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Rescue implementation playbook

A practical reset plan for systems that never quite reached the finish line.

  • 12-point rescue assessment
  • User adoption triage
  • Data and customization review
  • 90-day reset plan template
  • Fixed-fee scoping options

A rescue does not mean replacing the system. It means stopping, looking honestly at what is happening, and rebuilding the parts that quietly broke.

This playbook is for end-user teams running Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, Dynamics GP, or Power Platform who feel like the implementation never quite reached the finish line.

Reports get rebuilt in Excel. Approvals still live in email. Power users carry too much of the load. The original partner exited at go-live. The system is technically live, but the business is still working around it.

Most teams in this position do not need a full rebuild. They need a clear look at what is working, what is not, and what should be fixed first.

Who this is for

This playbook is built for teams that are live, but still stuck.

  1. Business Central teams. For teams using Dynamics 365 Business Central but still relying on manual workarounds, spreadsheet reporting, or unfinished processes.
  2. Customer Engagement teams. For sales, service, or CRM teams that are live in Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement but struggling with adoption, reporting, or workflow gaps.
  3. Dynamics GP teams. For teams that need to stabilize what they have before deciding whether to optimize, migrate, or modernize.
  4. Power Platform teams. For teams with apps, flows, approvals, or automations that were started but never fully operationalized.

What is inside

The practical pieces we use to diagnose, triage, and reset a stuck implementation.

  1. The post go-live stuck pattern. Five things we see in most stalled implementations, including feature-based training, ownerless backlogs, power-user dependency, undocumented customizations, and spreadsheet reporting.
  2. The 12-point rescue assessment. A focused diagnostic across process, adoption, data, reporting, customizations, and integrations. This is the assessment we run in week one of a rescue.
  3. User adoption triage. A simple way to find the avoidances, workarounds, and support patterns that show where the implementation did not finish.
  4. Data and customization review. What to inventory, what to retire, what to rebuild, and how to reduce risk before making more changes.
  5. The 90-day reset plan template. A practical rescue structure: days 1 to 14 for assessment, days 15 to 45 for core fixes, and days 46 to 90 to stabilize and scale.
  6. Fixed-fee scoping options. Scope, pricing, and timing depend on the findings and are confirmed for your project.

Why we built this

Most stuck implementations are not product problems.

Dynamics 365 and Power Platform can do a lot. The issue is usually what got skipped between kickoff and go-live, what was rushed at the end, and what nobody owned after the team was supposed to “go run with it.”

This playbook is the process we use when a TruNova client says their setup technically launched, but never quite delivered.

The 90-day reset plan template

Scope, pricing, and timing depend on the findings and are confirmed for your project.

A rescue is focused, practical, and built around the highest-impact fixes.

Days 1 to 14. Assessment and triage. Run the 12-point assessment, interview key business owners, map the current state, and identify the highest-priority fixes.

Days 15 to 45. Core fixes. Address the top workflow, adoption, data, reporting, or customization issues creating the most friction.

Days 46 to 90. Stabilize and scale. Retrain the team, document the redesigned workflows, hand off a maintained backlog, and define the next 90 days.

Ask us about this resource

Ask us for the rescue implementation playbook

Use it to assess where your implementation is stuck, what needs attention first, and whether your next step is optimization, rescue, support, or a deeper reset.

Free resource: Rescue implementation playbook Diagnostic, triage, and 90-day reset plan for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform teams.

Talk through your situation

Read the assessment. Mark every unclear or honest “no.”

If you find more than a few gaps, take 30 minutes to talk through what you found. No pitch deck. No scare tactics. Just a practical conversation about where you are stuck and what we would look at first.

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Talk through your rescue plan Ask us for the playbook

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