How to avoid Microsoft Dynamics implementation risks: Part 1 of 2

Posted August 14, 2024

Your organization is successful because your team is diligent in how it manages and mitigates risk. When you are implementing a new ERP system like Microsoft Dynamics Business Central or Dynamics GP, your approach to risk management should be no different.

This is the first of a two-part series on ERP implementation risks. In this article, Joesoftware shares three of the common risks and how our team will help your organization mitigate them, or better yet, avoid them all together.

Risk: The implementation is over budget

An ERP implementation is a significant, organization-wide initiative that requires budget planning. In order to stay to budget, a thorough plan is needed before the implementation begins. A well thought out plan helps prevent changes in scope, which can lead to unexpected, increased costs.

To get an accurate assessment of the cost of moving to Business Central or Dynamics GP, it is critical to assess your current needs, available resources, timelines, and expectations before the actual implementation begins. Failure to do this could not only lead to increased costs, but it could also lead to a reduction in scope and unanticipated delays.

The Joesoftware approach to this risk: The Joesoftware team will take the time to get to know your organization, your needs, processes, resources, and expectations. Investing the time upfront allows us to understand the scope of the project and give you a more accurate estimate. We will provide you with a clear plan of how your new ERP will meet your needs, and where customizations and integrations with existing systems will be required.

Risk: Unexpected delays

Delays can happen even with the best planning, but a good implementation partner will help you prevent them. Delays can be the result of an incomplete assessment of the project, changes to the scope or possibly even changes to the availability of your team. Obviously, delays can impact the implementation schedule, as well as your team and their ability to contribute to the implementation and perform their other responsibilities.

The Joesoftware approach to this risk: Delays can lead to increased costs and potentially impact the quality of the implementation and your ERP solution. This possibility is something Joesoftware works hard to avoid. How do we do that?

We work closely with your team to develop an implementation schedule that accounts for the steps we need to take, including any customizations and integrations, and considers your available resources during key phases like testing and training. We have demonstrated experience in ERP implementations. We know where challenges can arise, and we will ensure we have a plan to avoid them or address them if needed.

When the ERP implementation is large and significant, we will ask for a dedicated project manager on your team who will work closely with the Joesoftware project manager to ensure everything goes smoothly and according to plan.

Risk: Insufficient testing of your new ERP

When things don’t work properly following an ERP implementation, the root cause is usually incomplete or rushed testing of the ERP system.

When you take the time to properly test your system, functionality issues can be identified before the final migration of your data to your new system. During testing, it is important that the team members who will be using the system are the ones who test the system. It is also critical during the testing phase to test your critical business processes from beginning to end to make sure all necessary steps and needs have been captured.

The Joesoftware approach to this risk:  We ensure your testing plan is a core part of your overall implementation plan. Your team will know who needs to be involved to test every key business process from start to finish.

We will also help you develop a plan for future testing, particularly after Microsoft releases updates that could impact your system. This is particularly important if your ERP has customizations and integrations as we need to test that these configurations still work as planned after each update.  

When you work with an experienced Microsoft Dynamics implementation partner like Joesoftware, we give you a solid plan that considers all the risks, making the transition to your new ERP system a success.

Stay tuned for the second part of this series where we will cover the risk of bad and missing data, the risk of excessive customizations and features, and risk of not having thorough team training on your ERP.