Distribution & Manufacturing

Migrating from GP on premise to Business Central cloud based

Recently, our team worked on a project for a mid-sized distribution and light manufacturing company that required migrating from Microsoft Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central Online. The client had been using GP for over a decade and was seeking to modernize its ERP environment by moving to a scalable, cloud-based solution.

The Challenge

What Was Holding the Business Back?

A decade-old on-premises ERP environment presented challenges around historical data migration, system complexity, and business continuity during cloud transformation.

Legacy ERP Over ten years of business-critical data required careful evaluation, migration, and long-term accessibility.Over ten years of business-critical data required careful evaluation, migration, and long-term accessibility.

Multi-Company Different fiscal calendars and chart of accounts required standardized mapping into Business Central.

Cloud Migration Large datasets demanded optimized Azure integration and staged migration for reliable performance.

Business Continuity Migration had to minimize downtime while preserving security roles and daily business operations.

Objective

What We Set Out to Achieve

Modernize the client's ERP ecosystem by migrating from Microsoft Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central Online while preserving historical data, reducing operational disruption, and enabling a scalable cloud-based business platform.

Our Approach & Solution

How We Delivered Results

The ERP modernization successfully migrated business operations to Dynamics 365 Business Central Online while preserving historical data, reducing downtime, and establishing a scalable cloud platform.

Migration Planning

Assessed ERP readiness, configured migration extensions, and defined company-specific migration strategies.

Data Migration

Migrated financial, inventory, sales, and purchasing data while archiving historical records in Azure Data Lake.

Cloud Sync

Leveraged Azure Data Factory and Self-Hosted Integration Runtime for full and incremental data replication.

Go-Live

Validated migrated data, completed final cutover, transitioned users, and successfully decommissioned legacy GP servers.

Azure Archive

Archived the complete GP database in Azure Data Lake for secure historical access and compliance.

Security Mapping

Recreated Business Central user roles and permissions to ensure secure access after migration.

Incremental Sync

Performed staged replication to reduce downtime and maintain business continuity during migration.

Data Validation

Verified migrated data with finance and operations teams before production go-live.

Results & Impact

The Outcome

10+Y

Data Kept

<4Hr

Downtime

Cloud

ERP Live

Zero

Data Loss

Conclusion

The Bigger Picture

The migration from Microsoft Dynamics GP to Dynamics 365 Business Central Online enabled the client to modernize its ERP environment without compromising business continuity or historical data. By combining Microsoft migration best practices, Azure Data Factory, Azure Data Lake, and Business Central migration tools, the project delivered a secure, scalable cloud ERP platform with minimal downtime, preserved financial history, and improved operational agility for future growth.

Project Snapshot

Client Type Mid-Sized Distribution & Light Manufacturing Company

Tools Used Dynamics 365 Business Central

Focus Area ERP Modernization & Cloud Migration

Deliverable Dynamics GP to Business Central Cloud Migration Solution