Performance optimization in Business Central
Performance is about the users’ experience of how quickly Business Central responds and performs processes. In the cloud edition, performance has nothing to do with the hardware. Microsoft handles server capacity, databases, and infrastructure in large data centers and automatically scales resources such as memory, CPU, and database capacity as needed. Performance optimization is about something else, and it is rarely what people think.
What makes Business Central slow
When a company calls its ERP partner and says “everything is running slow”, troubleshooting starts by looking into the solution.
The first checks the troubleshooter performs
| Check | What is being investigated |
|---|---|
| Database capacity | Is your database stressed relative to the subscription’s standard capacity |
| Data volumes | Has anything significant happened in the last 30 days |
| Table growth | Are there tables that have grown unusually large |
| Heavy jobs | Has a job pumped large amounts of data into specific tables |
The typical culprits
The initial investigation usually finds the culprit before you even start pulling telemetry data:
- a job queue that runs too often and stresses the system in the middle of working hours
- a change log that logs too broadly and generates enormous data volumes
- an app that performs heavy calculations on a page you use many times a day
It is rarely the solution platform itself that is the bottleneck. It is typically something in the specific setup, in the data volumes, or in the installed apps. That also means it can be solved.
Performance around major releases
Every time Microsoft releases a major release, many thousands of companies want to be upgraded in a short time. That creates traffic and database load in those periods, and it can cause short-term performance fluctuations. If you experience the system being a bit sluggish in the days around a large update, it is probably temporary.
If you experience prolonged issues, it is highly likely that the update isn’t the problem.
AI agents and performance
AI agents work fast, and many can work at the same time. The question is whether that stresses the system.
AI agents technically work like ordinary users. They place the same kind of load on the system as any other user would.
Microsoft has set limits for parallel agents
There is a theoretical possibility that many simultaneous agents could stress the system, but it isn’t different from many simultaneous human users. Microsoft has introduced limits on how many agent processes can run in parallel, so agents never crowd out the real users’ performance. It isn’t an area where we have seen problems.
The impact of internet connection
Performance also depends on your internet connection. Every time you do something in Business Central, the command travels to a Microsoft data center and back again.
If your internet connection is poor, you notice it clearly. Most companies have adequate connectivity, so it is rarely the primary cause of performance problems. When you dig into cases, it is most often something in the solution itself.
Optimization in Business Central itself
There are a number of things in the application you can optimize on.
Loading pattern: only what is visible is loaded first
When you open a page in Business Central, it doesn’t load all data immediately, only the data you can see. On a customer list Business Central only loads the customers visible at the top, and as you scroll it loads the next ones as needed.
The more data that needs to be loaded, the longer it takes to make a page ready.
Concrete optimizations the user can make
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Close the FactBox on the right side | Business Central has to load less data |
| Hide fields you don’t use | Less data to load |
| Remove unnecessary elements from the Role Center | Faster loading of the start page |
You might save a quarter of a second, which doesn’t sound like much. We have grown used to systems responding instantly, so a quarter of a second can make a difference.
Identify which apps are slowing down a page
Pay attention to whether there are apps installed on the pages where you experience issues. You can see it under Page Inspection on the Extensions tab. Page Inspection shows how long each extension takes. That gives you concrete data to bring to your app vendor if you suspect that a particular app is slowing down a page.
Job queues running during working hours
Job queues that run too frequently can also affect performance, especially if they run heavy processes while many users are in the system. Microsoft recommends considering whether jobs can be moved to outside working hours.
Performance Profiler: documentation of what is slow
Business Central has a built-in Performance Profiler you can use to identify what is making a process slow.
How to use the Performance Profiler
- Start the profiler
- Perform the process that is slow (for example post a sales order)
- Stop the profiler
- See an overview of which apps were active during the process and how long they took
If it turns out that a particular app takes 10 seconds to process data, you have concrete documentation to present to your app vendor.
Telemetry via Azure: detailed data over time
Beyond the Performance Profiler, you can connect your Business Central environment to Microsoft’s telemetry platform. It requires an Azure subscription, but it gives you access to detailed data about:
- slow SQL queries
- long report runs
- error patterns
- database locks
It is probably your ERP partner who should set up and monitor telemetry data, but as ERP manager you should know that it exists and ask for it if you experience recurring performance problems.
Telemetry as a proactive tool
Telemetry isn’t only for troubleshooting. It is also a proactive tool. If you establish a baseline for how your system normally performs, you can quickly detect when something deviates. A report that suddenly takes twice as long as normal is easier to react to when you have a basis for comparison.
How to contact the right parties
Performance problems can have many causes, and it is important to know who to contact:
| Problem | Contact |
|---|---|
| Problem appears to be in a specific app | The app vendor with data from the Performance Profiler or Page Inspection |
| General problem with the environment | Your ERP partner |
| Recurring performance problems | Your ERP partner, and ask for telemetry setup |
The most important thing is to avoid guessing. Business Central today gives you good tools to measure and document where the problem lies.