3 aspects to consider when migrating to Dynamics 365 in the cloud—it’s like building your next dream house
Migrating your on-premises business applications to the cloud can be like building your very own dream home. It’s incredibly exciting and will be perfect for your unique needs but can feel daunting when going at it alone. Ensuring you have a strong plan is crucial. Let’s explore this metaphor a bit more as we examine three critical components in your cloud journey and how you can leverage the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Migration Program all along the way.
Much like a top-notch architect and contractor makes building your dream home easier, the Dynamics 365 Migration Program enables on-premises customers to simplify and accelerate their move to the cloud. It offers end-to-end migration support working directly with Microsoft cloud architects and specialized migration partners. The program offers access to a migration assessment, pricing offers, tools, and migration support for qualified customers. Get expert help through the Dynamics 365 Migration Program to move from Dynamics AX or Dynamics CRM to the cloud.
Before you “break ground” on your cloud migration, however, there are three core aspects to consider—budget, requirements, and location.
1. Budget:
When building a dream home, ensuring you have a good understanding of your true budget is usually a good place to start. A reasonable place to begin is to compare your housing costs today with your future costs. Maybe you are renting or making mortgage payments on an existing house and you want to compare your current payments to your dream home mortgage. Chances are this new mortgage cost along with the one-time down payment may look overwhelming compared to your current rent or mortgage, but this is an incomplete view. It is incredibly important to factor in all of the service costs involved in maintenance, upgrades, and repairs of your current residence. This applies to on-premises costs as well—it is crucial to calculate the total cost of ownership, including IT costs, upgrade costs, and server costs to avoid any surprises. See the Forrester TEI study for Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM to learn what other customers have found when making the cost comparison.
2. Requirements:
Once you have a clear line of sight to the budget requirements, next comes the fun part—the design and specifications of your new house. When you are thinking about your future needs, why limit yourself to old ways of doing things? What about your partner’s, kids’, and pets’ changing needs? Your toddler will grow up to be a teenager in no time and will need a study room, or maybe your partner wants to start working from home and needs a quiet office space. Is all of your old stuff going to your new house, or might it make sense to get rid of the old boxes that you haven’t opened in the last 10 years? Likewise, when migrating to the cloud, it is an opportunity to refresh, evolve, or completely get rid of your old business practices that don’t make sense anymore. Do you still want that big file cabinet when you can store things securely online? To fully understand what it will take for you to migrate your existing on-premises data, customizations, integrations, and functionality to the cloud, you should sign-up for a migration assessment. The assessment will give you deep insights into what it will take in terms of time and effort to migrate to the cloud. Connect with your Microsoft representative or partner on the migration assessment to get started today.
3. Location:
Your ideal dream house should be in a spot where you feel safe and have the option to expand your living space when needed. Some neighborhoods, for example, are simply preferred because of the safety they offer in addition to the flexible zoning laws that allow future expansion. Maybe you want to build that second floor or mother-in-law suite in the future when your family grows or add those privacy hedges you have always wanted. Isn’t it great to always have that option and only invest when you are ready? With Dynamics 365 you can access cutting-edge technology, control costs, and improve IT productivity by migrating to the cloud. Dynamics 365 offers physical, infrastructure, and operational security with Microsoft Azure. It also offers scaling to the desired capacity to accommodate a variable number of users. Learn more about all the benefits of migrating from Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM to Dynamics 365 in the cloud.
Finally, when considering building that future dream house, it can be exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. Migrating your on-premises enterprise resource planning (ERP) or customer relationship management (CRM) to the cloud is no different with the same or more anxiety associated. It is very important to fully consider all the costs, design aspects, and platform features before you can determine the best migration path for your company. With Dynamics 365 Migration Program hundreds of customers like you have already benefitted from our Standard Migration Assessment.
“I was impressed about the information I got out of this migration assessment. It will give us confidence for the next steps” – Senior Business Analyst
The Standard Migration Assessment is the first step to help you understand the value of cloud migration and how to get there. This assessment is delivered virtually, typically requiring four to eight hours of a customer’s time. The Standard Migration Assessment is available worldwide for qualified users of Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM. Download handouts for the Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM Standard Migration Assessment.
Join the Dynamics 365 Migration Program
Connect with your Microsoft representative or partner to request the Standard Migration Assessment and join the Dynamics 365 Migration Community to connect with experts and fellow customers. Migration is an important decision—do it right to minimize risk. Microsoft is here to guide you throughout the entire process.
