Business Challenge
Abel & Cole, one of the UK’s most recognised organic food delivery companies, was operating on Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, a platform increasingly limited in agility, supportability, and integration capabilities with modern cloud services. To maintain operational excellence, scalability, and long-term compliance, Abel & Cole made the strategic decision to upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (D365FO).
However, the challenge was clear: the transition had to be fast, reliable, and minimally disruptive to their live operations. With complex business processes and time-sensitive supply chain operations, any delay or post-migration issue could impact customer satisfaction and fulfilment efficiency.
Approach
Veriland Consulting Ltd. engaged with Abel & Cole under a fixed-scope, 3-week delivery model—a highly ambitious timeframe for an ERP upgrade of this scale. Our success hinged on a meticulously orchestrated upgrade methodology and deep expertise in:
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Finance & Supply Chain structures in AX and D365FO
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Data migration and reconciliation with rapid validation cycles
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Code uplift and customisation refactoring
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Regression testing acceleration, utilising our proprietary tooling
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End-user enablement and hypercare support
Key deliverables included:
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Seamless migration of historical and transactional data
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Uplift of all custom extensions and integrations
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Full validation of business processes across Finance, Procurement, Inventory, and Reporting
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Go-live cutover with zero data loss and minimal downtime
Outcome
Business Benefits
Area |
Pre-Upgrade (AX 2012) |
Post-Upgrade (D365FO) |
---|---|---|
System Supportability |
Legacy version with limited Microsoft support |
Fully supported cloud ERP with automatic updates |
Integration |
Manual processes and on-prem middleware |
Native integration with Power Platform, Dataverse, Azure |
User Experience |
Traditional UI, limited mobility |
Modern, web-based UI with mobile and cross-device access |
Reporting |
Fragmented with multiple data sources |
Unified reporting with Power BI and embedded analytics |
Agility |
Long lead times for changes or scalability |
Agile customisation with Lifecycle Services and AppSource |
Country
United Kingdom
Segment
Medium Enterprise
Industry
Retail - Organic Food Delivery