As a buyer, you are faced with lots of different approaches that can tie in AP automation with your ERP. We have collected the key pros and cons of each philosophy for you to compare and help you make your choice.
Same benefits as “AP tool for any ERP” +
When evaluating the one-time implementation factors of AP automation solutions with Dynamics 365 Finance, it is essential to consider technical compatibility, costs, and the effort required from your team. Solutions like Dooap that offer pre-built, certified integration provide a smoother, quicker path to value with less risk of overruns or disruptions.
Ongoing usage is a critical factor when choosing an AP automation solution for your Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP. Generic external solutions offer a modern UI, with potential risks and challenges around data quality and upgrade costs. Embedded solutions, while tightly integrated, come with higher ongoing costs, significant team effort during upgrades, and a less specialized user interface. Dooap’s external solution offers a significant advantage in terms of user experience, data quality, and minimal maintenance effort during upgrades.
Integration work effort: How much work is required to establish the integration between the AP automation solution and D365. If the solution is certified, this is just a few hours, not more.
Configurations in D365: How much configurations/ customization is needed in D365 to get the AP automation solution to work. This is something you or your Dynamics partner need to do.
Implementation timeline: Calendar time needed from kick-off to go-live. This should be doable in weeks, not in months. Faster implementations lead to quicker value realization and increased excitement around process improvements.
IT/Dev involvement: How much technical expertise and resources are needed from internal teams or Dynamics partner to support the implementation.
User training needs: Considers how much training will be required for users to adopt the new solution. Solutions which focus solely on D365 have a familiar logic and terminology.
Implementation cost: Level of one-time implementation costs. If the vendor is not willing to give you a fixed price, they are unsure of their part and see the risks.
User experience: How user-friendly and intuitive the solution is. Dedicated external solutions are optimized for user experience (UX), while embedded solutions are tied to the ERP interface, which is less streamlined for AP tasks.
Data quality & Process smoothness: How well does the solution ensure accurate data flow and the level of run-time validation against the business logic & rules in the ERP.
Technical compatibility on D365 version upgrades: How easily the solution remains compatible after ERP upgrades. If the AP solution is certified for Dynamics 365, the vendor is responsible for maintaining compatibility. In other cases, it is your own risk and responsibility.
Effort and cost involved in version upgrades: How much internal IT or your Dynamics partner’s effort is required in version upgrades. Generic external solutions can easily add new features to the cloud solution if the changes do not affect the ERP integration. With the embedded solution you cannot have any new features (or fixes) without having a service break in your ERP. With Dooap you get new features to the solution without touching the ERP and if the new feature requires changes in the ERP integration, you get a tested and compatible integration package, at no extra cost.
Vendor support and responsiveness: Does the vendor have local direct support in your region? Is the vendor specialized in solely your ERP system and your business process (AP) or are they generalists for many ERPs and many solutions? This directly affects the customer experience you get in terms of speed and quality.