Integrating Dynamics 365 CRM and Power BI 

Published: 3 October 2022

Before we talk about integrating Dynamics 365 CRM and Power BI, firstly, let's briefly define what exactly Power BI is and what it does.

What is Power BI?

Power BI is software (including apps and connectors) that works to bring together separate sources of data to create visual, interactive reports and KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators). The data can come from sources like excel spreadsheets, business applications or data warehouses. Using Power BI allows you to delve deep into your data and create shareable, comprehensive reports. 

Integrating Power BI and Dynamics 365 CRM

Dynamics 365 CRM users can and should integrate with Power BI. While Dynamics does have its own reporting tools, they won’t give you as much detail or flexibility as a tool like Power BI can. Dynamics 365 covers everything from customer relationships to suppliers to sales and marketing and more. As a result, using Power BI in conjunction with Dynamics allows you to pull data from all these departments, generating reports and dashboards. 

Integrating your software can give you insights into performance, boost productivity, and increase revenue. This can help your sales teams make better business decisions and help you manage your business effectively. 

Advantages of Integrating Dynamics 365 CRM and Power BI

  • Visualisations

People find data easier to consume when it comes in visual form. Correspondingly, Power BI has a lot of tools that allow you to produce interactive reports, graphs and charts.

  • Connects with other sources

Power BI can pull information from not only Dynamics, but it also connects to other platforms. You can use data from ERP, Excel or web-data assets. 

  • Real time reports

Reports automatically update with the most recent information. They can be read and modified anywhere, which makes them particularly useful for remote workers and reporting on the go.

  • Better Customer Service

With improved reporting you can better assess the needs of your customers. You have visibility of outstanding customer issues or requests. What are they buying or not buying? When are contracts up?

  • Customisable Dashboards 

Many organisations spend a lot of time manually pulling data together to meet their reporting needs.  The creation of reports and dashboards using Dynamics and Power BI is quick and easy.

There are many more added benefits: the ability to embed reports, charts and more into Dynamics dashboards, creating and customising fields easily and the ability to schedule data updates to name just a few.
 

Summary 

The importance of using your data to its full capacity cannot be understated. You can improve overall service levels and analyse your marketing campaigns to see customer trends and calculate ROI. Together Power BI and Dynamics will turn your business into a data driven organisation.  

If you want to find out more about using Power BI with Dynamics, then feel free to get in touch. Our CRM experts would love to chat to you about your reporting needs. 

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