Power BI for SMEs: How to Improve Your Reporting and Manage Your Business More Effectively
- Elise Dejour
- Jul 4
- 3 min read
Data – A Performance Driver and a Key to Customer Satisfaction
No SME can afford to run its business blindly anymore. Managing cash flow, tracking performance indicators, and anticipating customer needs—all of this must go through data analysis and reporting.
Yet this data is often scattered across multiple software systems, Excel files, or disconnected business tools, leading to wasted time and unreliable analyses, inaccurate insights, delayed decision-making, and a direct impact on customer satisfaction.
This is where Power BI , Microsoft’s Business Intelligence solution, truly proves its value. Connected to your ERP (Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central), your CRM, or your custom-built business applications, Power BI allows you to centralize, analyze, and leverage your data in real time. Power BI for SME
Power BI: A Powerful, Connected Reporting Tool for SMEs
Power BI enables you to create dynamic dashboards with customized indicators, directly linked to your various data sources.
But more importantly, Power BI doesn't operate in isolation:
It natively connects to the entire Microsoft Dynamics 365 ecosystem—Business Central (ERP), Sales (CRM), Field Service—as well as tools like Excel and SharePoint.
At Almakom, we take it a step further by integrating Power BI with your specific business applications.
For example, a transport management module (like AlmaTrack) or a customized production monitoring system.
Tangible benefits for your entreprise:
A real-time, comprehensive view of your operations
Fewer manual tasks and less Excel reprocessing
Increased responsiveness to customer requests
Better anticipation of risks and opportunities
More informed teams, delivering better customer service
AI in Power BI
Copilot AI integrated into Power BI allows you to get insights directly from your data analysis, so you can adjust your activities and make decisions more quickly and efficiently.
Centralize your data with Power BI
Thanks to Power BI, all your KPIs are centralized in one single place. You can manage document access for your teams. Thus, less time wasted, you navigate between your different data and analyze them quickly, return to the data of previous periods easily.
How Connectivity Between Your Microsoft Tools Boosts Efficiency
One of the greatest strengths of the Microsoft ecosystem is its seamless integration between solutions:
Your Business Central ERP feeds your financial, logistics, and inventory reporting.
Your Dynamics 365 Sales CRM provides real-time sales and customer data.
Your business applications developed by Almakom—such as AlmaTrack for transport management—enhance your operational and logistics KPIs.
Microsoft Teams and SharePoint then allow you to share these insights with your entire team in just one click.
This means greater fluidity, better visibility, and faster, more informed decision-making. Your teams no longer need to manually create KPIs, which directly improves the quality of service you deliver to your customers. Human errors are reduced.
Real-World Examples: How Power BI and Your Connected Tools Help You Better Serve Your Customers
Example 1: Improving Delivery Times
By cross-referencing your order data (CRM), inventory data (ERP), and transport data (business application), you can anticipate issues and enhance your customer promise.
Example 2: Profitability Tracking by Customer or Project
With Power BI connected to Business Central, you can analyze your profit margins by customer and adjust your commercial offers accordingly.
Example 3: Fewer Disputes and Better Traceability
Thanks to centralized reporting, you can provide quick and accurate responses to customer inquiries—whether it’s about delivery times, quantities, or invoicing.
Almakom: Your Partner for Connected, Industry-Specific Management Solutions
At Almakom, we do more than just integrate Microsoft solutions.
Our approach is built on three key pillars:
Tailored Business Consulting: Every SME has its own processes, constraints, and goals. We integrate them into your information system.
ERP and CRM Integration and Configuration: We tailor Business Central, Sales, or Field Service to fit your on-the-ground reality.
Development of Custom Business Applications: To go further, we design specific modules (transport, production, after-sales tracking, etc.) fully connected to the Microsoft ecosystem.
Our goal: to turn your management tools into a true driver of performance, agility… and customer satisfaction.
Ready to Shift to Smarter, More Connected Management?
Request your free audit today. Together, we'll assess how to connect your tools (ERP, CRM, business applications) and how Power BI can transform the way you manage your business.
