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Small and medium business | Business Central, N...
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What is your biggest challenge or lesson in your D365 BC journey from implementation to ROI?

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What’s been your biggest challenge or most valuable lesson in your Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central journey from early decisions like customization vs standardization and data migration to post go-live realities such as user adoption, scalability, and ROI?

 
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  • Suggested answer
    YUN ZHU Profile Picture
    101,995 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    I mainly encountered two.
    1. customization creep
    2. data chaos
     
    Although a new ERP system was used, users still wanted to see historical data and operating methods from the old system, resulting in a large amount of unnecessary customization and data migration. This led to slower system access speeds after deployment and increased customization and maintenance costs when upgrading the system.
     
    Hope this helps.
    Thanks.
    ZHU
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    OussamaSabbouh Profile Picture
    17,618 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    Hello ,
    Biggest lesson: don’t implement Business Central by rebuilding the old system — start with standard processes, customize only where there is clear business value, clean your data before migration, and treat go-live as the beginning of adoption, not the end of the project; most ROI issues come less from the product and more from poor change management, weak training, messy data, heavy customizations, or integrations that were not tested under real load. Business Central online is built to scale, but the solution still needs clean design, monitoring, and controlled extensions/API usage after go-live.
    Regards,
    Oussama Sabbouh
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    RockwithNav Profile Picture
    9,182 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

    That’s a very good question, but the answer is somewhat subjective, as it depends on individual experience.

    Clients often request to migrate all their legacy data. While this may seem beneficial, it can make the new system cluttered with unnecessary or outdated information. However, it’s common to see customers inclined toward this approach.

    When moving to a new platform, customers tend to replicate their old system, which can lead to carrying forward inefficiencies. This is where the partner’s role becomes critical—to guide them with confidence and help them understand that while the outcomes will remain the same, the processes may differ, and they need to adapt to the new system.

    It’s important to configure the system in a way that avoids unnecessary transactions or entries that could create confusion. Keep in mind that users can get confused by even small things, so the goal is to make the system as clear and simple as possible.

    Lastly, maintain clean master data. Avoid keeping obsolete or unused data, as it only adds complexity and reduces efficiency.

     
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    Teagen Boll Profile Picture
    3,187 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    All great points in here. What I would add is I usually find projects struggle with user adoption. Typically you see senior level staff involved with design and the early stages. Once rubber hits the road and end users start getting in new processes are uncovered and gaps become clearer. In a lot of projects this may come too late to make any meaningful changes. I usually recommend getting as many opinions as you can during the design phase. Losing even a single project stakeholder can greatly impact deliverables if less people in the organization are invovled in defining processes.
     
    Another area I see a lot of issues is data quality. People always underestimate how long it really takes to get data from an old system cleaned up. Bad data can really hinder succesful implementations. The most succesful implementations i've seen have clients and end users greatly involved in proper data cleanup and management.
     
    Teagen Boll, CPA
    Social: LinkedIn

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