Microsoft Announces Dynamics 365 Business Central Licensing Updates

Microsoft Announces Dynamics 365 Business Central Licensing Updates

If your company purchased Microsoft Dynamics NAV licenses prior to May 1, 2019 and intend to transition to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central in the future, Microsoft has increased the full user conversion ratio for perpetual to named user from 1:2 to 1:3. What does this mean? Dynamics NAV perpetual licenses are based on concurrent users, while Business Central licenses are based on are named users. Since many companies have multiple users sharing a perpetual user (for instance, shift or part-time workers), Microsoft is offering this 1:3 conversion from perpetual to named users to ensure that customers are not negatively impacted by the transition and will take advantage of all of the latest investments in the Business Central product.

For Dynamics NAV Perpetual Full user licenses purchased before May 1, 2019, customers will receive 3 Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premises Essentials or Premium users.

For any CAL user licenses, they will receive 3 D365BC on-premises Team Member users.

What is a Team Member License in Business Central?

You might be asking, what is a “Team Member” license? Once you have purchased either an Essentials or Premium user, you can add additional “Team Member” users to your license.

Here’s a breakdown of the user types:

Full Users

Essentials Users

Essential “full” users are for companies that need sophisticated processes yet a simple system to be managed in one solution across finance, opportunity, supply chain, and project management. So, basic ERP functionality.

Premium Users

Premium “full” users provide everything the Essential user gets, plus end-to-end business management functionality including manufacturing and service order management.

Team Member Users

Team Members (known as Limited Users) are additional users that only need limited access to the ERP to perform functions such as time and expense approvals, reading business reports, and looking up customer and inventory data. This user type also includes the “Power Apps for D365 Applications” license, giving them access to Microsoft Power Apps. The transition from “Limited Users” to “Team Member Users” will go into effect on July 1, 2019.

External Accountant and System Admin User

Another announcement is that Business Central on-premises customer licenses have been updated to include one of each CAL users: one for an external accounting user, and one for a system administrator user, saving you money when you are using external resources to help you manage your business and ERP system.

More Big News for Dynamics NAV 2018 and Business Central Customers

If you’ve already purchased your Dynamics NAV 2018 or Business Central on-premises licenses, you can affordably start to explore Business Central in the cloud and start taking advantage of Microsoft’s Intelligent Edge, Power Apps, and Flow. You just need to purchase what’s referred to as a transitional SKU.

For only $20 per month plus $1 per user per month, you can gain access to Business Central in the cloud (SaaS version). This includes the Microsoft Intelligent Edge, so you can sync data from your NAV/BC instance and get to know BC using your own data. Do note that depending on your customizations, it’s possible that not all of your data will sync until your customs have been migrated to Business Central extensions, but what a great way to explore Business Central SaaS!

And, now that your data is in the cloud, you can start using Power Apps and Microsoft Flow with your data.

A few things to note about this scenario are:

  1. Power Apps and Flow use could require additional purchase.
  2. Some Office 365 versions include Power Apps and Flow
  3. Before purchasing the transitional SKU, if you are already using Office 365 or have any other cloud instances with Microsoft, you need to ensure that the partner you purchase the BC transitional SKU from is “attached” to your Office 365 instance. Otherwise, a new instance will be created, which will make it more difficult to use some of the latest integrations across instances.
  4. Embedded Power BI is included in your Business Central Essentials User / NAV 2018 Full User purchase.

Dynamics GP Customers Can Take Advantage, Too!

Microsoft is now offering Dynamics GP customers with an active enhancement plan the ability to transition to Dynamics 365 Business Central on premises by utilizing a License Model Transition (LMT) upgrade, starting on July 1, 2019.

Let ArcherPoint help you navigate the various licensing options and benefits for your ERP investment by contacting us today.

Learn more about Microsoft’s Intelligent Edge.

Trending Posts

Stay Informed

Choose Your Preferences
First Name
*required
Last Name
*required
Email
*required
Subscription Options
Your Privacy is Guaranteed