With Microsoft Dynamics GP's end-of-support timeline confirmed for 2029, organizations face an important planning window.
One path forward (of a few) is migration to Dynamics 365 Business Central, which offers cloud-based flexibility with modern integrations and reduced IT complexity.
That said, migration success depends on really understanding what that undertaking might look like.
It all starts with asking the right questions before you commit.
This self-assessment guide helps you evaluate whether a GP-to-BC migration is something your business is ready for. Whether you're exploring options or actively preparing to migrate, these questions provide the foundation for informed decision-making.
Business Central is not a lift-and-shift platform. Your existing GP setup and what you look to carry over will determine much of your migration complexity and cost.
Every customization, ISV solution, and integration in your current GP environment adds additional layers to the process.
That means a detailed audit of your current GP environment is required. Included should be a map of all business processes, applications, and data flows. This inventory becomes your project roadmap and helps your implementation partner understand the true scope of work ahead before you plan actual migration steps.
Understanding what you have today can bring you a lot closer to understanding and estimating the effort, budget, and timeline realistically. Skipping a comprehensive inventory will undoubtedly lead to gaps mid-project, resulting in scope creep and budget overruns.
The motivation behind your migration shapes project success more than anything else on this list.
Migrations driven by clear business strategy—meaning growth plans, integration needs, cost reduction goals—succeed more often than those driven by panic over GP's end-of-support deadline. Organizations that can articulate specific pain points BC will solve for and maintain stakeholder alignment throughout the project see better outcomes long-term.
Strong business drivers also help you evaluate whether migration is the right move at all. For some organizations, optimizing current GP or exploring alternative ERP platforms may align better with business goals and timelines.
Once the scope has been established, offering clear benefits for the overall business can both help measure migration success as well as justify the investment to leadership. Generic benefits need to give way to identifying actual operational problems. Is remote work limited by on-premises infrastructure? Are integration costs with other Microsoft tools too high? Do current reporting tools fail to deliver the insights executives need?
Business Central operates as a cloud-first platform. Organizations must verify infrastructure readiness, network capacity, security compliance requirements, and comfort level with cloud-based financial systems.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone, but we’re just going to say it: Business Central works differently than GP.
Workflows change. Screens look different. Data structures don't map one-to-one.
Change management is crucial, as teams that aren’t prepared and go in expecting "GP but in the cloud" usually face the hardest transitions. Understanding what will change and preparing people for those changes, prevents the post-go-live chaos that undermines user adoption and system confidence.
Any migration offers an opportunity to optimize and rethink workflows rather than copying legacy methods that may have developed as workarounds to old system limitations.
User adoption of any system hinges on realistic expectations from all those involved. Much of this falls on the leaders or drivers for any project like this.
Our recommendation: communicate early and often that BC is not GP with a shiny new interface.
Processes will work differently. Some features people rely on may not exist in the same form. Early transparency about change prevents resistance and disappointment later.
Migrations fail for a few reasons: timelines are aggressive, budgets are thin, internal resources are overstretched, or some combination therein.
Success, then, is built on realistic project foundations. That means dedicated project leadership, adequate training budgets, clear risk mitigation plans, and honest assessments of complexity.
Mid-project corrections to scope, timeline, or budget might happen but shouldn’t be accepted as the norm and avoided as much as possible. Doing so means building a comprehensive project plan now, even if go-live is years away. Anything you can do to prevent the scramble that happens when deadlines loom without preparation is a good action.
Anyone that says that “migration timelines vary” is putting it lightly. Depending on complexity, your timeline could range from months for small businesses with vanilla GP to over a year for organizations with heavy customization.
It doesn’t mean one or the other is bad. Just keep in mind that rushed timelines create risk. Realistic timelines create confidence.
Surface concerns early. Is your budget inclusive of everything? Are there integration complexities you haven't fully evaluated, customizations that may not have BC equivalents, industry-specific requirements, or skill gaps in your team?
To that last point, training is one of the most overlooked cost centers in ERP projects, yet inadequate training drives user resistance and undermines adoption.
Identifying risks early allows time to research solutions and build contingency plans.
This framework for evaluating migration readiness is comprehensive but not exhaustive. Fortunately, you don't have to answer them alone.
Enavate's team comprises seasoned professionals with decades of experience in building and supporting Dynamics GP. We have experts who contributed to the development of Business Central (BC) and its migration tool, bringing extensive migration expertise. Our passion and knowledge empower us to guide you through every step of your migration journey.
If you’re still not sure which path forward is right for you, we’ve got a couple of resources to help:
Finally, the Enavate team is always here to provide honest guidance about all your options, whether that includes optimizing your current GP, moving GP to the cloud, or planning a migration to Business Central.
Request your free migration assessment to get expert guidance on your path forward.