Microsoft dynamics 365 integration without customization

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Integration without Customization

Speaking of digital economy, technology and business process automation are the integral components for success. Therefore, you need to look for an automated integration solution for your Dynamics 365 and EDI – without customizations. No matter what professional field you belong to – ranging from retail, CPG, distribution, manufacturing or even in the automotive and food industry – your business purely depends on two vital business applications – ERP and EDI.

 Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) - ERP works to improve the performance of your business processes from your particular software system. Divided into a number of components such as Financial Accounting, Customer Relationship Management and Manufacturing Resource Planning, ERP controls the financial, manufacturing, inventory and business execution part of your software  Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) – EDI is simply a computer-to-computer exchange of business data between two business partners, done in electrical format. Therefore, it handles the transactions between you and your supply chain, such as customers, logistics organizations, banks, suppliers and others.

What are the challenges to integration?

The two business applications – ERP and EDI – should ideally be connected, but most companies are not connected at all. All the information handled by these systems is the same, but the ERP context and format may vary greatly across different ERP systems, and maybe, even yours.

Therefore, the data needs to be examined and formatted accordingly to the specific ERP prior using. This can be done by approaches such as staging tables and complex data formatting which could adversely affect your ERP updates and modifications. Moreover, these customizations also require frequent manual involvement and proper automation.

Some of the other challenges faced by companies that work on ERP customization projects for EDI integrations –    

Expensive ERP integrations that can greatly affect the project as a whole.

Most ERP upgrades are also time-consuming and are extremely expensive.

High and constant ERP modification is necessary to activate any changes to the EDI. Incomplete or unsuccessful transactions are common due to the lack of transaction lifecycle audits and faulty ERP transactions and translators.  Unplanned disruption of ERP production environments in order to meet external mandates.

How to work on “Integration without Customization”?

One has to consider three major criteria when working on integration without customization between ERP and EDI such as –  An in-depth knowledge of the ERP system along with the best approach to integration  A flexible processing platform that works on a combined knowledge of data in the ERP platform which adapts to the receiver’s ERP system by itself.  Error trapping with alert or automated error resolution, with minimum user involvement.

Solutions for easy integration without customization In the earlier days, integration without customization was done by a translator that would create a common format that would be acceptable to both ERP systems. Next, the ERP system would take care of the functions such as error handling, data scrubbing and other references needed to produce a proper transaction.

 However, the modern method of full integration requires a stable and full connection between the ERP and EDI, so that important business rules and regulations can be discussed at the time of transaction.  One also needs a proper system that can understand both ERP and EDI processing requirements. The ERP must be able to transfer information to a second computer without affecting the ERP.

 The EDI processing platform must also work with the relationship between partners and ERP customizations. Thus, one can avoid customizations, and the stored data can be accessible to outbound transactions.  One also needs an expert regarding both EPR and EDI to work with advanced supply chain automation. The expert also needs to have a full-depth knowledge of the implementation, maintenance and lifecycle development of the ERP to handle transactions successfully.

As a conclusion, look for an EDI compliance that fully integrates with ERP integration to avoid any customization. If you feel the need to purchase tools to customize your Dynamics 365, know that you have to constantly upgrade it to continue work. On the other hand, you can try the Data Masons Vantage Point EDI which is certified for Microsoft Dynamics 365 that guarantees you complete security at all times.

Author Joseph Macwan Joseph Macwan technical writer with a keen interest in business, technology and marketing topics. He is also associated with Aegis softwares which offers Microsoft dynamics crm consultant service.

Source: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Integration without Customization