Microsoft Dynamics GP to Business Central Upgrades Thoughts: Consider all of your options

Editor's Note: This article was co-written with Karen Riordan, VP Sales & Marketing for Menlo Technologies.

As the ERP landscape has shifted over the years, consultants that started in the same place have followed a different paths in terms of the products, industries, and clientelle. For a couple of Great Plains OGs like us, our individual journeys have led to interesting differences in how we view the current ERP upgrade landscape, especially for today's Microsoft Dynamics GP users.

One of us (Peter) has spent the better part of two years deeply immersed in the Microsoft Dynamics AX to D365 F&O conversation, with very little visibility into the effort to migrate from Dynamics GP users to Dynamics 365 Business Central (BC). The other (Karen) has had more of a traditional GP partner career, staying the course and  now helping companies make the transition to BC.

What we both found fascinating since recently re-connecting were the alternative views we brought to the GP-to-BC discussion, and how our individual Dynamics GP histories shaped our thinking in several critical areas:

• What does the future hold for GP customers and the GP partner channel?
• What are an organization's critical ERP requirements for the future?
• What are the critical factors that go into the decision making process for a GP customer planning their future?

The discussion regarding GP to BC upgrades came up casually at first. The tone of the conversation changed as we discussed the considerations and options that we do not see in the current migration marketing push.

Here are our key takeaways, distilled from conversations that spanned several hours: