On the 4^th April 2023 Microsoft made an announcement about the future of licensing for new customer sales of Microsoft Dynamics GP. The details of this announcement, my thoughts on it and links to other related articles are available from:

• #MSDynGP Microsoft Announcement April 2023

On Friday 14^th April 2023, MS Dynamics World and Dynamics User Group held a panel discussion on what the announcement means to the customer base, and it raised the concern that prompted this article.

Introduction

Microsoft is a large corporation, and it is guided by dollars. It also shuffles its teams and staff around regularly and this often includes changes in management of those teams. As has happened many times in the past, the new management does not have any background on the history of the products (and their loyal customer bases) that they are now responsible for. Sometimes the entire management team and their direct reports have no experience or knowledge of the products they manage.

This means that the ONLY way to measure the worth of the product is via the dollars. Money talks and if we want Microsoft to stay committed to any product, it needs to be a “profit center” and generate more income than it costs to maintain and support.

Current Position

Let’s be honest: Microsoft Dynamics GP is a product that is nearing the end of its lifecycle. This is not a shock, and it is not new information. It was originally released in February 1993 which makes GP over 30 years old (see Historical Timeline). That is a really long time in the software industry, especially when I know there is code in the product which has not changed since that first release.

The partner community estimates that there are around 20,000 customers paying their annual enhancement fees and probably another 15,000 customers using Dynamics GP who have let their annual enhancement lapse. That gives us an estimated client base of 35,000 customers, but Microsoft only see the customers who are current on their plans.

As far as Microsoft is concerned, the lapsed customers are no longer using the product. So why is this fact really important now?

The Announcement

With the April 2023 announcement, Microsoft have stated that they will not sell Microsoft Dynamics GP On Premises licenses to new customers after April 2025.

If a lapsed customer decides to get onto the current version of Dynamics GP to benefit from all the new features, fixes, security and legislative enhancements, after April 2025 they will not be able to.

As infrastructure platforms such as Windows, Windows Server, SQL Server and security standards move forward, there will be a time when old versions of Dynamics GP will no longer function.

Mainstream support for all Fixed Lifecycle versions of Dynamics GP (v18.0) or earlier has already finished. Only the Modern Lifecycle versions of Dynamics GP (v18.2 or later) are supported.

In summary, after April 2025, a lapsed customer will be stuck on their current version of Dynamics GP forever, without support and the risk their system will cease functioning.

The Requests

The request to lapsed customers: If you are planning to continue using Dynamics GP, please seriously consider getting back onto the annual enhancement plan with Microsoft before April 2025, even if that means paying penalties or having to purchase the product again.

The request to current customers: If you are planning to continue using Dynamics GP, please continue to pay annual enhancement for Microsoft Dynamics GP while you are still using the product. This is your insurance policy to ensure your business’s financial system remains functional.

The request to all customers: Please update your systems to the latest Modern Lifecycle releases for Microsoft Dynamics GP and make sure you keep your ISV products updated (even if not updating GP itself).

Advice for all customers: Make sure you get the details of your registration keys and installation media for the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics GP and store them somewhere safe. This will ensure you have the software and keys when you do upgrade.

Staying current on your enhancement plan shows Microsoft that you are still using and are committed to the product and helps subsidize Microsoft’s continued development and support for the product.

Licensing uncertainty

Another situation that was raised was when a customer site needs to split off a Dynamics GP company into a separate site. For example, when a company sells off part of the business to another entity. In this situation we are unsure whether Microsoft would allow of the new entity to be registered as a new Dynamics GP customer with its own site name, users and registration keys.

If you know that this situation could be occurring for your business, it would be best to organize the new licenses before April 2025.

More Information

Please see other related articles in the Future of Microsoft Dynamics GP section on the Microsoft Dynamics GP Links page on this blog:

• Microsoft Dynamics GP Links

Thanks to the entire Microsoft Dynamics GP Community for your continued support. Winthrop Development Consultants stays fully committed to Microsoft Dynamics GP and is continuing to develop new functionality for our product range.

Feel free to share this article and add your comments below.

David

This article was originally posted on http://www.winthropdc.com/blog.