Microsoft Dynamics GP has been one of the leading ERP platforms for decades, powering businesses of all sizes and industries. However, like every technology, its lifespan is not infinite, and Microsoft is well into the process of sunsetting the reliable platform. End of support for GP is slated for 2029, with users on earlier versions of the platform already operating on unsupported systems.
While this leaves businesses several years to make plans for their next steps, many companies are feeling strain already, unsure of how to approach moving away from the platform they have used for years, sometimes even decades. We, at Enavate, advise taking an incremental, multi-step approach.
Optimizing GP to power your business while planning for next steps begins with understanding how much time you actually have before GP is no longer supported, as well as understanding what “no longer supported” actually means.
Businesses running on GP 2013 and GP 2015 have both already seen their support end. Users on GP 2016 and GP 2018 have until 2026 and 2028, respectively, until their support ceases. To be supported until the end of the lifecycle, businesses must be on the “Modern Lifecycle” of GP, meaning being on one of the two most recent releases, meaning 18.7 or later. The businesses on the Modern Lifecycle will receive the complete run of support, ending in 2029.
Some businesses, especially those that have never gone through an ERP platform being discontinued, may wonder what exactly “ceasing support” entails.
It does not mean that the platform will one day be completely inoperable with no warning, taking all of your data, workflows, and operations with it. GP will continue running after the 2029 date, meaning “end of support” refers to ongoing updates, which are necessary to keep the system operating safely, securely, and at peak capacity. These updates include:
These updates, as well as any and all general troubleshooting, will be what ceases at the end of the support window. This means that operating a business would still be possible on GP after that date, however, it would be increasingly difficult.
Enavate Recommendation: Ensure your GP is updated to the modern lifecycle while you decide your future plans, which will extend your window of support.
As plans are being made for the future of your business, another crucial, incremental step you should take is assessing your data to determine if it is in the best shape for a future upgrade or migration.
Many businesses have been on GP for years, some even decades. This means that unless you are diligent about clearing out old records, your systems are clogged with vendors, items, clients, and transaction data that are no longer useful.
Enavate Recommendation: Do a thorough analysis of your data, removing any items that are no longer necessary for the day-to-day operation of your business.
Removing this old data will have several positive effects on your workflows, the most obvious being the speed GP will operate at, particularly when searching and pulling records. The fewer years of records to search, the faster the results will come.
A smaller data set will also mean quicker and easier migration when the time eventually comes, as well as an easier time backing up the system for safety and continuity.
An added consideration for businesses intending to migrate to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is the fact that databases that are over 80 gigabytes come at higher price, so paring down the size of the database before migration could be a cost savings measure.
Businesses have multiple ways to approach scaling down their existing datasets:
Many modules within GP have built-in tools for removing old data. This is an accessible solution, with no add-on’s required, its downside being that running each module individually can be time consuming, and can be made more complicated by the fact that not every module’s removal tools feature the same set of filters, such as year, vendor, or item.
The alternative to this approach is to utilize an external vendor for a mass removal. This is an additional cost, however it offers a dramatic time savings, as well as the ability to ensure that the data is evenly filtered across all modules.
Enavate Recommendation: While going through this process, set up a “test company” in the system (pre-data removal) which essentially acts as a backup database to safeguard in case of emergencies. This test company can be set up with security roles set to read-only, preventing any transactions from being entered. This ensures that on the off chance something goes wrong during data removal, a copy of the data is still recoverable.
It is not merely vendor, inventory, and transaction data that should be assessed for paring down. Report histories for Management Reporter should be inspected as well. Many of the reports within Management Reporter are likely to have many copies present within the report library. This can lead to database bloat in the Management Reporter database and is another simple area to address for the interim. These excess reports can be removed easily from the report library in Report Viewer.
SmartList favorites should be given the same review, for similar reasons. Over the years, different employees add things to the favorites, and they pile up quickly.
Using this time in the planning process to address database size is not exclusively for businesses immediately transitioning away from GP. Those planning to stay on GP until the end of support are encouraged to do so as well, as the oncoming years will continue to increase database size, making the process harder later on.
After dealing with any bloat in your data, businesses should identify and plan to deal with any challenges in your current GP setup. This will increase the quality of your business processes while transitioning away from GP, as well as help identify what will be required in your businesses’ next platform.
Most pain points businesses encounter tend to be performance based, usually because of GP’s age. This includes issues such as the speed of the system, which as outlined above can be improved by a data review, as well as the typical bugs and crashes that creep in as the years go by.
Issues such as transactions or other data becoming “stuck”, corrupted data, or system crashes due to inoperability with more recent Windows platforms are not uncommon. To help companies address these issues, Microsoft maintains a regularly updated white paper with information about potential issues, as well as their fixes.
Enavate Recommendation: Use this time to identify any steps that can be taken to improve performance within Dynamics GP, including reviewing the Performance White Paper and identifying any stuck/invalid transactions in the system that may need to be reviewed or removed. This work will assist in future upgrades and migrations- as cleaner data tends to lean towards cleaner upgrades and migrations.
Once these pain points are identified, process improvements can be implemented, either from within your existing platform, or through additional tools or integrations.
Solutions such as eConnect or Integration Manager can be deployed to help expand the range of capabilities for companies on GP.
Additional modules such as Fixed Assets, Project Accounting, or Inventory Management can add functionality to GP that may be lacking, eliminating the need for outside integrations that could be causing incompatibilities.
The majority of major GP modules will migrate to BC, so businesses do not need to worry about losing functionality or disrupting workflows when they eventually transition over, making the decision to add modules a low-risk, high-reward choice. Quality of life improvements like this will ease the pressure on decision-makers and workers alike as you plan what life post-GP will look like.
Additional reporting functionality is another way to increase the capabilities of your GP system. This could be as simple as commissioning new reports to be built within existing modules, or by integrating additional solutions, such as SQL Server Reporting Services reports or refreshable Excel reports. Many GP modules have built-in reports in both of those solutions that are available “out of the box” immediately after setup, at no additional cost on top of the module.
Many of these built-in reports also offer the ability to export data to Excel, expanding versatility for users who are more accustomed to that application for breaking down data. Common requests to send reports, such as the Historical Aged Trial Balance for either Payables or Receivables, to Excel are commonly handled by deploying the SQL Server Reporting Services reports that can be deployed directly from GP.
If you have a Standard or Enterprise SQL Server License, you are able to set up SQL Server Reporting Services at no additional cost, unlocking an entirely new suite of reports to power decision making. Several of these reports are available solely in the SQL Server Reporting Services, SSRS, not within GP proper. These reports can be set up to automatically run to the format of your choice and even email copies of the reports to your users on a set schedule, automating a process that is not normally automated from within GP.
Power BI is an advanced Business Intelligence tool that also offers in-depth visualization and reporting functionalities. Businesses planning on switching to BC are encouraged to explore this integration while still on GP, as it will assist users in their transition, and is a product that works with both GP and BC.
Enavate Recommendation: You should examine any integrations or modules that you no longer use regularly, both to save on costs associated with ISVs (independent service vendors) and as another way to minimize the size of your database. Maintaining an up-to-date list of ISVs is considered a best practice, especially for product documentation and troubleshooting. Also reviewing current reports and evaluating if additional reports or reporting products could be utilized may assist with reviewing data from GP in the short-term and allow you to know what reports to prioritize during a future migration to BC.
There is no ambiguity for businesses running on Dynamics GP: in the next few years they will no longer have the security and financial updates needed to effectively run a business. While you plan for your long-term solution, you should take incremental steps to prepare for the eventual transition, as well as improve your quality of life in the meantime.
Businesses that follow these steps while preparing for your next steps will be in prime position for an effective, efficient migration to whatever ERP platform you choose in the future.