29 Mar Dynamics 365 Business Central is the next step in the evolution of Dynamics NAV
In 2017, Microsoft announced that it was committed to the development of an ERP solution that would increase the potential of Dynamics NAV, offering SMBs more capabilities to benefit from integrated Microsoft tools and business apps. This March, Microsoft revealed its official name – Dynamics 365 Business Central.
A year of evolutionary changes
In the era of digital transformation, change and development are common phenomena that can be observed in all industries. In order to achieve success on the demanding, contemporary market, companies have to ensure that they have access to modern solutions, innovative technologies, flexible tools that support their business processes, enable them to collect complete and reliable data and fulfill customers’ requirements.
Evolution also encompasses advanced business solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics NAV. As we informed at the end of last year, Microsoft has decided to rebrand Microsoft Dynamics NAV, which will soon be included in a product family under a new brand name of Dynamics 365, which also includes Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. From now on, the business applications developed under a common name will be generating more benefits for users, owing to deeper integration and capabilities of such tools as Power BI or Microsoft Azure. The rebranding is aimed at standardizing Microsoft’s strategy, establishing a coherent and strong brand for business solutions.
The brand name of the Dynamics 365 Business Central was announced during the Directions ASIA conference held on March 15-16, 2018 in Bangkok.
How can existing Dynamics NAV users benefit from Dynamics 365 Business Central?
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is the successor to Microsoft Dynamics NAV, a state-of -the-art business solution that has been present on the market for over 30 years. The system supports the daily work of 2,700,000 users from 160,000 companies in almost 200 countries. This an end-to-end solution that empowers small and medium-sized enterprises to grow. It helps organizations to streamline their processes, improve their customer relationship and increase efficiency by means of:
- Automation and integration with Microsoft tools
The solution ensures higher efficiency due to task and process automation – integrated with well-known Office tools such as Outlook, Word, Excel.
- Improved analytics
Business Central is a performance lever, providing you with an insightful overview of your business and data with analytic tools integrated with the ERP system.
- Readiness for evolutionary changes
With its high degree of adaptability, the solution can meet the specific needs of organizations, helping them keep up with the pace of their growth. Its capabilities can be extended at any time depending on the changing business requirements.
Dynamics 365 Business Central will be available in two packages – Essentials and Premium.
Business Central Essentials offers functionalities from areas such as:
- Financial Management,
- Sales,
- Purchases,
- Warehouse Management,
- CRM
- Human Resources,
- Project Management.
In addition, Business Central Essentials offers functionalities from areas such as:
- Service,
- Manufacturing.
Your Business Central in the cloud and on-premises
Dynamics 365 Business Central will be available within the traditional (on-premises) and cloud (SaaS) models. Both models offer a complete functional capability and flexibility of Dynamics NAV.
Availability of Dynamics 365 Business Central
Dynamics 365 Business Central will be launched on April 2, 2018. Initially, the solution will be available in 14 countries including the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden and Finland. Starting from July 1, 2018, the solution will also be available on the Australian and New Zealand markets.
Microsoft has not announced the premier of the SaaS solution in Poland yet. However, for over 2 years now, a NAV 365 solution has already been offered to Polish customers. Basically, NAV 365 is Microsoft Dynamics NAV that can be deployed in the cloud with a set of functional enhancements, starting from NAV 365 Finance through NAV 365 Trade to NAV 365 Projects.
In Poland, Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018 will available in the second quarter of 2018.
The date of the premiere of Dynamics 365 Business Central in Poland is not known yet. Presently, NAV 2017 with Polish Functionality is the version available to customers in Poland. NAV 2018 will be launched in the second quarter of this year. With its functionality, it will meet all legal and accounting requirements of companies operating in Poland.
The 2018 version of Dynamics NAV introduces even deeper integration with other Microsoft tools, such as Dynamics 365, PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, Office 365 and Power BI. The system is a unique combination of solutions that streamline collaboration and communication with Business Intelligence tools.
In NAV 2018, the user can enjoy working comfortably and seamlessly with various tools. With improved UX and personalization capabilities, users can customize the system to their needs to be more effective and perform their tasks faster.
Moreover, the latest version ensures easy access to BI tools, which facilitates the user’s daily tasks. System users can act faster and make better decisions, all by benefitting from enhanced capabilities and deeper integration.
In addition, Dynamics NAV 2018 introduces a number of solutions that facilitate collaboration between ERP system users, increasing their efficiency and the effectiveness of their actions by automating processes and optimizing user tasks. Image Analyzer, User Tasks and Employee Leger Entries are new functionalities within NAV 2018.
Revolution or evolution?
It is definitely the case that Microsoft’s strategy does not imply revolution. The solution is a continuation of the One Microsoft concept, which means deeper integration between business solutions such as Microsoft Azure or Office 365. According to this concept, all products offered by Microsoft should be based on one common strategy. This common approach covers both the concept and sales processes. Products should complement one another, and as a result, create one well-thought-out entity offering a variety of diffusing functionalities and providing companies with modern tools that will stimulate their growth.
For customers, the possibility to choose between an ERP system deployed in the cloud and on-premise is a great asset. The strategy assumes the easier availability of ERP solutions, not only for big enterprises, but also smaller organizations with limited but clearly defined business needs.