The Costs, Inefficiency, and Troubles You’ll Face by Not Upgrading Dynamics GP

Great Plains Software, now commonly known as Dynamics GP, is a business management or ERP software solution that, when first introduced over 30 years ago, made it easier for organizations to better manage their various business operations, including financials and inventory. Many companies remain loyal to Dynamics GP, as they appreciate its reliability and ease of use.

While Dynamics GP is not by any means dead, it is slowly losing its viability, as Microsoft is no longer offering a full suite of support, additions, or major upgrades. The simple reality is that if you want better performance in the cloud, the only way to get it is to upgrade to Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Don’t Let Dynamics GP Hold You Back

While Microsoft announced Dynamics GP support would end in 2028, there are older versions of the software that have fixed lifecycles. In many cases, support for these versions has already ended or will end in 2023, 2025, and 2026.

If you’re still uncertain about moving on to the next chapter with your ERP, consider these issues companies are dealing with by sticking with their legacy GP system.

1. Lagging processing issues. Some users report their system is running increasingly slower. Transactions take a long time to post, reconciliation is slow, and batches take much longer. Many times this slowing down can be attributed to a large database.
2. The software stops responding. This issue can be caused by several factors, including third-party products, customizations, corrupt files, or a misconfiguration.
3. Software functions keep breaking. Crashes in Dynamics GP occur for any number of reasons, such as changes to the configuration file, unhandled exceptions, damaged or corrupted forms, and installation issues.

An added issue is older versions of Dynamics GP regularly need new servers and hardware. The costs. All things considered, wouldn’t the cost of these items be better spent on an upgraded version?

Now’s the Time For a Dynamics GP Upgrade

Clients often ask if they really need to upgrade to Business Central now. The answer is no, but we believe you should because it’s the best way to optimize your resources to be more efficient and avoid future issues with GP.

Some of the benefits of upgrading we like to highlight are:

• Upgrade schedule. Dynamics GP no longer receives major upgrades from Microsoft, who has diverted development attention to Business Central. Microsoft continues to support Dynamics GP but only releases one update per year. Business Central receives two major updates annually and monthly updates.
• Cost-savings. GP is not a true cloud product and has limited capabilities when it comes to third-party integrations. Business Central is a cloud-based solution that removes all infrastructure and update costs and eliminates concerns like security that come with it.
• No more crashes or processing issues. Because Business Central is cloud-based, the dreaded “hung-up batch” is eliminated. You also no longer need to run Checklinks or Reconciles.
• Prebuilt security roles. Organizations can easily assign users prebuilt security roles that can be edited as needed.

One of the greatest advantages of investing in a Dynamics GP upgrade is how easy it is to integrate Business Central with other Microsoft products like Excel, Dynamics 365 Sales, Outlook, Word, SharePoint, and more.

While it’s tempting to stay with the ERP system you have, particularly when you aren’t experiencing any significant problems with it. But consider:

• Is your organization genuinely making the most of its investment in GP?
• Could your resources benefit from better optimization?
• Will holding back on product updates cause future issues that could impact operations?

A Microsoft Cloud Partner like 360 Visibility can help you decide which path is right for you. We’ll help you see where changes to your business over the years support an upgrade and how by choosing the right features, you can get an ERP system that fits your current needs. We’re here to help you get the most from your new system at every phase of its lifecycle, from implementation to optimization.

And when you do choose to upgrade, our end-to-end assessment coupled with proven design, launch, and support services ensures the process goes as smoothly as possible. To learn more about the advantages of switching from Dynamics GP to 365 Business Central, contact 360 Visibility to get started on your upgrade journey today!