Is it True That Some Dynamics GP Users Can Not Move to Dynamics 365 Business Central (BC)?
Updated: Oct 14, 2023
I have not run into a customer on Dynamics GP that can't move to BC. And I've been doing this for a long time…
My background is Dynamics GP, I've been using and implementing Dynamics GP since 1998, back when it was Great Plains.
Microsoft had not bought it yet.
I've been with the software since then and still support several customers on it.
Dynamics GP back in the 1990s and early 2000 was a great product and still is a great product, however, the technology is far behind the current ERP options.
Business Central (BC) is a full, rich functionality, ERP system.
It includes every module that was included in Dynamics GP along with hundreds of additional extra functionalities and features.
It includes core finance, fixed assets, banking, purchasing and payables, supply chain management, sales, and receivables (including built-in connectivity with Dynamics 365 Sales/Engagement (CRM)), manufacturing, warehousing, projects/jobs, field service, and much, much more.
There are over 3,000 apps available on Microsoft AppSource to extend the functionality of Business Central as well.
Built using the old Microsoft NAV framework, Dynamics 365 Business Central is fully cloud and includes one production environment, three sandboxes, and free semi-annual upgrades.
It has tens of thousands of customers and has seen a growth rate of over 200% year-over-year.
Last year at Summit North America, Microsoft announced that there will be no new features or enhanced functionality for Dynamics GP users and customers.
When you look at the Microsoft space and what Microsoft's doing with Power Automate with Teams, with all the capabilities of Outlook and the other Microsoft 365 applications, none of that investment is going into Dynamics GP.
A huge amount of investment, including 100s of new features a year, is being invested into Dynamics 365 Business Central (BC).
This past week, Microsoft announced that Microsoft Dynamics GP will no longer be available for purchase for new users and clients, effective 2025.
This is following a very similar pattern to what we saw we the end of Microsoft NAV, which is now the at end of its life, and all its customers are encouraged to upgrade or migrate to Dynamics Business Central (BC).
Microsoft is encouraging GP partners to start talking with their customers about Dynamics 365 Business Central, as a future option.
From an IT director, VP of IT, CEO, or CFO perspective, you are continually paying an annual investment into servers, into software in which you will be getting no additional benefits other than what have right now.
That is a huge loss in the modern day of lifecycle software. Your competitors and your future state of software are light years ahead of your current technology stack.
Dynamics 365 BC is a whole different ballgame.
I do see a lot of customers looking and saying, hey, Do we need to get a plan in place?
In fact, people ask me, “Should I have a plan in place?”.
And I tell them, yes, you should start planning for this.
Get the implementation cost into your future year or current year budget and start looking at your options.
In fact, I am writing a book right now “From GP to BC” and hoping to have that done around March or April.
Moving from GP to BC is not an upgrade.
It is a totally different platform.
I can say this as a former GP user, and a former GP implementer, it's a completely different software.
It's going from night or day. That doesn't make BC a bad product.
However, the capabilities of both products are totally different. The way both products function is totally different.
But I will say after 6 years of using and implementing Dynamics Business Central, it is different in a really good way.
So many new ways to make your business and processes very efficient and to remove all the costs of hardware costs to manage hardware, and costs of doing upgrades.
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Is Business Central Expensive?
Microsoft is offering 40% off the Subscription rate for current Dynamics GP and NAV customers to move to Business Central with the Bridge to Cloud Promotion.
These reduced costs are for three years from the subscription start date and offer the discounted savings below!
All read-only users in your organization can take advantage of the free-of-charge, read-only capabilities inside of Microsoft Teams.
Essentials Users (No manufacturing or Project Accounting) would pay free-of-charge$42.00 per user, per month instead of $70.00 per user, per month.
Premium Users (Manufacturing and/or Project Accounting) would pay $60.00 per user, per month, instead of $100.00 per user, per month.
That is, there are no additional costs or pricing from Microsoft. No hardware, VPN, or additional components are needed.
Access from your computer, phone, table, or anywhere where the internet is available.
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Use The Move from Dynamics GP to Dynamics BC to Reevaluate Your Most Common Processes
Some of the clients that I have implemented from Dynamics GP to BC, had been doing the same processes in Dynamics GP for 10-20 years and never reevaluated their processes.
The migration was a great time to do that evaluation because with Power Automate, with Power BI, with all the tools they give you in the Microsoft stack within BC, there's so much automation possible.
I would say we have saved hundreds of manual hours of work each year, with Dynamics 365 Business Central and the Power Platform!
Why are you doing what you did 12 years ago?
Let's reinvent the wheel and make it better. Now is a great time to go through and evaluate and say what are we doing in GP.
What are our business processes? And can BC meet it with core functionality? Can it meet it with apps?
We are currently offering a $5,000 discovery and custom demo project for Dynamics GP customers to evaluate business central, gather requirements from the current Dynamics GP structure and setup, and provide a tailored demo of Business Central illustrating how Business Central can meet and exceed your ERP needs!
For more information, contact us at smullins@abccgroup.com or visit www.abccgroup.com for more information.
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Check out our Dynamics GP to Dynamics BC Checklist located here:
Shannon Mullins
Microsoft MVP
A BC Consulting Group
