Why Should You Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics NAV to Business Central?
                     “Embrace the power of cloud computing
and make your business management
more  efficient”
Dynamics 365
Business 
Central
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This E-Book 
Covers
Topic Page 
s No.
What is Microsoft Dynamics 4
NAV?
6
Pros and Cons of Dynamics 
NAV
Introduction to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business 9
Central
Why it’s the right time to Upgrade to Dynamics 365 Business 1
Central? 1
Benefits of Dynamics 365 Business 1
Central 3
Comparison Table Dynamics NAV vs Business 1
Central 5
Dynamics 365 Business Central 1
Licensing 6
FAQ 1
s 7
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Introduction
The world is changing and so are the  
people. A time ago, the work-from-home  
culture was a myth, but nowadays, it is a 
 reality. We used to manage entire  
business manually, like literally, where  
we collected data from each department 
 and forwarded it to the other 
department  to make the business work. 
We had to  depend on the human 
workforce to make  things work, whether 
it was the business  owner or the 
accountant. There is  nothing bad in it; 
after all, this is the  basic concept of 
how a business works.
What if we have something that can minimize the 
? human  interaction to share data resulting in more productivity  and business efficiency?
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Here comes the Microsoft Dynamics NAV, an ERP (Enterprise Resource  
Planning) software made to streamline the processes and operations of the  
whole organization in one place, whether it is financial management or  
product sales. It is capable of connecting almost all departments and 
making  all the processes smoother and more productive.
Financial  
Management
Service  
Management
Sales &  
Marketing
Resourc
e  
Planning
Purchasing
Manufacturing
Projects
Warehouse  
Management
You are reading this eBook which means you want to upgrade from Dynamics  
NAV to Business Central but need some clarifications of your questions so 
that  you can decide what’s good for you and what’s not. In this eBook by 
Dynamics  Square, you will get all the necessary information about the 
upgrade and  clarification of your questions about the actual benefits of 
upgrading.
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What is Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
Microsoft Dynamics NAV (previously called Navision) is an ERP software built to 
 help small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to manage their finances, 
supply  chain, and customer relationships. This software can only be hosted on- 
 premises or using the company’s servers, but after the upgrade to Business  
Central, it can be deployed on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid  
environment.
Upgraded to Dynamics 
The first version of Navision was  365  Business Central in 
released in Denmark in 1984. The  2018
company that created Navision was  
called PC&C A/S. Microsoft acquired 
 Navision in 2002. Where a user can host this  
software on-premises and on  
Dynamics NAV has been through  the cloud too. The new update 
several name changes over the   was released with lots of new 
years. The product was originally   features and benefits for the  
called Navision Attain, then Navision user to make the operations of 
 Financials, and finally Microsoft   the whole business 
Dynamics NAV. automated  and simplified.
Dynamics NAV is a fully-fledged ERP but with the limited capabilities of 
CRM  (Customer Relationship Management). But after the update, 
Dynamics 365  Sales becomes the CRM software that can help the business 
to manage  customers and their requirements to its fullest. Your business 
can use the  Dynamics NAV in almost all departments of a business to 
increase  productivity and efficiency.
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Setting up the NAV on-premises requires large internal servers and
time-consuming updates that leads the total process cumbersome. But, on 
 the other hand, it was safe, secure, and fit for the purpose.
NAV puts the human-to-human interaction minimum to share and transfer  
data helping them use most of their time in productive work. The user  
experience of NAV is pretty simple, which allows the users to get a familiar  
interface on all devices and servers to make the usability and data 
collection  simpler.
Sales
Finance
For all businesses and enterprises, Microsoft provides an ERP suite where  
NAV is an essential part of it. The suite is created to provide a complete  
solution for businesses to help them grow. The Microsoft Dynamics NAV is  
super flexible software and can be customized on the based on of customer 
 needs.
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Pros and Cons of Dynamics 
NAV
There is a common factor in increasing the efficiency of any business:  
automation; if we can shift some processes to automation, whether data  
transfer or managing workload, the company's efficiency can be increased to 
 a whole new level.
Around 500,000 businesses around the world rely 
! on  Dynamics NAV. It is one of the powerful ERP solutions  accepted worldwide and is a robust system to use.
It is made for the users to provide rich functionality to meet the business  
goals. Due to its scalability and effectiveness, this has proved to be a popular 
 business management tool and helped improve internal visibility. Such things 
 allow the business owners to get a complete and transparent view of the  
processes and the scope of improvement.
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Pros of using Microsoft Dynamics 
NAV:
Financial Management 
and  Accounting Project 
Management
The Dynamics NAV helps the business The Dynamics NAV is capable of  
 manage and access the assets, cash, tracking all the projects with  
 and complete banking with the  accurate data. Also, it can manage 
features like responsibility Center,   capacity, estimates creation,  
Cash Flow Forecast, Cash Accounting, budgeting, other costs, and other  
 and more. management features.
Business Intelligence Manufacturing, Operations 
and  Reporting &  Supply Chain 
Management
Its capability helps the business  It helps the business manage and 
owners to track the management   track the manufacturing, orders,  
reporting in one place. Also, it  inventory, and other reports like  
provides real-time visibility so that  
pricing, daily production targets,  
managers can improve the weaker  
sections of the company. This tool  actual productions, demands of  
can integrate with Microsoft's other raw material and used material,  
 tools, like Power BI, Power Apps,  order completion, shipping  
Micosoft Teams, Word, Excel, etc. tracking, etc.
Sales and Documentation
Marketing
Dynamics NAV provides a basic sales It manages all the documentation  
 and marketing capabilities, where a  received and forwarded by the  
company can manage contact and  company. Also, it contains internal 
send emails to the customers. But if  
 documentation and storage of 
you're looking for a full-fledged
AI-based marketing solution, you can the  same.
 choose Dynamics 365 Marketing.
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Cons of using Microsoft Dynamics NAV:
Dynamics NAV might be working fine for your organization at the  
moment, but you may have to face some cons of using it in the 
future.
No Support and Cost of 
Updates Ownership
As per the latest news, Microsoft is If you keep using the NAV for  
 going to stop all the features and  your business management, the  
updates of NAV shortly. It would  cost of owning and maintaining  
become difficult for you to resolve  the whole system will increase at 
the issues and make them work   a rapid rate.
again.
Less Time-consuming 
Customization updates
When organizations grow and  Whenever Microsoft releases an 
scale, they have to overcome   update, it becomes a
several business management  time-consuming task to update the 
issues, whether from the human   system and halt all the processes. 
resource department or customer  Even organizations have to invest  
 management. Customizations many resources to deal with such  
and  integrations help tasks.
organizations  deal with such 
issues, but NAV  cannot resolve 
them all due to  limited 
capabilities.
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Introduction to Microsoft Dynamics 
365  Business Central
Dynamics 365 Business Central provides a centralized system to 
run a business  with adaptability to manage all the processes and 
operations from anywhere. Most  administrative tasks can be 
controlled using this software, allowing users to spend  time 
performing more productive tasks. It will enable the users to 
communicate  and transfer data in one place, making the data 
collection more manageable and  easily accessible. D365 
Business Central has almost all the apps you need to  manage 
your entire business from one place.
It is a business management cloud-based software 
! for  small and mid-sized organizations to help them  manage, automate, and streamline their business.
Generally, this ERP software is popular in the manufacturing, service and  
distribution industries due to its user-friendly features and easy-to-use features.  
This software is very flexible and allows the users to add new and customized  
features per industry needs. This software is beneficial for growing industries due 
 to its scalability and effectiveness.
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Due to its cloud storage, it will  
automatically update all the actions  
and data in real-time, making it  
convenient for other users of the  
company. That’s the biggest pro of  
being hosted on the cloud. Because,  
in real-time, the decision-makers of a 
 business can judge the particular  
operation of the company and  
Completed implement specific changes for the  
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With the help of cloud computing, 
 
 there is no need to worry about  
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on-premises servers where a
business has to invest a lot of 
money  and effort to set it up and  
continuously manage it manually.
Now, you can have the same system  
and server infrastructure on  
subscription bases. Even you can add 
 and customise any feature or tool of  
the ERP by giving a call to your ERP  
partner. It is that simple!
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Why it’s the right time to Upgrade 
to  Dynamics 365 Business 
Central?
It is time to upgrade to Dynamics 365 Business Central because it provides 
a  platform that doesn’t require a large infrastructure to set it up and is safe  
and easy to scale and customized software as per business needs. Most  
business owners are still using an outdated version of Dynamics NAV due to  
learning new features or tools and fear of data security due to cloud  
computing.
The mainstream support of  
versions older than Dynamics  
NAV 2016 has stopped already. 
 If you are working with any of  
such versions, it will be difficult 
 for you to deal with any issue.  
So, it would be great if you  
could upgrade to the newer  
version of NAV or directly  
upgrade to Business Central for 
 the overall management of 
your  business.
Most Dynamics NAV users are still unaware of the  
! benefits of moving to Dynamics Business Central as it  provides scalability, mobility, and set-up without any  capital expenditure.
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For most of the versions of Dynamics NAV, Microsoft has stopped the  
customer support and any new updates that make it harder to resolve any  
security or functionality issues. Even data security is also a matter of 
concern  with the older version. Due to the cloud deployement, there is no 
need to  install the updates manually as it will be done automatically by 
Microsoft.
Generally, Microsoft releases the updates in April and October every year.
Yes, we understand that upgrading to Business Central might be a hectic task 
 to do as it requires time, resources, and effort, but all this is for one time 
only.  For the long term scenario, you will benefit from upgrading it now. As 
per the  sources, Microsoft will stop all services and support related to 
Dynamics NAV  soon. But, don’t worry a bit. Dynamics Square stood with your 
decision and  pledged to support you with your existing version.
Your Business. Our Expertise
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Benefits of Dynamics 
365  Business Central
There might be a question in your mind that if your Dynamics NAV is working fine, 
 then why should you upgrade to Business Central. The answer to this query is 
the  availability of several features and benefits provided by the Business Central 
that  can turn the processes into automation.
Users can avail all the benefits of cloud servers with the trust of Microsoft  
servers that gives them access to manage the business 24/7 using any 
device  and from any location. Some of the features are listed below:
A Perfect Cloud ERP Better User Experience
Software
The Business Central has an easy  
Being an all-in-one business  to use interface for its users. The  
management solution, it allows  interface has become so simple  
SMBs to establish real-time  that a novice can use the Business 
communication with the whole   Central in one go.
team, making it easy to send 
and  receive data from any time 
and  anywhere.
Availability Updates
The Microsoft Dynamics 365  Due to cloud storage, there would 
Business Central can be structured   not be an issue with installing 
in on-premises, cloud, and hybrid  the  new updates. All the new 
locations. Also, the Business Central  security  and feature updates can 
can be operated using a preferred  be  implemented by calling your 
application from any device, whether ERP  partner without any hassle.
 it is a mobile or Windows device.
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Filtering Permissions
Pane
On the tools like Worksheet, the  Now, the admin user of the  
Filtering pane is available to filter  business can assign different  
the desired result from the general  permission to the other users of  
data. This feature allows the users  the same organisation. The  
assigned permissions depend on  
to find the data they are looking 
the responsibilities of an  
for  in a matter of seconds.
employee. These features let the  
admin share a particular data with 
 a trusted person without sharing 
it  with all employees.
Continuous Reporting Customization and 
Integration
The Business Central can now track the As per the business needs, users 
 data in real-time, making it accessible   can customize and integrate the 
for all users and decision-makers to   desired feature without any  
better the company's working process.  financial burden. All businesses  
Also, it helps the users to view the  have the freedom to add and  
reports and analytics from a single  customize the required tool  
dashboard using Power BI. seamlessly.
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Comparison Table
Dynamics NAV vs Business 
Central
Dynamics 365
Business Central
Cloud (No need to maintain servers  
Deployment On- and backups) or On-Premise (data 
Premise hosted
in local server)
Latest Upgrades No Automatic
Reporting capabilities Limite Jet Reports + Power 
d BI
Integrations Limited, Version Development Full (All Microsoft 
Product)
Interfac Desktop Based Web Based (Responsive)
e
Search interface Basic Advanced (Automatic Categorization)
Objects
(application elements:  Need to be More than 50,000 free 
purchased  objects on the cloudtables, pages, 
reports)
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Dynamics 365 Business Central 
Licensing
The process of obtaining a D365 Business Central licence is pretty simple and  
cost-effective. In general, three licence types are available: Team Member,  
Essential, and Premium. Microsoft is giving extra benefits in terms of licencing 
to  Dynamics NAV users. If you are an active NAV customer, you will get three  
Dynamics 365 Business Central licences when you are willing to upgrade. Also,  
such users are eligible to get a discount of up to 40% on Business Central  
Licences. The licencing plans are discussed below.
Team Member Essential Plan Premium Plan
Plan
$70 $100
$8 per user per month per user per month
per user per month
Team Member licenses  Users can manage the  This plan is for business  
are a great option for  operations of Finance,  owners, influencers, and  
users who need to run  Supply Chain,  decision-makers. It  
reports and gather  Distribution, Project  includes all the features of 
information or do basic  Accounting, CRM, Human   the Standard edition, plus 
Dynamics 365 tasks like Resources, and more.  advanced capabilities for  
 entering time and  The  essential plan helps financial management,  
expenses or creating  the  employees manage manufacturing, and supply 
purchase requisitions. the  working of some   chain management.
departments and gather  
information in real-time.
All three plans come with cloud computing makes it  
easier for employees to work and manage from 
anywhere.
Get Started Now
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Dynamics NAV to Business Central 
FAQs
Still, several users are using Dynamics NAV, so the concerns about upgrading to 
 Business Central are increasing daily. NAV 2018 was the last available version,  
and Microsoft has evolved this software to provide cloud solutions to its users.  
However, Business Central is built using the same functionality and approach as 
 Dynamics NAV.
Several organizations in the industry will not upgrade to Business Central till  
the Dynamics NAV become obsolete or when they are unable to resolve any  
issue. Despite all the positive factors, the users of NAV are still skeptical about 
 upgrading. They still have some queries and want to resolve them before  
deciding. Below, some of the major concerns of the users are discussed to help 
 you understand the benefits of upgrading to Dynamics 365 Business Central.
My Dynamics NAV is working fine. Why should I Upgrade?
Your Dynamics NAV might be working fine, but what if you want to scale the processes 
 or operations, what if you have to manage the business outside the company 
premises,  or what if you have to customize NAV as per business needs? How do you 
resolve all  such issues with your existing NAV? That’s why you should upgrade to 
Dynamics 365  Business Central. Otherwise, you will miss a lot of features and 
capabilities to make the  business smoother.
Upgrading to a new ERP is expensive. Why should I go for it?
We know that upgrading a new ERP solution is expensive and a hectic task to 
perform.  But, with the help of cloud computing, the upgrade has become more 
accessible and  streamlined. This is a kind of investment that will save you a lot of 
money in the long  run. Whenever your business starts to scale, there would be no 
need to upgrade as it  is totally flexible resulting in increase in productivity and 
efficiency.
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If we have to upgrade, why should we choose business central over other 
ERPs?
If you are already a Dynamics NAV user, understanding the functionality and user  
interface of D365 Business Central would be an easy task for you. Dynamics NAV is 
no  different from Business Central because it is upgraded and evolved to better the  
business. More than 160,000 organizations are using Business Central in the ERP  
world, and more than 2.6 Million users are active. Dynamics 365 Business Central not  
only help you run the business but also helps your business to adapt, scale, and 
grow.
How long does the upgrade take, and what will be the cost?
The time taken for upgrading your NAV to Business Central depends on a number of  
factors, like company size, database amount, customizations, modifications, and more. 
 Dynamics Square can help with the "Fixed Cost Quote" for the upgrade after  
understanding your business processes running in Dynamics NAV. After converting and 
 testing the database, your business can go live in less than three days. On average, it 
 takes 1-3 months to make your business live on Business Central.
Are my current Add-ons ready for Business Central?
If you are still using NAV, you might be using any add-ons developed by 
ISV(Independent  Software Vendor). Microsoft depends on such vendors to make 
customized add-ons per  business needs. In Business Central, the customized 
extensions took the place of add-  ons. The building of a customized extension in place 
of an add-on depends on the ISVs.  If the add-on is available in C/Al, you can upgrade to 
Business Central as ISV would build  an extension and deploy it to the Business Central. 
If ISV isn’t ready to build the  extension, you can check out the AppSource for other 
solutions.
Do updates disturb and affect my business?
This is a significant benefit for the users of Business Central. Unlike NAV, a user 
doesn’t  need to update the ERP manually. In fact, an update released by Microsoft 
notifies you  about the new benefits and automatically updates it to the cloud servers 
upon  notification. This was the basic idea of Microsoft behind upgrading from NAV to  
Business Central. Usually, the updates will be released two times a year, automatically  
making your application update without disturbing and disrupting your business.
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Is Dynamics 365 Business Central Safe and Secure?
With Business Central, you have the trust of Microsoft products and services. In 
fact,  Microsoft invests $1 billion every year on the security of Microsoft Azure 
(cloud  computing platform) to make it safe and secure from unwanted spam and 
threats. If  still, you are more concerned about your data safety, you can host the 
Dynamics 365  on-premises, which makes the overall setup more expensive.
Are the cloud subscription charges fixed, or will they increase over time?
Generally, the prices of a cloud subscription remain stable for years until a new  
upgrade or the new capabilities of a particular tool are available. The increase in 
prices  doesn’t happen year to year as it might make the users unstable. Even 
Microsoft offers  Business Central with a discounted and lock-in price for three years 
for its current
on-premises users.
How the cloud feature influences my Integrations?
The addition and customization of the integrations are one of the core features of 
the  Business Central. It consists of an API layer that enables it for direct, third-party, 
and  Microsoft Azure integrations. You can connect any integration with your 
Business  Central irrespective of the hosting platform you are using, whether cloud-
to-cloud or  cloud-to-premises.
Is moving data from the company to cloud servers difficult?
This is one of the most important concerns for business owners. After all, data is  
everything. No one wants to lose it at any cost. When you upgrade to Business 
Central,  all your data will be intact from any loss or security threat. You do not need 
to worry a  bit about your precious data. If you want to move a limited amount of data, 
you can do  it too. It depends on you what you want to move or not.
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Are you still confused about whether you should  
? upgrade to Dynamics 365 Business Central or not?  Here is the quick checklist you can go through to  make your decision easier.
Do you think Dynamics NAV too expensive for your company?
You want to lower the total cost of ownership by transferring your servers to the 
cloud.  Your customized add-ons are available as a standard feature in Business 
Central.
You are missing major features in NAV as compared to Business 
Central.  You want to get rid of time-consuming and expensive NAV 
upgrades.
Your NAV version is no longer available for support.
You might be confused about the  
decision of upgrading or not to  
Dynamics 365 Business Central. If so, 
 you can register for a one-day  
Business Central assessment with  
Dynamics Square to know precisely  
about your requirements. We will give 
 you an exact scenario about the  
transition time and cost required to  
upgrade to Business Central.
Register Now
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Connect and talk to 
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