While Microsoft Dynamics GP (formerly Great Plains) has served thousands of organizations well, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers the functionality, flexibility, and security essential for growth. Migrating from Dynamics GP to Business Central is a forward-thinking move, especially as Microsoft ends mainstream support for GP in 2029. This transition provides a modern, cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution with enhanced features and security. Explore four key reasons to switch now, tips for planning your transition to the cloud, and best practices for Business Central migration services in this article.
Reduced IT Costs
The first reason to consider migrating is the reduction in IT infrastructure costs and improved cost efficiency. By eliminating the need for on-premises servers and infrastructure, you can significantly reduce expenses associated with hardware management and maintenance.
From a financial standpoint, maintaining on-premises servers for Dynamics GP involves substantial ongoing costs, including hardware, software licenses, IT resources, and server maintenance. Business Central, being a cloud-based ERP system, shifts these costs from capital expenditures to operating expenses, allowing for improved budget predictability and freeing up capital for other strategic purposes.
For example, one organization cut operational and licensing costs by about 20% per user after migrating to Business Central. This illustrates the financial benefits and cost efficiency that can be gained from the transition.
From an IT perspective, Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure provides enhanced security, reliability, and scalability. IT professionals can benefit from Microsoft handling the infrastructure, backups, and security, freeing up time for other projects.
Microsoft Cloud for Business Central can aid IT professionals in several ways:
- Cloud-based convenience: Business Central’s cloud-based nature allows access from anywhere, anytime, using any device with an internet connection. This flexibility is especially beneficial for remote teams.
- Enhanced security: Microsoft Cloud offers robust security features, including encryption, role-based access, and compliance with regulatory standards, helping to keep sensitive data protected.
- Scalability: The platform is highly scalable, catering to organizations of varying sizes. It can grow with the company, adapting to changing needs without requiring significant infrastructure changes.
- Automation and artificial intelligence (AI): Business Central leverages AI and automation to help streamline processes, speed up tasks, and provide valuable insights to inform decision making.
Integrations & Real-Time Data
The second reason to consider is that finance professionals need access to accurate, current data to make informed decisions. Dynamics GP, while a steadfast system, can sometimes be limited in its integration capabilities with modern applications.
Business Central, on the other hand, can seamlessly integrate with other Microsoft 365 tools like Outlook, Excel, Teams, SharePoint, Microsoft Power Platform, and Power BI. These native integrations can help streamline workflows and enhance functionality and real-time reporting.
From an IT point of view, the application programming interface (API)-first design of Business Central simplifies integration with other systems, reducing the complexity and cost of customizing code and integrations. The Business Central API (v2.0) enables integration with third-party solutions, providing endpoints for both on-premises and online environments, and supports webhooks for real-time notifications. This can lead to a more streamlined data flow across the organization.
For instance, one company reclaimed nearly 2,000 hours per year spent manually entering data by transitioning to Business Central. This demonstrates the improved integration capabilities and potential time savings.
The ability to access data from other systems in one centralized location is a significant advantage, especially in today’s distributed and digital-first workforce.
Automation
In addition, the third reason to consider is that many current Dynamics GP processes are manual and time-consuming. Business Central provides built-in automation capabilities, such as automated invoice processing, bank reconciliation, and financial reporting, which help improve efficiency and reduce errors. These efficiencies allow the finance team to focus on higher-value activities like financial analysis and forecasting.
The low- and no-code capabilities of the Power Platform, which integrate natively with Business Central, enable the creation of custom workflows to automate tasks without extensive IT involvement. This can reduce IT burden and accelerate business processes.
Business Central’s modern and intuitive user interface also enhances user adoption and productivity. For example, one organization transformed its business model with Business Central, achieving significant time savings in processing orders, showcasing the automation benefits and efficiency improvements.
Continuous Updates
The last key reason is that future-proofing your business systems is essential. Dynamics GP is a mature product approaching the end of mainstream support from Microsoft. It’s critical to have an ERP system that can adapt to evolving business needs and industry updates.
Business Central, being a cloud-based ERP system, receives continuous and consistent software updates from Microsoft. This significantly reduces the need for time-consuming and manual upgrade projects, as Microsoft handles the updates, helping the system stay up to date and secure.
This future-ready aspect of Business Central can help your organization stay competitive and agile long into the future. For instance, several client organizations avoided costly manual upgrade projects and maintained system security and compliance readily with Business Central.
Reasons Not to Wait
There are several compelling reasons to transition from Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central. Dynamics GP is nearing the end of its lifecycle, with Microsoft ceasing new license sales. As an on-premises, server-based system, it can incur significant costs for Windows servers, even when hosted in the cloud. In addition, Dynamics GP will receive minimal new features as Microsoft phases out support, causing it to lag behind modern ERP systems in terms of workflow controls and integrations.
In contrast, Dynamics 365 Business Central operates in the cloud, removing the need for on-premises servers. It also features:
- Dimensional accounting: It provides advanced dimensional accounting, allowing up to eight dimensions per account. Learn more in our Business Central dimensions guide.
- Microsoft 365 integration: Business Central integrates natively with Microsoft 365, enabling interaction with accounting data in Excel, Teams, and other applications.
- Microsoft 365 ecosystem: It’s part of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, accessible via current email credentials, and available to system users with any device that has an internet connection, offsetting the need for VPN or remote desktop connections.
Best Practices for a Smooth Transition
Migrating from Dynamics GP on-premises to Dynamics 365 Business Central online involves several key tasks. By understanding the basics of data migration, you can effectively plan and execute a seamless transition to the cloud using Business Central migration services.
Understanding Cloud Migration
Data migration involves securely transferring data from an on-premises SQL Server instance to Business Central online. This process is managed from Business Central online, utilizing a connection to the on-premises database and various components that create a pipeline for data replication. The on-premises system remains the primary environment until the cloud migration is completed.
End-to-End Process
The end-to-end process includes several key components:
- On-premises database: The source SQL Server database
- Azure Data Factory: Manages the data transfer and integration
- Pipelines: Group activities that copy, move, and transform data
- Integration runtime: The compute infrastructure for Azure Data Factory
- Online database: The destination Azure SQL Database in Business Central online
Managing Environments During Cloud Migration
Cloud migration can be managed from Business Central online. Since the on-premises system remains the primary operational environment until the migration is complete, avoid setting up cloud migration for a production environment currently in use, as this risks overwriting essential business data. Even if the migration targets a different company within the environment, shared data across companies may be affected.
Once data replication is executed, any existing data in Business Central online will be replaced with data from your on-premises system. To prevent overwriting data in Business Central online, do not configure the connection.
Find additional resources and links to further details about the migration process—including configuration guides and troubleshooting tips—from Microsoft or connect with your certified Microsoft partner.
What to Expect During Migration
- Timeline: Typical implementation projects can span between four to eight months, covering design, setup, testing, and go-live. Timelines can vary based on factors such as the complexity of business processes, the volume of data, customization needs, and integration with third-party applications.
- Team involvement: Your team will need to actively participate throughout the process to validate the design and familiarize themselves with the new system. Timing the migration appropriately is crucial.
- Change management: Effective change management involves having a detailed project plan and clear communication to help team members stay informed and be aware of upcoming steps.
- Integration considerations: It’s important to account for any external systems currently integrated with Dynamics GP, such as payroll, expense reporting, and customer relationship management (CRM), to facilitate your new Business Central setup.
How Forvis Mazars Can Help
Don’t wait to begin your migration. Streamline your transition from Dynamics GP to Business Central with the aid of our end-to-end services. We can help you throughout the migration process, from planning and data transfer to in-depth user training and ongoing support. Our approach can help your organization stay focused on its core activities while we facilitate a smooth and successful transition to a more powerful and flexible ERP system. Contact us to learn more about our Business Central migration services.
Better yet—enhance your migration process with our complimentary GP to Business Central assessment. As a certified and top 1% Microsoft Business Applications Partner, the Microsoft consultants at Forvis Mazars can help you unlock new levels of efficiency. Schedule your assessment today.
Related case study: Streamlining Accounting Processes: How NEC Financial Services Uses Business Central & Solver