Dynamics GP Database Specialist

07/08/2025

Experience something like this in your implementation projects?

Scope creep is something almost every project professional encounters.

25/05/2024

It is natural that you as Dynamics GP professionals are becoming champions too.

Let me share one topic today:
"Understanding Data Export Options in Dynamics 365 FinOps"

Let's explore the differences between using OData and the Bring Your Own Database (BYOD) feature, and when to use each for optimal results.

OData for Real-Time Reporting

OData services provide a direct link to your FinOps operational data. This is perfect when you need up-to-date, real-time data for your reports. It's easy to set up and ideal for simpler reporting needs where the volume of data isn't overwhelming.

Pros:
- Real-time data access
- Simple setup
- Ideal for less complex reports

Cons:
- Not suited for large datasets
- Limited by network performance
- Potential impact on operational database performance

BYOD for Complex Reporting

BYOD, on the other hand, is your go-to when dealing with large volumes of data or when you need to perform complex transformations. It allows you to export data entities into your own SQL database, which you can then use for extensive reporting and analytics.

Pros:
- Handles large datasets efficiently
- Allows for complex queries and transformations
- Reduces load on the operational database

Cons:
- Requires additional setup and maintenance
- Not real-time (depends on data refresh strategy)

Power BI Performance

When it comes to Power BI reports, BYOD can offer better performance. This is because BYOD allows for pre-aggregation of data, which means you can summarize and transform data before it hits your reports, leading to faster load times and less strain on your operational database.

Summary

In essence, if you require real-time data and simpler reports, OData might be the better option. However, if you need to handle large volumes of data, perform complex transformations, or integrate with other systems, BYOD would be more appropriate. It’s also worth noting that BYOD can provide better performance for Power BI reports because it allows for pre-aggregation of data and can reduce the load on the operational database.

Conclusion

Both OData and BYOD have their place in the FinOps ecosystem. Understanding when to use each will help you make informed decisions and ensure your reports are both powerful and efficient. Happy reporting!

Key points as reference of Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (FinOps) and the BYOD feature:

# # # BYOD Feature in FinOps
- **Data Export**: Allows full and incremental data push to an external database.
- **Flexibility**: You can define SQL databases to export entity data for analytics.
- **Batch Integration**: Leverages batch framework for periodic exports.
- **T-SQL Access**: Enables using Transact-SQL for custom reporting and analytics.
- **Data Entities Enhancement**: Supports adding new attributes or creating new entities.

# # # Customization and Data Entities
- **Direct Customization**: Custom fields can be added without BYOD, directly within FinOps apps.
- **Enhanced Entities**: Can be exposed as OData services for integration with FinOps apps.
- **Development**: Enhancements to entities simplify development and customization.

# # # Adding New Columns to Data Entities
- **Extending Data Model**: New fields can be added to entities for reporting needs.
- **Publishing to BYOD**: Updated entities with new fields can be exported to BYOD.
- **Integration with Apps**: New fields are integrated with FinOps apps for use in forms and reports.

# # # BYOD Database Structure
- **Views Representation**: Data entities are represented as views in the BYOD database.
- **Read-Only Access**: The views are read-only; direct data manipulation is not recommended.

# # # Synchronization and Reporting
- **One-Way Sync**: Data is exported from FinOps to BYOD; not the other way around.
- **Power BI Reporting**: BYOD is better for large datasets and complex transformations, while OData is suitable for real-time, up-to-date data.

I hope this keypoints helps. If you have any input for me, or you need any more information or clarification from me, feel free to reach out! 😊

22/09/2023

As I embraced the MERGE statement, I couldn’t help but smiled. I hailed it as a gift from the database gods, a magic spell that could transform our cumbersome scripts into poetry...

07/09/2023

Long-Running Transactions:
Financial Systems Perspective

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/long-running-transactions-financial-systems-mario-kresnadi?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&utm_campaign=share_via

28/04/2021

For certain things, such as mass delete inventory items, Macro is still the best utility tool there is. 'Best' here refers to the safest and easiest access.

24/09/2020

The evolution of business intelligence (BI) technology is enabling richer and more exciting visualisation of data easily. When I started embracing BI about 10 years ago, there was a lack of BI front-end tools. We built dashboard in a hard way, manually developed it using .Net, SSRS and Sharepoint. It took weeks and months. was already around since 2004, but as it is a non-Microsoft product, my organisation didn't want me to touch it. Note that there was no Power BI at that time.

Tableau allows you to build interactive, exploratory and visual dashboard quick and easy. I use the same global coffee roaster data to build a dashboard in minutes. So cool, making data discovery a breeze. You see in the video, it makes you to ask. The upsurge in the chart makes you want to discover what contributes to the peak. Click the peak and it becomes your filter, and all other measures in the dashboard responses.

Having said this, think long-range even when you are building a “quick dashboard.” You can do a lot with custom calculations, filtering and custom SQL in Tableau but the question is, should you? Instead, do the complicated calculations in the backend database whenever possible. We have invested lots of work to come up with validated, well-thought calculated fields and user-friendly field names source data in our . Leverage this, instead of circumvent all these works by dumping data into and transforming it yourself in Tableau. You dont want to turn up at meetings and your numbers don’t match up, do you?

21/09/2020

When we talk about business intelligence and data visualization, Power BI and Tableau are the best tools in the market today. It is always a crucial battle for data analyst to choose the most suitable one for their data. Well, both has their own strengths. I look at Power BI for small businesses, mainly due to its cost and the fact that they normally has relatively small size of dataset. It is quite cheaper and provide all the necessary features to fulfill the small and medium business needs. (Below is the screenshot of
I build it from scratch combining two data sources, Excel and Web, in less than 15 minutes. You see how fast you can build interactive data visualization for your decision makers).
On the other hand, if your business is large enough then you should consider Tableau. Because it is the most powerful data visualization tool that can work at any scale of business. I'll present Tableau in my next post.

28/04/2020

As an IT system enabler, I have only one thing to say, "be specific and we'll deliver." 100%.

21/03/2020

Database mirroring is a solution for increasing the availability of a SQL Server database. It may be as part of your Disaster Recovery plan.
While setting up SQL Mirroring, at the end of the process as we start mirroring we may receive the following:

"The server network address “TCP://SQLServer:5023” cannot be reached or does not exist.
Check the network address name and that the ports for the local and remote endpoints are operational.
(Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 1418)"

Do not worry, verify the following:
1: Make sure that on Mirror Server the database is restored with NO RECOVERY option.
2: Make sure that from Principal the latest LOG backup is restored to mirror server. (Full backup restore won’t be good enough).
3: Check if you can telnet to your ports using command
4: Make sure your firewall is turned off.
5: Make sure the service accounts for Principal, Mirror, (and Witness) are in the respective instances.
6: Delete the end points especially on the Witness server, and recreate them.

18/02/2020

As small and medium businesses, you may not have a failover in place. So what if your database server crashes?
The backups your databases is crucial, but when things really go wrong, you can call us for the rescue.
Within your disaster recovery SLA, we'll take care of your SQL Server installation, restore data up to the last minute, logins, Clients connections, integrating applications, automations, reportings, etc

28/03/2018

This is my migrating transactions from to other system.

18/03/2018

Make use of your declining-in-price to pay our services as we peg the price for two months till 17 May 2018. Regardless bitcoin price increase decrease we fix the price.