Fact or Fiction: Migrating From Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central

In a recent SikichLive, we spoke with our own Andrew Kampwerth, a Microsoft Dynamics GP and Dynamics 365 Business Central (D365BC)  Specialist, to go over what’s fact and what is fiction when it comes to moving from GP to D365BC. There are plenty of rumors and myths swirling around regarding this transition, and we want to make it as clear as possible what is true and what is not.

Fact or Fiction: It’s too expensive to move from GP to D365BC.

This is fiction, because it doesn’t have to be expensive. Everyone thinks of an ERP implementation as a grueling, expensive process, and it really doesn’t have to be. We’ve done a lot of things to streamline our own process to make it as efficient as possible. We can work with the client to have them take on quite a bit of transition work, which eliminates and reduces costs.

There’s other technology that can help as well. We have a program called HEADSTART that makes the overall process more streamlined. Microsoft released a tool literally named the “GP to BC Migration Tool,” which allows us to take all GP data and move it straight to Business Central in the cloud.

Fact or Fiction: The cloud is not secure.

Again, this is fiction. The cloud has come a long way. From where it was years ago, D365 Business Central SaaS or Business Central online is hosted in Microsoft’s Azure platform, which in itself is very secure. Organizations of all shapes and sizes from all sorts of industries have now seen how far the cloud has come with security, and they’re all making moves to it. It no longer makes sense for companies to host servers on-site, as well. Of course, there are exceptions, but for the most part, it makes sense from a cost connectivity standpoint to move to the cloud.

Fact or Fiction: Microsoft has cost incentives for people to move from GP to D365BC.

This is a fact. Microsoft does offer cost incentives for GP clients that have been paying for annual enhancements—an annual fee to keep software current and up to date. For these clients, Microsoft offers reduced-price licenses. Since GP licenses were already extremely expensive, Microsoft helps out these clients up front and then moves them to a subscription model for annual or monthly payments.

Fact or Fiction: A company should rely on a partner to help them through a migration to BC.

Fact. The important phrase here is “rely on,” as you definitely want to leverage your partner through the migration process. We’re the ones who do this as a full-time job, moving clients from systems like GP to D365BC. As such, we’ve fine-tuned our process. We’ve learned what works and doesn’t work, and we can help guide clients through those steps.

Fact or Fiction: BC has too many yearly upgrades, and it’s going to be too costly to perform all of them.

Fiction. This is a common misconception, because in reality, it’s the opposite. GP clients are often used to very time-consuming expensive upgrades. With everything in the cloud, all D365BC and cloud updates are automatically applied. Most of the updates are minor that often happen overnight. The major updates only happen twice a year, thereby giving companies more control over scheduling the updates.

Overall, it’s a far more systematic, streamlined process than what businesses are used to with GP upgrades.

Fact or Fiction: GP and D365BC are virtually the same system. So what’s the point?

So that is fiction. Microsoft offers different ERP systems, but there are a lot of benefits with moving to Business Central. For example, there’s connectivity to the Microsoft stack with Outlook, Power Platform, and Power BI. While it may seem the same as they’re both ERP systems, you will gain a whole lot more by moving to BC in the end.

Fact or Fiction: The migration from GP to D365BC is just way too long.

Fiction, once again. It’s not a long process. Microsoft has created the migration tool for applicable clients that can, again, take their GP data and move it to Business Central in the cloud. So all of your customers, vendors, GL accounts, and even your history in the system can all be moved to Business Central. Microsoft has created this systematic process that does all the migration and all the data mapping for you to get you into that into that cloud offering.

Fact or Fiction: BC is only for manufacturers and distribution companies.

This is fiction. It’s not only for those companies. Although BC does have several vertical markets that it works really well in, such as manufacturing, distribution, and maybe construction, that’s not everything. It can really apply to verticals and companies all across all across the world. So it could be anything from financial services to a family office, and it can be geared towards any industry.

Fact or Fiction: I cannot use my vendors I am used to when moving to BC.

This is a tricky one, but it is fiction. You can use your vendors. Most GP ISV vendors have either created or are in the process of creating a Business Central offering in the app store. Most ISVs are moving from GP to D365BC, but there’s also the possibility that you may not need a particular ISV anymore because the functionality it offered for GP already exists in D365 out-of-the-box.

Fact or Fiction: BC’s out-of-the-box financial reporting is limited.

This is a fact. Out-of-the-box Business Central has what’s called “Account Schedules,” and for generating most companies’ financial statements, it’s really limited. It can’t do everything you need it to do, so we have a few different products that we recommend.

One is Jet Reports, and one is Solver. Both of these are independent software vendors that work with BC. They essentially let you run your financial statements in Excel and then share them throughout the organization. So although Business Central does lack in this area, there are other vendors we bring in to fill this gap.

We even work with GP clients who still aren’t ready to move to D365BC but want to use a new reporting tool. Clients that are unhappy with Manager or Porter for GP have turned to Jet Reports and Solver, since they know when they do move to BC, they can carry these products with them.

Have any other questions about migrating from GP to D365BC? Please contact us at any time!