At a Glance
In 2018, LAZ Parking began working with a partner to implement a heavily customized version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 to replace their legacy ERP system, Epicor, but after three years and numerous roadblocks, the project was far from complete and Dynamics NAV 2016 was nearing the end of mainstream Microsoft support.
At that point, LAZ Parking turned to GraVoc to reassess and complete the implementation. After a thorough review of their business needs and existing development, our team recommended shifting to Dynamics 365 Business Central, Microsoft’s more advanced and scalable ERP solution.
Today, LAZ Parking operates a feature rich, on premises Dynamics 365 Business Central system, where our ERP specialists transformed poorly programmed customizations into a fully functional solution while adding valuable new features along the way.
The Challenge
A stalled Dynamics NAV 2016 implementation
As the second largest parking company in the United States, LAZ Parking runs a complex business. With over a million parking spaces under its purview, the company needed a very tailored ERP system to handle revenue, expenses, and financial reporting. Eventually, the company’s legacy ERP software could not deliver the functionality needed to support business growth. So, LAZ Parking decided to migrate to Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
Before GraVoc got involved, LAZ Parking was working with another consultant to deploy a custom Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 system to replace its older ERP system. LAZ Parking worked with this consulting partner for 3 years to implement a new ERP system, but they could not get to a place where the system was usable.
In 2021, GraVoc was introduced to LAZ Parking through our partners at Andosi, a Dynamics 365 consulting company. Our Microsoft Dynamics specialists came in as the ‘rescue mission’ to bring LAZ Parking’s ERP implementation back on track. Through a detailed business process review of the company’s ERP needs and operations as well as an evaluation of the Dynamics NAV 2016 development thus far, our team discovered that the system was nowhere near ready to support LAZ Parking’s functional requirements.
Our team agreed that LAZ Parking would have to redevelop their Dynamics NAV 2016 system. But, at this stage, Dynamics NAV 2016 was slated to lose mainstream support from Microsoft. So, the company would soon be stuck with an aging ERP that would be hard to support and create compliance challenges.
The Solution
Switch gears to Dynamics 365 Business Central
Our team recommended that LAZ Parking switch gears from Dynamics NAV 2016 to Dynamics 365 Business Central, a more advanced and modern ERP that evolved from Dynamics NAV. Business Central offers capabilities similar to Dynamics NAV in addition to many other features, including built-in reporting and interoperability with other Microsoft solutions. With Microsoft set to end mainstream support for Dynamics NAV 2016, LAZ Parking agreed that they would be better off proactively implementing the robust Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Business Central implementation highlights:
Given the scale of their business, this project was a major undertaking for our team! We had to develop integrations and coordinate with third-party vendors, build custom processes, and train on using configuration packages for large amounts of data migration. We spent a lot of time on testing, training, and creating reports to ensure LAZ Parking’s extensive billing and tax needs were properly set up.
LAZ Parking runs a unique business model, so a standard, out-of-the-box ERP system would not work for them. They needed something very tailored to the way they did business. Therefore, building custom Business Central integrations was a critical step in the implementation process.
Here is an overview of some of the key integrations we developed for LAZ Parking’s Business Central system to streamline and automate financial transactions:
Posting rules
These automatically determine, upon posting, the inter-company and inter-organization transactions needed between parking lot locations and the headquarters.
Rebilling process
This takes entries posted to the headquarters and calculates what needs to be billed to each parking location.
Split purchase invoice process
When an invoice is pushed from DocLink to Business Central and marked as ‘split,’ the system takes the invoice and creates additional invoices to split it. It remains one invoice in DocLink but multiple invoices in Business Central.
Further, we worked closely with LAZ Parking on their flat file integration needs and collaborated with third-party vendors to connect the company’s legacy systems to Business Central – creating a powerful and interconnected financial platform for the company.
Before deployment, we conducted a mock system go-live and two rounds of user acceptance testing. This way, we were able to fix issues and identify areas for additional user training before the final launch. On the day of the Business Central deployment, our team was on site at LAZ Parking’s offices, helping with final data migration as well as troubleshooting.
The Outcome
Business Central elevates LAZ Parking's financial operations & reporting
After years of hitting roadblocks, LAZ Parking finally has a robust Dynamics 365 Business Central system that is fully equipped to handle expenses and reporting for the company’s large-scale business operations.
Thoughtfully developed integrations and automations have helped the company save time, providing a more efficient way to process and manage large volumes of transactions.
Multiple sessions of user testing and training have ensured that LAZ Parking’s team is comfortable and ready to leverage all the features of their new ERP system. And, LAZ Parking now has an ERP system that can deliver flexible financial reporting and scale upwards with the company!