Every day we make many decisions in our lives. Starting from what to have for breakfast, what to wear and facing many decisions during our working day. We are facing stress on making smaller or bigger decisions, but when we come to the life changing ones, we become very emotional and start looking for a friend or expert advice, who went through the same and know the answers. “Fortunately, science has shown us that there are tricks and habits we can use to improve our judgments and better light the path ahead.” (Christian Jarrett). Planning Microsoft Dynamics NAV upgrade project is almost the same as buying a new house. Your head is full of advantages about the new purchase: closer to kid’s school/your office or forest, modern and brand new building, economic heating system, nice neighborhood and etc. But your family is tied up to the old house. Your kids have many friends, you have many nice neighbors, you know all the community and love season openings with barbecue.
You are facing similar feelings when you have to decide whether to upgrade the Microsoft Dynamics NAV for your client by your company resources or choose an experienced upgrade partner. Microsoft Dynamics NAV market is getting increasingly intense. Customers are requiring faster Microsoft Dynamics NAV upgrades and developers are under pressure more than before in meeting strict deadlines and still remaining competitive. As being experienced in working with different Microsoft Dynamics NAV partners all over the world, we are sharing the advices for a successful Microsoft Dynamics NAV upgrade project.
#1 Perform user function audit before every Microsoft Dynamics NAV upgrade project
We are sure that most of your clients do not even know all functionalities their current Microsoft Dynamics NAV version has in the company. Different departments usually are using those functions, which are needed to complete daily or repetitive tasks. Starting the upgrade process of all current Microsoft Dynamics NAV functionalities will increase project cost and time. Thinking a few steps ahead and doing the homework before starting the upgrade project will lead your team to greater efficiency, time and money saving solutions and less stress.
Suggest your client to perform the current Microsoft Dynamics NAV function audit in each department, who works with NAV. Give them fixed deadline until you need the results. Ask them to send you the list of functionalities they are using. Having this list, it will be easier to compare the current database functionality with what exactly the client is using. You will be able to provide accurate price of upgrading Microsoft Dynamics NAV, save time of your team and avoid time wasting on unnecessary tasks.
#2 Modified NAV version? Evaluate Add-On upgrade
If your client has the modified Microsoft Dynamics NAV version you want to upgrade, such as a customer’s database with customizations and add-on solutions, we strongly recommend to evaluate Microsoft Dynamics NAV add-on functionality before upgrade project starts. Many Microsoft certified add-on’s (they have CfMD logo) are available for upgrade with every new Microsoft Dynamics NAV version. To avoid unexpected problems in the middle of the upgrade project, we suggest to evaluate your funcioning add-on and check if the latest update works well with Microsoft Dynamics NAV version you want to upgrade to. If the answer is yes, apply to add-on provider and ask for the upgrade you need or make it by your team if possible. If there is no available add-on upgrade version you need, you can ask the expert team to help you with the upgrade of Dynamics NAV add-on.
#3 Choose experienced specialist team for Microsoft Dynamics NAV upgrade
Does considering the possibility of Microsoft Dynamics NAV upgrade cause unpleasant feelings? It should not be like this. Simplanova has successfully completed more than 30 different Microsoft Dynamics NAV upgrade projects for partners in the past few years. We helped partners to increase the efficiency and make upgrade projects 2 times faster they ever could. Let your team work with other projects you have and choose experienced partner in NAV upgrades. Working with our team, your Dynamics NAV upgrade project will include the following benefits:
1. Specific knowledge and expert team.
Partner team is carefully selected and has specific skills in upgrade processes. Experienced project managers know, that upgrades are not the same as any other NAV development tasks and not every NAV developer can do this. Simplanova has a dedicated team with experience in upgrades and standardized techniques in order to complete projects successfully. We have done more than 30 upgrades for Value Added Resellers (VAR) as well as for Independent Software Vendors (ISV). We can upgrade your company’s solution or add-on from early versions to NAV 2016. Our standardized techniques allow us to use common methods in all upgrades, not needing to change the functional logic of your solution. Our experienced staff, who are knowledgeable in many different businesses and areas of Microsoft Dynamics NAV will analyze and transform your solution with care.
Are you still thinking whether to do upgrade by your team or choose dedicated expert resources? Here are the main advantages how to boost your productivity by 54% on upgrade projects using modern and effective upgrade process.
2. Automated tools.
There are many third-party tools that can help make the upgrade process go more smoothly, including Simplanova Reports Transformation Tool (together with its services) to upgrade reports, as well as tools to merge the code such as PowerShell and Mergetool.com. The most complex and slowest parts of an upgrade, such as reports, can be automated.
Simplanova’s advanced automated tools enable time savings of up to 54% on upgrades and up to 89% on upgrades to RDLC reports compared to project performance times without the tools.
– ROI tool.Choosing Simplanova as your partner for Microsoft Dynamics NAV upgrade you will get free project evaluation offer together with Simplanova ROI tool, which is included to a sales proposal. This will make it easier to understand the benefits of the upgrade project. The ROI tool details how much and on which steps of the upgrade process time can be saved. It lets compare two ways of carrying out the same upgrade project: standard and advanced using automated tools. Our upgrade assessment shows fixed price and scope of the project, thus our partners may use these figures in their sales presentation to describe potential savings, specify each step of upgrade process and deliverables. With our free upgrade assessment our partners are able to enhance their sales proposal.
– Semi-Automated Microsoft Dynamics NAV Upgrade tool. We have developed upgrade tools which help us prepare custom solutions to upgrade to the new version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV and the Role-Tailored Client. The upgrade tools allow us to semi-automatically transform matrix forms, Data ports to Xml ports and Classic reports to RDLC reports. Thus for our Partners we can offer better performance of upgrade projects, more consistency and less possibilities for human error. We are constantly improving our upgrade tools to the extent that more Microsoft Dynamics NAV upgrade processes could be automated and become less prone to human error.
– Automated evaluation tool. This tool enables us to identify changes more precisely, identify pain-points in the customized solution and plan our upgrade more accurately. In some cases, we are able to identify customizations which are no longer in use or replaced by Microsoft Dynamics NAV advancements, which leads to upgrade cost reduction.
– Data masking tool randomizes all the sensitive customer (end-user) data in a database that Simplanova uses for testing after database (such as the customer name, address fields, etc.).
– Translation tool allows Simplanova to identify missing captions and generate a translation sheet. Additionally, it removes a language layer, so it doesn’t get in the way while transferring other changes and re-import it directly to the new version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
We have represented techniques to help you optimize the decisions before next Microsoft Dynamics NAV upgrade project. If you are well prepared, did your homework and feel confident you made the right decisions, upgrading project will go according to the plan and meet all deadlines you have set up.
If you do your homework before buying a new house, we strongly believe it will be less stressful to you and your family. If you know the complex of real estate process, you can be calm and choose without stress. If you do not have all the information you need or have not enough experience, you can reduce or eliminate your stress by choosing real estate agents to help you find your dream home. Choosing the expert team in specific field is always the best decision you can make.
The success of an upgrade depends on the partner you choose. Don’t hesitate to talk to us about your case. We would be excited to give your project evaluation for free. Write to us or call +370 671 72155.