What is our primary use case?
As the Registrar's department, we use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central to allocate courses to instructors, create a course timetable, create an exam timetable, enter results, withdraw courses for students who opt to withdraw or drop a course, come up with the course list that will be offered in the upcoming semesters or upcoming blocks for students that are taking courses online, enter new instructor's details, and facilitate new applications for students.
The task I recently completed using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central was to update students' results for those who had missed exams and resit exams, and this task was completed last week. This week, I used Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central to also update incomplete grades.
What is most valuable?
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has enabled us to integrate all the systems in one. It has been a one-stop shop in the sense that we don't have to switch from one software to another. Previously, we would switch to a different software for entering results, allocating course instructors, and handling students' applications for missed or resit exams, but with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, as an organization, we have been able to integrate everything into one system. It's not only the Registrar's department that uses it; we have the accounts department, procurement department, human resources, and faculty using it as well. It has been a great one-stop shop whereby everything has been integrated into one system.
The best features Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers include having everything integrated into one system. I also appreciate that when it comes to switching roles, it is easy for you to do that, especially when you have been given the license, and I appreciate that we can allocate course instructors within the system and attach the courses they are supposed to be teaching.
I find myself relying on switching between roles within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Since I work in the Registrar's department, I switch between the examinations role and the academic role feature. The academic role feature allows me to see the student's status, how much they're owing, the courses they have registered for, and their grades. Whereas in the exam role, it enables me to see the student's report card, provisional transcript, and their grades. I am also able to switch to the accounts role, as I have a license for that, and I'm able to see how much I, as an employee, owe the institution in terms of making purchases for the department, and how much the students owe the institution. I use these features on a day-to-day basis, which has been very helpful since everything is integrated into one system.
I appreciate that I am also able to generate detailed reports on how many students have registered in a current semester or block using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. When I generate these reports, I can select whether I want them in PDF, Microsoft Excel, or Microsoft Excel with the data and layout, and that has been very helpful as I can pick which format I want to download.
We have had to adapt to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as a one-stop shop. Previously, we switched systems—accounts used one, the registrar used several, often more than three for entering student results, faculty information, and publishing results—but now everything is integrated within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. We have a student portal and faculty portal, allowing us to make changes within these two portals. Students register for courses using the student information system, SIS, integrated with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, and faculty take attendance using the faculty portal. This integration means we no longer have to stress about switching between different systems, and all the data is maintained in one user interface.
What needs improvement?
For Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, every time we need to make an adjustment, we must make a payment, which is slightly expensive for us as an organization. There are certain modifications we'd like to make, and those come with a cost. The licensing is also very expensive, so if the prices could be revisited, especially for educational institutions, that would be really helpful. Otherwise, it has proven to be a very good tool for us as an organization.
I chose a rating of nine for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central because it has been very useful for us as an organization, but there are still a few improvements that need to be made. Sometimes we experience glitches when generating certain reports, and every time we need to make a modification, we have to pay for that. Thus, I will not give it a ten because there are a few areas needing improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
As an institution, we have been using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central since January 2024, so I would say we have been using it for two years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In my experience, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has been very stable over the last two years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has proven to be scalable and has been able to grow with our needs. We're very happy with the results so far.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has been excellent. We have reached out to them regarding certain glitches we faced, and our experience has been favorably good, which is why we are still using the system. Two years and counting, and hopefully, we will continue with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central in the coming years for better production within our institution.
I would rate the customer support of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central a perfect 10 out of 10, as they have excellent customer support and are always willing to serve their clients well.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did use a different solution before Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, which was created by us as an organization and was called the Student Management System, SMS. We switched because Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central proved to be a one-stop shop where we could integrate everything into one system.
How was the initial setup?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central was costly when we first set it up as an organization. We had a vendor from Kenya who helped us and trained us on how to use Business Central, enter results, put in faculty information, aid students in registration, and assist faculty in taking class attendance. I would say our experience was fairly good, which is why we adopted it. If we had a bad experience, we would not have adopted it, but because it came with very good deals and has been a one-stop shop for us, integrating everything into one system, it has been a great experience in the last two years.
What was our ROI?
For now, I would say we have saved a lot of time with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. It has been very time-saving. We saved on quite a lot of time, which has greatly benefited us as an organization, considering that time is crucial and lost time can never be regained.
Using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has saved us a significant amount of time because everything has been automated. Previously, we used a different system that required us to register courses for students manually. Now, with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, students register for their own courses, and the system either permits or rejects their registrations based on whether they meet the prerequisites. In the past, we had to check all the courses manually for about 1,000 students and remove those they weren't supposed to take, but with Business Central, this process is streamlined, saving us considerable time.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate other options before choosing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central since we were previously using our own organization-created system.
What other advice do I have?
I would tell others looking into using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central to go for it because Microsoft is an awesome tool and it is a one-stop shop. If you don't want to switch from one software to another and want to keep your data in one place, I highly advise them to choose Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. I rate this product a 9 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?