Posted by Barney Beal, Content Director, NetSuite

The decision to replace an existing ERP system is never made lightly. Indeed, the time, expense and business upheaval of transitioning systems can scare away companies that confront all manner of business process bottlenecks, limits on growth and inconsistent data with incumbent systems.

Yet, despite the challenges there are plenty of businesses that have made the decision to go ahead and rip out existing ERP systems in favor of another. They have found that the flexibility, scalability and new functionality, particularly in cloud-based systems, have made the transition well worth the trouble.

In fact, hundreds of businesses have elected to replace their Microsoft Dynamics GP system with NetSuite.

Determining if and when to move off of Microsoft Dynamics GP is a complicated and important decision however, dependent on factors ranging from existing business needs, whether the system can handle growth and new offices, Microsoft’s product roadmap, where a business is in the upgrade cycle and lost opportunity costs. Of course, today a fundamental determining factor for business management software is whether it’s in the cloud or not. Systems like Microsoft Dynamics GP, built before the Internet existed, fail to capitalize on the economies of scale of modern cloud-based applications and leave corporate IT departments to manage servers, hardware and the upgrades to both hardware and software that go with on-premise systems. Additionally, businesses using Microsoft Dynamics GP's on-premise software are typically forced to rely on a hairball of multiple software systems for processes in CRM, marketing, ecommerce and more, making achieving visibility across the organization a challenge.

Of course, Microsoft continues to promise a cloud delivery model, but history shows that those waiting for Microsoft to make good on its promise are going to be disappointed. To be sure, it’s possible to find a cloud-based Dynamics GP, but those are typically partners hosting the same old, pre-Internet version, or the fake cloud, not a multi-tenant true cloud system. And multi-tenancy matters.

In fact, statements by Karill Tatarinov, Microsoft’s executive vice president of Microsoft Business Solutions, in diginomica earlier this year that, “no-one has done cloud ERP,” seems to represent a fundamental lack of understanding of the market. He said:

“Point me at a serious organisation that runs end-to-end ERP in the cloud. NetSuite is not at scale, none of these guys are at scale.”

Sure, one might suggest that his comments were simply strongly-worded positioning aimed at a competitor, but even so, the statement ignores some fundamental truths in the market, such as the more than 20,000 companies and divisions running NetSuite including enterprises like Williams-Sonoma, Shaw Carpets and other multinational businesses. Moreover, companies like Sea to Table and Ambiente Wine Importing have been running cloud ERP for more than 10 years.

In fact, probably the best way to determine whether making the switch from Dynamics GP to NetSuite is worthwhile is from existing customers with compelling, real-world reasons. On Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 10 a.m. PT (1-2 p.m. ET) the chief operating officer of point6 and director of finance and administration at One Legal LLC, two fast-growing companies, will explain their reasons for abandoning Microsoft Dynamics GP in favor of the cloud. The presentation will also include a brief NetSuite demo.

Register for the live webinar and learn whether the time is right for your business.