A new Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) from Forrester Consulting outlines the cost savings and business benefits enabled by migrating from Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics GP to the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central cloud.
Cloud-based business management solutions have helped countless small and medium businesses (SMBs) realize cost savings, securely access data, boost productivity, and improve customer experiences. However, as the pandemic disrupts business as usual, many SMBs are looking to accelerate cloud adoption to ensure business continuity, adapt to change, and support remote work—a decision that requires better data on the return on investment (ROI) for specific solutions.
SMBs using Dynamics NAV, Dynamics GP, and Dynamics SL on-premises are no exception.
Streamline business operations with the cloud
To help our Dynamics 365 NAV and Dynamics 365 GP on-premises customers examine the potential ROI they can realize by deploying Dynamics 365 Business Central, we commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a TEI study.
Forrester interviewed five current Dynamics 365 Business Central customers to understand the benefits, costs, and risks associated with migrating to the cloud. Modeled after these five interviews, analysis was conducted on a $15-million, 250-employee composite organization. This analysis demonstrated benefits of $466K over three years versus costs of $178K, adding up to a net present value (NPV) of $288K and an ROI of 162 percent.
“The move to Business Central has been especially helpful during the pandemic, as our users can access key business functions remotely.”—Controller, specialty manufacturing customer interview
Dynamics 365 Business Central enabled these five customers to bolster operational efficiency, avoid costs, and comfortably scale their deployments with growth while benefitting from the flexibility inherent in the cloud. Customers reported improved flow of operations, more granular visibility into their business performance, better employee experiences, and boosted productivity, along with lower licensing fees and IT costs.
“We were looking for an upgraded ERP solution capable enough for our complicated operations, in the cloud. Business Central is that solution. We have everything we need in one tool.”—CEO, specialty manufacturing customer interview
Specific cost savings and ROI benefits that improved productivity and operational efficiencies include:
Avoidance of one full-time equivalent (FTE) and one part-time equivalent finance and operations hires—by enabling organizations to keep growth on track while reducing the need to hire by an average of 10 percent.
Improved flow of operations by an average of 8 percent—thanks to better tools to complete work and more efficient workflows, enabling staff to focus on higher-value tasks.
Elimination of $44K of third-party reporting spend over three years—by leveraging Dynamics 365 Business Central and other Microsoft solutions, such as Microsoft Power BI, organizations reduced the need for externally-generated reports while gaining a more granular visibility into their business.
An additional $40K in cost savings by moving to Dynamics 365 Business Central—attributed to migrating from on-premises Microsoft and non-Microsoft enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools.
We believe the Forrester TEI study validates the results of SMB customers across industries from professional services to banking, consumer goods, and retailers. By migrating to a single cloud solution, Dynamics 365 Business Central provides a connected cloud business management solution that brings together sales, services, and operations teams.