As we all know, when it comes to getting your business ready for Business Central updates, it can be difficult to know what to do and how to prepare properly. This is why in our latest blog article; we will provide you with a definitive checklist on the things you need to check before a Business Central update is applied to your existing Business Central solution.
Before we delve into the blog article, we are quickly going to state why it is so important for businesses to follow the below checklist when it comes to Business Central updates.
Basically, if updates are rolled out without being tested then you may find that certain functionality may not work particularly in the cases where customisations and extensions have been used. This essentially will mean that certain processes will be unusable which in turn will cause downtime until this issue has been investigated and a resolution implemented. Therefore, you can avoid all this by testing in advance of the update.
1) Make sure the right people in your business are getting Microsoft emails
It is of the utmost importance that the right people in your business are receiving emails from Microsoft about when the latest updates for Business Central will be happening. If you aren’t receiving these, please let Advantage know as these Microsoft records can be updated.
2) Allow time to test the updates before they go live
Make sure that you defer the updates for your production company to give you that time to test them before they are automatically rolled out. To put this into context in the form of an example, please find below an example of the type of email you will receive from Microsoft
To change the date of the next Business Central update for your solution follow the instructions on this page.
3) Copy your Production data to your Sandbox environment
You may not know how to do this so the best thing to do would be to arrange some time through your Advantage Account Manager to learn this well before the update happens. Please note that this process will not take that long to learn! We would recommend that you set the earliest possible date for the rollout of the update for your Sandbox environment so you can properly test this out before it goes live.
4) Build a checklist for business vital processes
Put together a checklist of all your business vital processes which includes things like transaction processing, enquiries, reports & emailing. As well as this, there should be added importance in testing the processes around any Business Central extensions that you may have in place.
5) Understand what new features will be in the latest update
Either read up on the latest update from the Microsoft release plan or request a short training session via your Advantage Account Manager to take you through the latest features coming via the update. As well as this, be sure to appoint a super user/system admin in your business who will be in full control of this vital task.
6) Test checklist items
You will need to test the items in your checklist, particularly those relating to Business Central extensions. You can schedule some time with one of our Business Central consultants to help you with this as and when required.
7) Flag any issues to Advantage
If you find any issues when testing the update, please do let Advantage know who will be able to take action where necessary to resolve these.
8) Complete testing before go live
Only when the testing has been successfully completed, should you allow the update to take place.
Next Steps?
If you are a current Business Central customer with Advantage and are having problems with the above, then please do reach out to your Advantage Account Manager or contact our team directly.
If you are not a Business Central customer of Advantage’s and your existing Business Central partner is not being proactive around this update and you wish to seek another opinion then please do contact us today.
Want to hear more from us about the latest Business Central updates? You can if you sign up to our mailing list.
