The Right Time to Move On: Dynamics NAV to Dynamics 365 Business Central
Microsoft Dynamics Business Central ensures a collaborative approach for organization-wide operations and allows modern enterprises to communicate effectively across various departments.
In 2018, Microsoft introduced Dynamics 365 Business Central, replacing the brand’s popular, on- premise only Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP solution Dynamics NAV. Apart from the implementation options – on- premise or in- cloud –, Business Central delivers benefits exceeding the costs involved while enabling businesses to attain the next- level efficiencies. The next few minutes of reading shall help understand how DYNAMICS 365 BUSINESS CENTRAL is proving to be the best ERP platform for enterprises worldwide compared with Dynamics NAV.
If you see this blog now and want to move from Dynamics NAV to Business Central, you are on the right page. However, it would also be good to know how NAV evolved into Business Central.
The Transition: Dynamics NAV to Dynamics 365 Business Central
Initially called Navision, Microsoft rebranded it as Dynamics NAV in 2005 after acquiring it in 2002. Through the acquisition, Microsoft leveraged Navision’s codebase capabilities to transform existing applications into an intelligent, cloud- hosted ERP – Business Central. Microsoft designed this innovative, accelerated functionality for modern businesses and segmented it primarily for SMEs (or Small and Mid- Sized Enterprises). The new solution helped companies streamline processes while making it more straightforward for the users to securely collect and share critical data for departments across the organization.
The Advantage: Dynamics Business Central
Business Central is robust yet flexible software that enterprises may choose to customize as per the unique, specific needs of their business functionalities. Growing enterprises may also switch to Dynamics 365 Business Central for their ever- altering requirements while eliminating spending on new solutions for any new development or challenge. Besides, with two hosting options – Business Central On- Premise or Business Central Cloud, the platform empowers businesses to win all their growth aspirations.
Business Central also helps businesses reduce administration and operations costs by delivering insightful data and ensuring meaningful strategies. Essentially, Dynamics 365 Business Central allows system administrators to manage processes and prevent production delays, thus enabling prompt, result- driven decisions.
The Difference: Dynamics NAV and Business Central
While we now understand that Business Central is an enhanced version of the earlier platform NAV, there are common queries that are worth exploring:
- What all features make Dynamics 365 Business Central a better choice over its predecessor – NAV?
- Are there any modernity- based tweaks in the existing functionalities?
- Do users need to implement the new update or set everything up from scratch?
Let us deep- dive and explore all the Dynamics 365 Business Central features that make it more awesome than what it used to be as Dynamics NAV.
Subscriptions/ Licenses
Dynamics NAV has a one- time licensing fee model for it being an on-premise system. While with Business Central, being a SaaS (or Software as a Service) solution, businesses can pick periodical subscriptions (monthly or annually) depending on business budgets. Besides, Businesses can even opt for a perpetual license fee model that allows owners to treat Business Central spending as an operational or a capital expense.
Intuitive User- Interface or UI
To ensure ease of use for the users, Business Central comes with a dynamic UI that includes updated command bars, intuitive search features, business metrics, improved dashboards, and more for a web-optimized User Experience.
Easy Integrations
Business Central integrates seamlessly with third-party applications to boost business efficiencies, improve operational capabilities, and win planned outcomes quicker for desired business growth.
Automatic Upgrades
As a SaaS platform, Dynamics 365 Business Central enables automatic, flawless updates with minimal or no involvement of tech support. All the upgrades would occur automatically every six months and at zero cost, as the upgrade charges are already a part of the subscription fee. Moreover, any third- party application or customizations are compatible with each new update.
Cloud- Hosted or On- Premise
Business Central is a SaaS cloud ERP solution hosted in Microsoft Azure. The application delivers numerous benefits, including agility, scalability, mobility, lower ownership costs, and more. Businesses can also choose to deploy Business Central as an on- premises solution based on needs, however, with limited features.
New AL Coding
The C/AL language was integral to the NAV’s core system and its customizations. While, with AL language- based extensions integrated into Business Central, the modifications leave the core system untouched and make upgrades a lot easier.
The Inference
Related Post: Business Central Implementation
The fast- shifting business landscape is pushing global enterprises to optimize and upgrade their exiting capabilities, including production, finance, operations, among others. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central perfectly fits the gaps that businesses struggled to fill. Therefore, over a million companies across the globe have understood and influenced to leverage the benefits that Business Central delivers as a robust invention.
Check Functionalities of Dynamics NAV & Business Central:
General Functionalities
| General Functionalities | Dynamics NAV 2004 | Dynamics NAV 2005 | Dynamics NAV 2009 | Dynamics NAV 2013 | Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 | Dynamics NAV 2015 | Dynamics NAV 2016 | Dynamics NAV 2017 | Dynamics NAV 2018 | Business Central |
| Copy & Paste Rows | ✓ | |||||||||
| Support For Connect APP & Rest API | ✓ | |||||||||
| Full Keyboard Shortcut Support | ✓ | |||||||||
| Multiple Production Environment | ✓ | |||||||||
| Batch-post Sales And Purchases As Scheduled | ✓ | |||||||||
| Enhancements For Customer Migration Tools | ✓ | |||||||||
| Filtering & Search Improvements | ✓ | |||||||||
| UK Address Validation | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| Migration from QuickBooks | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| Workflows (automated workflows) | ✓ | + | + | |||||||
| Outlook Integration | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | + | |||||
| NAV for Tablets | ✓ | + | + | + | + | |||||
| Social Listening | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Surface Microsoft Dynamics NAV Information Directly in SharePoint online | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Microsoft Dynamics NAV as a Hosted app in Office 365 | ✓ | + | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Interoperability with Office 365 and Excel. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | ||||
| Single Sign On | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | ✓ | ||||
| Microsoft Dynamics NAV Application Profiler | ✓ | ✓ | + | ✓ | + | + | ||||
| Improved Extensibility for Microsoft Dynamics NAV Clients | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Microsoft Dynamics NAV Provisioning Tools for Windows Azure | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Multitenant Deployment | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Data Upgrade Automation | ✓ | ✓ | + | + | ✓ | + | ||||
| Help Server | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Microsoft Office Alignment of Microsoft Dynamics NAV Windows and Web clients | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Microsoft Dynamics NAV Web Client | ✓ | + | ✓ | + | + | ✓ | + | |||
| Improved Charting Capabilities | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Query | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Server Administration Tool | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Windows PowerShellm | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | ✓ | |||
| Application Server (NAS) Enhancements | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| NAS Services | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| New User Concept | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | + | ✓ | + | |||
| OneNote Integration | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Zetadocs Express for Microsoft Dynamics NAV | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Multi-tier Architecture | ✓ | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
Financial Management Functionalities
| Financial Management Functionalities | Dynamics NAV 2004 | Dynamics NAV 2005 | Dynamics NAV 2009 | Dynamics NAV 2013 | Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 | Dynamics NAV 2015 | Dynamics NAV 2016 | Dynamics NAV 2017 | Dynamics NAV 2018 | Business Central |
| Reconcile payables with the External Document Number field | ✓ | |||||||||
| Bulk Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| VAT Registration Number Validation | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| Employee Ledger Entries | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| Deferrals | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| Reconciliation of Incoming and Outgoing Bank Transactions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Support for SEPA Credit Transfer and SEPA Direct Debit | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Electronic Payments and Direct Debits | ✓ | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Cash Management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Cost Accounting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Cash Flow Forecast | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | |||
| VAT Rate Change Tool | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| New Dimension Set Entry Table | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Faster G/L Posting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | |||
| Online Payment Services | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Bank Account Management and Bank Account Reconciliation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Intercompany Purchase Cost Distribution | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Prepayments | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Reversal of Journal Postings (Unapply) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Partial Payments | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Consolidation Enhancements | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Predefined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Inter-company Postings | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | ✓ |
| Fixed Assets | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Manufacturing
| Manufacturing Management Functionalities | Dynamics NAV 2004 | Dynamics NAV 2005 | Dynamics NAV 2009 | Dynamics NAV 2013 | Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 | Dynamics NAV 2015 | Dynamics NAV 2016 | Dynamics NAV 2017 | Dynamics NAV 2018 | Business Central |
| Sales and Inventory Forecasting Enhanced Integration | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| Manual. Planning | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Production Orders | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Production Forecast | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Graphical. Production Schedule | ✓ |
Supply Chain Management Functionalities
| Supply Chain Management Functionalities | Dynamics NAV 2004 | Dynamics NAV 2005 | Dynamics NAV 2009 | Dynamics NAV 2013 | Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 | Dynamics NAV 2015 | Dynamics NAV 2016 | Dynamics NAV 2017 | Dynamics NAV 2018 | Business Central |
| View Item Availability By Unit Of Measure | ✓ | |||||||||
| non-sequential numbering | ✓ | |||||||||
| Item Categories | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||
| Item Attributes | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||||
| Document Management. Document Capture and OCR | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| E-services | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| Item Availability by TimeLine | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Item Availability by Event | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Inventory Movements | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Additional Default Bins and Dedicated Bins | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Enhanced Integration to Service Management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Assembly Management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Supply Planning Setup Enhancements | ✓ | + | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Automated Data Capture System | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Item Budgets | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Planning Transparency | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Pick | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Standard Cost Worksheet | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Price Management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Supply Planning | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| ‘ Costing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Item Tracking | ✓ | + | + | + | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Business Intelligence and Reporting Functionalities
| BI and Reporting Functionalities | Dynamics NAV 2004 | Dynamics NAV 2005 | Dynamics NAV 2009 | Dynamics NAV 2013 | Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 | Dynamics NAV 2015 | Dynamics NAV 2016 | Dynamics NAV 2017 | Dynamics NAV 2018 | Business Central |
| Skip Empty Lines In The Account Schedule Report | ✓ | |||||||||
| Document Reporting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Power BI | ✓ | + | ✓ | + | + | |||||
| Excel Add-In for Ad-hoc Reporting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | + | |||||
| Excel. Integration (Edit in Excel) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | + | |||
| Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services from within Microsoft Dynamics NAV | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Jet Reports Express for Microsoft Dynamics NAV | ✓ | + | ✓ | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Open XML Integration | ✓ | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Predefined Charts and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) Driver | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Service Management Functionalities
| Service Management Functionalities | Dynamics NAV 2004 | Dynamics NAV 2005 | Dynamics NAV 2009 | Dynamics NAV 2013 | Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 | Dynamics NAV 2015 | Dynamics NAV 2016 | Dynamics NAV 2017 | Dynamics NAV 2018 | Business Central |
| Enhanced Integration with Manufacturing. Warehouse Management and Assembly Management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Planning and Dispatching of Materials Overview | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Service Order Management | + | + | + | + | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Service Contract Management | + | + | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Project Management Functionalities
| Project Management Functionalities | Dynamics NAV 2004 | Dynamics NAV 2005 | Dynamics NAV 2009 | Dynamics NAV 2013 | Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 | Dynamics NAV 2015 | Dynamics NAV 2016 | Dynamics NAV 2017 | Dynamics NAV 2018 | Business Central |
| Job Information Included In Archived Sales And Purchase Documents | ✓ | |||||||||
| Jobs WIP Calculation Compliance | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Usage Link | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Jobs | + | + | + | + | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Sales & Marketing Functionalities
| Sales & Marketing Functionalities | Dynamics NAV 2004 | Dynamics NAV 2005 | Dynamics NAV 2009 | Dynamics NAV 2013 | Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 | Dynamics NAV 2015 | Dynamics NAV 2016 | Dynamics NAV 2017 | Dynamics NAV 2018 | Business Central |
| AI supportfor Sales & Inventory Forecast | ✓ | |||||||||
| Al support for Late Payment Prediction | ✓ | |||||||||
| Dynamics 365 for Sales Integration | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| Sales and Purchase Document Approval | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Interaction/Document Management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Payment Terms Translation | + | + | + | + | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Document Archiving | + | + | + | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Cloud Functionalities
| Cloud Functionalities | Dynamics NAV 2004 | Dynamics NAV 2005 | Dynamics NAV 2009 | Dynamics NAV 2013 | Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 | Dynamics NAV 2015 | Dynamics NAV 2016 | Dynamics NAV 2017 | Dynamics NAV 2018 | Business Central |
| MICR fonts available in Business Central Online | ✓ | |||||||||
| ImageAnalyzer | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| Workflow Templates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| Electronic Invoicing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| Currency Exchange Rates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| Document Management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||
| Optical Character Recognition (OCR) | ✓ | ✓ | + | ✓ | ||||||
| Incoming Document Workflow | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
When to Upgrade
The Answer would be NOW! Because Microsoft has already ended the extended support for the versions before NAV 2009 while the mainstream support for most Dynamics NAV versions will end by 2023.
Let us Engage Today!
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