Using Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations embedded reporting and analytics

Editor's Note: The author will be presenting a new webcast on Friday, November 30, featuring key facts about data and analytics in Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations.

Microsoft understands that although most people interact with business applications daily, a small minority of employees have access to analytical insights. The company intends to make Power BI as ubiquitous as Excel for business users to federate analytics across the organization. With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (D365FO) delivered as cloud-based ERP, the promise of delivering analytics to the masses has never been closer to becoming a reality.

D365FO recently introduced Embedded Reporting and Analytics that empower and enrich the user experience for all users. There are three different ways to embed analytics into your D365FO application: Operational Workspaces, Analytical Workspaces (also referred to as "embedded PBI"), and Embedded PowerBI.com. Embedded PBI and Embedded PowerBI.com are two different capabilities that are implemented very differently.

Embedded Operational Workspaces

Operational Workspaces help D365FO users manage and prioritize daily tasks and track items that require attention. Operational Workspaces provide big picture statistics with drill down capability for examining detailed transactions. An example is a tile that lists the number of unapplied customer payments, with a drill down to the associated detailed payments requiring settlement. These workspaces directly access the D365FO transactional data (also referred to as "D365 OLTP," or "AxDB") real time, and are relatively easy to personalize.