Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premises: What’s Different from NAV?

Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premises: What’s Different from NAV?

Microsoft launched Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premises on October 1st, officially making it the successor to Dynamics NAV. It’s clear that Microsoft has put a lot of faith in Dynamics NAV. Since its acquisition by Microsoft from Navision a/s in 2002, NAV (and now including Business Central for customers who have moved to BC) has the largest ERP customer base, at around 160,000.

So, while the name has changed, what makes NAV such a popular solution is still very much there. But with this new release comes new and improved functionality that NAV users will appreciate. Here are some highlights:

A New Approach to ERP

Microsoft’s vision for Dynamics 365 products—including Business Central—is to break from traditional ERP, which focuses on forms and reports, with a new approach, built on a foundation of a data platform and cloud-based AI. While not completely there yet, Business Central does have certain features that tap into resources like AI and Azure Cognitive Services. We are sure to see much more of this type of development very soon.

Improved User Experience

Business Central features a clean, consistent user experience across browsers and mobile/tablet apps for both iPhones and Androids, improving user adoption and productivity. Even improvements that might seem small, like the new menu navigation behavior, are designed to improve the user experience.

Improved Productivity

Power BI is now deployed automatically upon provisioning a Business Central instance, which means you get dozens of default Power BI reports on both the front page and on detailed views like cards and lists. In addition, the product features more than 100 productivity enhancements, like keyboard and accounting shortcuts as well as copy-and-paste of Business data.

Other enhancements include:

Continued Strong Support from Microsoft and ArcherPoint

Microsoft is adding new Business Central partners every month and reports customer growth of 59 percent month-over-month. And, of course, ArcherPoint continues to be fully committed to supporting customers on NAV who want to move to either version of Business Central. As a note, C/SIDE, C/AL, and NAV objects will still be available for now, but expect Microsoft to encourage the use of extensions as time goes on.

An Easy, Cost-effective Migration Path from NAV

Since Dynamics NAV and Business Central share the same code base, the transition NAV to Business Central is as seamless as any NAV upgrade. Get your free Dynamics NAV Upgrade Quote and contact the upgrade experts at ArcherPoint to get started with your upgrade to Business Central.

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