After each of the two major “Wave” releases, I enjoy sitting back and sharing the few items I like best about the update for Dynamics Business Central. Remember, I look at it from a different point of view than many users and consultants. I tend to look at it more from a Why Microsoft, Why Dynamics, and a User’s Experience point of view. Before we dive in, a fun fact about why the releases are called “Wave 1” (April) and “Wave 2” (October). They used to be called Spring and Fall releases, but then Microsoft realized it was not being inclusive to those in the Southern Hemisphere. Using Wave instead of the seasons makes more sense. So – Wave 2 which launched October 1, 2020 (officially named Business Central Update Version 17.0) had many changes throughout the solution. Here is where you can find the ENTIRE LIST of features planned to be released from October 2020 through March 2021. Here are my favorite things – some are available now and some will roll out later in this Wave 2 release:
1) Restoring environments to a point in time in the past – Public Preview Dec 2020 | General Availability Feb 2021
- Don’t worry – ALL of your environments are already backed up but there are times when customers need to recover their data to a point in time in the past, in case it was damaged as a result of an unintended action by a user or developer.
2) Business Central Company Hub – General Availability October 2020
- This is the next generation of the Accountant Hub. This is perfect for users with multiple companies who want to have an easy way of accessing them.
3) Business Central in Microsoft Teams – Public Preview October 2020 | General Availability Dec 2020
- This is another win for the Why Microsoft bucket? Only the beginning now, but the use of Business Central inside of teams is going to get better with every future release.
4) Improved accessibility for low-vision users – General Availability October 2020
- As someone that wears glasses and struggles with screen use at times, these new accessibility improvements are a great direction for inclusion and user experience.
5) Pages with FactBoxes are more responsive – General Availability October 2020
- We live in a world of not being patient. With this new improvement, users can start viewing and interacting with page content more quickly.
So, this list can go on and on, but I will let you decide your favorite too. If you want to review any of the updated features, please let us know. There are so many listed in the wave 2 release guide. Do not forget, many of these features and those included in each wave upgrade are suggestions from end-users! Please help Microsoft improve Dynamics 365 Business Central by discussing ideas, providing suggestions, and giving feedback. Use the forum at https://aka.ms/bcideas. If there’s anything about the Wave 2 Business Central update that you’re excited about, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter, or contact us here at sa.global to continue the conversation!
