Dynamics GP Data to Business Central Services
Microsoft has recently announced that they will discontinue support for Dynamics GP by December 2029. This brings the curtains down on an era. But businesses cannot afford to get sentimental! If you have a lot of data saved on Great Plains, you must migrate to another ERP.
Microsoft recommends that you migrate to Dynamics 365 Business Central, its cloud-based, AI-driven ERP solution for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs)
In the following post, we will look at Dynamics GP Data Migration to Business Central and some of the critical aspects that you should focus on during migration.
Why Are Businesses Moving to Business Central?
Before entering into how migration works, let’s get one thing right: Business Central is not just a new GP. It is a fully-fledged, cloud-first ERP that integrates everything-accounting, sales, operations, and reporting.
- Anywhere anytime access
- Seamless integration with Office 365
- Real-time dashboards and insights
- Lowered cost for IT maintenance
Advantages of Dynamics GP to Business Central Migration
End of life for Great Plains is not the only reason you should think about migration to Dynamics GP to business central. There are many other advantages you will get when you transition from Microsoft Dynamics GP to Business Central.
Business Central is a Cloud Based ERP
Many businesses today have geographically dispersed teams as well as a sizeable number of remote employees. GP, which was server-based ERP, was unable to meet their needs in the long term. Dynamics 365 Business Central is a cloud-based ERP that can be accessed from anywhere, on any device. You also get the advantage of automatic backups, disaster recovery, and automatic updates.
The costs of using Business Central are lower than GP, as you do not have to manage physical servers
Advanced AI Features
Dynamics 365 Business Central comes with advanced AI features which helps in predictive modeling, identifying demand patterns, and even automated resource allocation.
Business Central also integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Copilot, a smart AI assistant that helps you to execute everyday tasks faster and more accurately.
With Migration from Dynamics GP to Business Central, you get access to these AI features that allow you to work more productively and use the ERP platform for better resource allocation.
Scalability and Customization
If you were (or still are) using GP, you will know how hard it is to make the system adapt to your growing organizational needs. We have also seen clients add multiple servers to the system, just to keep up the performance. Customizing the system or even adding and SQL server according to your changing needs was equally hard.
But with Business Central, you do not have to face any of those challenges. The system adapts seamlessly to your changing needs and scales up without any issues. You can also customize the system without any in-depth technical knowledge, and quickly.
So, as you can see, Dynamics 365 Migration does offer you a lot of advantages. However, migration does have its own challenges as well. In the next section, we will look at them.
Discover More About Dynamics 365 Business Central
Know how Evolvous can help you leverage Dynamics 365 Business Central for your small or medium-sized business. Explore our services to know more.
Our Dynamics 365 Business Central Solutions
Services We Offer to Help GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central Migration
Most businesses who use Great Plains often lack the infrastructure and expertise to migrate GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central. Therefore, you need to get support from an experienced consultant. At Evolvous, we have a team of Microsoft certified experts who have years of experience in helping businesses with Dynamics 365 migration.
Here are some of the key services we offer to execute Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Migration
Pre-Migration System Assessment and Gap Analysis
We start the process by assessing your readiness and make the right changes to ensure a smoother transition.
- We conduct a technical assessment of the existing GP environment.
- Analyze the historical data structure, customizations, or any third-party add-ons.
- Identify functional and technical gaps between GP and Business Central.
Data Migration and Transformation
We ensure data integrity and a smooth transition from Great Plains to Business Central
- Get support for extracting historical and active data from your existing GP environment.
- We cleanse, map, and transform the data to align with the data model of Dynamics 365 Business Central, before loading them to the cloud migration tools.
- We migrate all master data, open transactions, and all other data in a secure way, with minimal system downtime.
Data Mapping and Staging
This is essential to address the technical nuances and ensure compatibility during data transfer.
- We will program extraction of relevant tables and data from GP SQL databases.
- Perform data mapping between GP schema and the data model of Business Central, including general ledger and other books of account.
- Staging databases or intermediate files are created for validation.
Custom Code Reengineering or Replacement
Our team of experts will use custom code reengineering to achieve parity and future compatibility in the new environment.
- Identify VBA scripts and any GP Dexterity-based customizations.
- Rebuild the functional in the BC environment with Business Central Extensions.
- Replace unsupported features with cloud-friendly alternatives.
System Integration
Our team will ensure that your new Dynamics 365 environment can integrate seamlessly with your existing technology infrastructure.
- Evolvous will help you connect Business Central with your CRM, payroll, and other third-party applications.
- If required, we will develop custom APIs to integrate applications that are not readily integrated with Dynamics 365 Business Central.
The Process of moving from Dynamics GP to Business Central
Here is an overview of the process we follow to migrate GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central. Please note that the process might change depending on the complexity of the project.
Here are the key stages:
Assessment and Planning
Here are some of the crucial stages that will be completed in the first stage of the process.
- Review the modules, customizations, and data volume of your current GP environment.
- Identify the migration scope and the unique requirements.
- Defining the migration timelines and risk mitigation strategies.
Data Preparation and Mapping
Next, it is important to prepare the data before migration. Here are some of the important tasks that will be accomplished at this stage:
- Extract all the data from GP environment.
- Cleanse and standardize the data according to the formats compatible with Dynamics 365 Business Central.
- Map the GP Data Fields to Business Central data structure.
Executing Migration
At this stage, we will execute the migration. Here are some of the things we do to migrate the data and the logic to the cloud platform.
- Use the right tools to import data.
- Rebuild or reconfigure the necessary customization in Business Central. We ight use AL extensions, if required.
- Set up the workflows, security roles, and financial settings in the new platform.
Validation and Go-live
Finally, it is time to test the system and go live with the system. Here are the tasks that we do:
- Validate the data integrity.
- Conduct User Acceptance Testing (UAT). All identified issues are addressed.
- After imparting the necessary training, the system is switched, and the GP environment is decommissioned.
How We Solve Challenges with Dynamics GP to Business Central Migration?
Evolvous is an AI-driven consultant, and we use the power of artificial intelligence to solve common challenges with migration. Here is how
Complex or Poor-Quality GP Data
Your GP system might contain outdated, duplicate, or inconsistent data due to manual entry or limited data governance.
We use AI to detect all such anomalies faster and more accurately. Our team will remove all such data before we execute migration.
Dexterity, VBA, or SQL Incompatibility
Legacy GP systems often have deeply embedded customizations in Dexterity, VBA, or SQL. These might not translate easily into Business Central.
We run AI checks to identify custom scripts, unused modules, and critical dependencies. Our team can also leverage Copilot or other generative AI tools to create extensive AL logic codes.
Mapping Errors During Data Transformation
Incorrect mapping is a common issue in such issues. This can lead to validation failures or incorrect financial reporting, after migration.
AI and automation are used by our team to automatically map the fields from GP tables to entities in Business Central. All mappings are validated by our certified team to address any errors.
Incorrect mapping is a common issue in such issues. This can lead to validation failures or incorrect financial reporting, after migration.
AI and automation are used by our team to automatically map the fields from GP tables to entities in Business Central. All mappings are validated by our certified team to address any errors.
Get Started with Dynamics Great Plains to Business Central Migration
Schedule a FREE 2-hour consultation and get 50% Off on First POC to discover the benefits you get when you migrate GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central.
