When you are evaluating top master data management solutions, it can help to understand if the company is innovating and launching newer features to improve its existing solutions. Although most enterprise solutions available in the market from Independent Solution Providers are one-size-fits-all, at To-Increase, we believe in understanding customer challenges and innovating to provide our customers with a great experience after they implement our solutions.
If you are using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management and are currently evaluating data governance solutions to improve data quality, streamline data entry, and manage master data distribution, our Master Data Management suite is worth checking out. At To-Increase, you are in good hands, as we have been building solutions for Microsoft-based ERPs over the last 18+ years and cater to more than 2200 customers.
In this blog, we will talk about the new features released in the latest update in our Data Quality Studio and Data Entry Workflow solutions and explain their functionality.
What’s New in the Master Data Management Suite?
Support for multiple languages
We have an in-app feedback option (the smiley in the top navigation bar) in our D365 solutions, through which we received multiple requests for translations in other (European) languages. So, we picked the top requested languages, and we now support all solutions in the Master Data Management suite in 10 different languages, including – English (US), German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish. We are leveraging the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Translation Service for automated translations of interface elements such as existing and solution-specific labels.
To learn more about this feature: read our related blog.
Making product attributes easy
To reduce the number of configurations in the workflow document for product attributes, and make it easier for our customers, we have upgraded some functionality. We now provide an option in Data Entry Workflow to select multiple attributes simultaneously. We have added a document field type to specify whether the field exists on the record table or virtual. Additionally, we have added three virtual field types for documents, pictures, and product attributes. So, this gives our users the option of a ‘Generic’ virtual field that can be used for the product attribute and other scenarios as well.
Adding conditions to steps
This feature allows you to add conditions for a step to be completed. There are two types of conditions that we can now define on a Data Entry Workflow template. The first one is step conditions which allow you to create a step and assign it only if certain conditions are met. If not, the step can be skipped. The second is assignment conditions, which allow you to add conditions for any assignment record defined against a step.
In the screenshot above, you can see how you can add conditions to a step for adding product attributes.
Auto-complete steps
When you are importing data into Data Entry Workflow using the Connectivity Studio integration, it is possible that most of the mandatory fields are already filled in a step, so in that case the workflow will automatically move to the next step.
Adding tax-exempt details
Usually, on the Dynamics 365 F&SCM form, the value needs to be added in the master tax- exempt number table. However, using our Data Entry Workflow solution, you can fill in the tax- exempt number that does not exist in the master table.
Dynamic Field Security enhancement
Customers and prospects have shared the requirement to manage change requests in master data. There was the need to control the fields that are allowed to be changed depending on the user, a lifecycle state, conditions of the record, and the company.
A use case for Master Data Management (MDM) is that a person would be allowed to enter values in the master company and for the same entity, not in the local companies or vice versa. There are governance requirements in several industries where it is not allowed to change an address of a vendor. We released the Dynamic Field Security feature in Master Data Management Studio as a preview which can be turned on/off in October 2022.
On this form, users can specify which fields from which table should be blocked or hidden based on the condition. If the form name is empty, the policy will be applied to all forms which use the table. If the field name is empty, the policy will be applied to all fields of the selected table. Currently, two types of conditions are supported: Inquiry (System query) and Dynamic query (Dynamic query framework).
To make the selection of the fields easier, we recently introduced the Form mapping functionality to enhance Dynamic Field Security. The feature helps you record the selected fields and post them to the policy. After the recording is completed, the user can review the selected fields in the Form mapping form. After the review, the user can post it to the Field policy setup.
The form mapping function is shown above and the form picking feature is displayed below.
Configurable lookups
This new feature in Data Quality Studio allows our users to configure custom lookups. This means users can choose only one of the available values from the field; for example, you can provide limitations for the credit rating field or payment terms.
This feature can be reused on multiple data quality validation rules. This feature is supported in the Data Entry Workflow form as well.
You can set up two different types of lookups. One for a custom pre-defined list, and the second type is to source available options from the database with the help of the Dynamic Query Framework.
In the screenshot below, a lookup has been added for credit rating using a user-defined list. Another type of lookup has been configured for the Currencies and Country ISO2 fields using Dynamics Query.
Quality assessment
A preview version of the quality assessment feature has been added in Data Quality Studio. This will allow you to execute validation rules for existing records. You can run the quality assessment periodically to check data quality, or for changed records, or when you import data from other systems. This action will give you all the reported warnings, which you can review and then take action.
Fuzzy logic duplicate checks
A duplicate check in Data Quality Studio is a technical check for fields such as customer account number or sales order number. You might want to conduct a duplicate check on names or a combination of fields. Initially, we had the option to define a duplicate check that acted as an additional index on a table. That is called basic matching, where we can define a combination of fields that can be unique in the application.
An example of running a Duplicate check using basic matching where you select the fields that you want to activate this feature for is shown in the screenshot above.
In Fuzzy matching, we can define a combination of fields, add a weight percentage and it will show possible duplicates while filling in data using Data Quality Studio and also for existing records for which you have a duplicate. An example is shown below.
Even while you create new customers from Data Quality Studio, you will see if there are other duplicates when the record is created, as shown in the picture below. This will happen automatically if a duplicate check already set up for customers in the system.
In the list, you will see records with duplicates and the fields are similar. If the percentage is higher, that record could possibly be a duplicate.
Are you considering a data governance solution for Dynamics 365 F&SCM?
We hope this blog gave you a snapshot of what our development and product teams have been building. While we will continue to consider customer feedback and innovation to improve our solutions, if you have any specific use cases or questions in mind, do not hesitate to reach out to a To-Increase expert.
If you want to see our solutions in action and find out how much effort is needed to configure workflows, data quality rules and distribute master data, do sign up for our on-demand webinar by filling in the form below.
Sumana Samuk
Dorian Sakowski
