Why Pay for a Confidence Roadmap Before Implementing Dynamics 365
You’re being asked to approve a new business system. Your team needs it to solve a real problem, and you’ll have to explain why the spending makes sense.
Before you say yes, you need answers. Will the system do what your team needs? Does the price cover everything required? Will you still be paying people to rebuild reports or enter the same information twice?
A Confidence Roadmap is a paid review of those questions before you commit to a Dynamics 365 implementation. Implementation is the setup, testing, and training needed to put the software into use.
The Roadmap helps you decide whether the software is suitable, what needs to be included, and what could change the cost. Spending a smaller amount on that review now can help you avoid a larger, unnecessary expense later.
You need to know what you’re approving
A demo can show what the software does. You still need to know how it would handle your company’s orders, reports, approvals, and other daily tasks.
For example, a sales report may look useful in a demo. But if your team keeps important sales information in another system, you need to know how that information will reach the report. Otherwise, someone may still have to copy it across by hand.
An implementation proposal should explain what you’re buying. If the proposal says “reporting,” ask which reports are included and where their information will come from. If it says “data migration,” ask which records will move and who must clean them up first.
Microsoft’s implementation planning guidance recommends making responsibilities, assumptions, and exclusions clear. It describes problems that arise when the customer and partner each assume the other will handle a task.
The Roadmap examines questions like these while you can still change the plan before approving delivery.
What a Confidence Roadmap helps you decide
The review starts with the problem you need to solve and how your team handles it today.
It gives you findings and recommendations on five questions:
Is this the right software? Can it support the business needs being reviewed?
What should be included? Which tasks and requirements must the implementation cover?
What can stay? Which existing systems still serve a useful purpose?
What needs to move or connect? Which records must be transferred, and which systems must share information?
What could change the cost or timing? What needs to be checked or resolved before you commit?
You may hear the word “scope” during these discussions. It means what the implementation includes and leaves out.
The recommendation may be to proceed with the proposed plan. It may also be to reduce what you’re buying, keep an existing system, resolve a problem first, or consider another approach.
How a smaller investment now can avoid a bigger bill later
The value comes from finding something that changes what you should buy or build. These examples are hypothetical, not customer results.
Avoid replacing a system you still need
Imagine a manufacturer considering Business Central for accounting. The company also has a production system that employees use to manage manufacturing.
The proposed plan replaces both systems. But the accounting problem may come from staff copying information between them.
If the production system still meets the business’s needs, connecting it to the accounting software may cost less than replacing it. The review helps identify what should stay and what information needs to pass between the systems. You can then compare the cost of connecting them with the cost of replacement, including ongoing support.
Avoid paying for reports that leave the problem in place
A sales leader wants Dynamics 365 Sales to provide a reliable forecast of expected sales.
But managers disagree about when a deal is likely to close. Salespeople also leave old deals in the forecast. A new report would show the same unreliable information.
Before building the report, the company needs agreed rules for recording and reviewing deals. Finding that need early helps avoid paying for a report that managers still have to correct in a spreadsheet.
Find a missing cost before signing
A customer service team needs to see billing information stored in another application. The proposed price covers the service software but leaves out the connection to billing.
If that gap is found during implementation, the company must decide whether to pay more or accept a system that falls short of what staff need.
Finding it before approval gives leadership time to check the connection, understand its cost, and decide whether to proceed.
Define what getting it right would look like
“Install the software” tells you that the system was delivered. It doesn’t tell you whether the business problem was solved.
Suppose finance wants to finish its monthly accounts sooner. Find out which steps cause delays today. Then identify what the new system should change and how finance will check the result.
The same applies to a sales forecast, customer follow-up, or field scheduling. Name the problem, the change you need, and how you’ll know the change helped.
Microsoft’s guidance on success measures recommends agreeing on measurable results and checking software capabilities against business requirements.
The Roadmap helps define those expectations before you approve implementation. Reaching them still depends on how the system is built, tested, and used.
What you receive for the initial investment
Alliason’s Confidence Roadmaps start at $9,500 and typically take two to three weeks. The fixed fee is confirmed for the agreed review. Each person on your team participates for up to eight hours across the engagement.
You receive an Executive Decision Brief: a written explanation of the findings, recommendation, expected investment, and issues that could affect the plan.
A second senior Alliason leader reviews the recommendation. In a two-hour Executive Findings Call, you discuss what the software can support, what the implementation should include, and what needs attention before proceeding.
Existing proposals, reports, estimates, and process notes are reviewed first. A focused demo or test can help answer a specific question about whether the software can meet a requirement.
Does the Roadmap replace implementation discovery?
Detailed implementation discovery follows the decision to proceed. It fills in the details needed to build the system, such as which information goes into each field and who can view or change it.
The Roadmap comes before that commitment. It helps you decide whether the proposed software and plan are right for the business. Implementation remains a separate engagement.
When is the fee worth paying?
At $9,500 or more, the Roadmap needs to answer questions that justify the expense.
Compare the fee with the spending affected by what you don’t know. Replacing a useful system or building the wrong process can involve software costs, consulting fees, and staff time. Changing the plan after setup begins may also mean repeating testing and training.
The review may confirm that your plan is sound. It may show a way to spend less. It could also reveal that the result you need will cost more than expected. You can then decide whether to fund it, reduce what’s included, or wait.
Savings depend on what the review finds and which recommendations you act on.
If the software choice, requirements, costs, and responsibilities are clear enough to approve delivery, you may be ready for implementation. If an existing application is causing problems, an Assessment may be the better starting point.
Bring the proposal, estimate, or business problem you’re considering. We’ll help determine whether a Confidence Roadmap would answer what you need to know before approving the larger investment.
