Migrating from Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central? You’re making a smart choice for your business.
As Microsoft shifts focus to its cloud-based ERP, moving to Dynamics 365 future-proofs your systems while providing a familiar interface.
But the migration process itself can seem daunting. This guide breaks down everything you need to know for a smooth dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 migration.
Why Migrate to Dynamics 365 Business Central?
There are a few key reasons to upgrade from GP to Business Central:
- Continued support and updates: Microsoft will end support for Dynamics GP in 2028, while they continue advancing Business Central each year. Migrating ensures you remain compliant and leverage the latest features.
- Lower costs: By moving to the cloud-based D365, you reduce infrastructure and hardware costs associated with on-premise servers.
- Enhanced mobility and flexibility: Access your ERP securely on any device. Business Central also enables hybrid deployments across cloud and on-premise.
- Deeper Office 365 integration: From Excel reporting to Teams collaboration, you unlock the full benefits of Office 365.
Step 1: Preparing Your Dynamics GP System
Before migrating data, you need to adequately prepare your GP system:
- Clean up data: Resolve and delete any outdated, redundant, or unneeded customer, vendor, item records and transactions in GP. This reduces clutter in D365 down the road.
- Perform a SQL database analysis: Scan for corruption and indexing issues that could impact migration using a SQL maintenance tool.
- Optimize customizations: Assess whether existing customizations are still needed or can be consolidated. Minimizing custom objects saves migration work.
Properly preparing your Dynamics GP system reduces migration time while improving data integrity in D365 Business Central.
Step 2: Mapping Data from GP to Business Central
The next step is mapping your existing GP elements like customers and vendors into Business Central.
Key GP components | Business Central elements |
Customers/vendors | Customers/vendors |
Items | Items |
GL Accounts | Chart of Accounts |
Batches | Item Tracking |
Thoughtfully mapping object names, transaction flows, terminology, and identifiers between the two systems helps retain operational consistency post-migration.
Step 3: Extracting Quality Data
Now extract your prepared GP data for migration. A proper data migration strategy maintains data integrity across systems.
- Best practice methods for GP data extraction include:
- Direct database extraction tools
- Microsoft’s Dynamics GP Data Migration Manager
- Third-party migration tools
- Avoid shortcuts like exporting to Excel which can mismap data
Extracting high-quality, properly formatted data from Dynamics GP ensures it transfers smoothly into Business Central avoiding surprises down the road.
Step 4: Importing Data & Testing in D365 Sandbox
With clean extracted data in hand, import it into a D365 non-production sandbox for testing.
- Verify correct mapping of all customers, vendors, items, chart of accounts
- Run transactions, invoices, and other processes end-to-end
- Refine any discrepancies between GP vs D365 found in testing
Thoroughly testing migration output in a sandbox environment helps discover and remediate issues before they impact daily operations after go-live.
You’re Ready to Upgrade to Dynamics 365 Business Central!
Migrating from your legacy Dynamics GP to Business Central positions your organization for continued success and innovation.
While the upgrade process involves careful preparation, mapping, data extraction, and testing, the long-term benefits make it worthwhile.
Investing the time and resources into the migration sets your team up for growth and efficiency with a modern cloud-based platform built to evolve with your business needs.