How to Build a Performance Dashboard for Business Central Using Power BI
You link Business Central data, pick performance management metrics, and make interactive visuals to watch Business Central performance. Users often say they have problems like:
Moving between pages takes too long
Too many extensions or hard customizations
Slow performance can cause double orders and money mistakes.
Finding out why things are slow helps you choose better actions.
Key Takeaways
Link Business Central data to Power BI for one clear view of how your business is doing. This connection gives you up-to-date information and helps you make better choices.
Pick simple and important performance metrics that match your business goals. Good metrics help you see how well people work and how much they get done.
Use Power BI visuals to spot and fix slow performance problems. Making visuals simpler and using fewer data points can make the dashboard faster.
Performance Management Tools
To watch and improve how Business Central works, you need good tools. You can use Performance Profiler, Application Insights, and Visual Studio Code. These tools help you see how Business Central is running and fix slowdowns.
Performance Profiler
Performance Profiler lets you record what happens in business processes. You can start and stop recordings for any process you want to check. The tool shows which apps are running and how much time each app takes. You see results grouped by app name or publisher. This helps you find slow spots and make things faster.
You can record what users do and see main performance details in the web client. The profiler uses sampling, so results might change a little each time.
The profiler records data for certain situations.
It shows data in a clear way, with time spent on each app.
You can look for slow spots and make things work better.
Application Insights
Application Insights helps you watch performance while you build things. You can set up live monitoring and pick what data to collect, like requests, errors, traces, and metrics. This tool tracks lots of things, like user onboarding, database blocks, sign-in rates, and wait times.
Visual Studio Code Integration
Visual Studio Code helps you manage performance by letting you debug and fix code. You can set breakpoints, use the Event Recorder, and check variables. You can also make database queries better and use error handling to help performance.
Use Business Central's debugger to find and fix problems.
Add try-catch blocks to handle errors.
Make queries better with filters and table links.
Use AL's FlowFields and FlowFilters for calculated fields.
These tools give you the info you need to spot slowdowns and make your system better. You can use all of them together to get a full picture of how Business Central is working.
Dashboard Design in Power BI
Connecting Business Central Data
First, you connect Business Central data to Power BI. This lets you see business info in one place. You need a Business Central account and a Power BI account. Make sure you have Power BI Desktop on your computer. Your data should be available through APIs or OData web services. Microsoft says APIs work better and are more stable.
Here are the steps to connect your data:
Open Power BI Desktop.
Click Get Data.
Pick Online Services.
Choose Dynamics 365 Business Central (on-premises) and click Connect.
Sign in to Business Central.
Power BI shows the Navigator window with data sources.
Pick the data sources you want and click Load.
Do these steps again to add more data later.
Power BI uses the Data Access managed API to show tables from Business Central as REST API endpoints. This keeps your integration current and helps avoid data problems. You can use API pages or queries for quick access to business entities. OData web services are also there, but APIs work faster and better.
Security is important when you connect Business Central to Power BI. You need to set up role-based access so only the right people see sensitive data. Microsoft Azure protects your data with encryption and strong security.
Selecting Performance Metrics
You need to choose good performance metrics for your dashboard. Good metrics help you track engagement, productivity, and satisfaction. Pick KPIs that match your business goals. Make sure each metric is clear and easy to measure. Link every KPI to a result that matters for your team. Use benchmarks to compare and keep your list short.
KPIs need context. Compare them to baselines and look for trends.
Dashboards should give clear insights for better decisions.
You can track employee engagement, satisfaction, and talent management to see how your team feels and works.
Human resource metrics like recruitment and onboarding show how well you bring in new talent.
Talent acquisition strategies help you find and keep the best people.
Onboarding metrics show how fast new hires become productive.
Employee experience and satisfaction scores show if your team feels valued.
If you see lower productivity, check for slow performance causes like database size and indexing or data management problems.
You can make custom metrics in Power BI by building a scorecard. Add the metrics you want, connect to your telemetry report, and set up alerts. You can get notifications in Teams or by email when something needs attention.
Visualizing Slow Performance Issues
You use Power BI visuals to spot slow performance and its causes. Charts and tables help you see where problems happen. For example, you can use the Performance Analyzer in Power BI to find which measures slow down your dashboard. Sometimes, one measure causes most of the delay. Fixing it can make your dashboard much faster.
You can make slow visuals faster by simplifying measures.
Use built-in visuals instead of custom ones for better speed.
Use Top 100 filters to make dashboards load faster and use less memory.
Dashboards can show the most viewed screens, slow queries, and performance metrics. This helps you spot problems before they block users.
Improve Application Performance Best Practices
You can make your dashboard work better by following best practices. Start by knowing your goals and your audience. Pick metrics that match your goals and use visuals that fit your data. Organize info so users find what they need fast. Add interactivity so users can explore data and make good choices.
Make data models better and use efficient DAX formulas.
Use fewer visuals on each report page.
Clean up your data model for faster speed.
Make data relationships simple and use a star schema.
Load only the data you need and group it when possible.
Filter data at the source and use query folding for better speed.
Test your dashboard with big datasets to avoid slowdowns.
Use asynchronous data loading and lazy loading for faster experience.
Make images and assets smaller to load faster.
Keep your dashboard updated and improve it with user feedback.
Do not make mistakes like putting too much data on dashboards, using colors that do not match, or forgetting to highlight key metrics. Make labels clear and layouts simple. A clean design helps users focus and stay engaged.
If you want to make your database faster, watch for issues like database size and indexing. Good data management keeps dashboards running smoothly and stops data problems. By following these steps, you make dashboards that boost productivity, help human resource management, and improve talent management. You help your team make better choices and improve the employee experience.
You can make a performance dashboard for Business Central with Power BI. First, connect your data. Next, pick the most important metrics. Then, show where things are slow.
You get live updates and special reports to find problems quickly.
Sharing dashboards helps teams work together and make choices.
Checking often and using automation makes things work better and keeps your system healthy.
Keep making your dashboard better to save time, work faster, and handle business problems easily.
FAQ
How can you use Power BI to improve hr performance?
Power BI lets you look at hr data easily. You can see how employees are doing over time. It helps you find problems in hr. You can also check how talent is growing. This makes it easier to make good hr choices for each employee.
What metrics should you track for employee and hr dashboards?
Track how happy employees are and how well hr works. You should also check if people stay or leave. Watch how fast you hire new people and how they start. These numbers show what hr does well and what employees need.
Why is employee experience important for hr and talent management?
Employee experience helps talent grow stronger. When you care about what employees need, hr gets better. You keep talent interested and help everyone do their best.
Tip: Use Power BI to let all employees see hr dashboards. This helps hr teams and talent managers work together. You can watch how employees do and make talent plans better.