Case study · Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 to Business Central Cloud

From NAV 2009 directly to Business Central for Vita Tahedl GmbH

Vita Tahedl GmbH in Deisenhausen, Germany, has been making soups, sauces, seasonings and health foods for more than 75 years. The family business ran its finance and sales processes on Microsoft Navision 2009 for many years.

Six major versions lie between that release and the Business Central cloud – which is why most system partners advised taking the detour through interim versions. IO Integrated moved the data in a single step: the switch was complete in under six months, and thanks to live sync there was no downtime at go-live.

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End of Support

Dynamics NAV 2009 no longer receives updates.

Mainstream and extended support for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 have expired. There are no more security updates, no hotfixes and no official Microsoft upgrade path. Every further month of operation increases compliance and security risks.

See the NAV 2009 to Business Central upgrade path

January 2015

Support ended

Challenges of migrating from NAV 2009 to Business Central.

The challenges involved in switching ERP systems are highly complex. Migrating existing data from an old version of Microsoft Navision (version 2009) to the current cloud-based SaaS version of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is an extremely difficult task, given the significant technological advances and the many versions released in the meantime.

Vita Tahedl GmbH had used Microsoft Navision 2009 as its central ERP system for many years. This version, originally released in 2008, did offer sufficient functionality for financial management and sales, but it was technologically outdated and had no support for modern requirements such as cloud-based services, mobile access or extended integration options. In addition, Microsoft support for this version had expired long ago, which brought several risks and various other limitations.

Problem

Lack of transparency in the legacy system

The existing Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 installation had grown over many years. Data structures, individual customizations and the functions actually in use were in part not fully documented. This created the risk of overlooking important dependencies, data or business-critical processes during the migration.

Solution

Structured inventory of the current state

First, a comprehensive analysis of the existing NAV 2009 installation was carried out. The existing data structures, individual customizations and the functions in use were systematically recorded and documented. This created a reliable basis for planning and carrying out the migration.

Problem

Individual customizations that cannot be transferred

The previous NAV system contained numerous individual customizations that had been developed specifically for the company's business processes. Because of the changed technology and architecture, these could not be transferred to Business Central unchanged. At the same time, the underlying business requirements still had to be covered.

Solution

Standardization and targeted extension

All individual customizations were analyzed and prioritized according to their business relevance. Functions that were no longer needed could be dropped, others were replaced by standard Business Central functionality. For requirements that could not be covered by the standard, suitable apps or newly developed extensions were used.

Problem

Risk of faulty data and processes

Because of the changed data models, table structures and functions in Business Central, there was a risk that data would be transferred incompletely or incorrectly. Even data that was migrated successfully in technical terms had to be checked to see whether it is processed correctly in the new business processes.

Solution

Comprehensive quality check

The migrated data and the new Business Central environment underwent extensive testing. This covered both the completeness and integrity of the data and the functioning of the relevant business processes. This meant that any deviations found could be corrected before go-live.

Problem

Uncertainty at Go-live

An ERP migration is not finished with the technical data transfer alone. During the Go-live in particular, unexpected problems, user questions or difficulties in individual workflows can arise and disrupt day-to-day business.

Solution

Guided Go-live with support

After all tests were completed, the new Business Central environment was put into production. Because Live-Sync and Delta-Sync kept both systems in sync until the cutover date, there was no downtime. During and after the Go-live, a support team was available to answer users' questions at short notice.

Version jump

Six major versions apart

Between Navision 2009 and Business Central Cloud lie Dynamics NAV 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 as well as several Business Central OnPremise versions. Most Microsoft system partners therefore recommended a multi-stage upgrade via intermediate versions – with separate testing and acceptance effort at every stage.

Solution

Direct migration in one step

With DataMigrate Pro, the source database was read directly and transferred to Business Central Cloud. The intermediate versions were dropped entirely, along with the project time and the costs they would have caused.

Customer testimonial · Vita Tahedl GmbH

The expertise of IO Integrated GmbH & Co. KG in migrating our ERP data made it possible for us to complete the changeover of our ERP system successfully in less than six months. The team’s persistent commitment and the impressive performance of DataMigrate Pro clearly set them apart from the competition.

Verena Springer

Managing Director · Vita Tahedl GmbH

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