For software providers serving the logistics industry, system performance and scalability directly affect their ability to support customers as requirements evolve.
A Belgian software development company providing ERP solutions for freight forwarders and cargo handling companies – built around Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central – needed to modernize its existing Document Template Management system. The existing solution had to be rewritten using an Azure Functions-based architecture to support more advanced reporting capabilities.
Xpand re-engineered the system using Microsoft Azure technology, improving its performance and creating a scalable, cloud-ready foundation for future development, delivered in 3 months with a focused business acceleration approach.
Project snapshot
| Category | Details |
| Industry | Software Development |
| Location | Belgium |
| Customer Focus | Freight forwarders and cargo handling companies |
| Technology | Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Microsoft Azure, Azure Functions |
| Solution Type | Document Template Management re–engineering |
| Service type | Business Acceleration |
| Lead time | 3 months |
| Key Objective | Scalable Azure Functions–based architecture for advanced reporting |
| Key Result | Improved performance and a scalable, cloud-ready architecture |
Challenge: modernizing Document Template Management for advanced reporting
The company develops ERP solutions for logistics service providers, including freight forwarders and cargo handling companies. Its product is built around Microsoft Dynamics technologies, in an industry where document accuracy, operational speed, and reliable reporting are essential to daily work.
Its existing Document Template Management system needed to evolve to support more advanced reporting requirements.
Rather than making incremental changes to the existing architecture, the company needed to re-engineer the system using an Azure Functions-based architecture.
The challenge was therefore not simply to recreate the existing functionality using a different technology. The new architecture needed to provide a stronger technical foundation for reporting while improving the system's ability to support future requirements and growth.
Solution: an Azure functions-based architecture, delivered in 3 months
Xpand re-engineered the existing Document Template Management system using Microsoft Azure Functions, while keeping the solution aligned with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Azure–based technologies – completed within a 3–month timeline.
Moving the solution to an Azure-based architecture provided a more modern foundation for document template management and supported the company's requirement for advanced reporting.
The redesigned architecture also addressed the need for greater scalability, allowing the solution to better accommodate future growth and evolving requirements.
Rather than creating a temporary workaround for the reporting requirement, the project modernized the underlying technology on which the Document Template Management system operates.
How it works
The existing Document Template Management functionality was rewritten around an Azure Functions-based architecture.
Azure Functions provides the technical foundation for executing the relevant system processes in the new environment, while the re-engineered solution supports the company's document template management and advanced reporting requirements within its Business Central–based product.
This approach also creates a cloud-ready architecture that can scale as the solution and its requirements evolve.
Results: a modernized architecture, delivered in 3 months
The Document Template Management system was successfully re-engineered using Azure-based technology, within a 3–month delivery window.
The project delivered:
- Significantly improved system performance
- A modern Azure Functions-based architecture, aligned with Business Central
- Support for advanced reporting requirements
- Improved scalability
- A cloud-ready foundation for future growth
- A modernized Document Template Management system, delivered in 3 months
The result was not simply a technology replacement. The re-engineered architecture gave the company a stronger foundation for developing and scaling its document and reporting capabilities over time.
Business value
The modernization addressed both an immediate reporting requirement and the longer-term needs of the software product.
Improved performance helps the Document Template Management system operate more efficiently.
Scalability gives the company a stronger foundation for supporting increasing requirements as its solution evolves.
Cloud readiness reduces the limitations of the previous architecture and prepares the system for future development within the Microsoft Azure ecosystem.
For a software provider serving logistics companies, this creates a more flexible technical foundation for continuing to develop functionality for freight forwarders and cargo handling businesses.
Why Xpand as a Business Central modernization partner
Application modernization often requires more than replacing one technology with another. The underlying architecture needs to support both today's requirements and future development.
Xpand combines experience across the Microsoft technology ecosystem – Business Central and Azure alike – with software development and application modernization expertise. In this project, the existing Document Template Management system was not simply migrated. It was re-engineered around Azure Functions to improve performance, enable advanced reporting, and provide a scalable foundation for future growth, on a 3–month business acceleration timeline.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an Azure Functions re–engineering project take?
In this project, Xpand re–engineered the Document Template Management system in 3 months, using a focused business acceleration approach. Actual timelines depend on the scope of the existing system and its reporting requirements.
Does re–engineering with Azure Functions mean replacing Business Central?
No. In this project, the Document Template Management system was re–engineered around Azure Functions while staying aligned with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, which remained the company's core ERP platform.
What's the difference between migrating a system to Azure and re–engineering it with Azure Functions?
A migration typically moves existing functionality onto new infrastructure with minimal change. Re–engineering, as in this project, rebuilds the underlying architecture itself – here, around Azure Functions – to remove technical limitations rather than carry them onto a new platform.
Planning to modernize an existing Microsoft solution?
An existing system does not always need to be replaced from scratch. Re-engineering its architecture can help address current limitations while preparing it for future requirements.
Talk to Xpand about modernizing your existing Microsoft-based applications with scalable, cloud-ready architecture.
Contact us: bd@xpandsoftware.com | xpandsoftware.com