Migrating from On-Premise ERP to Microsoft Dynamics 365

Global Data 365
May 21, 2021

Importance of Reporting Tools in Business Management

Many software companies are adopting a cloud-first strategy for designing, deploying, and selling their products. ERP is no different. Microsoft has been improving its range of ERP and CRM business applications to suit a cloud-centered strategy for many years. Customers of Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics GP, and Microsoft Dynamics SL will eventually move to one of the two cloud-based ERP products, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (D365 BC) or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (D365 F&O).

Microsoft will target its resources in the future on only those two ERP products. Microsoft D365 F&O is aimed at mid-sized companies, while Microsoft D365 BC is more suited to smaller businesses with simpler needs. Both technologies have their origins in one of Microsoft’s current ERP code lines (AX and NAV, respectively), but the company has redesigned its technology and made major improvements. Microsoft is likely urging you to consider moving to the cloud if your company is currently using any of the Microsoft Dynamics legacy products. Microsoft continues to support its legacy products until at least 2028, but potential investments in enhanced features will be focused on the two latest Microsoft D365 products.

Making the transition to cloud ERP comes with a slew of advantages. It offers a reliable, scalable IT infrastructure and enhanced integration capabilities, allowing wider implementation of digital transformation technologies. Moving to the cloud, on the other hand, would necessitate yet another large project, with all of the associated expense, difficulty, and risk. How do companies navigate the process to achieve beneficial outcomes while staying within budget and risk constraints?

Some of the best practices for migration to Microsoft Dynamics 365 include:

- Starting the Process Early

Despite Microsoft’s determination to support its legacy Dynamics products for at least another eight years, business leaders should begin considering cloud migration now. The big picture of the migration process allows companies to better prepare for the future and divide the process down into smaller steps that are easier to handle and lower risk. Companies can better identify their needs if they provide enough time for thorough preparation and review. This includes determining which Microsoft D365 components the new platform would need. Microsoft is using a more flexible licensing model for its cloud-ERP apps than it does for its legacy on premise ERP applications.

Microsoft D365 Finance and Operations, for example, is made up of two main parts: Microsoft D365 Finance and Microsoft D365 Supply Chain Management. You may buy user licenses for specific subgroups of the entire experience, but they function together as a cohesive whole. As a result, rather than paying a premium price for unrestricted access, you’ll only pay for the features needed for each user. Current Microsoft Dynamics customers are eligible for discounts, which should be noted by business leaders. Microsoft has encouraged consumers to make the transition by providing competitive subscription rates to customers of their current legacy ERP solutions, while the company seeks to rapidly expand its position as a pioneer in cloud ERP.

- Deploying a Test Setting

Customers usually also create vendor specifications to simplify the management of incoming inventory. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the default for obtaining the sales order and delivering advanced shipping notices (ASNs) to customers used by big-box retailers. Larger consumers also enforce barcoding conditions. Although those are well-known examples, large companies are increasingly requiring suppliers to adhere to other requirements as well. Walmart declared its plan to reduce CO2 emissions in 2017. Project Gigaton, as the program is called, aims to reduce the company’s carbon footprint across the supply chain. In other words, Walmart will demand that its suppliers keep track of the carbon footprint of the goods they sell to the company.

Only a few ERP vendors have built processes into their software to monitor this type of data. It is starting to happen in the biggest, most costly programs, but for most organisations, the problem can be solved with a blend of custom user-defined fields and versatile reporting tools. Whatever potential requirements can entail, reporting tools may help companies remain in compliance.

- Divide the Project

Trying to break up a cloud-ERP migration into smaller chunks is a smart idea for business leaders. This may include initiatives that can be done in advance, providing immediate benefits to the company and a reduction in cost and risk when it is time to migrate the ERP to the cloud. An improvement of reporting tools, procedures, and designs is another big project that you can do ahead of time. This is simpler than it seems, and it’s particularly critical in the sense of migrating to Microsoft D365 in the cloud because Microsoft is making significant technological improvements to the way you manage data for reports and also the reporting set of tools for its ERP applications.

Microsoft has limited direct access to the Microsoft D365 F&SCM server to boost security, substituting it with an abstraction layer made up of “data entities.” The new strategy to migration to Microsoft D365 F&SCM necessitates a significant investment in the creation of data entities that will push reporting against the cloud-ERP framework. The effort would necessitate highly trained technical experts and will take a long time. Microsoft’s latest reporting strategy is motivated by the company’s willingness to transfer customers to Azure Data Lakes and Microsoft Power BI.

What can Global Data 365 Offer for Migrating ERP to Microsoft Dynamics 365?

The reporting and analytics tools from Global Data 365 minimize complexity, lower costs, and reduce the possibility of lengthy implementations. They remove the need for experts by allowing finance, accounting, operations, and other departments to generate and adjust reports without relying on IT. We have advanced reporting and analytics solutions that integrate with more than 140 different ERP software systems, including the entire Microsoft Dynamics product line. One of them is Jet Analytics. It greatly simplifies and reduces the expense of cloud migration. Reports produced for legacy systems Microsoft Dynamics products can operate in the Microsoft Office D365 setting without a lot of changes.

Schedule a personalized demo with one of our Jet experts. Contact us now.

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Global Data 365 is composed of highly skilled professionals who specialize in streamlining the data and automate the reporting process through the utilization of various business intelligence tools.

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How to Optimize Your ERP Reporting?

Global Data 365
May 21, 2021

According to a recent study, nearly 81% of companies surveyed reported that they had either introduced the use of ERP software or were in the process of implementing it. So, what makes ERP reporting important? By leveraging ERP data analysis, businesses can create strategic plans, forecast future trends, and develop advanced strategies. To truly maximize these benefits, it’s essential to optimize your ERP reporting for more accurate insights and decision-making.

A depth of data indicates that financial reporting generates as much clarification as it creates confusion:

97% of CFO’s have uncertainty regarding the quality of reporting.

40% of CFO’s are concerned that information is reliable and precise.
87% of accountants function overtime to complete the financial closing.
86% of finance teams say that their analytics are not informative.

The only downside is that companies cannot be successful if they don’t have reliable, accurate, and detailed ERP reporting, which can lead to them making risky choices without even acknowledging it. The plus side is that optimizing ERP reporting is not a difficult task in comparison to the usual reporting process.

Listed below are the 5 ways businesses can optimize their ERP Reporting to make it quick and easy:

Self-Service Reporting

Users often need to submit a request to IT before getting access to a report and wait in a queue until they can access it. Users must depend on technical experts because working with the underlying data is hard. For users who are not IT experts, self-service ERP reporting is intended to be user-friendly. This kind of reporting is less about the careful organization of data and more about being cost-effective and a time saver.

For instance, IKEA, one of the biggest retail company has enabled self-service ERP reporting after the implementation of Jet Reports and witnessed instant results. A report that may have taken hours for a warehouse manager can now be done within seconds. Time is saved by enabling self-sufficient ERP reporting.

Automated Processes

A large-scale data organization effort is required to report on finance and operations throughout different departments. The workload includes tracking information from different sources, transferring it from one document to another, and putting time and effort to arrange it all in one clear performance portrait. Advanced automated processes speed up this effort by automatically placing data from ERP systems and other networks, then placing it for immediate analysis into pre-built ERP report templates.

Amref Health Africa, a major NGO in Africa, was having difficulty handling data manually before adding Jet Reports to its reporting toolbox. Now the organization spends less time on handling information and reporting.

Flexibility

Reporting is a regular duty that changes with time. Depending on the same reports adds up to poor performance management, but it takes extra time and feedback from IT experts to produce customized reports. ERP reporting stops being a hassle when it is simple to track various metrics, rewrite reporting data, receive deep insight from reports into transferable data, and access real-time updates on request.

Using an ERP reporting tool, companies can keep track of their data in real-time. Fawaz Holding seized the benefit of customized reports when it introduced Jet Reports to operate side by side with its Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP. By building flexibility into the processes, ERP reporting becomes easier.

Business Continuation

Accurate ERP reporting is vital after the global pandemic. Decision-makers instantly require quality, updated data, but it can also be made inaccessible by the same situation that makes it essential. ERP reporting should function at any time, providing the same robust functionality even though users are operating from elsewhere.

Similarly, Enova Facilities Management started to save time on ERP reporting using Jet Reports. When COVID-19 struck, the business utilized those time saved. The challenge didn’t sway the method of reporting, instead, it provided leaders greater insight into the situation.

Higher Standards

ERP reporting can be difficult when the processes are not automated. It leads to a lot of time and effort spent on manually documenting reports and generating analysis. Many ERP reporting systems allow the users data security. It is important to set high standards for data reporting, so businesses need to implement robust ERP systems to automate processes and receive greater insight into the workings of all departments.

Air Trade Centre, a Turkish electronics firm felt it needed quicker ERP reporting and relied on Jet Analytics as the solution. After that, reporting then demanded 60% less feedback overall, which reduced the time it took IT on reporting.

In Conclusion

Learn How to Optimize Your ERP Reporting as accurate reporting is a result of quality data, which is precisely the reason the process takes time. Data is an unruly commodity that takes an extra effort to control, protect, and manipulate. As the data volume grows, ERP reporting will fall behind and cause companies to delay acting. That is why it is important to search for strategies that make data as quickly available as possible by automation.

So, if you face any challenges in reporting, our experienced consultants can provide you with solutions to help you optimize your ERP reporting and make your business grow. Schedule a call to discuss your requirements. Contact us now.

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