Power BI & BC Copilot Challenge Traditional Implementation Patterns and Boost Knowledge Sharing

1. Introduction 

Sometimes projects turn to a partner’s nightmare – contradictory requirements across departments, exceptions and manual workarounds repeatedly surfacing, process owners focused on their little gardens and management not able to (or avoiding to) get involved. After all the dollars spent, managers finally expect to see all those promised reports and dashboards and escalations about some kind of details are just increasingly annoying.  

Management support is a key success driver for an ERP implementation, but it is often unachievable at the operational level due to unfamiliarity with details, time constraints and lack of confidence.  

2. Where Power BI and Business Central Copilot Kick-In 

Up to now, colorful steering committee presentations and smooth-talking project managers were partner’s best bet to keep management involved and to overcome organizational challenges.  

But Power BI and Business Central Copilot can be a true game changer and an important contribution to the project management toolset. How about making managers early adopters of the Business Central Copilot and allowing them to oversee project activities down to operational level? How about making managers your ultimate testers by providing them with reports and dashboards already in the early project stage? Of course, you can also leverage Copilot Studio to provide an “implementation-specific” chatbot encompassing project documents, various training materials and public sources. 

3. Increased Transparency Brings Management on Board

Approaching the implementation project agilely, you would typically focus on a working pilot as the initial delivery (e.g. a basic happy flow order-to-cash scenario with few pilot customers and items). If you have key users posting sample cases, you can also present to the management a few engaging dashboards and you can demonstrate how copilot can be used for some simple insights. 

With a project plan elaborating results across sprints, you would be able also to set expectations about what would be available in Power BI dashboards and what kind of inquires could be addressed to the Business Central Copilot. This might sound a bit uncomfortable, as there will be less playroom for the project manager to cover up delays in own deliverables, but such transparency would help explain the challenges and take appropriate actions. And hey, project management is all about transparency, isn’t it?

4. Catalysts for the Knowledge Sharing and Employee Satisfaction, but some attention is required

Knowledge-sharing fosters a culture of collaboration. By openly sharing information, employees can work together more effectively, leading to improved problem-solving and innovation. Studies have shown that when knowledge flows freely in an organization, it enhances teamwork and reduces barriers between departments or units. When employees share knowledge, it leads to the generation of new ideas and innovations. Organizations that encourage sharing of knowledge often adapt more quickly to changes in the environment and are more agile in their responses. Employees tend to feel more valued and part of the organization when their knowledge is acknowledged and shared. This can lead also to increased job satisfaction and employee retention.

Power BI and Business Central Copilot can be true catalysts for knowledge sharing. However, some attention is required to ensure that interpretation of (typically financial) information across the organization is aligned with the organizational hierarchy and personal KPIs. A good practice would be to think about this already in advance when setting up the system and assigning user roles.