Everything you need to know about upgrading from Dynamics NAV to Dynamics 365 Business Central
Jon Fromreide
For businesses trying to keep up with technological developments, it can be difficult to figure out when the time is right to move to new versions of their ERP systems. On one hand: is your business ready for the transition? On the other hand: what are the consequences of waiting (too) long? The same applies to businesses that use Microsoft Dynamics NAV and are considering upgrading to the latest version, Dynamics 365 Business Central. In this blog, we give you an overview of the most important technical and economic reasons to consider such an upgrade in the short term.
Dynamics 365 Business Central is Microsoft's latest cloud-based ERP solution that replaces the highly successful on-premises Dynamics NAV (also called Navision). Business Central is updated twice a year instead of once a year as with Dynamics NAV. As a result, organisations can benefit from the latest technological innovations much faster.
In addition, Dynamics 365 has more advanced features that help businesses keep up with today's demands from customers and employees. For example, Business Central has built-in office tools, such as Microsoft 365 and Microsoft's Power Platform, which increases overall productivity and streamlines daily business processes.
Modern and more advanced features. Business Central has the latest and most advanced technology on the market. Just think of the AI-based Copilot solution.
Easy integration with Microsoft products. Business Central offers interoperability with other Microsoft products, including Power Platform, Outlook, Power BI, Dynamics 365 CRM, Excel, Teams, Word, and many others.
Mobile accessibility. Businesses with mobile teams or teams working from a different location will benefit greatly from Business Central because the system works anywhere and anytime as long as there is a stable internet connection.
Lower total costs. Your total costs will be (much) lower because Business Central is a cloud-based solution. Thus, the system is managed by Microsoft in their highly automated data centers.
The foundation for your digital transformation. Unlike Dynamics NAV, a modern and updated ERP solution such as Business Central can serve as the backbone of the digital transformation in the business.
In addition to these "offensive" arguments, there are also some more "defensive" reasons to move to Business Central in the short term.
End of Microsoft support. Microsoft recently announced that they will no longer provide basic support for Dynamics NAV 2018. Users of this version will no longer receive system updates with new features, security updates, and bug fixes. Thus, users are exposed to cybersecurity risks. This has already happened for older versions of Dynamics NAV.
Avoid further cost increases. With fewer users, Microsoft increases the cost of annual maintenance of Dynamics NAV.
Want to learn more about what transitioning to Business Central means for your business?
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