Dominick Zappia is a seasoned expert in the realm of enterprise resource planning and digital transformation, currently serving as a Partner at Admiral Consulting Group. With years of experience guiding mid-market organizations through the complexities of modernization, he specializes in bridging the gap between technical infrastructure and strategic business goals. By focusing on process-driven migrations and the practical application of emerging technologies like Microsoft Business Central and AI, he helps companies turn daunting IT projects into engines for long-term growth.
This conversation explores the fundamental shifts required for a successful ERP transition, moving from a software-first mindset to a process-oriented strategy. We delve into the connective power of the Microsoft ecosystem, the realistic role of AI in daily operations, and the critical importance of transparency between consultants and clients.
When shifting the focus from software features to internal business processes, what specific inefficiencies usually surface during a review? How does this deep dive help structure a phased implementation that minimizes operational disruption?
During a comprehensive process review, we often uncover significant “shadow IT” or manual workarounds where employees are using disconnected spreadsheets to compensate for old system gaps. These inefficiencies usually manifest as redundant data entry or silos where the finance team and operations are looking at two different versions of the truth. By conducting this deep dive early, we can identify which workflows are critical for Day 1 and which can be deferred to a later stage. For example, a process audit might reveal that a company’s complex inventory tagging is the primary bottleneck; by addressing this first in a controlled phase, we ensure the foundation is stable before moving to secondary automations. This strategic roadmap prevents the “big bang” approach that often leads to total operational paralysis during go-live.
Microsoft Business Central is often chosen for its ability to integrate with familiar daily tools and connect data across finance and operations. How does this connectivity specifically reduce the learning curve for mid-market teams, and what metrics should leaders track to measure the speed of system adoption?
The beauty of Business Central is that it feels like the Microsoft environment most employees have used for their entire careers, which removes the “fear of the unknown” that typically stalls new software rollouts. When a user can export a list to Excel, edit it, and publish it back to the ERP with one click, the psychological barrier to entry drops significantly. To measure the speed of this adoption, leaders should track metrics such as the time it takes to complete a monthly close compared to the old system or the volume of support tickets generated per department. If you see a 20% reduction in manual data reconciliation errors within the first 60 days, you know the connectivity is working and the team is gaining confidence.
Artificial intelligence tools like Copilot are now being used to automate repetitive tasks and surface insights from data. What are the most practical “starting small” use cases for a mid-market firm, and how should human oversight be structured to validate the results generated by these automated assistants?
The most practical starting point for a mid-market firm is using AI for simplified reporting and uncovering trends that aren’t immediately obvious in a massive ledger. For instance, Copilot can be used to draft initial responses to customer inquiries regarding order status or to summarize complex financial fluctuations over a quarter. However, we advocate for a “human-in-the-loop” structure where AI acts as a digital assistant rather than an autonomous decision-maker. Every AI-generated report or forecast should be reviewed by a department head who signs off on the accuracy before it hits a client’s desk or influences a major budget shift. This ensures that the speed of AI is balanced by the nuanced judgment of your most experienced staff.
Long-term ERP success relies heavily on transparency and open communication between an organization and its consultants. In what ways should a trusted advisor challenge a company’s existing assumptions during a migration, and how does this collaborative friction prevent costly mid-project missteps or scope creep?
A trusted advisor’s most important job is to ask “why” until we get to the root of a requirement, often challenging the “we’ve always done it this way” mentality. If a company insists on a custom modification that mimics a legacy process, we must push back and show how standardizing within the new system’s framework can save them hundreds of thousands of dollars in future upgrade costs. This collaborative friction is healthy because it forces the organization to justify every deviation from standard functionality before the project gets off track. By having these difficult conversations during the design phase, we prevent the scope creep that usually happens when companies realize too late that their old processes don’t fit a modern cloud environment.
Treating an ERP as an evolving platform rather than a one-time project requires clean data and a commitment to continuous improvement. What foundational steps ensure data remains reliable long after go-live, and how can leaders prepare their teams to adapt quickly as new innovations emerge post-migration?
Reliable data begins with a rigorous cleansing process before a single record is migrated, ensuring that outdated or duplicate vendor and customer profiles are purged. Once the system is live, leaders must establish strict data governance policies, defining exactly who has the authority to create new records and what fields are mandatory. To keep the team agile, I recommend scheduling quarterly “innovation reviews” where the organization looks at the latest Microsoft release notes to see which new features can be toggled on. This moves the mindset away from a static “finished” project and encourages a culture where the staff is always looking for small, incremental ways to use the platform more effectively.
Do you have any advice for our readers?
My primary advice is to remember that an ERP migration is 80% about your people and processes and only 20% about the actual software code. Do not rush the discovery phase; the time you spend mapping out your current frustrations and future goals is the best insurance policy you can buy against project failure. If you focus on building a clean data foundation and choose a partner who isn’t afraid to tell you “no” when a request doesn’t align with your long-term strategy, you will find that the technology naturally follows. Modernization is a marathon, so pace yourselves by starting with practical, high-value wins before trying to automate every corner of the business at once.