Microsoft Dynamics AX to D365 Upgrade Journeys, Part 3: Understanding the cost

Editor's Note: This article coincides with part 3 of our new podcast series on AX to D365FO upgrades.

It is not uncommon that quotes for an upgrade from Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations (D365FO) are from one to one and a half times the size of the original implementation costs. Those are the pure service costs. It does not include the licenses, new hardware costs for on-premise implementations, or the monthly user fees for cloud deployments.

Understandably, this creates enthusiastic and spirited feedback from potential customers.

In addition to the obvious sticker shock, we are seeing a lack of focused and specific tools and processes from Microsoft for developing accurate AX to D365FO upgrade quotes. In one case, a multi-million-dollar quote was literally delivered as an estimate based on industry experience. I believe that the bank routing information for the project deposit included more detail.

As a result, we have seen upgrade quotes that consist of a simple spreadsheet that in just over a dozen rows and columns lays out resources and monthly billing totals per resource. No detail as to the tasks that each resource will be responsible for. Never mind a detailed project plan with an analysis of critical project milestones or critical path analysis.

As I discuss in our new upgrade podcast episode, we have found that the most accurate methodology for preparing an AX to D365FO upgrade proposal is to start with a detailed ...