News & Insights | Dynamics 365 Business Applications

The best Dynamics 365 analytics, tracking, & forecasting features

Written by TD SYNNEX | 26 August 2025 17:36:01 Z

Every business wants to achieve growth and, as they do, the amount (and complexity) of their data grows too. But, that’s a good thing as data isn't a byproduct – it’s an asset.

It’s why industry-leading businesses like Amazon see data as their number one currency, and Microsoft understands this perfectly. This is why they include powerful analytics, tracking, and forecasting features in Dynamics 365.

These features help businesses monitor performance, give them better insights into end-to-end processes, and help them plan more effectively. If you want to harness your business data like this, Dynamics 365 could be just what you need!

Dynamics 365 CRM: Analytics, forecasting, and tracking all rolled into one

When implemented properly, Dynamics 365 is so much more than a CRM or planning tool. It’s a platform that integrates with your existing business technologies, like Microsoft 365, Power Platform, Copilot, and even third-party apps.

These integrations give businesses unique insights into their data and unlock powerful new analytics capabilities that span multiple departments. This gives senior leaders a 360° view of the business and enables them to:

  • Monitor team and business performance in real time.
  • Forecast revenue, inventory, and resource needs.
  • Predict customer behaviour and analyse market trends.
  • Make data-driven decisions that drive growth.
  • Spot and remediate process and workflow bottlenecks.

The core analytics and tracking features of Dynamics 365 CRM

In-built dashboards

Dynamics 365 CRM allows businesses to create dashboards using live data from CRM records, sales activities, and customer interactions. These can be tailored to specific roles, too.

Leadership, for example, could have dashboards that show team performance, revenue predictions, or track specific business objectives. Whereas sales teams could see their pipeline, conversion rates, or revenue generated.

Dashboards are interactive and update in real time, making it easy for senior leaders to spot trends or potential barriers to growth and respond quickly. Plus, with a Power BI integration, businesses can use Dynamics 365 CRM to create cross-functional reports that combine data across the business – so leaders get a truly holistic view of performance, business-wide.

Performance tracking capabilities

Tracking performance is important for business leaders, obviously, but it can also be beneficial for teams as well. Sales is a great example of this, as tracking performance can help senior leaders identify areas where employees need more support in order to hit targets.

Sales leaders can use Dynamics 365 to monitor team activity, conversion rates, and pipeline growth. And they can use AI-insights to spot which deals are most likely to close, which team members need support, and where bottlenecks are forming. This kind of information lets leaders do what they do best – lead – without having to spend hours trawling through data.

Forecasting features

The forecasting capabilities of Dynamics 365 CRM help business leaders make smarter, faster decisions by turning sales and operational data into actionable insights. These insights allow leaders to forecast more accurately, as they provide a unified view of business health – both current and predicted.

Leaders can also use predictive models and forecasted data to:

  • Track performance against targets and spot barriers to success.
  • Set accurate targets, based on internal and market data.
  • Streamline planning by customising projections based on KPIs, business priorities, and more.
  • Spot trends as they happen and adjust strategy accordingly.

How Copilot uses data and analytics from Dynamics 365 CRM to drive growth

Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant, now comes as standard with Dynamics 365 CRM. This adds new capabilities, which massively reduce the manual effort involved in business-as-usual workloads. While empowering senior leaders to make accurate, data-driven decisions and create effective strategies with ease.

With Copilot in Dynamics 365, businesses can: 

  • Automate repetitive tasks such as email drafting, meeting summaries, and data entry.
  • Get real-time insights without building complex reports (or chasing down data from other teams!)
  • Help teams collaborate more effectively by sharing data and dashboards across departments.
  • Use next-gen AI insights to plan strategy or guide employees with intelligent next-step workflow suggestions.

Is Dynamics 365 the best data and analytics solution for business planning?

For businesses and senior leaders, the analytics, tracking, and forecasting features of Dynamics 365 have clear benefits. Business leaders are able to make data-driven decisions quickly using AI-insights, predictive analytics makes forecasting more accurate, and tracking capabilities allow leaders to monitor performance and overall business health with ease.

That’s why there’s more to Dynamics 365 CRM than just a CRM - and why so many businesses are now using it to drive growth and efficiency. To learn how organisations like yours are using Dynamics to gain a competitive edge, download our Dynamics of Success report below: