The wholesaler immediately turned to Planit as their quality partner for this complex Dynamics 365 implementation.
This was a continuation of our existing relationship, where we had proven our understanding of their business and repeatedly demonstrated our technical proficiency. This, paired with our knowledge of Dynamics 365 and flexibility to scale our capability, made Planit the best choice for achieving their implementation goals.
Moving the wholesaler onto Dynamics 365 required consolidating large volumes of complex data from across multiple legacy systems, and then migrating it onto the new system. This involved a robust reconciliation process to ensure that all relevant data was migrated into the new environment, and that none was left within the source systems.
The data migration was so large and complex that it was broken down into several stages for optimal oversight and traceability. Each of these stages was designed to discover the source for data migration as early as possible, along with early detection of possible issues. This approach not only accelerated the cadence that this critical business data came into Dynamics 365, but also ensured there were fewer errors in accessing and using the data within the new ERP environment.
By working with the wholesaler to conduct thorough end-to-end testing and user acceptance testing, we were able to validate that the right information was passed between various system and components, from start to finish, while also identifying system dependencies.
“With multiple stakeholders, external systems, and a parallel development schedule and dependencies, what Planit achieved is exemplary.”
Bharath Narayanan
Global Domain APJ Senior Project Manager, Microsoft Dynamics
Throughout the process, our engineers were embedded within the wholesaler’s teams, testing new features and functionality as they were added. By planning and executing multiple rounds of testing, we were best able to accommodate the iterative development taking place concurrently.
This created two key dates where logically grouped streams become available at separate times during the implementation. Once the initial stream of development was completed, this grouping of iterations could then be tested in an end-to-end sequence, followed by a second round of end-to-end testing once all the development was completed.
Automation was employed to reduce the time spent on regression testing. This involved creating a custom, Selenium-based test automation framework, which incorporated and extended Microsoft’s open source EasyRepro framework and their Regression Suite Automation Tool (RSAT) for the Finance and Operations modules.
The size and duration of the implementation meant that turnover of technical staff at the wholesaler was unavoidable. Given our knowledge of the project, and ability to seamlessly backfill our staff, we were increasingly asked to take over the roles vacated by their outgoing staff rather than replacements being hired. This meant moving beyond just testing and taking a larger role in leading the implementation.