• Terminology:
    • BC Environment: Also referred to as a Server, also referred to as a Tenant, is a database that stores business data and code for 1 or more BC Companies. From a hierarchy perspective, a BC Environment is at the top and multiple BC Companies are under a single environment.
    • BC Company: Companies in BC can contain unique data (Ex: Customers, Vendors, Items, Chart of Accounts) specific to a unique Company or Business. (Ex: Brinker International is the parent company that owns Chili's Bar & Grill and Maggiano's Italian Restaurant. Chili's and Maggiano's would be 2 separate BC Companies).
  • Concepts to understand:
    • It's common to see multiple Environments (Ex: Production Environment, Sandbox Environment). Each Environment is unique and can accessed and viewed from the Dynamics 365 Business Central Admin Center. Each unique environment can be on a unique version of Business Central and can contain unique customizations (code).
    • Each Environment contains its own set of BC Companies (Ex: Production may contain only the live companies a business owner would need to manage, Sandbox may contain Test or UAT companies that are used to test data and functionality before deploying it to a Company that resides in the Production Environment).
    • All BC Companies that reside in a specific Environment will all adhere to the Customizations/Code that has been deployed to that specific Environment. This supports a strategy of being able to test code in a Sandbox Environment prior to deploying it to a Production Environment.
    • All User Permissions are Environment specific. (Ex: If a User has Permission to Delete a Vendor Record in 1 BC Company in the Production Environment, he/she will have that same permission in all other BC Companies in that same Environment).
  • How to determine what Environment or Company you are in?
    • Check your Browser's URL. The URL should start with "https://businesscentral.dynamics.com/" and contain reference to the Environment as follows: /Production, /Sandbox, /Test, or something similar.
    • The URL will also contain the word "Company=" in the text string which is followed by the name of the BC Company you are working in.
  • Suggestions:
    • Utilize BC's  "Company Badge" functionality that will display in the upper right hand corner of BC, a clearly visible identifier of what Company or Environment you are in.
    • This helps notify all Users and ensures that they are in the Environment or Company that they are supposed to be in.
    • This functionality is found on the "Company Information" Page. Multiple colors are available to help differentiate Environments and Companies.

 

  • Feel free to contact Velosio Support with any questions. Thank You!