How to Convince the C-Suite on Microsoft Cumulative Updates for On-Premises Dynamics NAV and Business Central
For many businesses, the Covid-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on internal business processes and forced C-suite executives to get more involved in operational efficiencies. One immediate concern during the pandemic was data security with remote workers. IT departments were looking outside the company’s walls to ensure security and many executives took a closer look at the importance of cybersecurity.
Fast forward to 2022, businesses are still employing a remote workforce and the C-suite still realizes the importance of data security. This knowledge may convince management with on-premises Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 Business Central to deploy cumulative updates from Microsoft going forward.
Cumulative updates for on-premises Dynamics NAV and Business Central include a set of files that offer hotfixes and regulatory features. More and more businesses are examining partner support programs to ensure cumulative updates address a specific problem or to confirm whether any special compatibility, installation, or download issues are affiliated with a cumulative update.
Staying up to date with cumulative updates for on-premises Dynamics NAV and Business Central ERP comes down whether Microsoft is still offering mainstream support for your ERP version. Below is the lifecycle support of Dynamics NAV and Business Central:
- NAV 2018 – Supported until Jan. 2023
- BC 14 – Supported until Oct. 2023
- BC 20 – Supported
- BC 21 – Supported
Some of the hotfixes may involve data security, but many include system performance and staying up to date with the most recent SQL server versions.
Past Is Not Prologue, Microsoft Cumulative Updates
In years past, many Dynamics NAV and Business Central customers were wary of implementing Microsoft updates when they were introduced and would avoid being on the latest version due to possible errors with the code. This view stems primarily from the DOS and Windows XP era, and these bad experiences have remained in the minds of IT professionals.
But this era is long gone, and Microsoft now implements automated testing on 80% of the cumulative update code. Any bad code from Microsoft is quickly fixed due to its continuous improvement approach, as these cumulative updates are released monthly and aim to fix issues quickly.
Also, there are thousands of users of Business Central and Dynamics NAV around world, so if there are any bugs, they are found and resolved quickly. For Business Central SaaS users, cumulative updates are automatically pushed down to your tenant and ArcherPoint offers Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central SaaS Stay Current Assurance Plans that reviews these upgrades to your company’s platform. Our team will proactively verify the SaaS upgrade and provide any support if something needs attention.
For on-premises Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 Business Central, we offer our Get Current, Stay Current upgrade subscription plans that ensure you receive the vital functional and security updates. This takes the burden off your IT team and ArcherPoint can implement these major or minor updates while also identifying code conflicts before the upcoming release is pushed to your company.
These plans also offer options for sandbox testing, planned resource scheduling, testing, training, and go-live; and new feature review and non-universal code refactoring can also be included.
Minimal Testing and Staying Current with Cumulative Updates
Besides the unfounded fear of cumulative updates being introduced to your company’s ERP system, some senior IT management believe that there can be lengthy testing. However, the era of three months of testing is long gone, along with system testing.
Today’s Microsoft on-premises cumulative updates can be done after regular work hours, implemented in the evening, and be live the next morning.
Testing is still critical for mid-size companies and ArcherPoint can assist in this process. We recommend applying functional, security, and application updates every month. If there is some change in functionality, your IT team will meet with our team to review application changes in about an hour. We can also assist in setting up new features, such as group pricing, or we can point to Microsoft’s Release Planner and help explain any new features to your staff.
The Final Verdict on Cumulative Updates in 2022
Going forward, ransomware attacks and the business downtime affiliated with these attacks aren’t going anywhere. Cumulative updates allow for continuous improvement for your business operations, and allow software systems to be optimized.
And in today’s system software/platform environment, everything is connected. These cumulative updates are essential to business performance and keeping your business systems current.
Find Out More About Dynamics NAV and 365 Business Central On-Premises Plans
We have a range of options for on-premises Dynamics NAV and Business Central 365 upgrades from ArcherPoint, with basic, essential, and advanced plans to help identify code conflicts, oversee cumulative updates, testing sandbox creation, and more.