QuickStart Solutions: Rapid, Intelligent Deployment for Dynamics 365 & Power Platform

A QuickStart Solution is Advantage's rapid, fixed-scope deployment package for Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform. Rather than starting from a blank canvas and designing everything from scratch, QuickStart uses pre-configured best-practice templates built on real-world implementations — allowing businesses to go live significantly faster and at a lower, more predictable cost than a fully bespoke project.

QuickStart packages are available for Dynamics 365 Business Central (cloud ERP covering finance and operations) and Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (CRM covering sales, marketing, and customer service). Each package delivers a fully functional, production-ready system with core configuration, data setup, base reporting, and hands-on training included.

The result is a modern Microsoft cloud platform that is live, intelligent, and ready for day-to-day use — in weeks rather than months.

The QuickStart for Business Central covers the core ERP foundation that most growing businesses need from day one, including:

• Core financials — chart of accounts, general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and bank reconciliation
• Sales and purchasing — order management, purchase orders, and supplier management
• Inventory management — item setup, stock tracking, and inventory valuation
• Automated workflows and approvals — purchase approval flows and notification routing
• Banking integration — bank feeds and payment processing setup
• Base Power BI dashboards — key financial KPIs connected to live Business Central data
• Microsoft Copilot features — AI-assisted capabilities enabled where applicable within Business Central
• User training — hands-on training sessions for your team ahead of go-live
• Post go-live support — structured support in the weeks following launch

Full package specifications are detailed on the Business Central QuickStart packages page.

The QuickStart for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (CE) delivers a fully configured CRM foundation based on best-practice sales and customer service processes, including:

• Dynamics 365 Sales or Customer Service setup — your choice of module configured to your sales or service process
• Data structure and security roles — accounts, contacts, leads, opportunities or cases structured correctly from the start
• Pipeline and case management — stages, statuses, and views configured to reflect how your team works
• Dashboards and reports — key sales or service KPIs visible from day one
• Outlook and Teams integration — email tracking, meeting logging, and Teams collaboration enabled
• AI-assisted insights and automation — Copilot-powered features enabled where applicable within CE
• User training — role-based training for sales reps, managers, and administrators
• Post go-live support — structured support to stabilise adoption after launch

Full package details are on the Customer Engagement QuickStart packages page.

QuickStart deployments are designed to go live in weeks, not months. The exact timeline depends on the package tier and your specific situation, but the structured five-stage delivery process — Discovery, Configure & Build, Test & Refine, Train & Go Live, and Post Go-Live Support — is designed to move through each stage efficiently without the delays common in open-ended bespoke projects.

The key factors that affect timeline are the complexity of your data migration (how much historical data needs to be brought across and how clean it is), the number of users being onboarded, and the speed at which your team can engage in testing and feedback sessions. Advantage's project team manages the process actively to keep things on track.

The Discovery stage at the start of the engagement confirms scope, timeline, and data requirements clearly — so there are no surprises later. Contact us to discuss realistic timelines for your specific situation.

Yes — QuickStart packages are fixed-scope and fixed-price. This is one of their most important characteristics: you know exactly what you are getting and what you will pay before the project begins, with no risk of an open-ended engagement that expands in scope and cost over time.

The fixed price covers the Advantage implementation services for the defined scope of each package — configuration, data setup, testing support, training, and post go-live support. Microsoft Dynamics 365 subscription licences are priced separately by Microsoft and sold alongside the package.

Specific pricing for each QuickStart tier is detailed on the Business Central and Customer Engagement package pages. If your requirements fall outside the defined scope of a standard package, Advantage will advise whether a QuickStart extended package or a more bespoke approach is the better fit.

A bespoke Dynamics 365 implementation is designed from scratch around your specific processes, integrations, and requirements. It offers maximum flexibility but requires a longer discovery phase, more extensive design work, a larger budget, and a longer timeline before go-live. It is the right approach for organisations with complex, highly custom requirements or deep integration needs across multiple systems.

QuickStart takes a different approach. Rather than designing everything from scratch, it applies proven best-practice templates drawn from hundreds of similar implementations — then configures them to your business within a defined scope. This dramatically reduces the time and cost to go live, and for the majority of SMEs, the best-practice template covers 80–90% of what they actually need from day one.

QuickStart is not a lesser product — it is a smarter starting point. The platform you receive is fully scalable, and once you are live Advantage can continue to extend and customise your system beyond the initial package scope through ongoing continuous improvement work. Many businesses find that starting with QuickStart and expanding iteratively is better than trying to design everything upfront in a lengthy bespoke project.

QuickStart is designed primarily for small and medium-sized businesses that want to move onto a modern Microsoft cloud platform quickly and cost-effectively. It is particularly well suited to organisations that are:

• Moving away from legacy accounting software, spreadsheet-based systems, or an older version of Dynamics (such as Dynamics GP or NAV) to Business Central
• Adopting a CRM system for the first time or replacing a basic or disconnected CRM tool with Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement
• Growing quickly and needing a scalable platform that will support the business for the next five or more years
• Working to a defined budget and timeline with limited appetite for open-ended project risk
• Seeking a straightforward deployment where best-practice processes — rather than highly custom workflows — are an acceptable starting point

If your requirements include complex multi-entity structures, deep third-party integrations, or highly bespoke processes, Advantage will advise whether QuickStart or a more tailored approach is the better fit during initial scoping conversations.

Yes — data migration is a standard component of QuickStart packages, covering the core data sets needed to go live: customers, suppliers, chart of accounts, opening balances, inventory items, and contacts depending on the product and package tier.

The Discovery stage at the start of the engagement assesses your existing data — its format, quality, and volume — and confirms exactly what will be migrated as part of the defined scope. Data quality is one of the most common factors that can affect timelines: cleaner, well-structured data migrates faster and more reliably than fragmented or inconsistent data held across multiple spreadsheets or legacy systems.

Historical transaction data migration (full transaction history rather than just opening balances) is typically outside the scope of a standard QuickStart package, but can be scoped separately if needed. Advantage will advise on this during Discovery.

Every QuickStart package includes a structured post go-live support period — typically covering the first few weeks after launch — during which Advantage's team is on hand to resolve any issues, answer user questions, and help your team settle into the new system confidently.

Beyond the initial support period, Advantage offers ongoing Dynamics 365 managed support and continuous improvement services. This means you have a long-term partner who knows your system, can resolve day-to-day queries, apply Microsoft updates, and help you extend the platform as your business grows — whether that means adding new modules, building Power Automate workflows, creating additional Power BI reports, or expanding into further Dynamics 365 capabilities.

QuickStart is explicitly designed as a launchpad, not a ceiling. The system you go live with is the starting point for a continuously improving Microsoft platform, not a one-off project that ends at go-live.

The best starting point is a brief scoping conversation with the Advantage team. We will ask about your current systems, the number of users, the processes you need to cover, your target go-live date, and your budget — and advise which QuickStart package aligns best, or whether a more tailored approach is warranted.

You can also review the full package options directly on our website: Business Central QuickStart packages and Customer Engagement QuickStart packages.

To speak with us, get in touch via our contact page, call 020 3004 4600, or email hello@advantage.co.uk.