The technical migration can go flawlessly, and the project can still fail. That happens when the bookkeeper is still exporting to Excel after three weeks to do what she used to do in NAV, or when the warehouse writes pick slips by hand because nobody showed them the new page.
Here is what we do to avoid it. It is not complicated, but it has to be planned in from the start — not added the week before go-live.
Understanding the adoption challenge
Resistance is rarely about technology. It is about three concrete things.
Resistance to change
A bookkeeper with 15 years in C5 (a Danish ERP system) or NAV knows her system blindfolded. Keyboard shortcuts, fixed reports, the way she finds an open entry. In a new system she is suddenly a beginner again, and that is uncomfortable. Take it seriously instead of calling it resistance.
Changes to the interface and the way of working
If you come from C5 or the NAV classic client, Business Central online looks like a different system: web client, role centres, actions in menus instead of F-keys, Tell Me (Alt+Q) instead of knowing object numbers. If you come from on-premises BC, the difference is smaller — but customisations that used to live in the code may now live somewhere else or have been replaced by standard features.
Not understanding the benefits
"We are saving a server" means nothing to the person who invoices. "You can approve purchase invoices from your phone" or "the bank reconciliation suggests which entries the lines belong to" does. Tell each role what gets easier for them in particular.
According to our research, organisations that achieve high user adoption rates (80%+) after cloud migration see a 30% higher ROI from their Business Central implementation than those with low adoption rates (under 50%).
Effective training methods
The most important rule: train on your own data. A demo in the CRONUS company (Microsoft's demo data) teaches nobody to find their own customers.
Role-based training
Accounting needs to learn bank reconciliation, vendor payments and VAT settlement. Sales needs to learn orders, prices and credit notes. The warehouse needs to learn receiving, picking and stocktaking. None of them needs to see the others'. Set up the role centres so each role starts on the page they actually use, and hide what they do not need.
Mixed learning approaches
What works for us:
- Workshops in a copy of the production environment, where the users do their own tasks — not a walkthrough on a big screen
- Short screen recordings (2-3 minutes) of the processes that only run once a month, for example VAT settlement or period close
- One A4 page per role with the ten things they do every day and where to find them
- Microsoft's free Learn modules for those who want to dig deeper
- Fixed question times in the first weeks after go-live instead of a ticket queue
Just-in-time learning
Training three weeks before go-live is forgotten on go-live day. Put the role training in the week leading up to it, and be there in person — or at least on Teams all day — for the first few days after. The first month-end close in the new system is the next critical point. Set aside time to sit with accounting through it.
Communication strategies
It is mostly about avoiding surprises.
Start early and communicate often
Say when, why and what it means for each person as soon as the date is fixed. A short status every other week is enough. Also say honestly what will be different or harder at first.
Focus on benefits, not just features
"New e-document feature" says nothing. "Invoices from vendors via NemHandel (the Danish public e-invoicing network) land directly in the system, so you do not have to key them in" does. Show it with your own vouchers.
Multi-channel communication
Use the channels you already have:
- A Teams channel for the project, where questions and answers are visible to everyone
- Short items at the regular department meetings
- An email from management about why you are doing it — once is enough
- A clear plan for go-live week: when the old system is closed for posting, and who to call
Finding and using internal champions
What works best is a super user in each department. One person the colleagues ask first, before they write to the consultant.
Identifying potential champions
It is rarely the most technical person. Look for:
- The person colleagues already go to when something in the old system acts up
- Someone who knows the processes and the exceptions — not just the buttons
- Someone who has time. The super user role takes hours in the first months, and management has to accept that
- Preferably someone who was sceptical and was convinced. That counts for more than an enthusiast
Empowering champions
Super users need more than the title:
- Part of the testing from the start, so they have seen the system with their own data before everyone else
- Direct access to the consultant building the solution — not a support queue
- Permissions to customise pages and role centres for their department
- Time in the calendar set aside for the role
Organisations that formally set up a champion network see adoption rates 25% higher than those that rely solely on top-down implementation approaches.
Measuring adoption success
Follow a few concrete figures for the first three months. Not to check up on people, but to see where the training has not stuck.
Quantitative metrics
What we look at:
- Active users per week, from the admin centre or telemetry in Application Insights
- Share of purchase invoices that arrive as an e-document or through Document Capture, rather than manual entry
- Share of bank lines that are matched automatically in the bank reconciliation
- How many days the month-end close takes — before and after
- Number of Excel exports of the same lists. Many exports often mean that a report or a view is missing
Want your users on board from day one?
We train on your own data, set up the role centres and sit with you through the first month-end close. They are the same people who built the solution.