Reporting Tools for Dynamics 365

For any organization, reports are an integral part to helping your team’s function whether it’s to pass information to your clientele or to discover realities.

There are many reporting tools for Dynamics 365. Some of the most common tools are:

• The built-in Report Wizard in Dynamics 365
• SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) and the Dynamics 365 Report Authoring Extension
• Flow
• Power BI

Which tool should you use? Well, that entirely depends on your use case. Below is an outline with a few of the top benefits and limitations of each:

Report Wizard in Dynamics 365

• Easy for a power user to create and configure
• Limited to connecting 2 relational datasets (i.e. a parent and child entity)
• Limited to a tabular or matrix format
• Can easily configure them to run from a single record or multiple
• Security is based on the Dynamics 365 users security role(s)
• Unable to schedule them on a recurring basis out of the box in Dynamics 365 online

SSDT with the Dynamics 365 Report Authoring Extension

• A power user can create these, but it may require a bit of upfront training
• Can connect more than 2 data sets using FetchXML
• Very flexible on how the report is formatted
  • Can display in a common tabular or matrix format
  • Can add images
  • Can add headers and footers
  • Can display multiple child tables (with the help of a sub report)
• Can add prompts (e.g. a date range, a team/user) to help end users running the report to filter the data
• Can add/remove sorting features
• Can adjust the width so that it is formatted properly for your export format of choice (Word, PDF, Excel, etc)
• Can import to Dynamics 365 which will then behave similar to one that was developed using the Dynamics 365 report wizard tool:
  • Can easily configure them to run from a single record or multiple
  • Security is based on the Dynamics 365 users security role(s)
  • Unable to schedule them on a recurring basis out of the box in Dynamics 365 online

Flow

• One of the main benefits of using Flow is that you can schedule the report to run on a recurring schedule out of the box. Additionally, you can then configure this report to be uploaded to SharePoint or emailed.
• A power user can create these, but it may require a bit of upfront training
• Formatting options are limited, but you can quickly build a simple report using an HTML table
• Security is generally based on the owner of the Flow

Power BI

• One of the main benefits of using Power BI is that you can connect data from disparate systems (not just Dynamics 365) to realize data/display realities for your teams
• A power user can create these, but it may require a bit of upfront training
• Power BI allows you to create mini visuals within dashboard. These visuals can consist of charts, graphs, maps, lists and more
• Security can be configured to prevent end users from accessing data that they shouldn’t see
• Allows end users to filter data by asking questions in their natural language
• Can easily configure the ability to drill into charts
• Most visuals can be interactive (including maps)
• Can be embedded to Dynamics 365
• Data isn’t displayed in real-time, but can be scheduled to refresh on a daily basis

Contact Beringer Today!

We love to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform solutions here at Beringer.  We’ve been working with Microsoft Dynamics since its inception, and we’re always finding innovative ways to implement the latest tools and help automate business processes.

Beringer Technology Group, a leading Microsoft Gold Certified Partner specializing in Microsoft Dynamics 365 and CRM for Distribution also provides expert Managed IT Services, Backup and Disaster Recovery, Cloud Based Computing, Email Security Implementation and Training, Unified Communication Solutions, and Cybersecurity Risk Assessment.