In today’s fast-paced digital economy, sticking with a legacy ERP system like Microsoft Dynamics NAV, GP, or on-premises Business Central is more than a tech decision—it’s a cost liability. A recent Forrester Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study, commissioned by Microsoft, lays bare what businesses stand to gain—or lose—when deciding whether or not to migrate to Dynamics 365 Business Central in the cloud.
Spoiler alert: The longer you wait, the more you stand to lose.
Forrester’s analysis of a composite company (150 employees, $15M in annual revenue) found that migrating to Dynamics 365 Business Central resulted in a 265% ROI, a net present value (NPV) of $529,000, and payback in under 6 months.
That means if your organization doesn’t move to BC, you’re effectively leaving over half a million dollars of value on the table across just three years.
Let’s break down where that value comes from—and where legacy systems are quietly draining your profits.
Legacy Dynamics systems are notorious for:
With BC, organizations improved finance productivity by 15.6% and operations productivity by 12.5%. This translated into $96,000 in reclaimed value over three years—even after adjusting for the fact that not all time saved will go toward high-value work.
Staff who could be focused on strategy and growth are stuck managing outdated processes, manual spreadsheets, and siloed data.
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Legacy systems require frequent external consulting for:
Forrester found that companies migrating to BC cut third-party IT and reporting costs by over $80K annually, because the cloud platform is easier to configure and maintain in-house. Over three years, that adds up to $178,000 in savings.
You remain dependent on external consultants for basic functionality—racking up ongoing fees and delaying innovation.
Maintaining legacy ERP systems is expensive. Between infrastructure, upgrades, and IT staff time, the costs add up quickly.
Business Central eliminates:
The composite company cut 90% of its legacy ERP support costs by Year 3, saving $91,000 in present value.
You're overpaying for infrastructure that doesn’t scale and continually requires patching, upgrading, and staffing.
Forrester found that sales teams using legacy ERP systems were often delayed in updating CRM systems, responding to customers, or finalizing deals due to poor access to real-time data. With Business Central, sales representatives gained access to critical customer data in the field, resulting in:
Slower sales cycles, fewer closed deals, and customer dissatisfaction due to delays in quoting and support.
Beyond the measurable costs, there are several hidden costs to sticking with an outdated ERP:
Legacy systems rely on static data that is often delayed, forcing leadership to rely on outdated reports, increasing the risk of poor or misinformed decisions.
Staff using clunky, outdated systems report lower satisfaction. Business Central’s modern UI and native Microsoft 365 integration (Outlook, Excel, Teams) reduce frustration and training time.
Legacy systems make it harder to respond quickly to customer needs. With BC, 85% of organizations reported improved customer satisfaction and 71% improved customer retention.
A better culture, stronger brand loyalty, and your competitive edge.
Business Central empowers companies to scale without overprovisioning infrastructure. This agility is invaluable as SMBs grow or face market changes.
Legacy ERP systems struggle to keep up with:
The ability to pivot and grow on your own terms—without massive IT overhead.
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With BC, businesses move from a CapEx-heavy model (hardware, licenses, upgrades) to a more predictable OpEx model. Licensing is per user, per month, and scales with your needs.
Budget flexibility, simplicity, and cost predictability.
Total three-year benefits: $729,000
Total three-year costs: $200,000
Net value: $529,000
ROI: 265%
Payback period: Less than 6 months
Let’s be clear: we’re not just talking about cost savings. It’s about opportunity cost—what your business is missing by staying on a system that slows you down.
Manual processes and disconnected systems cost your team hours every week.
Consulting fees, infrastructure upkeep, delayed deals—all of it adds up.
Without real-time visibility, automation, and mobility, you risk being outpaced by competitors using modern cloud tools.
As a trusted Microsoft partner, Enavate specializes in helping SMBs migrate from legacy Dynamics systems to Business Central using our proven Xcelerate methodology. We minimize downtime, mitigate risk, and deliver a solution that’s right-sized and purpose-built for your business.
We’ve helped thousands of clients move confidently to the cloud—and the TEI study only validates what we see every day: staying on legacy systems is more expensive than moving forward.
The next time someone says “it’s too expensive to move,” remember: it’s more expensive not to.
Business Central isn’t just a cloud ERP—it’s a growth engine. And for SMBs trying to do more with less, now is the time to leave legacy behind.
Get Started on your journey to Business Central with a Free ERP Roadmap Consultation