Why Should You Upgrade from Dynamics NAV to Dynamics 365 Business Central?

By Rich Studer | April 9, 2019

Businesses that currently use Dynamics NAV have been slowly making the transition to Dynamics 365 Business Central, but the move to the cloud has ramped up with the announcement of an available pathway to migrate data within the spring 2019 release. As more NAV users are transitioning, an even larger number of users are asking if it’s worth it to transition to Business Central.

There are five main areas of focus to take into consideration when researching the upgrade from Dynamics NAV to Dynamics 365 Business Central.

1. Microsoft Cloud

Data security is top-of-mind for most IT professionals. The Microsoft Cloud is synonymous with security and stability. With over 3,500 cyber-security professionals on staff, Microsoft is an industry leader when it comes to protecting, detecting, and responding to cyber threats. With so many IT experts in your corner, your IT staff can become more productive without having to worry about managing servers and ever-changing security regulations.

2. Cost

While Dynamics 365 isn’t necessarily less expensive than Dynamics NAV on-premise, it does give you a better understanding of your monthly costs, allowing your team to budget and plan more effectively. Essentially, moving to the cloud is a financial shift that reallocates ERP spend from infrastructure, costly servers, and upgrades to licensing fees. In fact, transitioning from Dynamics NAV to Dynamics 365 is the final ‘upgrade’ you’ll ever have to pay for. Once you have implemented Dynamics 365, updates happen frequently, and at no cost, ensuring you’re always on the most recent version.

3. Modern Platform

Dynamics 365 Business Central features an intuitive look and feel that will help reduce training and ramp-up time for users because it’s easy to use and similar to other Microsoft solutions. Additionally, Business Central can be accessed anywhere, at any time - giving users the flexibility to work no matter where they are.

4. More Functionality and Apps

Business Central builds on the core functionality that was available in Dynamics NAV, introducing new features like focus mode, late payment prediction, fuzzy search, and many more. New apps and add-ons are being added to AppSource daily, further expanding the functionality of Business Central.

5. Business Insights

With Dynamics 365, businesses can easily embrace the benefits of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to become more efficient and reduce manual processes. Machine Learning can help with equipment monitoring, spam filtering, ad targeting, image detection, forecasting, and much more. Microsoft’s Power Platform, made up of Power BI, Flow, and Power Apps, gives you better data that is more accurate and timely to help you make better business decisions.

If you have questions about upgrading or are looking for more information, please reach out to us at Stoneridge Software.


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