Dynamics GP vs. Business Central: Time to Move to the Cloud?

Jun 6, 2024 | Microsoft, Microsoft Dynamics, Tech

With the launch of Dynamics 365 Business Central and a push for digital transformation, many Dynamics GP users are at a crossroads – they must decide between staying on the legacy ERP or moving to the cloud-based Business Central.

Our Director of Software Solutions, David Laster, has over 25 years of expertise in implementing Dynamics GP, and since Business Central released, he’s helped customers choose between both solutions and migrate to the cloud. In this blog post and video, David answers burning questions about Dynamics GP vs. Dynamics 365 Business Central, including key differences between both ERP systems and why GP users should consider moving to Business Central.

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what are the differences between Dynamics GP vs. Dynamics 365 Business Central?

Both Dynamics GP and Business Central are reliable ERP systems for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). But, while they offer some similar functionality, there are key differences between both solutions that give Business Central an edge over Dynamics GP.

Here is a brief comparison of Dynamics GP vs. Business Central.

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General Ledger dimensions

Dynamics GP uses a fully qualified accounts string, which is a couple of segments put together that give meaning to debits and credits. Business Central, on the other hand, uses a concept called dimensions. This is one of Business Central’s strongest features. Dimensions gives Business Central users the capability to tag their debits and credits with values to help categorize and filter data. These dimensions in Business Central ultimately help enlighten financial reporting and analytics in a way that Dynamics GP cannot.

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Integrations

Business Central is a cloud-based ERP and a SaaS-based environment, which allows for programmatic interfacing between different systems and even a company’s internal software. Microsoft Power Platform can also be used to move data from one system to another.

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Customizations

It takes different toolkits and technologies to customize Dynamics GP vs. Dynamics 365 Business Central. Dynamics GP follows a Dexterity codebase with a SQL Server backend. Business Central uses the AL language or Visual studio code that used to develop extensions that augment out-of-box functionality in Business Central. This can include additional fields, reports, and processes.

Click here to read the Top 5 Features of Dynamics 365 Business Central.

why should you move from Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central?

There are compelling reasons to move to Dynamics 365 Business Central from your legacy Dynamics GP environment. Here are a few of the key benefits of migrating to Business Central.

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Interoperability with Microsoft products

One of strongest reasons to move to Dynamics 365 Business Central is its interoperability with classic Microsoft products such as Word, Excel, and Outlook. The ability to move data or exchange information from, for instance, the Outlook platform to a sales order in Business Central is very powerful and time saving.

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Continuous innovation

While Microsoft has committed to supporting Dynamics GP through 2028 and beyond, they will not be adding any major capabilities to the product. Instead, the company will be focusing its investments on innovating its cloud solutions, which includes Business Central.

This means Business Central users will benefit from more advanced features, such as machine learning and AI-powered automations. Microsoft is also bringing more innovation to Business Central, making new technology more accessible to SMBs. For instance, SMBs can benefit from Microsoft Copilot, an AI assistant, in Business Central that can help manage accounts receivable and product insightful reporting.

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True cloud-based ERP

Dynamics GP was primarily designed to be an on-premises ERP system, which means it generally requires users to maintain costly servers and other IT infrastructure. Business Central, on the other hand, is a cloud-based ERP, which means it can be accessed from any device or browser, requires lower maintenance costs, and allows for automatic updates.

how long does it take to migrate from Dynamics GP to Business Central?

Dynamics GP to Business Central migrations can take anywhere from a couple of months to well over a year depending on the complexity and requirements of the project. Migrations typically start with a business process review where a good Dynamics consultant will have several conversations with your Dynamics GP users to understand their day-to-day workflow and pain points.

The process also involves a thorough analysis of your Dynamics GP integrations and reporting. All this analysis helps determine which processes to transition to Business Central as is and which ones to make more efficient or better yet, automate.

Want to move from Dynamics GP to Business Central?

Our experienced Dynamics 365 consultants, such as David Laster, can help you seamlessly migrate from Dynamics GP to Business Central. We are experts at scoping, planning, testing, execution, and go-live phases that accompany the Dynamics GP migration, regardless of how many companies, integrations, customizations, or ISV products you have in your legacy environment.

Further, Microsoft is offering a new ‘Bridge to the Cloud 2’ promotional 40% discount for Dynamics GP on-premises commercial customers during a 3-year term when migrating to a functionally similar Dynamics 365 product, such as Business Central. This further reduces your cost in migrating to the cloud! Contact us today to learn more and get started on your Dynamics GP migration!

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