Microsoft have announced the End of Life dates for Dynamics GP: Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central Licence Transition Guide

Microsoft has officially announced the End of Life dates for Dynamics GP, signaling a key transition point for businesses using this platform. With support winding down, organizations are now exploring the best path forward, and many are considering Dynamics 365 Business Central as a modern alternative. In this guide, we will walk you through the transition process from Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central, providing essential insights on licensing, migration strategies, and how to ensure a smooth shift to the future-ready ERP solution.

Recap of Dynamics GP Licensing

Microsoft Dynamics GP, (originally Great Plains Dynamics) a robust ERP solution, has been a cornerstone for many businesses. It was licenced under a traditional Perpetual Licensing model, where customers purchased licenses upfront and then paid annual maintenance fees. The maintenance fees, sometimes called enhancement, allowed users access to new features and releases and importantly, hot fixes or service packs for the software, it also included access to CustomerSource for customers where they had access to learning materials, forums, and information from the product team. The licenses were :

Starter Pack and Extended Pack: These are the packs that contain the modules within the system. The Starter Pack is mandatory and includes 2 users. The core financial modules are included in this pack.

Full User Licenses: Users who require full access to the system are usually the finance team members who will process transactions in Dynamics GP.

Limited User Licenses: For users who need limited access, such as viewing reports or entering timesheets and requisitions. These tend to be non-finance users outside of the finance department.

Self-Service User Licenses: Users who only need to perform specific tasks like entering expenses.

Annual Enhancements are charged at 19% of your software cost, called the protected price list. Even if you are planning to transition, do not stop paying this as you’ll have reduced licence options from Microsoft. More on this later. Also important is to not pay, or renew this late with your partner or you risk losing your protected price list, and will have to renew at the current price.

Dynamics GP End of Life

Microsoft has announced the official end-of-support dates for Dynamics GP, ending in September 2029. This means no more updates, bug fixes, or new features will be provided, urging businesses to transition to a more modern solution.

Additionally, you have just short of five years (and counting) to make the change to a new system. Every year you delay this transition to a new system, you are spending (nearly) one fifth of the software cost for enhancement where you will realistically see little investment from Microsoft. We have experienced the lack of resources available to partners when we log support tickets for Dynamics GP. The announcement of the end-of-life date should accelerate your plans to move off Dynamics GP, use the payments of your enhancement fee to fund your new system project. Those who wait the full five years to migrate will end up paying nearly the full price of their software again!

Introduction to Dynamics 365 Business Central Licensing

Dynamics 365 Business Central is a comprehensive business management solution designed for small to medium-sized businesses. It offers a flexible, subscription-based licensing model. For the Software as a Service (SaaS) licencing the following 3 options are available:

Business Central Essentials: £57.50 per user/month

- Primary licence used by the Finance Team. Contains all finance modules for most businesses.

Business Central Premium: £82.20 per user/month

- As above but includes Manufacturing and service.

Business Central Team Members: £6.60 per user/month. Used by those typically outside of the finance team. This licence allows full read access to Business Central, the ability to create timesheets, carry out approvals and raise Purchase Quotes (or Requisitions). This is a separate licence from Teams, that we use for meetings, chat and collaboration.

Key Differences and Benefits

Subscription-Based Model: Unlike the perpetual model of Dynamics GP, Business Central operates on a subscription basis, reducing upfront costs and providing regular updates, which are included in the price. No Enhancement Plans are required. Furthermore, minor updates are applied automatically, and Microsoft releases major updates twice a year(Wave 1 in April and Wave 2 in October). We require around one consulting day per annum to apply both these major updates. Imagine 2 GP upgrades a year costing one consulting day! Additionally, your system remains evergreen – on the latest version, and never out of support.
Comprehensive Functionality: Business Central includes financial management, supply chain, project management, and more, all integrated into one platform. Business Central connects with Power BI, Power Apps, Excel, Outlook, Teams. You have one login to all your apps, and your IT team will like that they have one Microsoft portal to manage for licences, logins and data management.
Scalability: Easily scale your user licenses up or down based on your business needs.
Cloud-Based: Access your data from anywhere, ensuring business continuity and remote work capabilities. Business Central works with PC and Mac, iOS and Android devices.

Bridge to the Cloud 2 License Transition Offer for Dynamics GP customers moving to Business Central.

To help customers transition from Dynamics GP to Business Central SaaS, Microsoft has introduced the Bridge to the Cloud 2 promotion. This offer provides significant benefits for existing Dynamics GP customers:

40% Discount: Customers receive a 40% discount on Dynamics 365 Business Central licenses compared to the standard commercial list price.

Dual-Use Rights: Customers can continue using their current on-premises licenses while transitioning to Business Central in the cloud.

3-Year Term: The discount is available for a 3-year term, providing cost stability during the transition period.

How to Transition

Transitioning from Dynamics GP to Business Central involves several steps:

Assessment: We will evaluate your current system and identify the modules and functionalities you need in Business Central.
Planning: Working with your finance team, we will develop a migration plan for your move from Dynamics GP to Business Central. Our plan with include system analysis and design, data migration, user acceptance testing and user training, and cut over with go live support.
Implementation: We’ll work with key members of your finance team to plan, and deliver the smooth migration from DynGP to Business Central.
Training: Training is a key component of the migration, we know our GP users have been long term successful users of Great Plains, we know this change will need strong user training to help finance users transition to a new platform. We like to record our sessions so you’re able to replay them as needed or use them to train new members of staff, it’s a simple and cost effective way to on board new finance people into your organisation.
Support: We have an unlimited call support offering that matches the one most Dynamics GP customers are used to, it’s one of the things we knew our GP customers would want when they moved to BC. Monday to Friday 09:00-18:00 UK hours is available.

Dynamics GP vs. Dynamics 365 Business Central

Feature

Dynamics GP

Dynamics 365 Business Central

Licensing Model

Perpetual Licensing

Subscription-Based Licensing

Cost

Upfront cost + annual maintenance fees

Essentials: £57.50/user/month
Premium: £82.20/user/month
Team Members: £6.60/user/month

Deployment

On-Premises

Cloud-Based

Access

Limited to on-premises network

Accessible from anywhere with internet

Updates

Manual updates required

Automatic updates included in subscription

Scalability

Limited scalability

Easily scalable based on business needs

Functionality

Core financials, supply chain, HR, etc.

Comprehensive business management including financials, supply chain, project management, and more

Integration

Limited integration capabilities

Seamless integration with other Microsoft 365 apps and services.
Modern API for connection with other systems and platforms.

Support

End-of-life support

Ongoing support and regular feature updates

Customization

Customisable with third-party add-ons

Customisable with extensions and apps from AppSource

Conclusion

The end-of-life for Dynamics GP marks a significant shift, but it also opens up opportunities to leverage modern, cloud-based solutions like Dynamics 365 Business Central. With its flexible licensing, comprehensive features, and scalability, Business Central is well-suited to meet the evolving needs of your business.

For more information on transitioning to Dynamics 365 Business Central, contact us today!

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