How North Central Sight Services, Inc. Optimized D365 Business Central Data Access with Popdock  

North Central Sight Services Inc. is a not-for-profit dedicated to empowering individuals who are blind or visually impaired through rehabilitation, employment opportunities, and a variety of community services. After migrating from Microsoft Dynamics GP to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, they needed a better way to build reports. While the transition brought new capabilities, it also introduced reporting challenges, as D365 Business Central’s native reports lacked the depth their team needed. Especially in comparison to Dynamics GP SmartLists.

During their ERP selection process, Vice President of Technology Brandon DeArment and his team chose Cargas as their vendor, who connected them with eOne Solutions. “We were looking for a solution that would give us lists similar to what we had in GP,” DeArment said. “That’s where Cargas stepped in and said, ‘Why don’t you look at Popdock? We think that would be a good solution to give you what you need’– and it has been.”

The team likes it (Popdock) a lot. It incorporates right into D365 Business Central. They don’t have to go out to a different website—they’re really happy with it.

Brandon DeArment–Vice President of Technology

When North Central Sight Services transitioned from Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central, they quickly encountered reporting roadblocks. Their team had relied heavily on SmartLists in GP to generate critical reports, particularly for government contracts.

In an attempt to improve reporting, they turned to Microsoft Power BI but ran into another challenge. “We started using Power BI to generate reports and dashboards, but I was having issues getting to the data in [D365] Business Central,” he said. “I had a hard time understanding the data structure and the table names were not easily understandable.”

At the same time, North Central Sight Services stores their historical data in an Azure data lake, and they needed a way to access it while still keeping Dynamics GP operational for their accounting team.

With reporting limitations in D365 Business Central, difficulties accessing data for Power BI, and the challenge of maintaining access to historical GP data, North Central Sight Services needed a better way to bridge the gap.

Solutions: Popdock’s Query Builder & More

 “One thing I did find useful – we started using Power BI to generate a lot of reports and dashboards, but I was having issues getting to the data in [Dynamics 365] Business Central. Then I found I could do it through Popdock. I connected from Power BI to Popdock, and that worked out great,” DeArment said. Power BI can be complicated as it requires report writers to create API endpoints or OData web services to access data. This means you’d need a PowerBI developer to complete this exercise for you. However, with the help of Popdock’s Query Builder report writers have direct access to the tables and have clearly labeled data to work with making it much easier for an end user to create these reports themselves.

With features like Query Builder, Popdock not only reads the tables but also translates complex table names into clear, user-friendly terms. Popdock not only makes it easier to work with Dynamics 365 Business Central data, but it can also clean that data up for Power BI. This makes it easier to navigate Dynamics 365 Business Central’s data structure, so users can quickly identify the information they need without guessing or deciphering cryptic table names.

By leveraging Popdock, they were also easily able to access historical data stored in an Azure Data Lake while keeping Dynamics GP running temporarily. “Our data is in a data lake in Azure,” he said. “We access it through Popdock.”

With Popdock’s Query Builder, North Central Sight Services recreated critical reports that were previously built in Dynamics GP, improving the transition from Dynamics 365 Business Central.

“We had a daily KPI report in [Dynamics] GP that tracked sales against budgets—year-to-date, month-to-date—so everyone knew where we stood,” De Arment said. “When we migrated to [D365] BC, we lost that ability, but with Popdock’s Query Builder, we were able to almost identically mimic [our daily KPI report from Dynamics GP] and continue generating those reports every day. That was a big plus.”

Beyond KPIs, Query Builder made it easy to generate inventory reports required for compliance. “We have to track inventory and ensure we’re meeting obligations for on-time deliveries,” he said. “In [Dynamics] GP, we used lists to pull that data, and it was easy to recreate those in Popdock. Now, our customer service team relies on those reports to upload information where it’s needed.”

By using Query Builder, North Central Sight Services maintained the reporting workflows they depended on, ensuring continuity and efficiency post-migration.

Popdock has proven to be a game-changer for DeArment and the team at North Central Sight Services, simplifying their reporting process and making data access easier than ever. As DeArment explained: “We needed something that would replicate SmartLists, and it did a great job of that.”

What stood out the most to DeArment was how intuitive and user-friendly Popdock was, even for someone unfamiliar with the intricacies of the old system. “It was easy to use… I had to learn along with the team, and it was fun!”

The integration of Popdock with Dynamics 365 Business Central allowed the team to effortlessly generate custom lists and access data for Power BI, saving time and frustration. “I just like how easy it is to get the data and get it all into one report,” he said, adding that the process was far simpler than expected, especially compared to his previous experience with SQL.

The team quickly adapted to Popdock’s capabilities, and now, with it integrated right into [D365] Business Central, “They don’t have to go out to a different website. It’s right on our [D365] BC page,” DeArment said. The quick adoption and positive feedback highlight how effective Popdock has been at transforming their reporting workflows.

For those considering Popdock: DeArment has a clear message: “It’s great. It’s easy to use. You can generate all kinds of different lists that you need. And you guys are great to work with too.”