Dynamics 365 Experts for Cleveland Businesses
Cleveland companies rarely lose money on the product. They lose it in the paperwork around it: a price list nobody updated, a formula change that lived in one person's email, a referral that never reached the CRM. Sunflower Lab's Ohio team, based in Hilliard about 145 miles southwest, connects Dynamics 365 to Power BI, Power Automate, and Power Apps so your team can stop exporting to Excel and start working from one set of numbers. We work alongside your Dynamics 365 partner, not in place of them.
What Is Dynamics 365 Consulting?
Dynamics 365 consulting is the work of implementing, integrating, or extending Microsoft's ERP and CRM platform so it actually gets used, not just deployed. That includes connecting Business Central, Finance and Operations (Microsoft's ERP for larger, multi-entity companies), or the CRM apps to your Microsoft 365 environment, automating the manual steps around them, and building the reporting layer your leadership team looks at. In Northeast Ohio that usually means a plant, a distribution floor, or a service practice whose pricing and approvals still live in spreadsheets. We focus on the Power Platform layer around a live system.
Your Dynamics 365 Investment Is Probably Underperforming. Here's Why.
Dynamics 365 has real momentum. Microsoft's latest numbers put it at roughly 5.2% of the global CRM market, growing 16% year over year, with Copilot now built into Sales, Service, and Marketing. But owning the platform and getting value from it are two different things.
The uncomfortable industry number: a majority of CRM implementations fail to meet their original objectives, and it's rarely the software. It's usually one of three things we see over and over in Dynamics 365 environments:
Data stays siloed
Finance is in Dynamics 365, the price list and batch sheets live in Excel, and nobody trusts either version.
Nobody automated the busywork
Approvals, data entry, and reconciliation still happen by hand, and in Cleveland that often means price changes and rebate claims traveling by email, because the implementation partner's scope ended at go-live.
The platform is invisible to leadership
No dashboard, no Copilot layer, no way for a COO to see what's happening without asking someone to pull a report.
If any of that sounds familiar, the problem usually isn't Dynamics 365. It's that nobody built the layer on top of it.
We Extend Dynamics 365. We Don't Compete With Your ERP Partner.
What we do is the part most Dynamics 365 partners treat as an afterthought: making the platform actually usable day to day.
Data Integration & Unification
We connect Dynamics 365, whether that's CRM, Business Central, or Finance and Operations, to Power BI, your data warehouse, and the rest of your Microsoft 365 stack, so your ERP data isn't stuck in one system. Where a Cleveland plant keeps formulas or mill certificates in a separate system, we sync them to the matching Dynamics 365 records so the ERP stays the single source of truth.
Workflow Automation with Power Automate
Approval chains, invoice routing, credit checks, order processing. We build the automations around Dynamics 365 that eliminate the manual steps your team is still doing by hand. Around Cleveland that often means contract price changes, formula revisions, and rebate claims routed to the right approver with a record of who signed off.
Explore Power Automate Development →Custom Apps with Power Apps
When Dynamics 365's standard forms don't fit how your team works, we build custom Power Apps that read and write directly to your Dynamics data. No rip-and-replace required. Cleveland teams ask most often for a mobile screen for a plant supervisor or a referral coordinator, so data is entered once and lands in Dynamics 365 without re-keying.
See Power Apps Development →Reporting & Analytics with Power BI
Real-time dashboards built directly on your Dynamics 365 data, so your leadership team stops waiting for a weekly export. Typical Cleveland views are batch yield against standard, margin by contract or price list, and utilization by project.
See Power BI Development Services →RPA for Legacy-System Bridges
When Dynamics 365 needs to talk to a system with no clean API, which is common in manufacturing and logistics, we use RPA to bridge the gap without a custom integration project. Around Cleveland, that can mean a lab information system or an older scale and label system on the plant floor that has no export.
Explore RPA Consulting Services →Modernize Core Business Operations for Cleveland Businesses with Business Central
Dynamics 365 covers two different ERP products depending on company size. Finance and Operations is built for large, multi-entity enterprises. Business Central is built for growing mid-market companies, which is where most of our clients live. Either way, we don't build the core module. We build the layer on top that makes it worth using.
For Large, Multi-Entity Enterprises Across Greater Cleveland
F&O handles complex, multi-currency operations across entities, and it's usually the biggest line item in a Dynamics 365 rollout. We work alongside your F&O implementation partner or in-house team on:
- Automating reconciliation and approval workflows around F&O finance processes
- Power BI dashboards built on F&O data for your CFO and operations leads
- An AI/Copilot layer so your team can ask questions instead of building new reports
- Batch and formula reporting on the Finance and Operations apps, so yield against standard and co-product costs reach the CFO without a month-end spreadsheet
For Growing Mid-Market Companies in Greater Cleveland
Business Central is Microsoft's ERP for companies that have outgrown QuickBooks or a legacy accounting system but don't need F&O's complexity. Deployments move faster, but the same gap shows up after go-live. We help with:
- Connecting Business Central to Power BI so financial reporting doesn't live in spreadsheets
- Automating purchase approvals, vendor onboarding, and inventory workflows in Power Automate
- Building Power Apps for the workflows Business Central's standard screens don't cover
- Index-linked price lists for metals service centers and fabricators, with an approval step before a new price reaches a quote
- Estimated versus actual margin and unbilled work in progress for engineering and consulting firms that bill hourly, by milestone, or on retainer
Dynamics 365 CRM: Where We Fit
Dynamics 365 CRM, built on the Sales application, gives your team a system for the full deal cycle, lead to close. Most rollouts stop at the standard forms and views. Six months later, reps are still keeping their own spreadsheet next to the CRM, and the pipeline numbers in a forecast review don't match what's actually in the system. We don't run the initial CRM implementation. We come in around it, either alongside your implementation partner or after go-live, and build the layer that gets the CRM actually used and actually trusted.
Getting the Data and Process Right
A CRM is only as good as what's in it. Before automation or reporting means anything, the underlying data and process need to hold up. We work on:
- Email integration and Server-Side Sync so activity logs itself instead of relying on reps to type notes
- Contact and account data cleaned up and structured so lead scoring and territory rules actually work
- Product and pricing catalogs built out so quotes don't require a spreadsheet on the side
- Quote-to-invoice workflows connected so a closed deal doesn't stall waiting on finance
- Referral-source tracking at the practice level for specialty physician groups, with patient details kept in the EHR
Making the Pipeline Something Leadership Trusts
Once the foundation is solid, the CRM can start doing work on its own. We build:
- Power BI dashboards built on CRM data so a forecast review doesn't start with "let me pull a report"
- Power Automate workflows for lead routing, approvals, and follow-up reminders reps won't ignore
- Power Apps for the exception workflows the CRM's standard forms don't cover
- Security roles and system administration set up so the right people see the right pipeline, nothing more
- Deal registration and commission approvals for manufacturers that sell through independent reps and distributors
Dynamics 365 Sales & Marketing: Where We Fit
Sales and Marketing are built to run on the same platform, and that's usually where the disconnect actually shows up. Marketing runs a campaign and calls the resulting leads qualified. Sales looks at the same leads and doesn't trust them. Fixing that isn't a licensing problem, it's integration work: a shared scoring model, a clean handoff, and reporting both teams look at and believe. That's what we build.
Closing the Gap Between "Qualified" and "Sales-Ready"
Most Sales and Marketing disputes come down to a lead scoring model nobody agreed on. We build:
- Lead scoring built on your actual conversion data, not a default template neither team believes in
- Automated handoff rules so a marketing-qualified lead lands in the right rep's queue with context attached
- Journey and nurture automation connected to Sales activity, so outreach doesn't collide with a live campaign
- Consent, unsubscribe, and segment data synced across both apps so compliance doesn't depend on manual updates
One Funnel View for Both Teams
Marketing and Sales usually run separate reports that never quite agree. We build:
- Power BI dashboards blending Marketing engagement data with Sales pipeline stages
- Campaign attribution tied through to closed revenue, not just clicks and form fills
- Power Automate workflows keeping campaign and pipeline data in sync without manual exports
- AI-assisted lead summaries so a rep walks into a call already knowing the touchpoints that got them there
What This Looks Like in Practice
Cold Storage & Logistics: From Weekly Excel Exports to Real-Time KPIs
Core X Partners runs cold storage and logistics across multiple warehouses. Dynamics 365 was already their system of record for ERP data, but the team was still updating operational metrics in Excel every week. We built the integration layer connecting Dynamics 365, their warehouse management system, and their CRM directly into Power BI. Result: 16 warehouses reporting in real time, 3 systems unified into one dashboard, zero manual weekly Excel exports left.
View Case Study
Inspections From 15 Minutes to Seconds
Dominion Engineering's product inspections took 15 minutes each, with data scattered across disconnected systems. We connected SharePoint and Dynamics 365 through Power Automate, auto-generating inspection tickets and Teams alerts on every receipt trigger. Result: inspection time cut to seconds, 10-15 hours saved weekly, and 60 hours saved monthly in receivables.
View Case Study
Dynamics 365 vs. Legacy ERP
If you run an older on-premise ERP at a Cleveland plant or distribution site and are weighing a move, here is what actually changes.
| Features & Capabilities | Dynamics 365 | Legacy ERP |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Cloud-based, always on the current version | On-premise, manual upgrade cycles |
| Cost structure | Subscription, treated as an operating expense | Large upfront license plus ongoing maintenance contracts |
| AI & automation | Copilot and Power Automate built in | Bolted on through third-party tools, if available at all |
| Reporting & data access | Native connection to Power BI, Power Apps, and Teams | Custom integrations built and maintained separately |
| Scaling | Add users or modules as you grow | Often requires a re-implementation to scale |
Planning Microsoft Dynamics 365 Implementation with Sunflower Lab
Discovery & Data Audit
We map where your Dynamics 365 data currently lives, where it's siloed, and where manual work is happening around it. For Cleveland clients the audit starts on the floor or at the sales desk: which sheets hold prices, formulas, or referral lists, and who edits them.
Integration & Automation Design
We scope exactly which workflows get automated and which systems get connected, with a fixed-price roadmap before any build starts. The roadmap ranks workflows by the revenue or compliance exposure behind them, so a price-change approval ships before a nice-to-have dashboard.
Build & Deploy
Our certified Power Platform developers build the integration, automation, or app layer in focused sprints, typically 4 to 8 weeks depending on scope. Working sessions run over Teams from Hilliard, with a Cleveland visit planned for kickoff and go-live rather than every sprint.
Optimize & Scale
We stay on to tune performance, add new automations, and extend the Copilot/AI layer as your Dynamics 365 usage grows. The first annual price update or formula revision after go-live gets a closer look, because that is when manual workarounds tend to return.
