June 2018 - Intech

If you are still on the older versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX, now is the time to make a move and upgrade. Microsoft Dynamics 365 has a whole lot of new features and thus, you can reduce costs and customizations with cloud implementation. Add to this the relief from re-implementations and bulky infrastructure and that makes this solution the most-sought-after one.
So, why should you upgrade from Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365? The benefits are many so the below list is by no means thorough but some of the key benefits of migrating to Dynamics 365.

Bring everything together

With Dynamics 365, you get everything under one roof. You get the benefit of ERP, CRM, Business Intelligence (BI) and IoT all at one place, on the cloud. Plus, Office 365 offers productivity and collaboration tools so that you can work together from anywhere. This saves you time, money and efforts on training and any reliance on third-party software.

Lower IT maintenance

You have options to choose from on-premise, on-cloud or hybrid platform. But businesses are going cloud due to its many benefits. When you deploy Dynamics 365 in the cloud, you eliminate costs of on-premise servers and systems. Moreover, Microsoft takes the responsibility for monitoring and updating the underlying platform (Windows, SQL Server) and the application itself (with your help).

Stay updated

You get cost-effective and straightforward platform updates every 3 months and application updates every 6 months. This eliminates the need for major disruptive updates every few years which are costly and complex. Dynamics 365 also comes with a sandbox environment to allow testing of application upgrades.

Enjoy scalability

You don’t have to plan for a specific server space. Dynamics 365 is a combination of modern, intelligent cloud applications that can work great on their own and even better together. You can start with whatever you need and add apps as your requirements change. You also have options of choosing on-premise, cloud or hybrid version of Dynamics 365.

Leverage new functionalities

Dynamics 365 comes with an improved interface which offers Workspaces to give you a single, customized view for each job activity. It utilizes a native HTML5 browser-based UI, which can run on any device, any platform, and any browser. You get the advantage of many other new and enhanced features as compared to Dynamics AX.

Leverage built-in BI and Analytics

Dynamics 365 comes with a standard built-in BI and analytics tool, Microsoft Power BI. You can connect your apps and data to get the information in visualizations form. With Power BI, you get in-depth real-time insights into how your business is performing in the form of dashboards and reports. This gives you more accessible insights to drive greater efficiencies across your business.

Reduce costs

You don’t need on-premise servers and systems or many employees to take care of your ERP system. This can free up resources and enable them to divert their efforts on more important tasks. With the cloud in place, your data backups and disaster recovery are also taken care of. When you get everything in one place, you save costs of buying and maintaining other business applications.

Apart from these benefits, existing Dynamics customers may also enjoy a 40% discount upon migration to Dynamics 365. After November 2019, the special licensing offer for existing customers will return to the standard 15% discount.

For more details about the offer, get in touch with us. You can also schedule a free demo of Dynamics 365.

The benefits of successful ERP implementation are many. It improves flexibility, streamlines business operations, reduces costs, and gives your business an overall boost in the market. But implementing an ERP software is not an easy task. The worst-case scenario of implementing an ERP system in your organization is a failed implementation.
But why does ERP implementation fail? It might happen that an ERP that worked well for one company fails in another. There can be several reasons for the failed implementation or upgradation that you can avoid in future for a successful implementation.

1. No goal clarity

The most common mistake an organization makes while evaluating an ERP system is the lack of goal clarity. An ERP solves many business problems. So, if you are not clear about what you want from the ERP, what your budget is, and what are the problems you want to solve, the end result will be tragic. Having a clear objective of implementing an ERP in your organization helps you define other things and justify the use of resources.

2. Wrong solution

There are hundreds of ERP systems available in the market and all of them had something unique to offer. Some are cloud-based while some work on-premise. Some are industry focused while some are generic. Choosing a wrong solution will be a huge loss of time, money and efforts. Study your business processes thoroughly, have a budget in mind, and choose the solution wisely after proper evaluation.

3. Over-customization

Since every organization is unique, implementing a generic ERP solution is not always feasible. But trying to tweak the system as per your needs sometimes results into over-customization. Customizations are costly and overdoing it means an increase in the costs and deployment time. Too much of customization also leads to high maintenance and more complications during upgrades.

4. Inadequate training and testing

The implementation should not be done in a hurry and without testing and training. According to a study, 95% of companies dedicate less than 10% of total budget to education and training. Organizations that don’t provide in-depth training to its users and that don’t test the system in advance faces many problems like demotivated and disinterested users and bigger issues after implementation.

5. Poor post-implementation support

The process of implementing an ERP doesn’t end just there. Post-implementation support is an integral part of the successful ERP implementation. Some issues will arise even after implementation which sometimes needs technical assistance. Thus, choose such don’t choose a vendor that charges less but the one that is certified, experienced and ensures proper implementation and support both.

6. Lack of integration

When you implement an ERP system in your organization, the main motive is to automate and integrate the business processes and systems. If you don’t have an integration strategy in place, you will end up with huge piles of data even after ERP implementation. This will hamper the seamless flow of data and will not provide visibility into business operations.

Keep in mind

Now you know not to do for the successful ERP implementation. Before deciding upon an ERP solution, make sure your ERP vendor studies your business processes and offer you the best suitable solution. This will help you in determining the size and scale of your ERP project.
We have worked with companies from various industries and provided them the best suitable solution, implementation, and support. So, we know it is difficult to select and implement the right ERP systemDo you think you can be the next? Feel free to get in touch with our experts.

Month: June 2018

Why upgrade from Dynamics AX to Dynamics 365?