Dynamics 365 Business Central is Microsoft’s champion for mid-market business management solutions. Business Central was built around the foundation of Dynamics NAV and brings business processes together into a single, easy-to-use interface. Better yet, as part of the Dynamics 365 platform, Business Central is easily connected to other Dynamics 365 applications such as Marketing and Sales to fully synchronize a business’ functionality.

For companies currently using other Microsoft solutions such as Dynamics GP or Dynamics NAV, an upgrade to Business Central would provide many benefits from both an operational and cost standpoint.

Upgrading from GP to Business Central

Dynamics GP is a tried-and-true ERP solution from Microsoft and will continue to be for the next few years. Business Central accomplishes the same goals for the same target audience as GP, but does so faster and in a more modern interface. Common hang-ups in GP like interrupted batches and Check links do not exist within Business Central. Because Business Central’s data is processed fully online, transactions can be integrated automatically into the ledger without the need for batch processing and Series Post as seen in GP. Similarly, mass record updates are made easier by Business Central’s ability to edit data in Excel.

A principal difference, and a large deciding factor for companies is cost. One licensing option for Business Central is Software as a Service (SaaS). With SaaS, companies pay purely per user per month for an environment of Business Central that is deployed on Microsoft’s cloud. This per month cost is less expensive than even hosting a private environment on Azure. Syvantis offers Dynamics GP hosted on Azure for $179 per user per month at its lowest with subscription licensing, while a Business Central SaaS license is $70 per user per month.

Where this becomes even more cost-effective is when companies are currently hosting their Dynamics GP on-premises. Cloud hosting removes all cost related to server maintenance and updates. Software and server updates on Business Central are applied automatically without the business needing to worry.

For those not quite ready to make the full jump to Business Central, it is highly recommended to upgrade to at least Dynamics GP 2018R2 as this give access to the Intelligent Cloud. With the Intelligent Cloud, the eventual data migration to Business Central will be significantly easier.

Upgrading from NAV to Business Central

Business Central was built on the foundation of Dynamics NAV. NAV will not be seeing any future releases as it is now within the Business Central umbrella, but, for now, it will still function the same as always.  

However, for companies looking to get more out of their ERP system, the upgrade to Business Central is a great choice. Business Central provides the same functionality of NAV and then some. Plus, it is very customizable with its ever-increasing stock of add-ins. Business Central’s integration with other Microsoft products such as the Dynamics 365 platform is much tighter than NAV and avoids a lot of the bottlenecks.

Similar to the comparison with GP, Business Central has more diverse pricing and hosting options than NAV. At its lowest with subscription licensing, Syvantis offers Dynamics NAV on Azure for $199 per user per month. The $70 SaaS option for Business Central dramatically lowers the cost of ownership when compared to Dynamics NAV’s traditional licensing.

Not ready to upgrade?

If your organization is not ready to make the switch to a new ERP system, there are options available that save money now and make the eventual move to Business Central easier. Migrating your existing Dynamics GP or Dynamics NAV system to Azure is a great solution to replace an aging server or cut back on system maintenance without upheaving your current system. Check out our resources for migrating Dynamics GP and Dynamics NAV to the Azure cloud.

Dynamics 365 Business Central firmly stands out as a mid-market ERP solution that gives businesses an incredible range of functionality at a much lower cost than its predecessors. Its interface is made easier to use, and it functions seamlessly with other Microsoft business applications and a multitude of add-ins and customizations.

With SaaS subscription plans, maintenance and upgrade costs are a thing of the past. Our pricing calculator is a great tool to build an estimate for the costs associated with upgrading to Business Central or hosting Dynamics GP or NAV on the Azure cloud.

Get started

If you are interested in seeing how your company can make the upgrade to Business Central, schedule a call with our Business Central team to go through your questions and provide recommendations for a plan to move forward with Business Central.