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Business Central Implementation

Business Central Implementation

5 Reasons Your Business Needs an ERP System  

Business Central Implementation /

If you have been thinking about whether it is right to implement an ERP system for your business, you may sit down, take a moment, and evaluate all the key processes that keep your business going. Be it inventory, or order management, customer relationship management, accounting, and so forth. Various businesses these days are inclining towards the idea of Business Central Implementation. However, many times they are unable to get the right Business Central Partner due to lack of research and ignorance towards other critical factors.   Every business is unique: everyone has different requirements. However, companies that benefit from ERP systems have faced similar issues. Look if you are facing the same issue. Consider if your business is running efficiently enough or you need more robust technology. Do you have definite insights into your business or are you relying on guesswork? Do you have to spend too much time at the back office or admin work?  To be simple, an ERP system integrates all the distinct functions necessary for your business under the same platform. Therefore, streamlining business processes and storing data across the entire business.   #1: You have Distinct Systems for Different Operations   Take some time and contemplate how your employees are tracking and recording data. Do they use one system for accounts receivable and payable, and another for sales and record customer data in a separate system? Are they implementing those time-sucking manual tracking and recording of data? Does your warehouse use completely different software?   When you run different back and front-office operations on different systems, it can hamper the key processes that are meant to help your business run smoothly. Without accurate data on sales, inventor management can face negative impacts. It is even riskier than guessing and filling requirements. While a lack of the latest information from accounting can cripple the whole budget.   An ERP system integrates different systems on the same platform and hence your business relies on a sole source of information. Relying on one source of data cuts time makes business processes smoother while eliminating data logjams. It helps a business make more logical data-driven decisions.   #2: It is Hard for You to Access Your Business Data  What if someone asks you about your business’s average sales margin, sales per day, or sales to date? How long would it take to grope the information? What about the key performance metrics? If you are working in silos and have recorded such data on different systems, it is most likely to eat too much of your time.   Businesses these days are embracing faster speed, and therefore displaying an urge for faster data accessibility. You need to access real-time and the latest data quickly for better decision making, while your employees need data relevant to their tasks quickly to show more efficiency.   With an ERP system, you can get a holistic view of your business at any given time, while your staff can grab data relevant to them and carry out their jobs. For instance, your sales employees must have access to customers’ transaction history to boost renewal rates more proactively while increasing upselling and cross-selling.   #3: If your Sales and Customer Experience are Afflicted  As soon as a business grows, one of the main challenges includes inventory management. Poor inventory management might create catastrophes in your business, not to mention hampering your reputation.   Imagine how embarrassing it can get if you cannot tell the customer if their order has been dispatched. This situation is most likely to occur if you maintain records in different systems. For instance, if you run out of products in demand, you will have to put your sales on standby until the next shipment arrives.   With an ERP system, you and your employees can access the same last-up-to-the-minute information. Your customer care executives must be able to efficiently help the customer with every relevant information they need. Be it payment status, shipping status, refunds, services issues, and so on without having to cut the line and check for the details. Better yet, you can empower customers to go online, check their account, and view status information.   #4: If It Takes Too Long to Manage Accounts   One thing that depicts the need for an ERP system is your accounting department. How are your accounting employees managing their tasks? Are they relying on paper-based sales orders and invoices? Do they take hours at the end of every week to manually enter them into different systems? If yes, it is time to consider an ERP system.   And the same goes for financial recording: does it take ages to reconcile financial data throughout systems and endless spreadsheets? Why would you waste so much time when you can do it easily with an ERP system?   Once you implement an ERP system, you no longer must engage your staff in monotonous and manual activities. You can assign them more predictive jobs and boost business productivity.  #5 You Have a Complex IT Infrastructure   One of the biggest challenges of having disparate systems is managing their IT infrastructure. System customization, integration, and maintenance with patches and upgrades can give you nightmares.  If you are running on-premises, the maintenance can become even worse. Legacy business software upgrades can cause more difficulties than they are worth. With an on-premise upgrade, older modifications erase and must undergo the modification process all over again.   It is always wiser to get a cloud-based ERP like Microsoft Dynamics Business Central. Business Central Implementation gives the agility and flexibility to comply with your growing business needs. This is why picking the right ERP provider is mandatory. Trident Information Systems is a Gold Microsoft Dynamics 365 Implementation Partner who has served numerous business ventures so far. With a massive team of experts and a robust track of accomplishments, we have won several awards. If you are looking for an implementation partner, contact us.  

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Cloud ERP Vs. On-Premise ERP: Which One is Cheaper? 

Business Central Implementation /

Cloud ERP like Microsoft Business Central is way cheaper than on-premise, credit to its low-cost ownership and easy updates. ERP solutions have always been one of the most important assets of a business. Most businesses earlier preferred on-premise ERP like Dynamics NAV Implementation. However, as soon as cloud ERP like Microsoft Business Central debuted, it stole all the spotlight throughout the ERP industry. Businesses that previously implemented Dynamics NAV are now shifting to the Business Central Upgrade.  Thanks to the convenience of cloud ERP, businesses can operate their business in a much more secure and efficient environment. Furthermore, according to research conducted by Gartner, about 60% of large-scale businesses globally considering replacement of their ERP are projected to migrate to cloud deployment from the on-premise solution.  The major factor that drives businesses for the on-prime to cloud ERP shift is its cost-efficiency. Cloud ERP costs make the business environment more affordable as compared to the on-premise ERP, owing to its influential factors.   Factors Impacting Cloud ERP Costs  Many factors may influence the net income of a business after computing the total cost of ownership of a prospect cloud ERP system. Given below are some of the crucial factors that supposedly cut cloud ERP costs.   Hardware and Server Cost   When you have a cloud-based solution like  Microsoft Business Central, you do not have to spend extra to purchase a server and host your solution, nor do you have to engage your IT team for hardware and software maintenance. The way you can keep your operating and power (electricity) costs low. Whereas, if you opt for an on-premise system, you are bound to purchase a server and involve your IT team in its hardware and software maintenance. Not to mention, you have to replace or upgrade every 5 years  Licensing Fees  When it comes to the cloud-based ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems like  Microsoft Business Central, businesses do not have to pay a huge upfront cost. Generally, these systems are priced under a monthly, quarterly, or annual subscription, depending upon the number of users. In contrast, on-premise systems operate on a one-time perpetual licensing model, thus making a company pay higher upfront costs to buy the software. Therefore, we can say cloud solutions make financial management way easier for small businesses looking for a lower initial acquisition price.   Customization   A business needs customization as soon as it starts growing to manage complex processes more efficiently. On-premise solutions are customizable but are directly associated with your existing system. Therefore, as you upgrade your system, it is most likely to wipe out all the previous modifications and you will have to engage your IT resources to remodify everything. On the other hand, cloud ERP systems may not be customizable but flexible enough to keep your customizations intact during the software upgrade.  Maintenance and Upgrades  In the case of cloud ERP, the service provider takes charge of the routine maintenance and upgrade, leaving you no job to fulfill at your end. The updates are automatic, painless, quicker and a lot easier. It allows you to stay on the latest version, for example, Microsoft keeps updating Microsoft Business Central frequency and ensures major updates twice a year hence letting the business owner optimize the latest technology.   However, in the case of on-premise solutions, you are responsible for the system update and daily maintenance.   Scalability   Cloud ERP can support a massive number of users and be flexible at the same time, allowing a business to scale up or down according to their requirements easily. Therefore, reducing costs in the long run as you only pay for the functionalities and according to the volume of users. You cannot expect the same from an on-premise solution. Scaling your business with an on-premise solution would demand additional investment in infrastructure and hardware.   Integrations   You can easily integrate third-party applications with Cloud ERP solutions while complementing your business evolution. However, it is not that easy for an on-premise solution to do the same. For instance, a cloud ERP solution such as Microsoft Business Central seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Office 365 and other Microsoft applications such as Power Platform. You can always extend the functionality with Microsoft Appsource.   Cloud ERP Ensures some of the most robust benefits like better security, agility, flexibility, and most importantly lower costs. They replace the hard maintaining and updating systems and allow businesses to go further and invest their resources in something more crucial. Microsoft Business Central is one of the most efficient cloud-based systems. If you have been using Dynamics NAV and looking for a NAV to BC upgrade, contact Trident, the Gold Microsoft Dynamics 365 Implementation Partner. Contact us for more information

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Why Should you Upgrade Dynamics NAV to Business Central?

Business Central Implementation /

It has been almost three years since Microsoft Business Central debuted. It was formerly known as Microsoft Dynamics NAV (NAV). The Business Central Upgrade offers modern technology, a more agile interface, tailored features, and so on. Hence, it is better to Upgrade NAV to Dynamics 365.   It did not take too long to establish itself as one of the best Enterprise Resource Planning in the market for Small to medium businesses. Still, many businesses prefer to use legacy solutions such as Dynamics NAV or Dynamics GP. However, there are strong reasons for Business Central Upgrade. Some of its benefits include but are not limited to:   Custom adaptability.   Advanced mobile access.   App integration.   Reporting capabilities.   Seamless upgrades.   Affordability  Those organizations that have been slow in moving from NAV to Dynamics 365 BC have to worry about implementation delays, associated costs, and other business disruptions. There is misinformation about the whole thing out in the market and this article aims to eliminate the noise.   What is the Difference Between Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics Business Central?  Microsoft Dynamic NAV and Microsoft Dynamics Business Central have similar functionalities. However, one of the major differences is that D365 BC is a browser-based software.  365 BC provides all the capabilities that NAV offers like Sales, Services, Operation Management, etc. but with a wider reach and more flexibility.   The last difference has to do with licensing. Where Business Central is licensed for name-based users, Business Central is licensed for concurrent users.   Why should you upgrade from NAV to Business Central?   NAV’s functionalities are extensive and include supply chain management, financial management, service, marketing, sales, reporting, business intelligence, and a lot more. One of the biggest fears of current NAV users would be training their employees for the upgraded version and transitioning a great deal of data from NAV to Microsoft Dynamics Business Central.  However, not many people know that the data structure of 365 BC is similar to that of NAV. Therefore, as long as your data is well organized and far away from corruption, the transition will be seamless.   Apart from transition concerns, what about NAV updates? While most recent NAV versions are still mainstream, the older versions are not entitled to support. And those supported currently will be out of support by January 2023, with just security updates available for an additional five years. In addition, all updates will no longer include general advancements and modern technologies.   Here are five reasons why you would want to upgrade NAV to Business Central:   Microsoft Business Central Upgrade happens twice a year and therefore, letting you enjoy the latest and secure version.   Since Microsoft Dynamics Business Central is cloud-based software, the user can access it anytime, anywhere at any device. They do not have to make further investments in hardware, maintenance agreements, and servers. Furthermore, security is the topmost concern of any organization and thankfully, Microsoft’s 3,500 cyber security professionals are working 24/7 to protect you from any cyber threat.  D365 also integrates with other Microsoft Dynamics tools, including Office 365, Azure, and other D365 products.   It also improves search capabilities due to data being cleaner and better organized in D365b BC.   Instead of certain licensing fees and annual enhancements, you can pay per user every month. Therefore, letting you manage costs more efficiently.   Updated Features of Dynamics 365 Business Central   Application Update: Within the application, some of the most requested areas have been centralized that include supply chain and finance. Given below are some of the features included in this release:   The user can add additional columns through personalization in various pages to get more insights.   Add non-inventory items on requisition and planning worksheets.   Bank and payment reconciliation.   Couple reorders between Business Central and Dataverse in bulk.   Modern Web Client: the primary focus on the update revolves around accessibility, usability, and stability. Given below are the latest updates:   Seamless data entry throughout rows.   Performance and usability improvement to the BC web client.   Discovering reports and administration areas in Role explorer.   Support for localized decimal separators on numeric keypads.   Better Microsoft Dynamics 365 integration: It provides enhancements to the Microsoft team’s integration.   New users who do not have a subscription can redirect and sign-up for a trial subscription.   Multiple word search and special characters for looking up contacts while presenting improved search term capabilities.   What is the Downside of Sticking to NAV?  From a technical point of view, it is an upgrade. However, note that Microsoft Constantly invests its resources and time on Dynamics365 Business Central development. As mentioned already, it will not introduce future updates for NAV. Thus, for this reason alone, we recommend migrating your system to Business Central and remaining ahead of the curve to promote future growth.   Conclusion  When you Upgrade NAV to Dynamics 365, you avail your organization of exactly what it needs to operate more effectively and efficiently. Highly flexible, feature-rich, and adaptable, Business Central Upgrade is one of the best end-to-end business solutions a small to medium-size business can invest in. If you are looking for an implementation partner, you may contact Trident Information Systems.  

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Understand Your Customers’ Purchasing Behavior

Business Central Implementation, Retail ERP Software /

As soon as a business cracks a customer’s buying algorithm, it secures more profit. The online and offline actions that a customer takes before buying a product are referred to as customer buying behavior. It may include search engine consultation, social media engagement, and various other actions. This process is an essential marketing measure to tailor a business’s current products or services and match their customer’s demands.  The ultimate tool that helps understand a buyer’s pattern is AI. It tracks customer behavior through their browsing history, email interactions, click-through rates, and other mediums. Without AI companies have to guess the market trend and pick a marketing strategy randomly. However, with AI-enabled methods, they can classify customers into different groups according to their preferences and pick the most relevant strategy. It becomes easier to understand their needs through technology tracking their behavior.  Apart from AI, there are certain ERP services such as LS Retail, that track prospects and existing customers’ interest and purchasing patterns from their engagement on their websites and other platforms. The analytics team can identify which customer browsed through what product. Also, they can check up on the number of customers retained on the website for a long. But the question remains: how can you understand your customer’s buying behavior?   The first step is to identify your prospective customers. Identify who will be interested in buying your item. Otherwise, it is just a waste of time to engage with customers who probably will never purchase your product.   Then study the inclinations of your valuable customers- the ones who fall for fewer service issues and contribute more to your profit. Understand their psychology while asking yourself the following questions:   Do they make purchases after careful consideration or on impulse?  Do they consider price over quality or vice versa?  Are they your loyal customers who make frequent purchases or are they one-time buyers?  Do they exclusively purchase from you or patronize your competitors as well?  Do they contact you through a precise channel like- your website or an app?  Once you answer these questions, it’s time to dive deeper into the research.   Recognize The Buyer’s Need/ Desire: A person will not purchase a product or service until he needs it. The factors driving him to make purchases can be internal (Hunger or thirst) or external (from a promotion or word of mouth). As soon as you recognize their needs, you can segregate them into distinct groups.   Information Research: As you recognize a customer’s needs/ desires, the next step a customer would take is to carry out internal/external research of your business to figure out the best possible service or product for them. This can involve browsing through the graphics, print, and other media revolving around their central buying decision.   Evaluating Alternatives: At this stage, the customer scans through different products that are potential enough to fulfill their requirements based on alternative product attributes. The customer’s next step greatly relies on their attitude and involvement. For instance, if the customer has a positive attitude with high involvement, they are most likely to consider different brands and companies. However, in the opposite situation, the customer might go through one or two brands.    The Purchasing Stage: this is the second last stage of understanding customer behavior. The final purchase can be disrupted because of two factors 1) negative feedback from other customers and 2) the receptivity towards the negative feedback. A customer might drop the idea of making the final purchase under the influence of other customer feedback.   Post-Purchase Behavior: this is the last and the most crucial stage that defines if the buyer will purchase from the same brand in the future or not. They compare their current purchase with their previous purchase and identify if it meets their expected standards. If the product passes, it generates brand loyalty and more future purchases.   Final Words   With the help of AI or some ERP services like the one LS Retail offers, businesses can accumulate enough customer data to identify their buying behavior, catch current trends and make specific strategies for customers. Trident Information Systems is the Gold LS Retail Implementation partner and has serviced various businesses with the same. For further information or a demonstration, contact us.  

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Support & Implementation Plan for Business Central & D365

Business Central Implementation /

Introduction : Trident Help Desk Enterprise Solutions – ERP, CRM, BI, and Business Portals – yield business benefits only when consumed efficiently by the uses As businesses grow and scale up, these systems require adaption, enhancements, occasional technical support and the users require access to consultant’s time and mindshare.  This document provides the various standard support plans available to Trident customers. Being on one of the support plan brings to a customer the following advantages: Dedicated support & service delivery engineer. Dedicated Project Manager who’ll be working directly with your team Fast issue diagnosis and resolution recommendation Incident tracking in Jira Automatic response when a new incident is created Optimization of the existing processes Answering ‘How to’ ERP related questions Improving work practices through SOPs Automation of recurring tasks Release management & DevOps automation Additional services charged separately System Health Check & report System Performance review & optimization On-site visit for support & training Enhancement and Customization New Report Development New Module Implementation  Support Plans  Trident offers various Support Plans to customers to choose from – based on the needs of the customer. Following are our standard plans for customers who are Indian organizations, for their Indian operations. Plan A: Full Time Dedicated Resource A dedicated resource is allocated for the customer who remains available 100% to provide the needed support. The scope of this plan includes addressing both Support needs as well as handling Change Requests. If a certain change request requires more resources (over and above the 1 dedicated resource), prior approval is taken from the customer for the additional effort and cost. The customer will be invoiced for the additional effort spent immediately. Under this model a named resource is available to the customer. Minimum tenure for this plan is 1 month. Plan B: Shared Resource Under this plan the customer commits to a minimum 5 days of support need per month. The need may come up at any time during the month, in one or more instances. In case the customer does not utilize all of 5 days during a particular month, the balance days are carried forward to the next month, but lapse at the end of every quarter (March, June, September and December). The scope of work in this case includes both support and change requests. If the work identified requires more than the balance number of days for that month/ quarter, Trident informs the customer and takes prior approval for the additional effort and cost. This additional cost will be immediately invoiced. In this model the Trident consultant is shared with another Trident customer. Minimum tenure for this plan is 3 months.  Plan C: Time Package In this model the Customer commits to 200 hrs of support need over a period of 12 months. Response time would be 1 business days after logging of the issue. The support resource will remain a shared resource. The contract period will fall due for renewal either at the end of 12 months period or utilization of hours budgeted. Tenure for this plan is 12 months Scope of Support These Support Plans entitles the customer to avail support during normal business hours (Monday to Friday): 9.30 AM to 5.30 PM (excluding Trident/ public holidays). Support is predominantly from Trident offices and would be provided via e-mail/ Chat. Onsite support may be provided if the situation so demands – based on the merit of the issue – and on mutual agreement. Methodology For Shared Support and Time Package Support Activities for Level1, Level-2 and facilitation for Level-3 Service Request (SR) Logging SR Request Diagnosis Resolution Conceptualization and Solution Build Review and Testing User Acceptance and SR Closure Reporting and Continuous Improvement Trident Customer Support Portal All support plan customers are required to use the Trident Customer Support portal for logging requests, and tracking progress. A single customer login is created and authorized users from the customer can log the issues directly on the site. Both the user and the support team will get informed through email about the issue logged. Tracking of the issue is done through the portal. User can specify the priority and severity of the issue and can also attach screen shots. We can generate periodic reports to monitor the status of various issues.

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Why Business Central – Migrating to Dynamics 365 Business Central

Business Central Implementation /

The launch of BC has posed this question to all the users of Navision as ERP what is the future?  Should they upgrade or stay on the current version? Upgrading brings up thoughts of cost, pain, business disruption, and maybe even limited reward for all the effort. But it’s still something that one will have to evaluate as currently  NAV solution might be still meeting the needs now, however eventually support for the version will end, there will be more challenges around integrating with other applications and systems as they advance, and one can  fall behind the competition because they’re taking advantage of the latest technology has to offer. Stability, Performance and Security Data security is top-of-mind for most IT professionals. The Microsoft Cloud is synonymous with security and stability. With over 3,500 cyber-security professionals on staff, Microsoft is an industry leader when it comes to protecting, detecting, and responding to cyber threats. With so many IT experts in your corner, your IT staff can become more productive without having to worry about managing servers and ever-changing security regulations. Cost Effective Essentially, moving to the cloud is a financial shift that reallocates ERP spend from infrastructure, costly servers, and upgrades to licensing fees. In fact, transitioning from Dynamics NAV to Dynamics 365 is the final ‘upgrade’ you’ll ever have to pay for. Once you have implemented Dynamics 365, updates happen frequently, and at no cost, ensuring you’re always on the most recent version. Integrated Modern Platform Dynamics 365 Business Central features an intuitive look and feel that will help reduce training and ramp-up time for users because it’s easy to use and similar to other Microsoft solutions. Additionally, Business Central can be accessed anywhere, at any time – giving users the flexibility to work no matter where they are. The deep integration with the Business Central Cloud solution and O365 is the best starting point on your journey to consider the move from NAV to Business Central Cloud creating best work from Home Solution. Digital Transformation With Dynamics 365, businesses can easily embrace the benefits of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to become more efficient and reduce manual processes. Machine Learning can help with equipment monitoring, spam filtering, ad targeting, image detection, forecasting, and much more. Microsoft’s Power Platform, made up of Power BI, Flow, and Power Apps, gives you better data that is more accurate and timely to help you make better business decisions.

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Dynamics 365: 2020 release wave 2 plan

Business Central Implementation /

The Dynamics 365 release plan for the 2020 release wave 2 describes all new features releasing from October 2020 through March 2021. You can either browse the release plan online or download the document as a PDF file. The PDF file also includes information about Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Virtual Agents, Power Platform governance and administration, and Common Data Model and data integration. The Microsoft Power Platform features coming in the 2020 release wave 2 have been summarized in a separate release plan as well as a downloadable PDF. 2020 release wave 2 overview The 2020 release wave 2 for Dynamics 365 brings new innovations that provide you with significant capabilities to transform your business. The release contains hundreds of new features across Dynamics 365 applications including Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, Field Service, Finance, Supply Chain Management, Human Resources, Commerce, Fraud Protection, and Business Central. Marketing Dynamics 365 Marketing improves the customer journey canvas experience and adds integration with Microsoft Teams for virtual events. Segmentation is enhanced with a new natural language experience to create and consume segments, helping eliminate the specialized skills needed to build complex segments. Sales Dynamics 365 Sales continues emphasis on simplified experiences, app integrations, gamification, a new mobile experience for quick access to customer information, and new enhancements to forecasting to natively create and manage bottom-up sales forecast processes. Dynamics 365 Sales Insights continues investments across multiple areas: sales acceleration, conversation intelligence, relationship intelligence, and advanced forecasting and pipeline intelligence with predictive lead and opportunity scoring to help sales teams uncover top deals. Dynamics 365 Product Visualize empowers sellers and accelerates complex sales processes by showcasing and customizing products in their real-world environment. Sellers can place a 3D digital twin of a product in their customer’s environment and make detailed notes about their requirements. Service Dynamics 365 Customer Service expands agent productivity capabilities enabling agents to engage in multiple sessions simultaneously. Omnichannel for Customer Service is enhanced with additional extensibility options to enable integration with mobile applications, Microsoft bot framework, and outbound messaging channels. Dynamics 365 Customer Service Insights adds new capabilities to help agents using similar case suggestions to resolve customer issues quickly and easily. A new analytical view for customer service managers helps them focus on key support areas that need attention. These highlights will also be included directly in the core Customer Service Hub app so that users can get insights in context without having to switch between applications. Dynamics 365 Field Service continues to add intelligence capabilities including a new Field Service dashboard for monitoring key KPIs and work order completion metrics. There are many user experience enhancements to enable proactive service delivery. The Field Service mobile app is enhanced with capabilities such as push notifications and real-time location sharing. This release wave also includes scheduling enhancements such as multiday manual scheduling and enhanced skill-based matching. Dynamics 365 Remote Assist expands its range of scenarios beyond calls, allowing technicians to perform activities such as capture service and repairs data, perform surveys and walk-throughs independently, and derive service insights from their service operations. Finance and Operations Dynamics 365 Finance continues to focus on automating common tasks to reduce the number of manual processes and add insights and intelligence in Finance. Asset leasing enhances the core capabilities of Finance and the global coverage for Finance continues to expand in this release wave. Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management expands planning optimization for Manufacturing to perform supply and production planning in near real time with in-memory services. Enhancements to Product Information Management include engineering change management and product versioning capabilities. Cost Management includes new features that will enable global companies maintain multiple cost accounting ledgers by allowing dual currency and dual valuation. Enhancements to the job card device include a new user experience and a new feature to enable reporting serial numbers. Dynamics 365 Guides is focusing on intelligent workflows in this release wave. By taking advantage of data and AI innovations, work instructions can be configured to adjust on the fly based on operator inputs. In addition, insights will make it easier to use time-tracking data and connect that data to your business. Dynamics 365 Project Operations unifies operational workflows to provide the visibility, collaboration, and insights needed to drive success across teams from sales to finance. Project Operations connects your sales, resourcing, project management, and finance teams within a single application to win more deals, accelerate delivery, empower employees, and maximize profitability. Human Resources Dynamics 365 Human Resources expands leave and absence and benefits management capabilities to transform the employee experience. Employees and managers will be able to manage leave and absence directly from Microsoft Teams. This release wave enables streamlined integrations to recruiting and payroll partners, thereby building a Human Capital Management (HCM) ecosystem. Commerce Dynamics 365 Commerce continues to expand capabilities enabling non-developers to easily design and manage digital commerce experiences. Customers can increase lift online and in store with “Shop similar looks” for recommendations. Customers can discover and deploy third-party services, connectors, modules, and themes from Microsoft AppSource. Dynamics 365 Connected Store adds a number of new capabilities such as integration with Dynamics 365 Commerce, front-line worker task assignment and tracing with Microsoft Teams, integrated workflows with Microsoft Power Platform, intelligent command center, store analytics, and store insights solutions such as anomaly detection, inventory recommendations, and shift management recommendations. Fraud Protection Dynamics 365 Fraud Protection adds integration with Dynamics 365 Commerce and a new “manual review” capability that allows customers to use the Fraud Protection rules experience to flag transactions for review, and then allow expert human agents to consume and adjudicate those transactions. SMB Dynamics 365 Business Central investments for this release wave include service enhancements to meet the demands of a rapidly growing customer base, improved performance, handling of file storage, geographic expansion together with support for Group VAT, top customer-requested features, and deeper integration with Microsoft Teams. Customer data platform Dynamics 365 Customer Insights enables every organization to unify disparate data—be it transactional, observational or behavioral sources—to gain a single view of customers and derive intelligent insights that drive key business processes. Dynamics 365 Product Insights enables organizations to understand their customers’ journey, usage,

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ERP implementation team planning business process integration and software deployment.

7 Steps to Implement ERP Successfully: The Complete Guide for 2026

Business Central Implementation, ERP Implementation /

Here is a sobering fact: 61% of ERP implementations take longer than expected and 74% exceed the original budget. These are not failures caused by bad technology. They are failures caused by poor planning, skipped testing, and undertrained users. Every single one is preventable. Follow these seven steps and your ERP project will not become another cautionary statistic. It will become the operational backbone your business needs to grow confidently. Why ERP Implementation Goes Wrong Before jumping into the steps, it is worth understanding the root causes of failure. According to Panorama Consulting, the most common reasons ERP projects fail are unclear scope, low user adoption, inadequate testing, and poor training. None of these are technology problems. They are people and process problems — which means they are entirely within your control. The seven steps below address each failure mode directly. 7 Steps to Implement ERP Successfully Step 1 — Define Your Objectives and Scope Clearly This is the most important step. And the one most commonly rushed. Before you evaluate a single ERP platform, answer three questions: What problems are you solving? What does success look like? What is in scope and what is not? Vague requirements are the single biggest cause of ERP projects running over time and over budget. Define your Key Performance Indicators upfront. Think about where your business will be in three to five years — not just today. A few extra days of clarity here saves months of costly rework later. Step 2 — Choose the Right ERP Vendor With over 500 ERP solutions available, vendor selection can feel overwhelming. But the framework is simple: focus on fit over features. Three things matter most: A vendor with deep experience in your industry will configure the system to match how your business works — not force your business to adapt to their defaults. Step 3 — Assess Your Technology Infrastructure Your ERP will only perform as well as the infrastructure supporting it. Before implementation begins, evaluate your network capacity, hardware, and connectivity. For cloud-based platforms like Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft manages the servers and security — significantly reducing your infrastructure burden. But device compatibility and internet reliability still need to be confirmed for every user location. Choose a platform that scales with your growth. Replacing an ERP because it cannot handle your future business volume is expensive and disruptive. Step 4 — Prepare Your People for Change Technology is rarely why ERP implementations fail. People are. When major changes arrive without adequate communication, employees resist. They find workarounds. They enter data incorrectly. Adoption stays low and the business never captures the expected value. The solution is to involve people early. Explain why the change is happening, what it means for their daily work, and how the new system makes their jobs easier. Run open Q&A sessions. Identify internal champions who can influence their colleagues positively. Treat ERP implementation as a people and process transformation — supported by technology — and adoption will follow. Step 5 — Invest Seriously in Training 21% of ERP implementations fail to deliver significant business benefits — and inadequate training is one of the primary causes. Training is not a single day before go-live. It is a structured programme covering: The businesses that get the best return from ERP are those whose teams genuinely know how to use it. Step 6 — Test Thoroughly Before Go-Live 40% of ERP implementations cause major operational disruptions after go-live. The most effective prevention is comprehensive testing before you switch to the live system. Three types of testing are essential: Issues found in testing are cheap to fix. Issues found after go-live are expensive — in cost, in disruption, and in damaged user confidence. Never go live under pressure without completing testing. The cost of a failed go-live is always greater than the cost of a short delay. Step 7 — Plan for Ongoing Maintenance Go-live is not the finish line. It is the starting point. An ERP needs continuous attention to deliver its full value: Your ERP is a living operational platform — not a one-time project with an end date. ERP Implementation Timeline at a Glance Phase Typical Duration Discovery and planning 2–4 weeks Design and configuration 6–12 weeks Data migration 4–8 weeks Testing 3–6 weeks Training 2–4 weeks Go-live and stabilisation 2–4 weeks Ongoing optimisation Continuous Why Microsoft Dynamics 365 Is the Right ERP With hundreds of ERP options available, Microsoft Dynamics 365 consistently stands out for three reasons: Proven at scale — deployed across manufacturing, retail, logistics, hospitality, and professional services globally, with a two-decade track record businesses can trust. Cloud-native and always current — no on-premises maintenance burden, automatic updates, and new capabilities including Microsoft Copilot AI delivered continuously. Microsoft ecosystem integration — native connectivity with Microsoft 365, Power BI, Teams, and Azure means the ERP works seamlessly with tools your team already uses every day. Why Trident Is India’s Trusted ERP Implementation Partner As a certified Microsoft Dynamics 365 partner, Trident Information Systems has successfully delivered ERP implementations across manufacturing, retail, logistics, hospitality, and professional services in India, Africa, Middle east, USA, UK— following the exact methodology outlined in this guide. Our approach is built to deliver on time, within budget, and with adoption rates that turn ERP investment into genuine business transformation. Ready to implement ERP the right way? Book a free ERP assessment with Trident today. For more insightful content and industry updates, follow our LinkedIn page.

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Microsoft Dynamics 365 dashboard managing electronics manufacturing production, quality, and operations.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Hi-Tech & Electronics Manufacturing: Faster Decisions, Leaner Operations, Higher Quality

Business Central Implementation, dynamics 365 business central /

In hi-tech and electronics manufacturing, standing still is falling behind. Product lifecycles are shrinking. Customer demands for configure-to-order, make-to-order, and assemble-to-order products are accelerating. Global sourcing networks are more complex — and more fragile — than ever before. And all of this is happening against a backdrop of tightening financial regulations, escalating environmental compliance requirements, and relentless competitive pressure on cost and quality. The manufacturers winning in this environment are not working harder. They are operating smarter — with hi-tech electronics manufacturing ERP software that gives them real-time visibility across the entire value chain, intelligent demand planning that adapts to volatile conditions, and the operational agility to respond to market changes before competitors even see them coming. Microsoft Dynamics 365 for hi-tech and electronics manufacturing — implemented by Trident Information Systems — is built precisely for this environment. Whether you are managing multi-level bills of materials across a global supplier network, coordinating complex configure-to-order production schedules, or trying to bring R&D change management under control, Trident’s industry solution gives you the tools, the intelligence, and the implementation expertise to transform operational complexity into competitive advantage. The Unique Challenges of Hi-Tech and Electronics Manufacturing Hi-tech and electronics manufacturing presents a combination of operational challenges that generic ERP platforms were never designed to handle. Understanding these challenges is the foundation of building a technology strategy capable of addressing them. Shrinking Product Lifecycles and Increasing BOM Complexity In the electronics industry, product lifecycles that once spanned five years now compress into 18 months or less. Every new product generation brings with it a new bill of materials, new component sourcing requirements, new production configurations, and new quality specifications — all of which must be managed simultaneously with the ongoing production of existing product lines. Without a comprehensive, automated MRP planning process, the higher the product and BOM complexity becomes, the greater the risk of production delays, component shortages, cost overruns, and quality failures. Manual planning processes simply cannot keep pace with the velocity of change in modern electronics manufacturing. Global Sourcing, Regulatory Compliance and Cost Pressure Global sourcing gives hi-tech manufacturers access to competitive component pricing — but it also introduces significant supply chain risk. Geopolitical disruptions, supplier quality failures, customs delays, and logistics volatility can cascade quickly into production stoppages and missed customer delivery commitments. At the same time, ever-changing financial and environmental regulations across multiple jurisdictions add compliance complexity and cost. Manufacturers operating across multiple countries need an ERP platform that handles local financial requirements, environmental reporting, and cross-border trade compliance — natively, not through expensive customization. The Configure-to-Order Imperative: Meeting Modern Customer Demands Today’s global customers no longer accept standard configurations. They demand products built to their exact specifications — configured, made, or assembled to order — delivered on time, every time, without quality compromise. Meeting this demand requires complete real-time visibility into delivery dates, component availability, production capacities, and external manufacturer capabilities — so your production team can commit to customer requirements with confidence, and execute on those commitments without scrambling. How Microsoft Dynamics 365 Solves Hi-Tech Manufacturing Challenges End-to-End Value Chain Visibility Across Every Production Stage Microsoft Dynamics 365 gives hi-tech manufacturers a unified, real-time view across every stage of the value chain — from raw material procurement and supplier management through production scheduling, quality control, inventory management, and customer delivery. When a component shortage emerges, your planning team sees it immediately — and your MRP system adjusts production schedules automatically. When a customer requests a configuration change mid-order, your system models the impact on delivery dates, inventory, and cost in real time. When a regulatory audit requires documentation across multiple production batches, every record is available instantly — without hours of manual retrieval. Rapid Implementation That Reduces Time-to-Value and Deployment Risk Every day your organization operates without the right ERP platform is a day of preventable inefficiency. Trident’s implementation processes are specifically designed to reduce deployment time and risk — getting your manufacturing operation onto Dynamics 365 rapidly, with minimal disruption to ongoing production, and with the flexibility to build out additional capabilities progressively as your business evolves. Core Capabilities of Trident’s Hi-Tech Manufacturing ERP Solution Trident’s Hi-Tech Industry Solution is a comprehensive set of software and services built on Microsoft Dynamics 365, automating and streamlining every critical business process across the electronics manufacturing operation. Materials Management and Demand Planning In hi-tech manufacturing, conditions in materials management and demand planning change rapidly and without warning. New component requirements emerge constantly, order processes must be updated in real time, and production planning needs to respond quickly — and cost-effectively — to shifting market signals. Trident’s Hi-Tech Solution provides powerful, configurable MRP planning capabilities designed for the specific complexity of electronics manufacturing: Purchasing and Inventory Management Procurement in hi-tech manufacturing is not just about finding the lowest price — it is about managing the right balance of cost, quality, lead time, and supply security across a complex global vendor ecosystem. Trident’s purchasing and inventory management capabilities give your procurement team the tools to optimize every supplier relationship and every purchasing decision: Multi-Country, Multi-Product, Multi-Level Manufacturing For electronics manufacturers operating across multiple geographies, product lines, and production tiers, manufacturing visibility and coordination is the defining operational challenge. Trident’s multi-level manufacturing capabilities give your production management team complete control: Financial Accounting and Real-Time Cost Management Financial management in hi-tech manufacturing is inseparable from operational management. When a production order runs over budget, when a component price changes, or when a customer project hits a cost threshold — your financial team needs to know immediately, not at month-end. Microsoft Dynamics 365’s financial management capabilities — as implemented by Trident — deliver full real-time integration between operational and financial data: Engineering Change Management and R&D Project Control Research and development is the lifeblood of hi-tech manufacturing — but R&D without rigorous process management is a significant financial and competitive risk. Efficient quality, time, and budget management for R&D processes directly determines whether a new product reaches market ahead of or behind the

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