Why Shareflex ECM Online for Microsoft 365? Because we know your Microsoft 365 can do more!

Episode 3: Digital document storage from Dynamics 365 Business Central

With Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, you already have everything you need to set up your enterprise-wide, cloud-based document management system in-house – including digital storage for your BC documents. In this instalment of our blog series, we have a closer look at a specific DMS/ECM solution: digital document storage and legally compliant, audit-proof archiving in Dynamics 365 Business Central using SharePoint Online and Shareflex ECM Online.

2024-08-15 – Frank von Orlikowski

What are the options for creating and storing documents in Dynamics 365 BC?

Dynamics 365 BC is deployed in organisations to digitally support key core processes such as finance, supply chain management, sales and manufacturing. These data-driven processes generate a large number of inbound and outbound documents. And these documents can be digitally stored with the processes in BC. Here, the format is irrelevant (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, email, etc.).

There are three main approaches to storing documents:

Using the standard functionality of BC and storing or saving the documents in the Dynamics 365 cloud.
Use a traditional document management system to manage and store BC documents.
Using Microsoft 365 / SharePoint to manage and store BC documents – if necessary, supplemented by the many possibilities of the document management system Shareflex ECM Online.

Digital document storage using the Dynamics 365 Business Central standard

Microsoft provides the ‘Add Attachment’ functionality as a standard feature for all the main BC processes. This functionality can be used to create and store documents such as quotes, order confirmations, delivery notes or invoices in PDF format for the relevant BC processes. In addition, documents can be created outside of BC and manually uploaded into the BC process. Documents are accessed and stored exclusively through BC (BC database or Azure Blob Storage). There is no dedicated option for providing an enterprise-wide DMS, including legally compliant, audit-proof archiving.

Document storage in a traditional document management system

The DMS market offers a variety of ‘traditional’ document management systems with BC integration. The providers of these DMS systems (e.g. ELO, Easy, d.velop, SER, etc.) have been on the market for a very long time. As a result of their history, they tend to offer very sophisticated, but typically very complex and costly systems to customers. This is in part due to the fact that these systems still need to run on their own or externally managed IT infrastructures with application servers, databases and storage systems. Find out more in episode 1 of our blog series.

Centralised, audit-proof document storage and archiving in Microsoft 365 / SharePoint Online

If your company uses BC to run core ERP processes in the Microsoft Cloud, it makes sense to also provide ECM/DMS in this online environment. SharePoint is the central document repository that provides legally compliant and audit-proof document archiving as standard.

Dynamics 365 Business Central and Microsoft 365/Sharepoint – the ideal cloud combination for your documents

Let’s consider the following scenario: Your company is pursuing a digital IT strategy based on the Microsoft Cloud. Dynamics 365 Business Central has already been introduced for the internal core ERP processes, or the implementation is currently being planned or executed.

In the non-ERP environment, you’re also using Microsoft 365 as a platform for your organisation to digitally create data and documents in the Microsoft Cloud, whether through Office, SharePoint, OneDrive or Teams. In addition, you may already have experience with the Power Platform or the various Microsoft AI tools, such as Microsoft Copilot or Azure Open AI.

Many things in your organisation are already running digitally in the cloud – your way of working and business models are increasingly digitised, and it is impossible to imagine your day-to-day work without it.

No more paper files and expensive IT infrastructure

But what about your file and document management? Many companies still use a mixture of paper and file/OneDrive storage to manage their commercial documents such as orders, contracts, invoices, etc. and the associated correspondence. Or they still use a traditional document management system that they are responsible for operating themselves. This means running physical servers (application, database, storage), regularly installing updates and patches, planning rollouts and ensuring the necessary backups. All this with fewer IT staff who simply do not have the capacity.

With SharePoint, you already have the ideal document repository.

The logical conclusion is that with Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, you already have (and pay for) everything you need to build your enterprise-wide, cloud-based document management on top of this infrastructure – including the storage of your BC documents.

If you are already using Microsoft 365, you no longer need a traditional ECM/DMS system. You can find more on this topic in episode 1 of this blog series.

Is Microsoft 365 / SharePoint audit-proof?

For many companies, legally compliant, audit-proof archiving of documents created in BC is the main reason for implementing a document management system. There is a persistent myth that SharePoint is not suitable for this. THIS IS WRONG!

Microsoft 365 already offers a wide range of data and document protection options in the standard scope of delivery (regardless of the licence plan) via the Microsoft Purview compliance portal. With the labelling and retention policies included in Purview, it is possible to store documents in SharePoint for 6, 10 or more years and thus archive them securely for the long term. You can also apply labelling policies to other storage locations in your Microsoft 365 environment, such as email / Exchange mailboxes and OneDrive. With Microsoft 365 / SharePoint, you have a centralised system for your company-wide document archive.

Article “Audit-proof archiving with SharePoint”

In the guest article by Markus Olbring, Managing Director of comdatis it-consulting GmbH Co. KG, you will find all the relevant information on audit-proof archiving with Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, the necessary Microsoft certificates and the creation of process documentation.

Read article "Audit-proof archiving with SharePoint"

In the following, we will show you what is already possible with the standard version of Microsoft 365 / SharePoint and when you should consider third-party solutions such as Shareflex.

Is SharePoint sufficient or do you also need a DMS add-on?

It is not possible to answer this question with a simple “yes” or “no”. If companies only want to store and archive incoming and outgoing documents for BC transactions, then SharePoint is usually sufficient as a DMS. In this case, the documents are always accessed from BC. Accordingly, all workstations in the company that are to be connected to the DMS must have a BC licence.

However, many companies want to ‘save’ on this expensive BC licence and use document management to integrate non-ERP processes from the ERP core processes in addition to the process-related ERP filing – with completely different user groups without BC access. Examples include specialised processes for industries like retail, pharmaceuticals, mechanical engineering, real estate and many more, such as contract management and HR processes.

This is where Shareflex ECM Online can be of use. The product suite is a fully-fledged DMS and is based on Microsoft 365 / SharePoint. Shareflex offers a modern, cost-effective and future-proof alternative to traditional document management systems.

Comparison of Dynamics 365 BC, SharePoint and Shareflex – when to use which solution?

To answer this question, the following table compares the three possible solutions and assesses typical DMS requirements:

Tabular overview comparing the DMS functionalities of Microsoft Dynamics 365, SharePoint and Shareflex.

How to store and archive documents from Dynamics 365 BC

How does BC connect to Microsoft 365 / SharePoint? In order to store outgoing BC documents in Microsoft 365 / SharePoint, a special application is required to connect BC to SharePoint.

When printing / posting BC documents (e.g. an outgoing invoice), a PDF document is generated via such an app. This is automatically stored in SharePoint together with the booking data (metadata) and archived in an audit-proof manner as described above. The app allows the stored documents to be viewed directly from BC in their original format. In addition, the app offers the option to store non-ERP documents such as emails, notes or correspondence directly from the respective BC process – for example, an order or a purchase order – via a drop zone.

The following Dynamics 365 system houses have developed their DMS/ECM integration solutions (app) for storing documents in Shareflex ECM Online. These solutions are available from Microsoft AppSource. Customer projects have already been successfully implemented with the products of all listed providers.

COSMO CONSULT
Inway Systems GmbH
Konica Minolta Business Solutions Deutschland GmbH
Kumavision AG
MODUS Consult GmbH

Shareflex as a document management system for Dynamics 365 Business Central

The Shareflex ECM Online product suite is a modern document management system based on Microsoft 365 / SharePoint. Shareflex imports the outgoing and incoming BC documents from the above-mentioned application and stores them in process-related and audit-proof process files in SharePoint (e.g. order, quotation or contract files, article files and many more). In addition, Shareflex can be extended to include non-ERP processes and their process-related document storage, and also offers a variety of other DMS solutions and functions.

A tabular list of the DMS features of Shareflex ECM Online.

In the first instalment of our blog series “Because we know that Microsoft 365 can do more”, we compared the classic DMS and ECM systems and their cloud approaches with the Content Cloud Platform Microsoft 365. We have also looked at common myths and explained that Microsoft 365 can be used for both legally compliant, audit-proof document archiving and mass data management. In episode 2, we presented the Shareflex strategy based on this, and explained the benefits and added value that Microsoft 365 brings as a content cloud platform, and how you can use it in your IT strategy.