Background
Dynamics 365 Business Central
In 1984, three young entrepreneurs in Denmark released the precursor application to Navision (which would later become Dynamics NAV) under the name PC&C (Personal Computing and Consulting). In 1987, the developers released Navigator 1.00, which took PC&C’s single-user application and turned it into a client/server-based accounting program which allowed multi-user access. The first version of Navision for Windows was released in 1993.
In 2000, Navision Software merged with Danish firm Damgaard, making it a 1000+ employee company with partners in 25 (primarily European) countries. A mere 2 years later, Microsoft acquired Navision and brought it under the Microsoft Business Solutions umbrella managed by Doug Burgum. Microsoft rebranded Navision (along with Microsoft CRM, Great Plains, Axapta, and Solomon) in 2005 as Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
Dynamics 365 Business Central was released in April 2018 as an “all-in-one business management solution.“ Built on the functionality, code, and development experience of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Business Central is a native-cloud solution that delivers a modern, browser-based ERP experience. Designed to integrate directly with Office 365, Business Central features extensive customizability and extendibility options via PowerApps, Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow), and Power BI. Learn more about integrating Business Central →
SAP Business ByDesign
Business ByDesign, SAP’s ERP solution for midsized businesses, was announced in September of 2007 and was said by then CEO Henning Kagermann to be the most important announcement of his career. Aimed at companies between 100 and 500 employees in size, the product was initially launched in Germany and the United States but expanded soon after. SAP executives pledged to invest $400-$550 million to introduce, market, and continue enhancing the system. Business ByDesign has been reported to be in use by 450+ companies with an average size of 50-200 employees, a user count lower than most of SAP’s other product offerings.
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Licensing: $70/user/month. Additional add-ons available.
Billing Frequency: Monthly
Implementation: Financial Accounting Implementations begin at $19,995 USD. Manufacturing implementations, because they are more complex, begin at $30,995 USD.
Other Considerations:
Dynamics 365 Business Central contracts are managed through Microsoft Partners. Business Central licenses can be added removed on a monthly basis limiting cost of a changing business. All major updates are applied automatically by Microsoft at no additional cost to the end user.
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Common Pros: Advanced financial management functionality, user friendly, integration with Office 365, affordable, cloud-based
Common Cons: Occasional glitches, lacks CRM capabilities on its own.
Dynamics 365 Business Central provides a robust financial management application that is easily scalable. End users will find the cloud-based web application easy to use and enjoy the comprehensive integration with Office 365.
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Dynamics 365 Business Central 30 day free trials are available. A free trial includes access to a Dynamics 365 Business Central trial account loaded sample data (you have the option to import your own). The free trial also allows you to invite other users from your organization to test for the duration of the trial.
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Microsoft releases two major updates to Dynamics 365 Business Central per year—in April and October. These updates will include new capabilities, performance improvements, and better support experiences. All releases are automatically updated however, any major changes to the user experience will be turned off automatically giving administrators time to test and enable these features as they see fit.
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A major strength of Business Central is its flexibility and ability to integrate with Microsoft and other 3rd party applications. This is done by creating custom apps, installing 3rd party apps from Microsoft AppSource, or working with 3rd party services. Business Central is built to maximize customization, so the majority of app development requires little to no coding.
In addition to the wide range of apps that extend the functionality of Business Central, much can be done to personalize and enhance the interface each user will have. Using the Designer, users can easily drag-and-drop fact boxes, data fields, tables and grids, and other data that was previously hidden. Beyond basic changes, complex enhancements can be made to the UI using Visual Studio.
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Licensing: Business ByDesign has a base cost of $1704/month that includes 5 enterprise users, but because SAP requires a 20 user minimum, the real price will be around $3969/month for 20 enterprise-level users, the most comparable license to standard Business Central users.
Billing Frequency: Monthly
Implementation: Varies depending on the SAP Partner implementing the solution.
Other Considerations:
The implementation of Business ByDesign is estimated as a 8-12 week process with some organizations reporting an implementation cost of around $11,000 USD for a moderately complex environment. Implementations are done through SAP partners so costs will vary. Many add-on apps carry an associated cost, but SAP aims to provide transparent pricing.
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Common Pros: Highly customizable, good support and training materials, scalable, easy to manage employees and security.
Common Cons: Very basic without add-ons, costly, overly complex at times, implementation requirements, not user friendly.
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SAP offers a free 30-day trial of Business ByDesign. A free trial includes finance, sales, and project management modules, as well as role-based views, and access to digital resources upon registering for a trial.
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Business ByDesign receives one significant update per quarter addressing key capabilities, legal compliance and localization, user experience, analytics, and integrations.
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Business ByDesign is similar to Business Central in that it was made to allow for a large amount of modifications and extensions in personal workspaces. Forms, reports, and fields can be modified by all users by adding or removing what’s there. Users can also use Adaptation mode to create custom sections, edit the theme, branding, and overall feel. The ByDesign Studio allows for more advanced customizations like implementing business logics.
Business ByDesign comes with both prepackaged and enabled integrations to 70 different apps, services, and tools in business areas like collaboration, logistics, sales, and more. Prepackaged integrators simply need to be activated by users, while enabled integrations will usually require some amount of building or implementing. Among the 70, there are connections with Microsoft Office, payroll software, electronic banking services, and more.