Your customers run Business Central. The standard reports are in place, Power BI may already be set up. Yet every month, time is lost on the same thing: pulling data from BC, editing it in Excel, making it presentable, sending it out. Next month, the same routine.

Barry Kattestaart knows the pattern well. Barry is Managing Partner at Navtech Group, a pan-European Business Central partner with offices in Bulgaria, Switzerland and the Benelux. In this article, he shares how the partnership with Exsion started and what Exsion Reporting delivers for his customers.

Pragmatic and always looking for a solution

Barry describes Navtech Group as a boutique software company. "Pragmatic, approachable, and always looking for a solution." He runs the day-to-day operations in the Benelux. Navtech serves customers ranging from 1 to 50 users, but also larger organisations with more complex processes in retail, hospitality, manufacturing and pharma.

He recognises the same attitude at Exsion. "I see a lot of similarities between our companies. A hands-on mentality and always focused on solutions."

The same manual work every month

"Our customers, like me, don't like unnecessary work," says Barry. "It's often the same repetitive tasks in Excel. BC offers plenty of reports, especially when you add Power BI. But people still want to see and customise a lot of their data in Excel. The speed at which you can refresh that data is quite often a challenge."

That's where Exsion comes in. "Once you know where the data sits in the application, you set up the connection in Excel and refresh whenever you need to. That's the strength of Exsion."

200 attendees at their own event in Bulgaria

Barry first came across Exsion at Dynamics Connect, an event Navtech organised in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was an immediate success: 200 attendees, all Business Central users and partners. Thomas Werkhoven and Elielma Silva from Exsion presented there.

"That was my first contact with Exsion," says Barry. "I saw how easily they connected Excel to Business Central and immediately thought: that's interesting. For Thomas and Elielma, it was a direct introduction to 200 people who also work with Business Central. A great day for everyone."

The step from introduction to partnership was quick. "We couldn't ignore it. The enthusiasm and conviction of the Exsion team swept us along. After a short demo, we were convinced. Especially the ease of building a report using filter sets."

Up and running in two days

Onboarding went smoothly. Barry spent extra time on the more advanced formulas, but for most users the basics are immediately clear.

"Without that deeper dive, you can already get started quickly. Within two days you're truly comfortable with the tool. At first you stick to simple data, but soon the questions grow. You start joining tables and get something slightly different from what you expected." He laughs. "At that point, the Exsion helpdesk steps in straight away. They're easy to reach and always respond quickly. So you're back on track in no time."

During onboarding, Navtech also wanted to verify whether Exsion could handle customers with large data volumes. Together with Exsion, they tested performance on the Value Entry table in Business Central. The result: 1 million rows loaded into Excel in approximately 30 seconds, a pivot table on 3 million rows in about 40 seconds, and more than 50 million rows in a pivot table in just over two and a half minutes. Ready to analyse in Excel immediately, without an additional data layer.

"And what's great is that as a partner, we don't have to handle support ourselves. Exsion takes care of that. We focus on the customer relationship."

Enthusiastic, but finding their feet

How do customers react when they first see Exsion? "They're enthusiastic," says Barry. "But it's also a bit of a shift from the BC interface to Excel and tables. You need to learn where the data is stored in the application."

Business Central itself has a solution for that. "With the 'Inspect Pages and Data' function, you can quickly see which table your data sits in and which field you're looking at. That makes building your report straightforward."

Fashion collections, updated with one click

One customer example makes it tangible. A Navtech customer in the fashion industry works with collections that change rapidly. They need combined data from multiple BC tables: colour codes and descriptions, size charts, washing instructions and fabric compositions. Previously, compiling that information was all manual.

"Exsion allows them to update an Excel file with combined data from multiple tables at the click of a button and share it with their customers. Because collections change quickly, updates follow in rapid succession. To always have the latest data in Excel, Exsion is ideal."

An extra asset in the portfolio

Barry sees growing opportunities for Exsion across his customer base. The first customers provide references, and that creates a flywheel. "Once you have a reference for the rest of your customers, opportunities to connect with others start to emerge."

It gives Navtech something extra in the market. "This gives us an additional selling point for our customers."

Why Barry tells fellow partners to pay attention

"If someone asked me why I work with Exsion Reporting, I'd say: the product does what it promises. Your customers pick it up quickly, you build reports in minutes, and if you get stuck, the Exsion helpdesk sorts it out. As a partner, you don't have to think about it."

About Navtech Group

Navtech Group is a pan-European Business Central partner with offices in Bulgaria, Switzerland and the Benelux. With over 20 years of experience in ERP, POS and digital transformation, Navtech serves customers in retail, hospitality, manufacturing and pharma. Their portfolio includes LS Central, PocketNAV, Webixty and Exsion Reporting.

About the Exsion partner programme

Partners pay no licence fees for Exsion Reporting. For every licence sold, they receive a fixed 25% margin, for as long as the customer remains active. Installation at a customer takes 5 minutes. Exsion handles all support. Interested? Let's talk.