Dynamics 365 Business Central Implementation (2025)

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a powerful ERP software & business solution that can help companies streamline their business processes and achieve their goals. However, to ensure a successful Dynamics 365 Business Central implementation, it is essential to have a solid plan in place.

In this article, we walk you through the most important points to consider when setting up Business Central to make sure that it's a smooth transition for your company.

Key Steps for a Successful Dynamics 365 Business Central Implementation

1. Define Clear Objectives

Before starting the implementation, you need to establish clear objectives and goals. Identify what specific business processes you want to streamline and what outcomes you expect to achieve. Here are some sample objectives:

• Streamline Financial Processes: Automate and streamline financial processes, reducing manual data entry and errors in financial transactions by 30% within six months.
• Enhance Inventory Management: Reduce excess inventory levels by 20% and increase inventory turnover by 15% in the next quarter.
• Improve Order Fulfillment: Improve order-to-shipment times, aiming to reduce lead times by 25% and achieve a 95% on-time delivery rate within six months.
• Achieve Compliance and Audit Readiness: Ensure that Business Central helps the organization achieve compliance with industry regulations. Prepare for an upcoming audit with zero critical findings by the end of the current fiscal year.
• Reduce Administrative Overhead: Implement Business Central to reduce administrative overhead. Streamline HR processes to decrease HR-related paperwork processing time by 50% within six months.
• Reduce Operational Costs: Decrease overhead expenses by 15% through process optimization and automation within the fiscal year.

2. Engage Key Stakeholders

Involving all relevant stakeholders, from management to end-users, is crucial. Their input and buy-in are essential for a successful implementation. Regular communication and feedback loops are key. Here are some stakeholders to consider:

• Executive Leadership: CEOs, CFOs, and other top executives often initiate and sponsor the implementation project. They provide strategic direction, allocate resources, and ensure alignment with the organization's overall goals.
• IT Department: Chief Information Officers (CIOs), IT managers, and IT teams are responsible for the technical aspects of the implementation, including system configuration, data migration, integration with other systems, and ensuring data security.
• Finance Department: CFOs, finance managers, and accountants are vital stakeholders because Business Central heavily impacts financial processes, such as accounting, budgeting, and financial reporting. They provide insights into the system's financial requirements.
• HR Department: HR managers and teams are involved in managing employee information, recruitment, and payroll processes through Business Central's HR and Payroll modules.
• Project Managers: Project managers oversee the implementation process, ensuring that it stays on schedule, within budget, and aligns with the organization's objectives.
• End-Users: Employees who will use Business Central daily are essential stakeholders. Their input, engagement, and feedback are critical for user adoption and ensuring that the system meets their operational needs.
• Data Specialists: Data specialists, such as data analysts or database administrators, are responsible for data cleansing, migration, and maintaining data integrity during the implementation process.
• Compliance and Legal Teams: Compliance and legal experts ensure that the implementation follows industry rules and laws. This is particularly important in industries with strict data privacy and security regulations.
• Change Management Teams: Change management professionals work to manage the organizational and cultural aspects of change that accompany ERP implementations. They help with training, communication, and managing resistance to change.
• Quality Assurance and Testing Teams: QA and testing teams are important for checking that the Business Central system works correctly and has no problems.

3. Customize and Configure

Business Central offers extensive customization options to tailor the system to your organization's unique needs. Work closely with your implementation partner to configure the software accordingly.

4. Training and Adoption

Proper training and user adoption are vital. Users must be comfortable with the system to maximize its benefits. This is where a digital adoption platform becomes crucial.

Since companies often customize Dynamics, this often makes built-in help resources irrelevant and delays Dynamics implementation.

The best strategy is to support users within the platform. This will help them find their way and get assistance when needed.

This is where using a Digital Adoption Platform is vital to implementing Dynamics 365 Business Central successfully.

What is a Digital Adoption Platform?

A Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) works by integrating with existing enterprise applications to assist with digital transformation. Once integrated, DAPs can provide users with in-app guidance and contextual self-help resources.

Why is a Digital Adoption Platform Necessary for Dynamics 365 Business Central Implementation?

Increase user adoption and engagement: DAPs make it easy for users to learn Business Central, even if they have no experience with the software. This can lead to more people using Business Central, as they are more likely to use software they are comfortable with.

Improve productivity and efficiency: DAPs can help users learn how to use Business Central more efficiently, which can lead to improved productivity and efficiency.

Reduce training costs: DAPs can help to reduce training costs by providing users with self-service training resources. This frees up training staff to focus on more complex training needs.

Decrease support tickets: With self-help resources and in-app guidance, DAPs empower Dynamics 365 users to resolve issues independently, without having to rely on IT support.

Improve user compliance: DAPs help ensure that Business Central users follow company rules and procedures by providing in-app guidance and training, and by encouraging users to follow established standards.

Why Choose VisualSP for Your Digital Adoption Platform?

VisualSP is the best choice for Business Central implementation because it is the only Digital Adoption Platform created by Microsoft experts.

It includes several features that can help users to learn and adopt Business Central, including:

Interactive walkthroughs

Accelerate Dynamics 365 Business Central onboarding with interactive walkthroughs that show users how to navigate the platform and complete important processes.

Out-of-the-box and customizable training content

VisualSP provides out-of-the-box Dynamics 365 Business Central content to help you get started. This helps you save a significant amount of time creating materials. You can also create your own content to meet the specific needs of your users.

Pinpoint support & compliance issues

Learn exactly how your team is using Dynamics 365 Business Central with VisualSP’s Microsoft Clarity integration. Identify areas for improvement by looking at heatmaps, recorded sessions, and more.

Control who sees content & where

VisualSP is the ONLY Digital Adoption Platform for Dynamics 365 Business Central that lets you target contextual help content based on the specific application, scope, and security role of the user.

Get a clear picture of your ROI

VisualSP’s full usage reporting gives you a clear picture of the hours saved, increased productivity, and return on investment.

Communicate more effectively

Communicate relevant information with your users easily and effectively with VisualSP’s in-app notifications, banners, and pop-up alerts.

Use on any web enterprise application

While VisualSP is built from the ground up for Microsoft products, it can be used on any web enterprise application. This allows you to have one consistent support tool to use across multiple applications.

Conclusion

VisualSP is the best Digital Adoption Platform for Dynamics 365 Business Central because it is the only DAP designed by Microsoft experts specifically for Microsoft products.

It offers a wide range of features that can help businesses to successfully implement and use Dynamics 365 Business Central, including interactive walkthroughs, out-of-the-box & customizable training content, the ability to pinpoint support and compliance issues, control over who sees content and where, full usage reporting, and effective communication tools.

If you are serious about implementing Dynamics 365 Business Central successfully, then VisualSP is a must-have tool. Get started for free today and see the difference it can make for your business.