Avoid an ERP Nightmare: Why Mid-Sized Businesses Should Choose Business Central Over F&O

For mid-sized businesses, choosing an ERP system often comes down to Dynamics 365 Business Central or Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (F&O). While both are powerful, F&O is built for massive enterprises. With that comes complexity, higher costs, and a long implementation process that can drain time and resources. For most mid-sized businesses, D365 Business Central provides everything you need without the extra headaches.

Here’s why Business Central is the better choice and why F&O might create more problems than it solves.

A Million-Dollar Decision

Business Central offers a realistic price range, with most implementations starting around $30,000 to $50,000. For F&O, the price can quickly climb to $1 million or even $18 million. In our opinion, this is an unrealistic investment for businesses that need to maximize every dollar.

Why D365 Business Central Wins: It gives you all the essential ERP tools without the sky-high cost. It leaves room in your budget for other critical projects.

A Steep Learning Curve

F&O is designed for massive enterprises with complex structures. That means a steep learning curve, long onboarding, and slow user adoption for small and medium-sized organizations. This leads to more training time and lost productivity; frustration among employees; and a system that feels too big for daily needs.

D365 Business Central, on the other hand, is built for usability. Its intuitive interface means teams can start using it quickly without needing months of training.

3 Years vs. 7 Months

One of the biggest downsides of F&O is that it can take up to three years to fully implement. And most mid-sized businesses can’t afford to wait that long for an ERP to start delivering value.

Business Central can be fully up and running in four to seven months which results in faster ROI and minimal disruptions to operations.

Easy Scalability and Integration with D365 BC

Both D365 Business Central and F&O are Microsoft products, but Business Central’s integration is smoother and more user-friendly. F&O might sound appealing with its enterprise-level scalability, but Business Central also grows with your business - just in a way that makes more financial sense and works with the tools you already have.

• Business Central integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365, Power BI, and Teams
• It adapts to your needs without expensive customizations
• You can add new features as you grow, instead of paying for unnecessary ones upfront

For mid-sized companies that need flexibility without massive IT overhead, Business Central strikes the perfect balance.

Features That Fit Your Business

F&O is packed with features, but for most mid-sized businesses, it’s overkill: too many complex modules; too many customizations required; too much effort just to use basic functions

Business Central focuses on what matters such as financial management; supply chain and inventory tracking; sales and customer relationship management. It delivers everything a mid-sized business needs - without the clutter.

Why D365 Business Central is the Smarter Choice

ERP software should support your business, not slow it down. F&O isn’t just expensive upfront. It requires long-term maintenance, frequent upgrades, and heavy system upkeep. Business Central is easier to maintain; more cost-effective with lower upgrade costs; and designed for long-term affordability

F&O is built for massive enterprises with deep pockets and complex structures. Business Central is designed for mid-sized businesses that need a powerful, flexible, and cost-effective ERP solution.

We Know What Your Business Needs

At 360 Visibility, we’ve spent 20+ years helping businesses implement the right ERP systems. If you’re considering an ERP upgrade, let’s talk. We’ll help you make the best choice for your business - without complicating things.