The Transition: Microsoft Dynamics GP to Business Central

/in , , , /by

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has been gaining a lot of attention from the Dynamics GP user community due to Microsoft positioning it as their core cloud solution for mid-market companies. At the same time, users are looking for a way to upgrade Dynamics GP with little to no success.

Now to be clear, Dynamics GP is not going away. Microsoft has reiterated that all Dynamics GP customers are valued and isn’t forcing any organization to move away from Dynamics GP. Although Microsoft is committed to providing updates to address bugs and security they will no longer offer functional improvements, which means your system will work, it just won’t gain any value.  

So over the past few years we have started to hear “When should I migrate from Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central?”. This is a great question and the answer will vary by company but driving that decision is an organizations strategy for cloud investment, digital transformation, internal and external connected operations, and agility.   

Improved Reporting

The need for improved reporting is one of the indicators that you should start evaluating your path from Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central. Business Central has its own standard reporting tools. There are account schedules, which are comparable to the management reporter tool and something a lot of companies rely on every day. But at the core of Dynamics 365 Business Central is a dimensional reporting structure.

Think of a dimension as hashtag or attribute that can be tagged to any transaction in the system. Default dimensions can be set on records such as customers, vendors, salespeople, territories, items, etc. and each time a transaction is made with that record the default dimension(s) is associated with the transaction. Dimensional reporting allows you to slice and dice data in a variety of ways, much like a pivot table but without all the calisthenics. To do this with Dynamics GP requires add-on tools and some report massaging to tag transactions. More hoops to jump through means more room for error and more money spent to make it work and keep it running. 

Going Remote

 

The Dynamics 365 Business Central is browser enabled and there is a mobile solution in your mobile platforms store. There isn’t a dedicated mobile application for Dynamics GP and it really doesn’t work well at all in a browser, and could be rather unsafe.

So say you are out to lunch and you get a call. Your boss needs a report or asks for numbers but you don’t have your laptop because, well, you’re on lunch. This situation sounds familiar, right? Well now with the Business Central App you have access to your system. The mobile workspaces function gives you an action hub that is customizable to exactly the info you want to see when opening the app. You can also access favorites (info and dashboards you assign) and recent items to continue where you last left off. The mobile experience leaves you free to pull those numbers easily, even if you are technically at lunch…

For remote workers such as a management, service, or sales that could benefit from access to your ERP for inquiry and entering data Dynamics GP may no longer meet your organizations needs. Applications such as Outlook, Excel, Word, and Power BI are embedded right into Dynamics 365 Business Central.  

So How do I Upgrade Dynamics GP?

As you very well know, Dynamics GP requires regular upgrades for stability, to keep compatible with an OS, and receive new features. A Dynamics GP environment with several ISV solutions, customizations, or integrations can be cumbersome and costly to upgrade. We’ve seen over the years that clients often skip their Dynamics GP releases or their company has other priorities and they don’t have the time or resources to upgrade.

Dynamics 365 Business Central is always up to date. Two major updates are made available during the year, one in April and the other in October. With Dynamics 365 Business Central you’ll never need to manage or purchase new infrastructure and you’ll never have to upgrade or patch your ERP solution.  

There can be other indicators that it’s time for your company to upgrade Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central. We are one of the top rated accounting solution providers and have many years of experience with Dynamics GP and Dynamics 365 Business Central. Let’s discuss your needs and develop a strategy that fits your business. Give us a call at 855.913.3228 or shoot us an email at info@altavistatech.com. You can even fill out our simple web form and someone will reach out to you within one business day. At Alta Vista Technology we take pride in being part of your solution.