The enterprise resource planning (ERP) market is expected to exceed $105 billion by the end of 2024 and continue this growth well into 2025. ERP solutions can help businesses consistently monitor spend, track financial activities, automate processes, reduce manual labour and admin, improve planning, refine management, and take better control of its health. The feature sets embedded within an ERP platform can fundamentally transform how an organisation performs from a granular level through to strategic overviews that lead to better decision-making.
However, finding this value depends on several factors and the most important is selecting an ERP that fits your business. Larger or more complex organisations may have different requirements from their ERP platform compared to smaller or more streamlined companies. Some ERP platforms may have both back and front office functions built in to provide a more comprehensive suite of services. Choosing the one you need comes down to your unique business profile and strategic expectations.
Two of the leading products within this market are currently Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Dynamics Business Central. They each offer an impressive set of tools to your business, but they are different in their capabilities and range. This breakdown below is designed to help you unpack the differences between the two so you can find the perfect fit.
01: A cloud ERP just for me
Business Central is an ERP for the small to medium enterprise (SME). It is part of the Microsoft Dynamics ERP solution stack and provides an all-in-one business application designed to help the SME manage finance, operations, projects and sales within a flexible architecture.
Dynamics 365 provides enterprises with a market leading ERP system capable of integrating into the business to provide a premium, real-time solution that features intelligent data and predictive analytics within a secure and trusted cloud architecture.
02: All-in-one vs. Just the one
Business Central forms part of the Dynamics 365 product set, providing a highly targeted ERP solution designed to refine your business processes and improve the overall management and control of your business ecosystem. This platform specialises in providing you with improved management capabilities in finance, sales and operations, among other key ERP functions – helping you to centralise your data and visibility in one space.
Dynamics 365 is a vast and immersive environment that includes a huge variety of products and services you can use to optimise your enterprise across multiple levels. You will find ERP applications that include Business Central, Supply Chain Management, Project Operations, Commerce, and Finance. You will also find customer relationship management (CRM) applications that include Sales, Marketing, Customer Service and Field Service.
03: Specialised benefits to suit your business
The table below shows you some of the key differences between Microsoft Business Central and the Microsoft Dynamics 365 ecosystem. While it doesn’t include every feature and benefit, it gives you a very clear idea as to which solution is best suited to your business.
| Microsoft Business Central | Microsoft Dynamics 365 |
| The core focus here is to provide a dedicated ERP platform | A comprehensive suite of financial, operational and sales services are included |
| Management tools for finance, sales and supply chain | Includes the ERP capabilities of Business Central alongside sales and marketing automation and customer service tools within a CRM package |
| Ideally suited to SMEs | Ideally suited to enterprises seeking a comprehensive suite of services that can consolidate within their entire architecture |
| Delivers operational efficiencies and streamlines back-office functions | Improves both front and back-office operations within a consolidated environment |
| Perfect for companies wanting to laser focus on optimising financial management and operations | Perfect for companies wanting operational efficiencies and improved customer relationship management |
| Customisable, scalable, flexible and adaptable to meet changing business environments and market needs for growing companies | Customisable, scalable, flexible and adaptable to meet changing business environments and market needs on an enterprise and global scale |
| User friendly, low barrier to entry for companies already using the Microsoft ecosystem, reliable and with ongoing support | User friendly, low barrier to entry for companies already using the Microsoft ecosystem, reliable and with ongoing support |
| Mint’s experienced team provides exceptional support and technical advisory services through the selection, implementation, and enhancement cycles to ensure your ERP solution grows with your business. | Mint’s expert team provides hands-on expertise, support and advisory services to ensure every product within this ecosystem meets the enterprise’s changing needs. |
