution?

Managing Dynamics 365 and Power Apps implementations are easy enough when you have a handful of clients but when they start to grow in number, there’s a need to be able to manage these at scale without incurring additional costs that would reduce profitability.

Keeping custom or vertical solutions built on the Dataverse up to date across multiple client tenants, ensuring consistency of versions whilst also protecting any intellectual property that is licensed to customers can also cause headaches.

However, many organizations today have found a better, more cost-effective way to build a scalable business model without increasing direct costs.

How can QBS Group help?

If you are looking for help in solving these common challenges and want a solution to manage all Dynamics 365 and PowerApps implementations in one place, the Cloud Partner Panel (CPP), available through QBS is perfectly placed to help.

The CPP is available for partners to use to manage their customer tenants and can enable:

  • More efficient management and monitoring of customers cloud environments
  • Easy deployment of and updates to custom or repeatable intellectual property (IP)
  • Protection for the monetization of cloud IP once it is deployed

There is also a range of architectural and development services available from QBS alongside technical training to really help partners go from concept to creation for their apps when evolving from Dynamics 365 Business Central to Business Applications.

Also interesting

Sign-up for Power Platform Special Interest Group – Final Friday Webcast

Training in Academy

Cloud Printing Service for Dynamics 365 Business Central

Printing in cloud scenarios can be a bit challenging, especially if the number of prints is relatively high and/or the printer is not modern (born in the cloud). Examples are zebra printers using ZPL streams and printing a CMR (freight document) using matrix printers. These printers are often a bit older and can be quite expensive to replace.

Printing should not be blocking any cloud migration so in order to connect older devices to Business Central we decided to share this repository on GitHub.

What does Print Service do?

Business Central allows you to store files in Azure Blob Storage with a simple HTTP request. These files can contain information required for printing such as a ZPL string or a PDF file.

The tool on GitHub allows you to run a windows service on any machine that has a connection to your local printers. Most often this will be an Azure Virtual Machine connected to the local network, but in theory, it can also be an old box sitting in a corner of your office with an internet connection.

Periodically the windows service will connect to the Azure Blob Storage and check for new files. The contents of this file can be processed and sent to any printer using software that is supported using DotNET Framework.

In the example, a ZPL string is sent to a Zebra printer using an open socket connection.

Optionally you can use any publicly available libraries to send contents of PDF files to printers in your network.

An example tool can be pdfprint.exe from VeryPDF.com. This can be executed from the Windows command prompt. Another option is to add SpirePDF to the project from nuget.org.

Author: Mark Brummel

Revised MB-800 preparation packs in the QBS Academy in 2021

QBS Group is now launching the revised offerings to help consultants with passing the MB-800: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant.

What are the changes in our MB-800 track and why?

Six months since the release of the MB-800 exam, QBS Academy has been providing a proven track to students with the MB-800 Core Specialist program, which is entirely self-learning and can be consumed at any time. To support QBS Group partners even better, we are now adding two additional elements to complete the learning journey.

This ensures students have a complete “zero to hero” path, from learning the subject to sitting the exam:

  1. A 3-hour Preparation Webinar with an Exam Specialist.
  2. Purchase Exam Vouchers directly from QBS Group.

Many seasoned NAV/BC Consultants in the QBS ecosystem may feel they possess enough practical knowledge about implementing NAV/BC, however, the exam is entirely focused on theoretical questions regarding BC SaaS. Identifying the correct answers can be very daunting even for expert resources. Without committing to our recommended MB-800 Core Specialist Program, their chances of passing the exam are greatly reduced. One good way to assist these resources who may not want to follow a structured program is to at least offer a Preparation Webinar. During this instructor-led Webinar students get to know the exact areas to prepare for the exam and gain practical insights on the exam questions and structure of the case study. Therefore, QBS Academy is launching a pack giving Preparation Webinar & Exam Voucher, equally beneficial to those wanting to complete their MB-800 Core Specialist journey and those willing to just sit the exam with minimum commitment. Note: Our recommendation path is that more experienced consultants sign up for the MB-800 Core Specialist Program. Even with several years of implementation experience with on-premises NAV and Business Central, the exam remains a tough one without a minimum of preparation.

 

Let us delve a bit deeper into the additional offerings:

The 3-hour Preparation Webinar

When a student completes the MB-800 Core Specialist Program and just before booking the exam, the student can enrol in one of the planned MB-800 Exam Preparation Webinars, hosted by an Exam Specialist. These Webinars run each month. Students can select the month of choice, which we recommend, which should coincide with the timeframe of the exam.

The Webinar will cover the following Agenda:

  • Introduction – Course overview
  • What is the MB-800 – Overview
  • What is MB-800 – Skills measured
  • Exam skills in-depth – Take the assessment
  • Exam skills in-depth  – Set up Business Central
  • Exam skills in-depth  – Configure financials
  • Exam skills in-depth  – Configure sales and purchasing
  • Exam skills in-depth  – Perform Business Central operations
  • How to get prepared  – Overview
  • How to get prepared – Microsoft Learn and Docs
  • How to get prepared – BC Booster
  • Practical Information – Overview
  • Practical Information – How to book the exam
  • Practical Information – How to use your voucher
  • Practical Information – Take the exam from home or the office
  • Practical Information – Retake the exam
  • Closing – Overview
  • Closing – Q&A

Purchase Exam Vouchers directly from QBS Group

There is an advantage in purchasing the Exam Voucher via QBS Group: students do not have to pay using a credit/debit card and then claim on expenses.

QBS Academy will issue an exam voucher to each student enrolled on one of the following new packs:

PACKS Time Investment Academy URL
MB-800 Prep Webinar + Exam Voucher (1 student) ½ Day LINK
MB-800 Core Specialist Program – Exam Preparation Pack (1 student – Webinar & Exam Voucher) Approx. 8 days study + ½ day Webinar LINK
MB-800 Core Specialist Program – Exam Preparation Pack (5 students – Webinar & Exam Voucher) BUNDLE OFFER Approx. 8 days study + ½ day Webinar LINK

NOTE: The Exam Voucher will be individually emailed by the QBS Academy Lead to each registrant following successful attendance on the webinar. Vouchers will not be issued upfront. Vouchers are valid for 12 months from the date of purchase. Vouchers cannot be traded or swapped for cash and are unique to the MB-800 exam. Vouchers are also geo-locked: this means they are issued according to the country of the student. They will not work in other country/locations.

 

 

 

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast 25 March 2021

This series of webcasts is intended to share the latest information on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and related ISV solutions, both from a technical, functional and business perspective.
And along the year we will keep you informed about the latest news from Microsoft biggest events like Inspire, Directions ASIA, North America and EMEA.

Topics – 25 March 2021

Part 1: Dynamics 365 Business Central Update
Dynamics 365 Business Central Update (12 Minutes)

Part 2: PowerPlatform and CRM update
PowerPlatform and CRM update (12 Minutes)

Part 3: Solitea.com
Solitea.com (12 Minutes)

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

Dynamics 365 Update Webcast

How to use the Dynamics 365 Business Central API with C# in Service-to-Service scenarios

A question that was raised more frequently than others lately is, how to use the Business Central API from C# in Service-to-Service scenarios?

Within the Business Central community, C# is the most frequently used language to code Azure Functions and Windows Services using DotNET core.

There are a few choices to make when deciding how to design your code and we’ll discuss the most important ones being security and structure of your classes.

Security

When you connect to Business Central using the API you have two choices. OAuth with tokens or Basic with a Web Service Access Key.

Using OAuth is the preferred solution which is promoted by Microsoft. The problem is that OAuth is only supported when the software calling into Business Central has the ability to provide a user interface.

This user interface is required to show a window to login and return the access token.

Business Central currently does not support OAuth in service-to-service scenarios except for the API that is handling the service tier itself.

That leaves you with the choice of going back to Basic authentication with a Web Service Access Key or to use Azure as the middle man.

Most examples that you can find online of authentication use the latter option and therefor this blog is about the other option that is hard to find information on.

Simplicity is the core value of Business Central and even though customers using Business Central have an Office 365 tenant, not everyone has their Azure tenant configured.

Using Azure as the middle man for security may be the easy way out for a developer, it requires each user of your solution to set this up in their Azure tenant.

The advice is to use Basic Authentication for Service-to-Service connections until Microsoft is finished with a final solution for OAuth in these scenarios.

Classes

There are two options when you design your solution to structure your classes. You can have them generated based on the metadata of the API endpoint or you can design your own classes.

Both options have pros and cons and the most important reason why the example repository creates its own classes is again simplicity and to explain clearly how the API works rather than working through a pile of generated code that will leave 95% unused.

In real life implementations, many developers will choose to generate the classes based on the endpoint, especially if the API has strong versioning like the one provided by Microsoft.

A strong exception would be if you only need a few API methods implemented or if the API is a custom API for a project and subject to change.

If changes to the API happen on a frequent basis, which is not recommended but happens often in real-life scenarios, you can be more flexible in your error handling if you define your classes yourself.

Rest Client

To send data back and forth your code needs a Rest Client and, in the example, we use the one from RestSharp. This is a very popular NuGet package. Another frequently used Rest Client is the Simple Client (Simple.OData.Client) which is also available as NuGet package.

Json Handling

Json is not native to C#. It was created for JavaScript and in order to use it in C# you can use either NewtonSoft or the new System.Text.Json from Microsoft. Both are created by the same person who works for Microsoft now.

You will most likely find out that both libraries have scenarios where they work and fail.

NewtonSoft Linq supports the use of JArray and JObject in a similar way as AL has the native JsonArray and JsonObject although you will find the NuGet libraries much more flexible and powerful.

Value

Each result that you get from Business Central has a wrapper with a tag called [Value]. In almost all cases you won’t need this in your code. The function ConvertToDataSet converts the result of an API call into a Json Array without the [Value] wrapper.

The API Endpoint

When Business Central is hosted by Microsoft the API endpoint has up to 6 variables that determine things like the Sandbox you are using (if any), the Tenant ID (obsoleted by OAuth) and the details about the API version, and group.

Learning more

To work effectively with the Business Central API it is important to have in-depth knowledge of Json and Rest. QBS Group offers a dedicated workshop to gain this knowledge.

Resources

Link to Github: https://github.com/qbsgroup/QBS.API.Example
https://www.kauffmann.nl/2021/01/07/deprecation-of-basic-auth-for-saas-has-been-postponed-to-2022/
https://www.kauffmann.nl/2020/09/14/service-to-service-authentication-for-automation-apis-in-business-central/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp_mzqzNvPA&t=1553s

Dynamics 365 & Power Platform – Special Interest Group

The Power Platform Special Interest Group is designed to help partners gain a deeper understanding of the capabilities of the Microsoft Power Platform and the business areas that can be positively impacted through adoption of this technology.

Covering a variety of topics including the Microsoft Dataverse, Power Apps (both Model-Driven Apps and Canvas Apps,) Power Automate and others, this group will also be used to provide insights into the QBS Cloud Toolbox and the benefits of using this to monitor and manage customers, deploy managed solutions and protect intellectual property.

Who is it for?

Both strategic leadership, pre-sales and technical roles should benefit from attending these webcasts.

The agenda will usually be split into two sections; Firstly, a value proposition session helping translate technical capabilities into business value and the impact that can be seen relating to specific scenarios.  Secondly, technical overviews, demonstrations, and examples of what can be achieved will also be provided.

Why should I attend?

This series of webcasts will share the latest information on Microsoft Dynamics 365, Power Platform and associated applications from a CRM perspective across business, functional and technical areas.

The webcasts are free of charge for partners with active QBS memberships, will last up to one hour in duration, and will also facilitate shared knowledge networking welcoming questions and partner contributions to the forum.

When is it?

The webcast runs on the final Friday of every month, 15:00 CET, 14:00 BST/GMT

Friday – February 25 – 15:00 CET, 14:00 BST/GMT
Friday – March 25 – 15:00 CET, 14:00 BST/GMT
Friday – April 29 – 15:00 CET, 14:00 BST/GMT
Friday – May 27 – 15:00 CET, 14:00 BST/GMT
Friday – June 24 – 15:00 CET, 14:00 BST/GMT
Friday – July 29 – 15:00 CET, 14:00 BST/GMT
Friday – August – 15:00 CET, 14:00 BST/GMT

Presenters

Chris Parkes
Chris Parkes
Dynamics 365 CRM and Power Platform specialist

Get Insights from Microsoft about the directions of Business Central in the SMB Channel

Michael Hartman, CEO of QBS Group, interviewed Mike Morton, General Manager Dynamics 365 Business Central at Microsoft.

What’s next for Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Prem? Where does Microsoft see the current and future target market for Dynamics 365 Business Central and which related technologies / solution areas will become more important for Business Central partners? Those are only a couple of questions that were answered during this interview.

“The vast majority of innovation will be delivered on BC SaaS – but it’s a journey to get there.”

Hear in this video the critical questions answered. Mike Morton states, that there will be support for individual releases and there are scenarios to keep the support going, there is no lifecycle ending in sight for Business Central in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the differentiator in the market is the Cloud offering and the adoption of Dynamics partners to deliver digitalization to their customers. As an example, Morton mentioned the Microsoft Teams integration.

Microsoft believes in Cloud/SaaS as the best place in the long run for customers. As an intermediate step going from an On-Prem solution to a hosted environment is a big step forward in the right direction. Morton takes away the fear of the too frequent update cycles with the argument that there is a maximum of innovation aligned with a traditional update cycle, which keeps stability, trust and flexibility.

What is the positioning strategy of Microsoft for Business Central versus Finance & Operations, beside the fact of the respective target markets? How does the competition landscape look and last, but not least, looking to the future – what is planned within the next 18-24 months and what is Mike Morton’s advice to the partners? Watch here the full interview.