Help your staff, partners, and customers work better together with portal and e-commerce capabilities.
Using familiar browser technology and existing software skills, business portal and e-commerce capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics SL let you increase the productivity of people and teams, work more efficiently with your business partners, and be more responsive to customers. At the same time, these features can help you reduce the cost of doing business.
Provide team-collaboration capabilities through a Web browser
Many companies set up business portals to provide workers with better online access to collaborative functions, documents, and information. Without the right tools, implementation can be difficult and costly, but Microsoft Dynamics offers a portal solution that sets up easily, requires minimal continuing support, and enables tangible productivity improvements right from the start.
Business-portal capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics SL are built on well-proven Microsoft Office SharePoint Server technology and integrate smoothly with your business-management solution. With Microsoft Dynamics SL Business Portal, you can provide employees, field-service personnel, managers, customers, and partners with an effective framework for collaboration and information-sharing. Microsoft Dynamics SL gives these stakeholders a simple, efficient way to access information, applications, and processes online. With personalized gateways to Microsoft Dynamics SL that are based on business roles, people can work productively, no matter where they are.
Enable people and teams to be productive and in control
With Microsoft Dynamics SL Business Portal, teams can easily set up collaboration sites and pursue their goals with greater efficiency. Business Portal’s self-service human-resources functionality helps employees and managers control information and streamline administrative tasks, for example:
Simplify and control purchasing. Requisition Management in Business Portal lets employees submit purchase requisitions online, where managers can approve and send them automatically to the purchase order system in your business-management system. You can reduce paperwork and data-entry errors, and drive costs down by consolidating items and orders for better vendor terms. Customize the solution to ensure that the right people review and approve requisitions, and set up automatic e-mail notification to make certain all requisitions receive timely consideration.
Reduce the costs and increase the effectiveness of project management. Project Time & Expense in Business Portal lets managers not only monitor and approve project costs and time spent, but also helps them drive better project efficiencies. Customer billing based on Project Time & Expense can be more accurate and timely, making it possible to receive and book payments sooner.
Keep managers informed and empowered
Executives and managers can use Business Portal's Executive Center to promote success based on smart decisions. You can publish data and reports from your business-management solution to the people who need to steer the business course, or export queries to Microsoft Office Excel for further analysis. In addition, Microsoft Dynamics SL Business Portal can play a vital role in performance and compliance management, for example:
Fast-track business-performance management. Executives and managers need to be in touch with the true pulse of the business. Provide them with key performance indicators (KPIs) for Business Portal, so they can review business performance by KPIs, get a read on trends, and direct the organization toward its goals. Microsoft Dynamics SL comes with 20 pre-defined KPIs and makes it easy to set up additional ones. Requiring a minimal time investment, KPI management in Business Portal in Microsoft Dynamics SL can yield significant performance payoff.
Reduce the cost and complexity of compliance. Implementing business portals using Microsoft Dynamics SL with the Microsoft Office Solution Accelerator for Sarbanes-Oxley helps to ensure that your managers take all the steps necessary to document full compliance. Use Business Portal in Microsoft Dynamics SL to keep compliance-related documents and data available in a secure manner for your financial managers and auditors.
Become a preferred vendor and trading partner
Business Portal features within Microsoft Dynamics SL let you add value to your relationships with key customers and suppliers by offering an uninterrupted online presence. Build custom portals for customers and suppliers to give them access to functions and information they need, and make it easy for them to do business with your organization. By running detailed queries on customers' and suppliers' dealings with your business, you can manage the vital relationships more closely and productively, spot emerging customer needs and plan to meet them, and derive better results from the key elements of your supply chain. Microsoft Dynamics SL helps you:
Get documents to the right people at the best time. With Electronic Document Delivery for Business Portal, you can streamline communications with your customers and trading partners and respond consistently to customer needs. Customize and automate the setup and e-mail distribution of business documents, using practical, flexible templates. Choose from a variety of efficient, widely used document formats, and let Microsoft Dynamics SL track delivery and receipt.
Increase customer satisfaction and sales results. Using Order Management for Business Portal, customers can enter their orders online at their convenience, review order status, and enjoy prompt, responsive service from your company. Your sales associates can concentrate on supporting those customers who require hands-on assistance. For even better results, integrate Business Portal Order Management with your business-management solution for the most efficient, cost-effective processing of orders and sales.
Provide better service to partners and customers with e-commerce
Microsoft Dynamics SL e-commerce capabilities give you the flexibility to make e-business a part of your everyday business. Key to this is the Microsoft Dynamics SL Desktop, a browser-based portal that connects all employees within your organization, as well as business partners outside the organization, to the business applications they are authorized to access.
Microsoft Dynamics SL Web Order gives staff and customers the ability to enter orders over the Internet; check order status any time, day or night; and inquire into current inventory availability and pricing.
Microsoft Dynamics SL eCommerce Gateway–EDI Edition works with Microsoft Dynamics SL Order Management to help integrate and automate business transactions with customers, vendors, and remote warehouses.
Compare Microsoft Dynamics SL editions and features
With assistance from your Microsoft partner, you can choose from two editions of pre-selected (packaged) software functionality available for Microsoft Dynamics SL. If you need functionality in addition to what's included in the edition you choose, you have the flexibility to add select components. The table below compares what's available with the Business Essentials and Advanced Management editions, as well as add-on components.
Feature | Business Essentials | Advanced Management | Available to add on |
|---|
Business Portal | | | |
Business Portal Named Employee Users (1) | | | |
Business Portal Named Employee Users (various ranges) | | | Advanced Management Enterprise only |
BP Named Vendor/Customer Users (various ranges) | | | Advanced Management Enterprise only |
Key
= Feature available with Advanced Management Enterprise options. You must have the Advanced Management edition to get features marked Advanced Management Enterprise only.
= Feature available to add on to either edition
