Is your food & beverage business still running on Microsoft Great Plains aka “GP”? Well, as you may have already heard through the grapevine, GP’s end-of-product-life-cycle-dates have been officially announced and scheduled by Microsoft. So, at this point, it seems like continuing to run your business on GP is a bit like cooking a gourmet meal in a toaster oven…
Of course, GP was GREAT (pun intended) back in the day, but it has had only minor security and “fix” updates for several years. During that time, Microsoft was focused on developing features and adding power to other platforms in their ERP suite, which are built for the future!
Enter Microsoft Business Central (“BC”), the robust, cloud-powered ERP that can rescue your food & beverage business from outdated technology and limited support.
Let’s review how BC can manage your food & beverage company operations like a seasoned executive chef in a well-run kitchen, and why GP is soon being put out to pasture…
1–Finances Without Indigestion
Business Central handles your numbers with the precision of a Michelin-starred accountant. Real-time financials, automated invoicing, and compliance tracking mean no more spreadsheets and nightmares!
2–Food Supply Chain Timing
Tracking perishables, managing expiration dates, and keeping shelves stocked just got easier. BC ensures you never run out of ingredients—because nobody wants a “Sorry, we’re out of food” sign on the front door.
3–Baking By The Batch
Got recipes? BC keeps them organized, scales them perfectly, and makes batch processing a breeze. No more guessing if you ordered 100 pounds of flour or 1,000.
4–Sales That Sizzle
With integrated sales and order management, BC helps you deliver faster and keep customers happy—because “we lost your order” is never a good look.
As we’ve posted about previously, GP is in “Extended Support Mode” which is tech-speak for “running on life support” and that means no new features, just basic security updates…
The Slow Goodbye (2025–2027)
GP will see fewer updates, and by 2026, it’ll struggle to keep up with updated operating systems and to maintain connections with other software systems. If GP were a restaurant in 2026, it would still have a fax machine for reservations.
Last Call (2028)
After 2028, GP will officially be decommissioned, with no more updates or support. Keeping GP around after that will be like using expired milk—technically possible, but not a good idea.
Plan Like a Pro (What’s in the Pantry?)
Review what you’ve got in GP now—accounting records, sales and purchasing data, inventory records, customer lists—and decide what needs to be moved over to Business Central. It’s like checking what’s in the fridge and pantry before buying new stock.
Data Migration (Don’t Lose Your Recipes!)
Microsoft has migration tools which CKS will use to help move your precious data from GP to BC without losing anything important. You won’t lose any records, suppliers, customers, or those secret discount codes.
Train Your Team (Yes, the Stubborn Ones Too!)
New system, new workflows! Train your staff so they don’t panic when GP disappears. Maybe even throw in some donuts—it helps with morale.
Live, Work, Thrive & Grow
Once you’ve transitioned your food & beverage business to BC, you can keep GP as an archive on the side, until you are fully confident in the new system. After that, you can focus on leveraging BC to optimize and grow your business. Once BC is running your back of house, pop some champagne—you just future-proofed your business!
Okay, so you’re ready to migrate from GP to BC, but you feel like you need more than just the basic ingredients for your business. That’s where Yaveon comes in, like a Michelin-starred chef cooking and plating food & beverage industry solutions!
Yaveon Knows Food & Beverage
They don’t just understand ERP —they understand the food & beverage industry, as well as all recipe-driven “process” manufacturing. They speak your language, whether it’s FDA regulations, ingredient tracking, or managing perishable goods.
Industry-Specific Features
Yaveon offers add-ons and optimizations tailored specifically for the food industry. Whether you need batch tracking or regulatory compliance tools, they’ve got you covered.
Yaveon F&B Solutions Built on BC
Yaveon solutions are built 100% inside and on top of Microsoft’s Business Central, so you won’t need to worry about multiple systems, clunky connections, or wonky workarounds to run your food & beverage business.
Automation Saves Time
Automate your food & beverage production planning, inventory control, and quality management, so your team can spend less time on admin work and more time growing the business.
Compliance Made Easy
Keeping up with food safety regulations? Yaveon simplifies things like traceability, labeling, & quality control, ensuring you’re always audit-ready.
If your business is still using Microsoft Great Plains, the clock is ticking. Microsoft is moving forward, and so should you, because Great Plains will soon fade slowly into ERP history…
Business Central is fast, intuitive, cloud-based, future-ready, and built to optimize your food & beverage business operations.
If you’re looking for a GP to BC migration “recipe” let’s cook one up together!
Next Steps:
Migrating from Microsoft Great Plains to Business Central may seem overwhelming, but with GP’s end-of-life in the near future, now is the time to plan the transition. Don’t worry–with the right planning and execution, BC (and Yaveon) will provide significant benefits for your food & beverage business.
By assessing your current system and following CKS’ structured migration process, you can ensure a successful transition from Great Plains to Business Central in the days ahead…
CKS // Cloud Solutions 
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