Microsoft Azure Storage connector for BC: Real stories of company processes digitalisation
There are several apps on Business central Extension Marketplace that simplify storage of ERP related data alongside your ERP system. Some of them use Microsoft O365 Sharepoint as a storage, some of them allows integration to Microsoft Azure Storage and some even save data within Business Central database. You get Microsoft OneDrive integration too. They are all significantly different prices, and each have individual limitations. I have decided to provide basic overview and estimated price information for companies which are considering digital transformation journey to the cloud.
Typically, every company has some data which you need to store, is available at any point of time and easy to back up and maintain. A simple example would be product data (drawings, certificates, cost calculations etc.) and transactional related data (e.g. Customer Purchase order or Email communication with the customer)
From business perspective, you want secure, scalable and price efficient storage which doesn’t require huge initial investment. The On-premise file storage method is the exact opposite, which requires big initial investment, it’s not really scalable downwards and security wise, I don’t think on-premise data is as safe storage with Microsoft at their Azure network. Either way, you need somebody internally or externally to give you The best possible advice.
At MB365 have created Business Central app which integrates with Microsoft Azure Blob Storage. This to me is the best possible option on the market for ERP file storage. Check the pricing of per GBP/Reserved capacity for 12 months.
Azure blob storage (MS Azure Storage official pricing):
Microsoft Azure File Shares official pricing:
Typical scenario for UK 30-40 user system the company has 5TB of the data. One TB (1024GB) cost you on the premium storage about £15 a month, £180 a year so we are talking about £75 a month, £975 a year and £2,925 on 3 year’s time. It’s rough calculation.
Historically MS Sharepoint would be the option but to me Sharepoint is more DMS system (document versions, workflows, team collaboration before MS Teams existed) rather than the data storage. It also requires for everybody to have Office365 License to access the data (which I can imagine can be limiting factor in some scenarios)
In this blog post I will evaluate what I have done for my customer. My medium-term plan is to switch off customers legacy old on-premise “file server” and use secure, scalable and price efficient storage Microsoft Azure Storage for all the data. If MS Azure is good enough for UK government then it must be good enough for your organisation too, right?
Microsoft Azure Blob Storage
What am I talking about blobs or what? Binary large object is the shortcut, nothing to remember if you are non-IT person just imagine this as a “file”.
At MB365 have created completely seamless integration with MS Azure Storage Accounts. Let me show you how simply it’s done.
Microsoft Azure.com account – you need Subscription, Resource Group and Storage Account (MB365 can help you with this):
Detail on storage containers (imagine these as folders):
Microsoft Azure Storage Explorer (if you don’t fancy web app too much you can download WIN11 app to display and maintain your cloud storage):
MB365 Azure Storage Connector - Business Central page:
This is where it all gets link in Business Central. After providing Azure Shared Access key generated through MS Azure portal, containers are automatically available to select, or when Typed in a new name in MB365 Azure Storage Connector Setup automatically creates storage container for you. Simple as that. How this techy thing can be user in real human world then? 😊
Transactional Data factbox (Invoice Proof of Delivery)
For customer we completely replaced paper-based process. In NAV paper has been manually filled in, then updated to on premise file server and then link added as an attachment to NAV record. This process is required on subset of the customer data, not all invoices need to be signed in (hence Azure blob storage).
In BC, we have used Javascript custom development to capture signature on touchscreen and then created picture we save automatically at Azure blob storage. Welcome to 2023! This is then natively available in BC as shown in the screenshot (it’s saved in Azure Storage Cloud Container). You don’t need any hardware, any paper, just your credit card! 😊
Product Certificates automated cloud printing.
Another example of great automation using latest set of available technologies for Business Central. When customer sells the product, the customers require cast number certificates printed depending which LOT had been picked and packed. To put them all together in shipment box. The customer receives PDFs in emails from supplier in advance of their deliveries to customers premises. Old process was about manually assign the files into on premise file server folders where from NAV then automatically printed during the packing stage.
New process in BC allows to manually Drag’n’drop the files into the BC Factbox. It automatically validates the data and save them into right structures onto the Azure Blob Storage:
Then when Shipment Packed on the Package Station (InsightWorks DynamicShip) it automatically prints the file through PrintNote Cloud. Give us some time and I will fully automate this through Microsoft PowerAutomate – it will automaticallty read email attachments and upload file to cloud container using BC V2 API. No user involved.
Business Central Database Storage
It is extremely expensive to save anything to the Business Central database using standard Attachment module. With Business Central Public cloud you literally pay per data used.
As a part of default package, you have 80GB per tenant and then 1gb per user. In average company 30-40 users, that should be quite sufficient (120gb). With right ERP system design, right amount of maintenance, retention policies, it should be enough for 6-8 years. What after then or if limit is not enough? 1gb per year cost £98.4 which means extra 100gb of database size adds £10,000 pounds to your yearly bill. That’s massively expensive and explain you that you shouldn’t be saving anything else to ERP rather than transactional data. If you follow legislation and delete your shipment and invoices after period when you don’t need them, I don’t think there is anything to worry about. Just another task to add to your audit? 😊
Business Central Microsoft OneDrive integration
When we were considering which storage to use for customer with Business Central cloud to cater their requirements, we looked at new native Microsoft Onedrive integration first. To my surprise, it wasn’t ideal solution (unless something significant has changed since Q2 2023). I was expecting shared folders for whole organisation which would allow to simply align data with your ERP system. Instead, personal Onedrive of the o365 user is used and file copied between users onedrives when other user opens the attached file. I couldn’t really find suitable solution, so we have looked at other options. Maybe it was just my impatience or Microsoft early version of the integration. Or combination of both. Maybe you could educate me in comment if you successfully managed to integrate MS OneDrive to cater some of the current business requirements.
Other MS Azure options for non ERP related data
With cloud storages, you need to fit the data for its purpose. I would recommend reading following blog articles to elaborate on more MS Azure storages options from expert:
I’m not selling you dream with no downsides. It might sound simple with MS Azure but you still need an expert person who can consult and configure best options for you. The MB365 BC app we have created is for the purpose of the data we save. With Azure Blob Storage full back up can be configured through Azure Backup services. Just another subscription, you just need to fully understand impact of actions you do.
On-premise data storage
I don’t have exact numbers but lets say the server will cost you £10,000 and services and maintenance way more than hardware price in 3 years time period. In cloud, If you have 5TB of the data, it will cost you in Microsoft Cloud around £3.000 in 3 years time, £100 pounds a month. Absolute no brainer.
You could also look at some non Microsoft cloud options where you could get cheaper storage price, but is that worthy? I don’t know, I haven’t tried. Please share your story.
Conclusion
Save as less as possible data in ERP Business Central database. Use MB365 Storage Account connector to use Microsoft Azure Storage for ERP related data. The BC app is free pleasure from us to your company, it won’t cost you anything. If you need advice with Azure and BC configuration, we will do that for very fair rate (literally ½ price of traditional partners). Now out of the box is the Item Card, Posted Sales Invoice and the Sales Documents. On the roadmap are file shares, data classifications and much more. One recent feedback from customer I heard was: On the item card, the fact box – does everybody see all attached data? Answer is yes, as any other competitors addons. Next version will allow to define data classifications and together with Data Filters on permissions set it should do the job.
Stay tuned, get in touch. Please share and comment if you like my content!
