Updated · Originally published
Have you ever wished you had a good book about implementing business applications? of , did. He looked at the offerings available and decided to write one himself. So, he wrote , based on his webinar series, and aimed at Microsoft Dynamics users who want to understand all the implementation phases.
During implementation projects, customers often want to know what's going on and what to expect next so they can prepare. 'Okay, we're coming into conference room pilots. What is that? What should we be doing? What expectations should we set with our power users and subject matter experts?'
The book is intended as a reference for clients who have not gone through the business technology implementation journey. It is not something people do all the time.
Eric Newell wrote the book during the pandemic when he was home more and had time to write. He spent Saturdays for half a year writing a chapter each week. Now he's excited to make it available.
Chapters 11 and 12 discuss designing software collaboratively and requirements management. "At Stoneridge Software," he says, "we include our clients in the project. Our approach is to examine their existing business processes and then show them how it will be done in Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O, Dynamics 365 BC, or CRM. Then we ask them to tell us where we're wrong and where this doesn't work for them. We have found that to be the best approach, rather than presenting everything theoretically."
Customers often have detailed requests and want to know how their system works. They may be used to doing something a certain way, but that could be because of limitations within their current system. Adopting the Microsoft Dynamics solutions as much as possible out of the box, only adding the extra features they need, will lessen customizations and keep projects moving on time and within budget.
Staying inside the box makes a lot of sense, especially in the SaaS world, where you've got to do upgrades and think about future business needs.
Newell says he wrote the book trying to be as ERP agnostic as possible. But he does make "a ton of references" to Microsoft Dynamics. Chapter 16 about environment management gets specific about the differences in Microsoft Dynamics BC versus CRM versus F&O versus GP.
If your company plans to implement a new or upgraded Microsoft Dynamics solution, we suggest you check out Eric Newell's book. You'll find the detailed and concrete instructions you need to take your implementation project all the way to the finish line on time and within budget.
By Stoneridge Software