News on Dynamics NAV & 365 Business Central

Dynamics 365 Business Central 2021 Release Wave 2

Written by TNP | Aug 23, 2021 1:41:04 PM

Microsoft release new features and functionality for Dynamics 365 Business Central twice a year, with the next 'wave' coming to us in October 2021. This is the place to get an overview on what Microsoft will be delivering - for a more in-depth description, click through on any of the features.

Our blog outlines what is new and planned starting October 2021 through to March 2022. There are features listed that may not have been released yet, therefore certain items may not be released as scheduled due to unforeseen circumstances on Microsoft's behalf.

Some highlights from this wave include:

Enhancements to Microsoft Teams integration: more powerful search mechanisms can only be a good thing.

Enhancement to working with Microsoft Excel: so, so convenient.

Better support for non-inventory Items: extending the limited capabilities.

Improved Bank and payment reconciliations: some great new improvements!

Production BOMs and Routes on stockkeeping units in planning scenarios: more processes in BC will consider the values in the Production BOM and Production Routing fields.

More fields available to add using personalisation mode: easier customisation = better usability!

 

In the 'General availability' column, the feature will be delivered within the month listed. The delivery date can be any day within that month. Released features show the full date, including the day of release.

Description of Enabled for column values:

  • Users, automatically: These features include changes to the user experience and are enabled automatically.

  • Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically: These features are meant to be used by administrators, makers, marketers, or business analysts and are enabled automatically.

  • Users by admins, makers, or analysts: These features must be enabled or configured by the administrators, makers, or business analysts to be available for their users.

Application

With Business Central 2021 release wave 2, Microsoft will deliver updates in areas such as finance and supply chain areas.

Feature Enabled for Public preview General availability
Add additional columns through personalization in various pages to gain more insight Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Add non-inventory items on requisition and planning worksheets Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Bank and payment reconciliations Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Couple records between Business Central and Dataverse (and apps for Dataverse) in bulk Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Default line type in the sales and purchase documents Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Delegated admin can create job queue entries and request approval by a licensed user Admins, makers, marketers, or analysists, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Improved user experience to keep posting setup and dimension issues from going wrong Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Integrate Business Central and Microsoft Dataverse with more efficient synchronization of multiple records Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Item variant code on demand forecasts Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
List of trusted partner apps Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Locations for non-inventory items Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
More control over address information data entry Users by admins, makers or analysts Sep 2021 Oct 2021
More educational app tours for standard roles Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
New automation API to create user groups Users by admins, makers or analysts Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Production BOMs and routes on stockkeeping units in planning scenarios Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Remove obsolete reports 204, 205, 206, and 207 Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Rounding for base unit of measure Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Tour of Business Central to help users know the basics Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Use multiple units of measure when synchronizing items and resources to Dynamics 365 Sales Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021

 

Better with Microsoft 365

In Business Central 2021 release wave 2, find better integration with Excel as well as further support for business processes in Teams.

Feature Enabled for Public preview General availability
Enhancements to Microsoft Teams integration Users, automatically - Oct 2021
Centralised Deployment of Office add-ins Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Aug 2021 Oct 2021
Enhancements to the Outlook add-in Users, automatically Aug 2021 Oct 2021
Enhancements to working with Microsoft Excel Users, automatically Aug 2021 Oct 2021
Share a record link to Microsoft Teams Users, automatically Aug 2021 Oct 2021
AL API for sharing files in Microsoft 365 Users by admins, makers or analysts Sep 2021 Oct 2021

 

Country and Regional

The 2021 release wave 2 brings Dynamics 365 Business Central to more countries with release in 7 countries globally.

Feature Enabled for  Public preview General availability
Country and regional expansion – Argentina Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Country and regional expansion – Bulgaria Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Country and regional expansion – Chile Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Country and regional expansion – Myanmar Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Country and regional expansion – Puerto Rico Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Country and regional expansion – Slovakia Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Country and regional expansion – Ukraine Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021

 

Development

This release wave 2 has improved capabilities for developers, including making the AL language even stronger.

Feature Enabled for Public preview General availability
AL compiler diagnostic messages includes URLs Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Force sync of customer-specific extensions in online environments Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Oct 2021 Oct 2021
Generated documentation for AL language Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Aug 2021 Oct 2021
Profiling AL performance with snapshot debugger Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Aug 2021 Oct 2021
Richer access control for extension source in cloud environments Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Transactional installation and sync of extensions on-premises Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Aug 2021 Oct 2021

 

Governance and administration

The 2021 release wave 2 delivers a set of admin and governance capabilities designed to help admins and IT pros set up, secure, manage, govern, and monitor customer environments.

Feature Enabled for Public preview General availability
Manage access to environments using Azure Active Directory groups Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically - Oct 2021
Admins can handle scheduled tasks after a point-in-time restore Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Copying environments of different types Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Operations log enhancements Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Restarting environments Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021

 

Microsoft Power Platform

With Business Central 2021 release wave 2, integration will be improved between Microsoft Dataverse and Microsoft Power Platform.

Feature Enabled for Public preview General availability
Show reports from named and shared Power BI workspaces in Business Central Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021

 

Modern Clients

Business Central 2021 release wave 2 brings a focus on better usability, accessibility, performance and stability.

Feature Enabled for Public preview General availability
Unhindered data entry across rows Users, automatically Oct 2021 -
Performance improvements to the Business Central web client Users, automatically Aug 2021 Oct 2021
Usability improvements to the Business Central web client Users, automatically Aug 2021 Oct 2021
Discovering reports and administration areas in Role Explorer Users, automatically Sep 2021 Oct 2021
Support for localised decimal separator on numeric keypads Users by admins, makers or analysts Dec 2021 Feb 2022

 

Service and platform

SMB's need a dependable service and platform to run their business on and Microsoft continue their efforts to improve the performance of Business Central.

Feature Enabled for Public preview General availability
OData read-only intent Admins, makers, marketers, or analysts, automatically - Oct 2021
Protect the Business Central Server against excessive background sessions for an environment Users, automatically Oct 2021 Oct 2021
 

For future release plans and Business Central-related information, make sure to sign up to our Newsletter where we'll keep you in the know! Otherwise, contact us here with any questions you may have.

 

Interested in learning more about the journey of Dynamics 365 Business Central, including what came before it and the latest updates? Get caught up by reading our Timeline.