The background

Microsoft is no stranger to overhauls of its ERP offerings. In fact, two of Microsoft’s most popular on-premise products were rewritten for the cloud. Dynamics AX (Axapta), Microsoft’s enterprise business solution, became Dynamics 365 Finance and Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management (formerly Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations). Dynamics NAV (Navision), an on-premise solution that Microsoft acquired in 2002, was used to create Dynamics 365 Business Central.

So while Business Central is new to the market, it isn’t exactly a newfangled solution—it’s a cloud-friendly upgrade of Dynamics NAV. Much of Business Central’s code base is adapted from Dynamics NAV and reflavored to enable cloud deployment, provide seamless upgrades, and eliminate hardware requirements.

What’s the difference between Business Central and NAV?

Dynamics NAV has been rebranded Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premise, and both versions of Business Central (cloud and on-premise) have the same features and functions. The big difference is the platform.

Business Central On-Premise is built for on-premise deployment. It can also be hosted in the cloud, but it can’t offer the same seamless experience as a fully managed cloud-based solution.

Business Central Cloud gives you all the capabilities of the on-premise version, plus the benefits of a true cloud product. With Business Central Cloud, you can enjoy easy 24/7 access anywhere from any device, real-time information flow, seamless upgrades, easy integration building through web APIs, and reduced hardware costs.

If you prefer to host your software at your location, Business Central On-Premise is a great option, but if you want to move your operations to the cloud, Business Central Cloud is the better choice.

What does this mean for Dynamics NAV?

In some respects, Dynamics NAV hasn’t seen too many big changes in recent years. Microsoft will continue to offer Dynamics NAV, just under a new name: Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premise. Dynamics NAV 2018 is the last edition of the software with the NAV name.

However, some long-term changes are coming to existing versions of Dynamics NAV. Microsoft will continue to support existing versions of NAV, but it will no longer release upgrades for those products. To receive the latest features, you will need to transition to Dynamics 365 Business Central.

In addition, Microsoft stopped selling Dynamics NAV to new customers on April 1, 2019. If you’re an existing NAV customer, you’ll still be able to purchase new licenses for your solution as needed, but new Microsoft customers won’t be able to purchase Dynamics NAV in its original form.

Bottom line, Dynamics NAV is still a great solution, and if you’re already using it, it will serve you well. But in order to keep your software current and take advantage of the latest features, as well as Microsoft support, it’s time to start thinking about your strategy to transition to Business Central.

What should I know about transitioning to Business Central?

Switching to Business Central is not so different from any other NAV upgrade, so you can make that transition whenever it’s best for you and your business. For example, if you’re running NAV 2015, you may be considering an upgrade. Instead of upgrading to a newer version of NAV, you can use that upgrade to transition to Business Central.

NAV partners should be well-prepared to help their customers manage the transition, but if your current NAV partner doesn’t have the necessary knowledge or experience with D365 Business Central, you may need to seek out a new partner who understands these essential transitional factors:

User licenses. Business Central does not offer concurrent user licenses like NAV does. Instead, each license has a named user. NAV customers will be offered two Business Central named users for each NAV concurrent user. Also, instead of a Limited User license (which NAV offers), Business Central has a Team Member license. While the licenses are under different names and service different products, they provide the same level of access and functionality.

Subscription model. Just as they did for NAV, Microsoft offers both perpetual and subscription licenses for Business Central, although the subscription model is certainly the most popular. Because Business Central has named user licenses, under the subscription model, your monthly fee is based on the number of users you have.

Keep in mind that perpetual licensing is only available for on-premise deployment; if you opt for cloud deployment, you will have to choose the subscription model. However, Microsoft offers subscription discounts for users who enter long-term agreements of at least three years.

On-Premise Hosted vs. Cloud. Legacy Dynamics solutions were built for on-premise deployment. While many of those solutions have been updated to enable cloud capabilities, they are still implemented, hosted, and updated using hardware. If you’re currently using one of the following products, it might be time to transition to a cloud-based solution like Business Central or Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management and save a bundle on service and upgrade fees:

• Dynamics NAV
• Dynamics GP
• Dynamics AX
• Dynamics SL
• Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations (F&O), Business Edition

Note that if you host Business Central On-Premise in the cloud, you will pay for the software as well as the cloud hosting service. With Business Central Cloud, everything is included in one fee—software, cloud hosting, and management services.

Customizations and integrations. A transition to Business Central may require additional effort if you or your partner have developed customizations or third-party integrations for your NAV solution. Business Central uses a different, more cloud-compatible development platform for customizations and third-party product integrations than NAV does. This means any NAV customizations or third-party integrations you’d like to continue using in Business Central may need to be redeveloped on the Business Central development platform. As part of your transition, you’ll need to evaluate your customizations and integrations and determine which ones are still required or cost-effective to redevelop for Business Central.

Safe and secure. Microsoft releases updates for Business Central twice a year, in April and October. The cloud platform is automatically updated by Microsoft. Microsoft has a 99.9% service-level agreement in place on the public cloud platform.  

How do I learn more about Business Central?

As one of the largest and most experienced Microsoft Dynamics partners in Pennsylvania, we’re super excited that Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has finally arrived. Whether you want to learn more about Business Central or you’re using another Microsoft Dynamics product and want to talk about your transition strategy, we’re here to help. We’ve been helping companies just like yours implement ERP solutions for more than 25 years. Let’s connect to talk about your business, your needs, and your future goals.

Dynamics 365 Business Central Demo Center

Fill out the form to access our entire demo library of Microsoft Dynamics Business Central videos. See the software in action as a Cargas Business Central consultant walks you through the program’s user roles and navigation, reports and dashboards, customer and item screens, and integrations to Microsoft Excel and Outlook.