Case study · Manufacturing & distribution

From AX 2012 to the cloud, safely

Many organisations still run Dynamics AX 2012, long after mainstream support ended, with customisations built over a decade. This is how we upgraded to Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations: code moved to extensions, data upgraded and integrations rebuilt, with a rehearsed cut-over.

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Project overview

A technical and functional upgrade from AX 2012.

Industry: Manufacturing & distribution
Client: Confidential
Solution: ERP upgrade
From: Dynamics AX 2012
To: Dynamics 365 F&O
Timeline: 6–12 months
Team: 6–8 people
Approach: Overlayering to extensions
Cut-over: Rehearsed weekend

Expected business outcomes

What the client set out to gain

Staying current with Microsoft updates is the lasting benefit.

30–50% Of customisations retired
Standard D365 features now cover what used to be customised.

Target range after fit-gap review
Continuous Microsoft updates
Extensions keep the base untouched, so service updates can be applied.

D365 F&O update cadence
Zero AX servers to maintain
Infrastructure moves to Microsoft's cloud.

For cloud-hosted F&O

Business challenges

How AX 2012 systems looked before

AX has been reliable, which is why it has been left alone.

Code

Customisations overlayered directly on the base application.

Infrastructure

Ageing servers and SQL versions near end of support.

Integrations

Batch files and direct database connections to other systems.

Reporting

SSRS reports and Excel extracts built over many years.

Skills

Fewer people understand the old platform each year.

Proposed solution

What the upgrade covers

A technical upgrade plus a functional review of what's still needed.

Code upgrade

Customisations analysed, retired or rebuilt as extensions.
Data upgrade

AX database upgraded with Microsoft's tooling and validated.
Integrations

Integrations rebuilt with data entities and Azure services.
Reporting

Reports moved to D365 reporting and Power BI.
Testing

Regression test automation for key business processes.
Training

Users trained on the new interface and changed processes.

Project requirements

What the client asked us for

The request was to get off AX without disruption. The upgrade is also the moment to retire customisations that standard features now cover.

Testing is where upgrades succeed: we automate regression tests for the processes that matter most.

What the project had to deliver

01Supported platform
02Fewer customisations
03Modern integrations
04A calm cut-over

Key challenges & considerations

What made it harder, and what we did

Large, undocumented customisations

What we did

Every customisation was reviewed and either dropped for a standard feature or rebuilt as an extension.
Very large databases

What we did

Data upgrade rehearsals began early, so the final run fitted inside the cut-over window.
Integrations relying on direct SQL access

What we did

Integrations that used direct SQL access were rebuilt on data entities and APIs.
Limited availability of key users

What we did

Automated regression tests reduced the time key users had to spend on each test cycle.

What we watched for

Question every customisation
Rehearse data upgrades early
Automate regression tests
Plan cut-over around business peaks

Development process

Analyse, upgrade, test, rehearse

Several rehearsals make the cut-over predictable.

Stage 1
Analysis

Code, data and integrations assessed; fit-gap with standard D365.
Stage 2
Code upgrade

Customisations rebuilt as extensions with unit tests.
Stage 3
Data upgrade

Iterative data upgrades in test environments.
Stage 4
Testing

Regression and user acceptance testing on upgraded data.
Stage 5
Cut-over

Rehearsed cut-over and hypercare.

Technology stack

From AX 2012 to D365

Microsoft's upgrade tooling with modern DevOps.

ERP

D365 Finance
D365 SCM
Extensions

Upgrade

Lifecycle Services
Data upgrade tooling

Delivery

Azure DevOps
Regression Suite Automation Tool

Integration

Data entities
Azure Logic Apps

Quality assurance & deployment

Rehearsed until cut-over was routine

Finance and supply chain systems cannot be tested in production. Processes were proved end to end in test environments, and the cut-over was rehearsed until it held no surprises.

End-to-end process tests across finance and operations
Automated regression tests for standard and extended processes
Data migration rehearsals, reconciled entity by entity
User acceptance testing by business process owners
Performance tests at real transaction volumes

Deployment

01TestingRegression and user acceptance testing on upgraded data.
02Cut-overRehearsed cut-over and hypercare.
03Rehearsed cut-overA timed cut-over plan, rehearsed at least twice, with a go or no-go decision by the business.
04Hypercare and warrantyOn-site or remote support through the first period close, and six months of free bug fixing.

Final deliverables

A supported ERP that keeps improving

The business runs on Dynamics 365 F&O with only the customisations it still needs, built as extensions that take Microsoft's updates.

Integrations use supported interfaces, and regression tests protect future updates.

Supported cloud ERP
Leaner customisations
Modern integrations
Automated regression tests

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Handed over to the client

01Configured Dynamics 365Production and test environments
02Extensions and integrationsSource code and documentation
03Migrated dataReconciled entity by entity
04Process documentation and trainingBy business process
05Six-month warrantyFree bug fixing after delivery

Success metrics

How success is measured

Measure	Outcome	How it is measured
Of customisations retired	30–50%	Target range after fit-gap review
Microsoft updates	Continuous	D365 F&O update cadence
AX servers to maintain	Zero	For cloud-hosted F&O

Verified reviews

What clients say about our Dynamics work

Verified reviews from our clients on the same kind of work, published on Clutch.

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From AX 2012 to the cloud, safely

What the client set out to gain

How AX 2012 systems looked before

What the upgrade covers

Code upgrade

Data upgrade

Integrations

Reporting

Testing

Training

What the client asked us for

What made it harder, and what we did

Large, undocumented customisations

Very large databases

Integrations relying on direct SQL access

Limited availability of key users

Analyse, upgrade, test, rehearse

Analysis

Code upgrade

Data upgrade

Testing

Cut-over

From AX 2012 to D365

ERP

Upgrade

Delivery

Integration

Rehearsed until cut-over was routine

A supported ERP that keeps improving

How success is measured

What clients say about our Dynamics work

Services we used on this project

Dynamics NAV & AX upgrades

Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations

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