I bet you’ve heard that Dynamics 365 Business Central is going to make your life easier.

It will.

But not necessarily in the first month.

The hard truth is that the “go live” is not magic.

We have found that many companies aren’t fully prepared for what happens after the switch is flipped. The expectation is that everything will run smoothly, work will be faster, and efficiency will immediately improve.

The reality?

Things take longer. A lot longer.

Expect the Unexpected

No matter how much testing has been done (and let’s be honest, most companies don’t do enough testing), the first month after “go live” is an adjustment period. People forget what they learned in training. Weird one-off scenarios come up that weren’t covered. And simple tasks suddenly feel like roadblocks.

Financial statements might be late. Routine processes take more time.

The best thing you can do is plan for it. Build in extra time, communicate expectations to leadership, and don’t assume business will operate as usual.

Speak Up, Don’t Sit on Problems

One of the biggest risks in the first month is silent struggles. If someone is having an issue, they need to speak up. But too often, employees don’t want to admit they’re stuck. Maybe they’re hesitant to ask for help, or maybe they don’t want to be seen as the problem.

We had a company where a purchasing employee struggled for months after “go live” but never told anyone. Turns out, he was frustrated with leadership and decided to stay quiet out of frustration. By the time the problem surfaced, it had already caused a major backlog.

Supervisors and project managers should proactively check in with employees. Don’t assume that if no one is complaining, everything is fine. Walk around, ask questions, and make sure no one is struggling in silence.

Timing Matters

Another common mistake? Scheduling “go live” at the worst possible time.

Don’t go live when key employees are on vacation or attending a conference. We see it all the time, companies go live, and the controller or finance director is out of the office. Or the Partner who handled the implementation was at a Microsoft Partner event and unavailable to provide as much assistance as normal.  

For the first two weeks after “go live”, your internal project manager, key team members, and implementation Partner need to be fully accessible.

Hint: An open Teams meeting with your BC Partner where anyone can jump in with questions can make a huge difference in keeping things moving.

A Different Workforce Mindset

There’s also a shift in how people work. Twenty years ago, staying late or working weekends during an ERP implementation was expected. Today, employees often have different expectations. They’re not used to working overtime, and many haven’t had to push through long implementation hours before.

That’s not a bad thing, it’s just different. It means companies need to set clear expectations. If extra time is needed to work through issues, plan for it in advance.

It Gets Better And the Benefits Are Real

The good news? It does get easier. Once employees have gone through processes a few times, things click into place. Reports start running smoothly. Integrations with Microsoft 365 become second nature. Tasks that felt overwhelming become routine.

One thing we consistently hear from clients: after three months, no one wants to go back. Even users who were resistant at first realize how much better Dynamics 365 BC is. Filtering data, pulling reports, and navigating the system becomes second nature.

But that first month? Expect the learning curve. Plan for it. And don’t panic when things take longer than expected. Because on the other side of it, you’ll be glad you made the switch.

And I can promise you, the DLD Business Solutions team will be there to help you every step of the way to help you make it past “go live” to the good part.

Contact us at DLD Business Solutions to start the conversation and make a plan for your long term success with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.