As you set out on a new Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP project, it is very important to plan for and consider the role business intelligence (BI) should play. To start, gather an inventory of all the data sources that will be used for your BI or analytics. One mistake often made during analytics projects is to ignore the ‘shadow IT’ systems and data sources. These can range from Excel spreadsheets and Access databases, to accountancy systems running on a local PC or unconnected cloud based CRM services.
The inventory of data sources created here will be useful not only as we plan the deployment; it will be useful when the project goes into production. Having an enterprise-wide list of all the data sources used for reporting and analysis and making that list available to everyone, will help people discover, gain access to, and understand data sources they may not have known existed.