Implementation

The first question we always get asked is "how long will it take to go live?" Typically, you will be able to go live in 3 months with the financial modules from the time we start the project, including accounting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, purchasing, sales, fixed assets and cash management.  Take a look at the phases outlined below to gain a better understanding of how we approach an implementation. We have been doing this for over 20 years and over that time we have managed to fine tune our project methodology along with Microsoft's RapidStart implementation methodology 

This will be our first initial contact, and the beginning of your implementation journey. We will usually get on a call with you for about half an hour to discuss your requirements and outline go over the standard functionality we believe will be relevant to your business. After this call we can provide a demo and then a quote. There is no commitment at this stage, it is just a simple phone call to get to know one another and see if Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is the right solution for you.

 Once you have decided we are the right Partner to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, we will kick off the project and get into a 3-5 day design workshop. This is the most important step in the overall success of the implementation. During this time, we will work with you and your team to determine your detailed requirements so we can configure Business Central in the next phase. During the design workshop we will review your chart of accounts, reporting requirements and identify any dimensions that will be set up. Dimensions create powerful analytical capabilities which will allow you to slice and dice your data. At the end of the design workshop we will provide a design document that provides the details we need in the following step, to build your system. 

The next step is called the “build” phase. This is where we set up your company or companies in Business Central, import the chart of accounts, vendors, customers, fixed assets, dimension codes and other setup data. Although you may be involved in this phase this is primarily a Minerva phase. We use “packages” to accelerate the build and configuration of the system, importing as much data as we can to eliminate manually keying in setting up  the data. We will also create your financial statements during this phase, including the Balance Sheet and Income Statement and any other reports you need. Business Central comes with hundreds of standard reports. We will also set up various payment methods including electronic funds transfers (EFT) and checks. If you are implementing our Power BI financial statements, we will also set these up during the build phase.

This phase starts before the training phase so that we can import some data from your legacy system to use in the training. However it extends through to the end of the project and concludes when we import your legacy data up to the point where you go live.

After we have built the system, we will schedule training for your team. We typically prefer to do this in person but can also do it remotely. We have found it is better received by the users in person as we can see your reactions and cues as to whether or not we are on the same page. The training is usually broken out into 4 or 8-hour sessions over the course of a couple of weeks, depending on how much training you require and how many modules are being implemented.

Once we have completed the training, we are now ready for the users to start testing the system. This is another critical phase and we need to make sure we get your complete co-operation and full sign off on testing. Failing to do so will require more support after we go live and can be very stressful for your team if it is not working the way it was intended when you go live. User acceptance testing needs to start right after the training phase and continues until you go live. During this phase we reinforce the training you learned in the previous phase.

This is the day when you stop using your legacy system and start using Business Central. We can go live at the end of any month, but usually this is done at the end of a quarter or the end of your fiscal year 

After you go live you will typically need support in the first few days and weeks in the new system, as well as during the first month end. We provide support during this time to make sure your implementation is a success. 

After a few weeks of running in your production environment and the users are using the system without much assistance, we will move over to our ongoing support. All this means is that if you need something, just contact us and we will get it done.