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.
The Stakes: $529K in Lost Net Value Over Three Years
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.
Wasted Productivity: $96K Lost in Efficiency Gains
Legacy Dynamics systems are notorious for:
- Requiring heavy manual input and reconciliation
- Lacking real-time data and reporting
- Slowing down finance and operations staff with fragmented processes
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.
What you’re losing by staying on-prem:
Staff who could be focused on strategy and growth are stuck managing outdated processes, manual spreadsheets, and siloed data.
See Business Central Functionality in Action with an On-Demand Demo
Third-Party Dependency: $178K in Avoidable External Fees
Legacy systems require frequent external consulting for:
- Custom report generation
- System integration maintenance
- Technical upgrades
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.
What you’re losing by staying on-prem:
You remain dependent on external consultants for basic functionality—racking up ongoing fees and delaying innovation.
Infrastructure and Maintenance Overhead: $91K in Avoidable Costs
Maintaining legacy ERP systems is expensive. Between infrastructure, upgrades, and IT staff time, the costs add up quickly.
Business Central eliminates:
- On-premises server and datacenter costs
- Manual version upgrades
- Excessive internal maintenance hours
The composite company cut 90% of its legacy ERP support costs by Year 3, saving $91,000 in present value.
What you’re losing by staying on-prem:
You're overpaying for infrastructure that doesn’t scale and continually requires patching, upgrading, and staffing.
Missed Revenue: $364K in Sales Productivity and Pipeline Growth
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:
15% improvement in sales productivity- 5% increase in closed deals
- $600K in additional revenue and $364,000 in profit over 3 years
What you’re losing by staying on-prem:
Slower sales cycles, fewer closed deals, and customer dissatisfaction due to delays in quoting and support.
Hidden Costs of Legacy Systems
Beyond the measurable costs, there are several hidden costs to sticking with an outdated ERP:
Slower Decision-Making
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.
Low Employee Morale
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.
Poor Customer Experience
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.
What you’re losing by staying on-prem:
A better culture, stronger brand loyalty, and your competitive edge.
The Cloud Payoff: Flexibility and Scalability
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:
- Rapid hiring or turnover
- Multi-site operations
- International expansion
- Seasonal demand fluctuations
What you’re losing by staying on-prem:
The ability to pivot and grow on your own terms—without massive IT overhead.
See Business Central Functionality in Action with an On-Demand Demo
Subscription Model: Predictable, Scalable Cost Structure
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.
- Forrester’s composite company paid $85 per user per month
- Total subscription cost over 3 years: $98,532 (a fraction of legacy ERP TCO)
You can extend cost-predictability to a Business Central implementation as well. Enavate's Xcelerate methodology can get you moving forward with BC in as little as 12 weeks at a set price and scope so that you know exactly what to expect and can start experiencing these benefits more quickly.
What you’re losing by staying on-prem:
Budget flexibility, simplicity, and cost predictability.
Total Financial Impact: The $729K Wake-Up Call
Total three-year benefits: $729,000
Total three-year costs: $200,000
Net value: $529,000
ROI: 265%
Payback period: Less than 6 months
The Cost of Inaction
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.
You Lose Time
Manual processes and disconnected systems cost your team hours every week.
You Lose Money
Consulting fees, infrastructure upkeep, delayed deals—all of it adds up.
You Lose Growth
Without real-time visibility, automation, and mobility, you risk being outpaced by competitors using modern cloud tools.
How Enavate Helps You Capture the Value
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
