Migration to Cloud ERP: Dynamics 365 Business Central
Simpler IT management and transparent costs.
Moving from on premise servers to cloud ERP simplified infrastructure management and made all system costs visible.
Better features, stronger security, easier access control.
Centralized management through Active Directory made user permissions clearer. Instant access to new features, updates, and regulatory changes improves security and delivers more value.
Consolidated reporting across countries, and easier to use.
The new ERP consolidates results and reports across multiple countries. Employees like the simple interface.
Lower licensing costs through Bridge to Cloud. Thanks to the ongoing Bridge to Cloud offer, Ezpada achieved 60% savings on licensing costs.
With Dynamics 365 Business Central, Ezpada has clearer IT costs, simpler admin, and employees who are happier and more productive.
Ezpada AG
Focused on global commodity markets
The Ezpada Group is a global player in commodity trading with twenty years of history and operations across countries.
The Ezpada Group is a global player in commodity trading with twenty years of history and operations across countries.
By moving to cloud based Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, the Ezpada Group:
Made IT and infrastructure management better.
Got full visibility into ERP investments and operating costs.
Made user rights administration clearer with centralized Active Directory management.
Got instant access to new features and system updates, including regulatory changes.
Fully automated consolidation of results and reporting across multiple countries.
Gave employees a better experience through simpler, more intuitive software.
Cut licensing costs by 60%
thanks to the Bridge to the Cloud offer.
The Ezpada Group trades commodities globally with a twenty year track record and a vision to be part of every commodity market worldwide.
Ezpada currently operates in the UK, Germany, Czech Republic, and Switzerland (where they’re headquartered). Before, they ran on premises Navision systems in a private cloud. That setup came with some major problems:
- An outdated system that couldn’t meet current regulations
- expensive server infrastructure plus all the work to operate and maintain it
- and a complicated onboarding process for new employees.
Ezpada decided to migrate to the new cloud Business Central for several reasons:
Customer preferred the cloud SaaS model for cost transparency, simpler admin, and integration with other Microsoft apps,
required an overall modernization of IT,
needed to simplify access management from an IT perspective,
as well as streamline IT infrastructure administration.
Beyond security, Ezpada also cared about things like cloud system response times (Business Central met customer expectations after migration) and options for training employees when moving from on-premises to cloud.
Solution and vendor requirements
Before migrating, Ezpada compared several enterprise systems, including two from Microsoft: Business Central and Finance and Operations. “We picked Business Central mainly because it fits the commodity market well and because of the synergies and integration options within the Microsoft ecosystem, like Power BI and M365,” explains Jakub Milis, Ezpada’s Program Manager.
Given Ezpada Group’s international structure, they had some specific requirements. Most importantly, they needed support for consolidating results across the group into the parent company, and they needed to automate those processes. The project also included several integrations with other systems. The biggest one was connecting to a CTRM (Commodity Trading Risk Management) system through an API.
Project timeline
Project stages:
1
Analysis and preparation:
The longest part of the project. They defined inputs from each country and what adjustments were needed.
2
Development, customization, and testing:
Building specific changes and adapting the system, including thorough testing with key users.
3
Solution deployment: Gradual rollout in each country, localization setup, data imports, and user training.
4
Financial consolidation:
Finalizing and harmonizing the implemented solutions, consolidating accounting data into one central company.
Dynamics NAV and Navision migration
Find out why Artex IS, with years of experience and deep understanding of customer needs, is the right partner for your migration from Dynamics NAV / Navision to Dynamics 365. You’ll learn:
What benefits the migration will bring,
how the whole process works,
and what options you have for moving to the new Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Get advice from experts who’ll walk you through the entire migration project.
In practice – after migrating, it became clear that cloud data security is actually at a higher level and management options are simpler and more transparent.
We looked for a partner who’d grow with us and help us set up and tailor the solution to our needs. We also needed an international partner who could support us in the countries where we operate. Artex met all those criteria.
If I were starting over today, I’d spend even more time on preparation and focus on native functionality. I’d align our company processes more closely with what Business Central does out of the box instead of going for customizations.
Bridge to Cloud
Ezpada saved 60% on Dynamics 365 Business Central licensing through the Bridge to Cloud offer. The current deal, available through the end of 2025, gives customers who’ve been paying for an Enhancement Plan (or BREP) for Dynamics Navision, Business Central On Premises, or Microsoft CRM a 40% discount on unlimited cloud licenses for 36 months.
Project challenges:
Access rights configuration:
Really complex to set permissions correctly for different teams and users given all the customizations and specific Business Central requirements.
Customer-specific requirements:
The customer didn’t want the vendor to access the live production environment. “That’s our standard requirement under our security policies. In this case, we were completely satisfied with how it was handled,” adds Jakub Milis.
Post implementation phase:
Rolling out more process automation in several waves.
Building a reporting layer for easy BI report access.
Ongoing internal consulting and support from Artex.
What Ezpada says about the project and the vendor
Business Central hits all our initial expectations, including the reporting layer. I was honestly surprised by how simple it is from the users’ perspective. They can search across the whole system, use the online knowledge base, and the overall user experience is really friendly.
We were really happy with Artex’s performance. They delivered everything within the guaranteed quality, time, and budget. Plus Artex shows you all the functionalities and solutions upfront with examples, so already in the analysis phase we knew exactly what we were getting into.
Jakub Milis,
Program Manager, Ezpada
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