Terrible ‘Toos’: The Biggest Misconceptions of Upgrading Dynamics NAV to Dynamics 365 Business Central

July 15, 2020 Allie

Terrible ‘Toos’: The Biggest Misconceptions of Upgrading Dynamics NAV to Dynamics 365 Business Central

Ever since the Microsoft Dynamics family of products was first introduced, it’s been in a constant state of reinvention and innovation. The latest iteration is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, its predecessor being Dynamics NAV which was branded Navision when Microsoft acquired it in 2002. BC/NAV/Navision has proven to be Microsoft’s most popular version of ERP with more than 110,000 companies using it worldwide.

 

Content with its capabilities and familiar with its interfaces, many business owners are reluctant to upgrade to Business Central, given the time and labor-intensive nature of implementation and data migration. In other words, the doubters wonder whether the advantages of Business Central are so significant as to make the effort worthwhile.

 

As a proud Microsoft partner for over 20 years, we at The TM Group have heard many reasons for why companies are hesitant to upgrade Dynamics NAV to Business Central. More often than not, their rationales might better be described as “irrationales.”

 

Here are a few of them, along with an explanation as to why they’re off-base:

 

  1. My current Dynamics NAV is too customized to start over

The beauty of Microsoft Dynamics products is it’s fully scalable and customizable. Whether your company has well over 1,000 employees or no staff whatsoever, NAV is an enterprise resource planning software that molds to the size and needs of your company, regardless of your industry. In fact, tailoring Dynamics to a customer’s specific business processes is what we do at The TM Group.

 

But just because you can program NAV to the one-of-a-kind needs of your firm does not mean you’re stuck with that framework in perpetuity. In fact, many of our customers have determined that many legacy customizations are actually not needed anymore because the business processes have changed or the functionality is now included in the Dynamics 365 Business Central system. The TM Group can help you with the process of evaluating if upgrading NAV and it’s legacy customizations or starting fresh makes the most business sense by getting an understanding of your needs during an Implementation Planning Study, which allows us to determine what data to transfer to Business Central and the best project approach.

 

  1. My database is too big
    This is one that we get quite a bit, especially from customers that have used NAV for many years. As time marches on and businesses grow and evolve, data proliferates. The idea of transferring it all upon an upgrade to a new ERP can seem like a significant feat. According to estimates from IDG, more than half of the data the average organization in the U.S. uses derives from internal processes. When combined with external data, the typical firm manages over 163 terabytes of data.

 

Since Microsoft Dynamics 365 is cloud-based, there really is no such thing as too much data to transfer. There may be instances where the data you’re currently storing is no longer necessary. The TM Group can help you determine what information is no longer necessary, duplicative or superfluous, thus making the integration process faster and more cost-efficient.

 

  1. The Dynamics NAV version I have is too old

Depending on when you began using or switching to Microsoft Dynamics NAV, you know that the solution has been through several renditions over time. In fact, prior to its most recent update to Business Central, there were at least 18, tracing all the way back to Navision Financials 1.00.

 

It’s highly unlikely you have the original, given it came out more than 25 years ago, but even if you have something as legacy as NAV 3.60, it isn’t too old to upgrade or transition to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. NAV 3.60 debuted in 2002, which by consumer technology standards, qualifies as ancient.

 

  1. Upgrading NAV to Business Central costs too much

Among the most appealing aspects to ERP technology is that it provides a lot of flexibility in terms of how you manage and maintain insight into your company’s ongoing affairs. The cost structure works the same way. In other words, the extent to which you’d like to customize your solution can help you decide which plan to choose. For example, the Dynamics 365 Business Central Essentials package’s regular retail price is $70 per user per month, Dynamics 365 Business Central Premium is $100 per user per month and Business Central Team Members is just $8 per user per month. However, those Microsoft Dynamics NAV customers that have kept current on their software’s enhancement program can actually currently get up to 60% discount on the subscription cost for the Business Central cloud version.

 

In short, D365BC is designed to work for every business and every budget.

 

  1. Doing an upgrade will take too long
    What qualifies time as “too much” or “too little” is really all in the eyes of the beholder. If your current management processes aren’t working, the time you invest in fixing them through Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is well worth it, no matter how long it lasts.

 

By working with us at The TM Group to handle the migration, you may be surprised by how quickly we can do the transition. It’s impossible to say how long it will take, but we can guarantee it will be done much faster than by going it alone. Plus, you must think of the long game. Because you can access all of your data from wherever you are via the cloud through Business Central, you have more freedom of movement and can get more work by accessing data from anywhere. With NAV implemented on premise, you’re confined to wherever your servers are located.

 

There’s no time like the present to make the upgrade. Let us do the work for you. Please contact The TM Group today to get started.

 

Sources

https://cloudrelia.com/5-misconceptions-about-a-dynamics-nav-business-central-upgrade/ (client-provided)

https://simplanova.com/blog/top-5-microsoft-dynamics-nav-upgrade-myths/

 

 

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