Your Guide for Continuing to Use Your Microsoft Dynamics GP ERP
Microsoft Dynamics GP users are facing the end of life of their trusted ERP. Microsoft made it official that they will be ending product support and updates for Dynamics GP on December 31, 2029.
Obviously, this now means that current users must choose between two paths: staying with Dynamics GP until the end or migrating to a new, unfamiliar ERP. Both options are food for thought for businesses, especially when taking into consideration what this will mean for their other software systems, like their B2B ecommerce solution.
For users who aren’t quite ready to make a switch, this blog will explore the pros, cons, and other realities of continuing to use your Microsoft Dynamics GP ERP while still reaching your important ecommerce goals.
The Pros of Continuing to Use Dynamics GP
There are many reasons corporate users aren’t ready to say goodbye to their Dynamics GP ERP. It’s well known for its user-friendly interface, strong financial management capabilities, and seamless integration both with other Microsoft products and essential third-party systems.
If you’re one of the 62% of businesses that intend to continue to use your Dynamics GP ERP for the foreseeable future, here are a few reasons that may further reinforce your choice.
Avoiding time-consuming data migration
Data migration between an existing ERP and a new one can be a nerve-wracking prospect. Not only is there the potential for missing fields, incorrect records, and malfunctioning dashboards, but it also takes a significant amount of time and planning for data migration success.
Staying with your current Microsoft Dynamics GP means there’s no need for data migration— at least not until the end of 2029.
No new training downtime for staff members
Legacy systems have multiple appealing qualities for organizations—familiarity, a sense of security, integration—and perhaps one of the most prominent ones is staff’s knowledge and comfort of using them. This extends to your Dynamics GP ERP as well, especially if it’s been in use throughout a staff member’s tenure at your organization.
If your organization chooses to continue using Dynamics GP, there’s no need for training staff on a new ERP system. Processes will continue to operate as they always have, reducing the stress that often accompanies a new system being introduced into your back-office ecosystem.
The ability to provide the same high quality customer service
It’s safe to say that any successful organization is attuned to providing their customers with the quality of service they need to remain satisfied. By remaining on Dynamics GP, your customer service team won’t need to adjust to a new system to continue supporting customers in the way they’re accustomed to.
No unnecessary complications to your existing tech stack
Similarly, by keeping Dynamics GP running, your organization doesn’t have to face the stressors of bringing in a new system to your existing tech stack. Your business already knows how your ERP operates and how it interacts with other important components of your back-office, like your accounting, ecommerce, and HR software.
The Cons of Remaining with Dynamics GP
However, it’s important to note that no matter how comfortable your staff is with your existing ERP or how much it currently supports your back-office operations, Dynamics GP will eventually reach end of life.
If your business chooses to continue to rely on GP until the end of 2029, you may find yourself running into these problems:
The end of support from Microsoft
As clearly stated in their announcement, Microsoft has no plans to support Dynamics GP after its end of life date. While they’ve also made it clear they don’t plan to abandon the software, this does mean that post-2029, your business may start to experience bugs and glitches with your ERP that can’t be patched. This can cause customer frustration, stress on employees, security risks, and overall operational efficiencies that can negatively impact your bottom line.
Other software platforms may stop updating their Dynamics GP-related features or integrations
With Dynamics GP sunsetting, it’s unsurprising that many other systems—including ones your business relies on—will stop offering Dynamics GP-oriented services and support. This could result in less reliable integration with your other software, resulting in gaps in data, delays in orders, and other headaches that can hamstring your business.
Other Things to Consider on Your Dynamics GP Journey
These items don’t fall neatly under “pros” or “cons” and so have earned their own section. Whether your business is content with staying with Dynamics GP or ready to switch, it’s important to keep these realities in mind.
Changing ERPs without research can put unnecessary stress on your business
Thorough research before choosing a new ERP is vital for an effective transition, reducing risks, and ensuring the new system can integrate seamlessly into your existing technology and business structure. Failure to do so can put stress on your business and customers—and be a drain on your finances.
Developing an ERP integration strategy—even if you plan on remaining with Dynamics GP for the time being—can help alleviate these pain points when it does come time to make a change.
Some partners will move Dynamics GP to the cloud and continue to support clients after end of life
Some partners have made their customers aware that they intend to support Dynamics GP even after its end of life. How? Many plan to host the ERP in cloud environments like Microsoft Azure. This will enable them to provide flexibility and scalability through private clouds, public clouds, and hybrid deployments.
Others plan to offer comprehensive support services covering configuration, training, troubleshooting, customizations, and upgrades—though it should be noted that none of these will be licensed by Microsoft.
The 2 Paths for Dynamics GP Users and How k-ecommerce Can Help
At k-ecommerce, we understand the importance of a healthy relationship between your trusted ERP and ecommerce solutions. That’s why our platform has been designed to be agile enough to support Dynamics GP customers with whichever fork in the ERP road they take.
Path 1: Your Business Continues to Use Dynamics GP
Your business has evaluated the pros and cons and chooses to continue to use Microsoft Dynamics GP as your ERP for the foreseeable future. Great! K-ecommerce already has established success supporting Dynamics GP users with their ecommerce goals.
Even in the face of Dynamics GP’s sunsetting, k-ecommerce’s fully integrated ecommerce solution can help businesses:
- Elevate their web store’s performance with an easy-to-use interface and customizable modules
- Enable customers to find the right products quickly and easily with advanced search capabilities
- Gain accurate, real-time insights into their inventory, customer purchasing behaviors, and more
- Leverage chatbot functionality to answer customers’ questions instantly
- Provide a secure payment and shopping experience
K-ecommerce is ready to help your business maintain and even exceed its current ecommerce reach, elevating your Dynamics GP ERP’s capabilities, regardless of its end of life approaching.
Path 2: Your Business is Ready to Migrate to a New ERP
You’ve weighed your options and decided it’s time to migrate from Dynamics GP to a new ERP. K-ecommerce can support you through this process as well. With experience working with customers that operate Acumatica and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, we have the knowledge and experience to make this transition a smooth one for your business.
Our platform offers a number of ways to help start you on your migration journey, including:
- Test before you leap: We can build sandbox environments or deploy phased rollouts so your business can explore your new ERP system while keeping your existing Dynamics GP ERP live.
- Consistent brand experience: Although you’re leaving one ERP for another, that doesn’t mean your customer-facing web store has to change. Back-end UX doesn’t have an automatic impact on front-end UX. Additionally, we move and sync your existing web store seamlessly, ensuring your customers experience no gap in buying experience.
- Protecting what’s working: Switching ERPs doesn’t have to mean an overhaul of every aspect of your business. With k-ecommerce, you’ll be able to keep the things you love—ecommerce processes, branding, customer service procedures—and upgrade what’s not working, like clunky, out-of-date ERP workflows.
- Future-proofing your operations: k-ecommerce can scale with your business as it grows, with omnichannel capabilities and compliance support.
Whichever path you choose on your Dynamics GP journey, k-ecommerce is here to help.
Schedule a demo with one of our B2B ecommerce experts today to learn more about how we can take your Dynamics GP ERP—or your new ERP—to new heights of performance.