Integration and development
Connect your systems and extend your ERP without giving up updates
We build extensions and integrations on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and the wider Microsoft ecosystem: connections with e-commerce, field sales, banks, logistics and legacy systems; custom functionality delivered as an extension; and reports built on ERP data and external sources.
When this service applies
- Somebody copies data between systems every day
- Online store orders are re-keyed into the ERP, payments are loaded by hand from the bank, and inventory is updated twice. Every copy is an opportunity for error and a delay.
- The ERP standard does not cover a process that is genuinely yours
- A pricing rule, a commission scheme, a quality control or an industry requirement the product does not solve, and that today lives outside the system.
- The reports leadership needs are assembled by hand
- The monthly report is built by exporting to spreadsheets and cross-referencing files. When somebody questions a number, nobody can reconstruct how it was obtained.
- Old customizations block your updates
- The ERP has code modified directly on the product, and every update forces you to redo the work. The system is stuck on one version.
- You need to expose ERP data to other applications
- A customer portal, a mobile app for your sales reps or a third-party system needs to read from or write to the ERP in a controlled, auditable way.
Expected outcome
Connected systems and custom functionality that survives updates
Information flows between your systems without manual intervention, with error handling and traceability for every exchange. The functionality specific to your business is delivered as an extension, separate from the base product, so Business Central keeps receiving Microsoft updates without the development having to be redone. You receive the code, the documentation and the ability to maintain it with us or with whichever team you choose.
Scope and deliverables
- Technical design document: systems involved, data exchanged, direction of the flow, frequency, transformation rules and error handling.
- Business Central extensions developed in AL, with their source code, version control and environment-by-environment deployment (development, test, production).
- Integrations built on the standard Business Central APIs, Power Automate, Azure Logic Apps or Azure Functions, whichever fits the case.
- New reports and queries inside the ERP, or Power BI dashboards when the analysis spans external sources.
- Monitoring and retry mechanism: run logs, failure alerts and a documented reprocessing procedure.
- Test environment with representative data, plus a test script executed and approved.
- Technical and functional documentation handed to your team, including the deployment procedure.
- Application package ready for publication as an ISV solution on AppSource, when the goal is to distribute the extension.
Work stages
Technical discovery
We review the systems involved, the interfaces they expose, data volumes and the real constraints: versions, licensing, processing windows and access. We identify what can be integrated through standard APIs and what needs another route.
Solution design
We define the data model, the direction of each flow, the frequency, which system is the system of record for each field, and what happens when something fails. We put configuration and the standard ahead of code; we only develop what has no other solution.
Build
We develop in separate environments, with version control and code review. Extensions are written in AL following Microsoft best practices so they do not interfere with product updates.
Testing and acceptance
We test with representative data, including the error cases: duplicates, incomplete records, outages on the target system and reprocessing. Your team runs and signs off acceptance before anything goes to production.
Deployment and stabilization
We publish to production according to the agreed plan, leave monitoring switched on and stay with you through the first operating cycles. We tune rules and thresholds against real behavior before closing.
Handover and maintenance
We hand over code, documentation and procedures. From there, ongoing maintenance can stay with your team or be contracted as managed support, including validation of each extension against Business Central updates.
Responsibilities
Your company
- Appoint a technical owner and a functional owner with authority to decide on business rules.
- Provide access, credentials and documentation for the third-party systems taking part in the integration.
- Arrange with your external vendors the availability of interfaces, licenses and test windows.
- Define and validate the business rules, especially the handling of exceptions and inconsistent data.
- Run and sign off the acceptance tests with data representative of your operation.
- Approve in writing any scope change against the agreed technical design.
BETABOX
- Capture the technical detail and propose the simplest integration architecture that solves the case.
- Document the technical design and submit it for your approval before building.
- Develop the AL extensions and the integrations, with version control and code review.
- Build the test scripts, including the error and reprocessing scenarios.
- Deploy environment by environment and leave monitoring and alerts running.
- Deliver source code, technical documentation and the deployment procedure.
- Tell you when a requirement has a standard solution and does not justify development.
What is included
What is included
- Technical design documented and approved before building.
- Development of the extensions and integrations defined in the scope.
- Test environment, test scripts and support throughout acceptance.
- Monitoring, run logs and a reprocessing procedure.
- Deployment to production and support during stabilization.
- Source code and technical and functional documentation handed to your company.
- Defect correction warranty on what was delivered, for the period agreed in the contract.
What is not included
- Microsoft licenses and Azure service consumption associated with the integration.
- Licenses, API modules or development work that third-party system vendors have to carry out.
- Correction of inconsistent historical data in the source systems.
- Ongoing maintenance after handover, unless managed support is contracted.
- New requirements identified after the technical design is approved, unless handled through change control.
- Support for third-party products your company contracts directly with the vendor.
- Commercial publication and certification on AppSource when it is not explicitly in scope.
Success criteria
- Manual re-keying is eliminated in the flows included in the scope, verifiable against the procedure documented before the project.
- A reduction in the differences found between systems during reconciliation, measured against the pre-integration baseline.
- Integrations run within the agreed window, and failures are logged and notified instead of being discovered through a user complaint.
- Extensions survive Business Central updates without unplanned corrective work.
- The reports delivered replace the files assembled by hand today, and leadership uses them as the single source.
- Your team can deploy and roll back a version by following the procedure delivered.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- Does customizing Business Central prevent us from updating it?
- No, not when it is done properly. Business Central in the cloud is extended through extensions written in AL, which live separately from the base product and are updated alongside it. What does block updates is modifying the product code, the way it used to be done in older versions of Dynamics NAV. Everything we build is delivered as an extension, precisely so your system keeps receiving Microsoft updates.
- What can be integrated with Business Central?
- Practically any system that exposes an interface: e-commerce, customer portals, logistics platforms, banks, payroll systems, field sales applications, production systems and legacy applications. Business Central publishes standard APIs and supports integration through Power Automate, Azure Logic Apps and Azure Functions. When an older system exposes no interface, we evaluate alternatives such as file exchange, controlled database access or desktop automation.
- Do you hand over the source code of what you develop?
- Yes. We deliver the source code of the extensions, the technical documentation and the deployment procedure. Intellectual property and usage terms are defined in the contract. Our principle is that you should not depend on us to keep operating: if you decide to maintain the development with your own team or another vendor, you have what you need to do it.
- Do you build ISV apps for publication on AppSource?
- Yes. If your company wants to turn vertical functionality into a distributable product, we develop the extension with the structure, object separation and documentation that the Microsoft AppSource publication process requires. Commercial certification with Microsoft is a separate process and is agreed explicitly in the scope.
- When is development worth it and when is it not?
- Development is worth it when the process is genuinely part of your competitive edge, when it responds to an external obligation the standard does not cover, or when the manual work it removes is recurring and measurable. It is not worth it when the standard solves the case with a different configuration, when the process is about to change, or when the request is to replicate the previous system exactly out of habit. Part of our job is telling you when you do not need to develop.
- What happens if the system on the other side fails?
- The design accounts for failure from the start. Every integration logs its runs, retries according to the agreed policy, leaves rejected records in a visible queue and notifies the owner. There is a documented reprocessing procedure. The goal is for a failure to be detected and resolved before the end user or the customer notices it.
What is your team connecting by hand today?
Tell us which systems you need to connect or which process your ERP does not cover. We review the technical feasibility and present the design, the scope and the alternatives before writing a single line of code.
Contact
Request a complimentary assessment
Tell us what your company needs and a BETABOX advisor will get in touch to schedule a call at your convenience. The initial assessment is 100% free of charge.
- +1 (754) 209-2071
- Bookings
- Book directly on the calendar