Automation and Dynamics NAV Upgrades: A Love Story
The Situation
So much data, so many requirements, so little time. If you work in consulting, or as a developer, you know all too well this trifecta of stress. This was the current state within the Upgrade team at ArcherPoint. The consultants and developers were working tirelessly to try to keep up with the load of data analyses and development work required to keep our clients happy and stay on top of deadlines. The amount of time it was taking us to conduct an estimate for an upgrade was taking excessively long. The pressure was mounting and something had to be done.
The Solution
Enter an automated data analysis tool. A with all great inventions, this tool was born out of necessity. The time-intensive effort it was taking us to produce our upgrade estimates was not sustainable. To increase the amount and speed with which we could analyze our clients’ data and complete a thorough and accurate upgrade estimate, I developed an automation tool – the Davoanalyzinator – ok, I did not really name it, but I probably should have. Once I realized I needed to free up time for myself and other developers to be able to do actual migration and development work, and not be bogged down in the tedious and time-consuming task of analyzing data required to create an estimate, I decided automation would be key. I set out to see if, and what, I could automate within our data analysis process.
The Benefit
The benefits were seen immediately. I was able to take a task that normally required multiple developers and 24 hours of effort down to 6 – 12 hours. I was inspired and decided to see what else I could automate. I kept feeding more and different processes into the automation “tool.”
The last upgrade estimate we did, we were able to condense work time from two weeks to three business days.
I am not finished. I have continued to work on this tool, automating more tasks, streamlining processes, and improving overall efficiencies. My ultimate goal is to get the entire data analysis process needed for an upgrade estimate down to four hours or less.
At ArcherPoint, we pride ourselves in producing thorough and accurate estimates so there are minimal surprises during an upgrade. We strive to make Microsoft Dynamics NAV upgrades a non-event for our clients.