Boyer & Associates is pleased to welcome Mike Muscarella to our growing Dynamics ERP consulting team. Muscarella’s 20 years of Dynamics GP experience will be put to good use supporting our existing clients.
“So far it’s been great. It’s a good team. It’s a lot of smart people, a lot of good people,” he said.
Muscarella earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He started his career as an AP clerk at a now-defunct software company in Dallas. After four years on the accounting side, he decided he was ready for a change of pace. While some people enjoy the routine of accounting, Muscarella said he prefers the constantly-changing work of an ERP consultant.
“It’s different companies in different industries with different challenges. It’s the same software, granted, but it’s never used quite the same,” he said.
He started working on Dynamics GP in 1999 and has spent the last 20 years consulting and honing his expertise on the best-selling Microsoft ERP product. His experience includes 10 years at NextCorp and another eight years at TriBridge, which was then acquired by DXC.
Muscarella said he appreciates the versatility of Dynamics GP. While many software products specialize in a particular industry, GP can work well for a wide range of companies.
“It does have a very broad customer base. It can be used across industries better than a lot of other products,” he said.
Many of the restaurant and food service companies that are headquartered in the Dallas area use GP. Muscarella has worked with so many different industries that he’s confident of his ability to implement the software in just about any type of business.
He especially enjoys implementation projects, the chance to understand what a new client does and help them deploy a brand-new system that works the way they need it to work. He’s fully capable of doing smaller implementations on his own, but he prefers being part of a Dynamics ERP team when able.
“I don’t want to be a lone wolf. I like having backup,” he said.
One drawback to GP, according to Muscarella, is that its out-of-the-box reporting capabilities are not as strong as similar products. That problem is easily solved by installing a bolt-on reporting solution.
“If Microsoft sticks with their plan of trying to get GP customers converted over to Business Central, then ideally, I’d like to be someone that can be involved on both sides of that.” – Dynamics ERP consultant Mike Muscarella
With Microsoft’s increasing emphasis on its cloud accounting solution the last couple of years, Dynamics 365, Muscarella found himself struggling to find a GP-only position when his ERP consulting position ended at DXC. After talking to the Boyer team, he had a good feeling that the consulting position here would be a good fit.
“Boyer said we’ve got work for you as GP, and we can get you educated on the other one. It was their willingness to make the position what I was really looking for. That matched up better than any other opportunity,” he said.
At Boyer & Associates, Muscarella will focus on implementing and supporting Dynamics GP as well as learning the ins and outs of Dynamics 365 Business Central.
“That’s the new challenge for me is picking up something new,” Muscarella said. After 20 years working with Dynamics GP, he’s looking forward to a new challenge learning the ropes of an entirely new ERP system.
“You can stay solely on GP for 20 years, but those days are coming to an end and it’s time to … pick up something like Business Central, pick up where the future is heading. If Microsoft sticks with their plan of trying to get GP customers converted over to Business Central, then ideally, I’d like to be someone that can be involved on both sides of that,” he said.
As for hobbies, Muscarella enjoys playing a little classic rock on his guitar or piano. His favorite artists include the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Seger and Paul Simon. He’s also a fan of the Dallas-area sports teams and Padron cigars.
Muscarella lives in Plano, Texas with his wife of 20 years, Lenisa. Their daughter, Sarah, graduated as valedictorian of her high school and is entering her sophomore year of college as a theater major at Oklahoma City University.
Want to congratulate Muscarella or welcome him to the Boyer team? Contact him at mmuscarella@boyerassoc.com or 763-412-4300.