Dynamics 365 Business Central and Oracle NetSuite: Analyzing the Differences
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) looking for a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application are most likely stepping up from a basic accounting package like QuickBooks or replacing an aging, legacy ERP system.
Two of the most popular options are Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central or Oracle NetSuite. Let’s compare these two ERP systems.
Fundamental differences between Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Oracle NetSuite
Both NetSuite and Business Central are flexible, cloud-based ERPs that will meet the needs of most SMBs. Both have strong financials and reporting capabilities and support a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, retail and eCommerce, field services, and more. While there are some minor differences in specific features, both applications are essentially equivalent in their capabilities. In fact, almost all modern ERP software solutions provide similar features and functions.
With that being said, there are some fundamental differences between the two applications:
Business Central is designed to be a comprehensive ERP. The premium edition supports manufacturing, inventory management, distribution, and more. Business Central has its own CRM capabilities, or users can purchase and integrate a separate CRM system. Business Central does not support its own Payroll or Human Resources application, and this application would have to be purchased separately from another vendor.
As the name implies, NetSuite is designed as a suite of integrated products – ERP, CRM, HR, eCommerce, reporting, etc. While these components integrate well, they must be purchased separately. Also, some industry capabilities require the purchase of advanced modules for capabilities that come standard in Business Central.
Business Central is designed to be flexible and easily adaptable to unique business processes.
NetSuite can be configured in many ways, but it is less flexible regarding changing business processes once deployed.
Potential customers for both products should carefully consider their current and future business needs and ensure they buy the product functionality they require.
Platform capabilities
Potential buyers should also consider an ERP’s capabilities as a platform from which they will operate their business applications. This requires meaningful discussions with their potential partner about their business needs now and in the future.
Business Central seamlessly integrates with the Microsoft 365 productivity suite (Teams, Outlook, Excel, etc.), allowing users to create quotes from emails, share Business Central data with other Teams users, or export Business Central data to Excel for further analysis.
Business Central also fully supports Microsoft’s Power Platform, which includes Power BI for complex business data analysis, Power Automate to create automated workflows for repetitive tasks, Power Apps to create custom applications with little or no code, and Copilot, which provides sophisticated generative AI and machine learning for your applications.
When deployed on Microsoft’s Azure platform, Business Central uses the full capabilities of Azure, such as ease of user administration, Azure security, backup and restore capabilities, and even more AI capabilities.
While NetSuite provides some integrations with Microsoft 365 applications, such as Outlook and Power BI, it is more at home on the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Oracle NetSuite integrates well with the Oracle ecosystem and is a good fit for businesses already using other Oracle products. It is also an attractive alternative for businesses that run their productivity tools using something other than Microsoft 365, such as Google Docs, Google Sheets, Gmail, etc.
Custom development and customizations
Both Business Central and NetSuite provide comprehensive ERP functions that can be augmented by writing customizations.
Business Central uses the AL programming language to create extensions to add functionality to the application. Developers can develop custom code using Microsoft Visual Studio, test using sandboxes provided with their Business Central cloud subscription, and deploy it into production when ready. Visual Studio delivers extensive Copilot capabilities for AI-supported code development, and GitHub provides source control for code development.
NetSuite uses SuiteScript, a custom programming language based on JavaScript. NetSuite allows developers to test scripts using sandboxes and debugging tools before migrating code into production. One drawback is that SuiteScript development tools do not have the sophisticated debugging environment of Visual Studio.
Both applications support a marketplace for purchasing add-on modules developed by Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to enhance the base application’s capabilities, such as credit card acceptance or sales tax collection.
Integrations
Both Business Central and NetSuite provide Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that integrate with most modern business applications, such as CRM, payroll, inventory management, and warehouse management systems.
Deployment options
One important difference is that Business Central can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud, while NetSuite can only be deployed in the cloud. This limits a company’s options for hosting its own data and infrastructure.
Reporting capabilities
Both products have a full suite of customizable financial reporting functions that Power BI and add-on reporting tools can augment.
Generative AI capabilities
Microsoft has invested over $6 billion in developing generative AI. It has worked diligently to integrate these capabilities into all its business applications: Business Central, Microsoft 365, Power Platform, Visual Studio, and Microsoft Azure.
Oracle NetSuite has built-in AI functions and leverages Oracle’s AI capabilities in the OCI.
Additional considerations
A common complaint among NetSuite users is the inability to export their data from NetSuite, particularly if they want to move from NetSuite to another ERP. NetSuite can export user data to Comma-Separated Value (CSV) files, but not in a relational database format. Business Central uses SQL Server and supports multiple data export functions.
Another common complaint is that NetSuite will increase subscription and support fees dramatically after the initial contract period expires.
Potential buyers of both products are encouraged to ask their partner hard questions and demand to see the required functionality demonstrated using their own data, not a pre-packaged demonstration deck provided by the partner.
Find out for yourself
In the end, no single ERP is ideal for every business. Prospective buyers should perform due diligence and select the ERP that meets their unique needs and budget.
While NetSuite provides a capable ERP for SMBs, we believe Business Central delivers a more flexible and affordable alternative.
Contact ArcherPoint to see what Business Central can do for your company.