ERP Migration
2025
Migrated an outdated ERP to Microsoft 365 Business Central with custom extensions.
Business Problem
The company was running its operations on an aging on-premise ERP with years of customizations layered on top. The system was difficult to upgrade, lacked modern integration options, and required manual re-entry of data between the ERP and the warehouse management system (SoloChain). This created data inconsistencies, delayed financial visibility, and a high support burden every time something in the process changed. Leadership wanted to move to a modern, cloud-based ERP that could integrate cleanly with their warehouse and logistics systems.
Non-Technical Solution Summary
I led the migration of the core ERP processes to Microsoft 365 Business Central. We mapped existing processes into standard BC capabilities, then built targeted custom extensions only where the business truly needed them. At the same time, I designed integrations between Business Central and SoloChain WMS so that orders, inventory movements, and receipts flow automatically instead of being keyed in by hand. The end result is a modern, cloud-hosted ERP with cleaner data and far less duplicate work. Finance, operations, and warehouse teams now work from the same source of truth, and the organization has a platform it can grow with.
Technical Architecture and Implementation
Business Central Extensions • Implemented custom AL extensions to model specific business entities and fields that did not exist out of the box. • Extended posting routines and validation logic to align with the company’s financial and operational policies. • Added role-tailored pages and cues so users see the key information and tasks relevant to their role. Integration with SoloChain WMS • Designed a two-way integration between Business Central and SoloChain using SOAP and REST APIs. • Outbound: sales orders, purchase orders, and transfer orders sent from BC to the WMS. • Inbound: shipment confirmations, receipts, and inventory adjustments pushed back to BC to keep financial inventory in sync. • Implemented idempotent message handling and logging to ensure that retries did not create duplicate transactions. Data Migration • Analyzed legacy ERP data structures and mapped them to Business Central tables and fields. • Used a combination of configuration packages and scripted exports/imports to move master data and opening balances. • Cleaned and normalized data (customers, vendors, items, locations) as part of the migration instead of carrying over old inconsistencies. Infrastructure and Operations • Deployed on Microsoft 365 Business Central SaaS, reducing on-premise server maintenance. • Established environments for sandbox, UAT, and production with controlled release of new extensions. • Implemented monitoring and logging on integration endpoints to quickly detect and resolve issues.
Key Features
• Modern, cloud-hosted ERP on Microsoft 365 Business Central. • Custom AL extensions for critical business-specific logic and data fields. • Automated, bidirectional integration with SoloChain WMS using SOAP/REST. • Streamlined posting and approval workflows for finance and operations. • Configurable reports and role-based dashboards for visibility into orders and inventory.
Results and Impact
After go-live, the business gained a single source of truth for orders, inventory, and financials. Manual re-entry between systems was largely eliminated, reducing both errors and cycle time. The move to Business Central also positioned the company to adopt additional Microsoft 365 capabilities in the future and simplified ongoing maintenance — new requirements are handled through extensions and integrations rather than fragile customizations on an aging platform.