Story · Manufacturing · ERP migration
Great Plains to a modern ERP without losing a month
Microsoft Dynamics GP, which most people still call Great Plains, was on its way out. The client had a decade of data in it, a small finance team, and no appetite for a month of double entry.
Offshore helpdesks subcontract the hands-on work to someone who has never seen your network. Every piece of gear we install is built and installed by a Midwest IT employee.
Local or offshore, honestly Gold Star survey"Great service, the tech stuck with the error until it was resolved."
Kurt, concrete supplierMore from the survey wallThe situation
Vendor end-of-life dates have a way of arriving faster than planned, and the replacement products all assume a big-company project team. This client had a controller and a part-time bookkeeper, and a quarter close that could not slip.
What we did
We mapped the data first, so the finance team could see what would move cleanly and what needed cleanup before anyone touched the new system. The cutover was scheduled just after a quarter close, when the books were tidy and the team had breathing room.
The new system ran in parallel for one full cycle. Every report was reconciled against the old one, line by line, before the switch. When the day came, the finance team had already been using the new system for a month.
"The migration everyone remembers is the one that went wrong. The goal is a migration nobody remembers."
How the service team puts itWhat changed
ResolvedA supported ERP, a finance team that lost days to the migration rather than weeks, and ten years of history that still reconciles.
The guide behind this story
Owner's guideSwitching IT providers: the owner's guide
How to know it is time, what to ask the next company, how to leave without an outage, and what the first month should look like.
Read the guideOrder the internet circuit the week the lease is signed. Carriers take six to twelve weeks. Nothing else on a move fails as often.
The relocation checklist Did you knowA backup that has never been restored is a hope, not a plan. Ask for the date of the last tested restore.
What to actually testQuestions people ask about this
Our accounting software is being retired. How long do we have?
Usually longer than the vendor's letter suggests, and less than you would like. Plan the move around your close calendar, not theirs.
"As always, efficient, non-intrusive and complete!"
Kurt, concrete supplierMore from the survey wall- A technician who knows your setup takes every request. Not a dispatcher, not a queue.
- Every closed ticket is surveyed and a partner reads every response.
- 99.5% of surveys come back positive.
- Family-owned since 2005. 21 years in the same corner of Wisconsin, not going anywhere.
"Thanks for the hard work. I was kept informed with regular updates until the concern was resolved."
Jeff, insurance brokerageFacing a vendor end-of-life date?
Talk to us before you talk to the vendor's sales team.
Talk to a partnerTalk to a partner, not a sales script.
Tell us what is going on. A partner will call you back the same business day, look at what you have, and tell you honestly whether we are the right fit. No pricing pressure, no pitch deck.