Microsoft Dynamics NAV is now Dynamics 365 Business Central
Undoubtedly, Dynamics 365 Business Central has marked a great milestone in the history of Microsoft business management applications because, for the first time, there is the same solution, with the same development code (A/L), available to be licensed on a proprietary or subscription basis, and installable both locally (onpremise), in a private cloud (Azure) or deployed in SaaS mode.
Dynamics 365 Business Central was born with the heritage of more than 30 years of Microsoft Dynamics NAV history, an ERP available in 42 countries backed by a network of technology partners (3,500 partners) specialized in different industries and sectors of activity and the trust of 160,000 customers all over the world .
Dynamics 365 Business Central is the successor version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018 . It incorporates news every 6 months (technical, functional, integrations…) and allows the client to decide how they want to pay (purchase of software or subscription to a service) and where to host their data, in the cloud or locally.
Why has Microsoft Dynamics NAV become Dynamics 365 Business Central?
Our extensive experience as Dynamics ERP partners leads us to see a very clear Microsoft commitment to its customers that is reinforced in a strategy aimed at :
- Offer Microsoft Dynamics NAV customers a secure horizon in which to trust their business management software that is accessible, securely, from mobile devices and web browser . A wide range of possibilities are opened to them to update their ERP Microsoft Dynamics NAV in on-premise and cloud scenarios , with an increasing capacity for integration with other applications of the Dynamics 365 suite (Sales, Service, Marketing, Project Services…) and Office 365.
- Bring new clients a technological proposal that breaks the barriers that have traditionally existed between ERP and CRM solutions; promote business collaboration and simplify analysis and decision-making processes by naturally integrating with Business Intelligence (BI), office automation – productivity – communications tools; and artificial intelligence (AI) in the most advanced cases.
- Offer a modern, intelligent and connected solution with high technological value, with a clear annual update plan (spring and autumn) that helps each company to develop its digital transformation strategy.
Evolution of versions of Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Versions 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Many times we receive inquiries from our customers about what , and how , their Microsoft Dynamics NAV ERP has evolved since their last update.
It is difficult to expose these improvements in an agile way, without falling into technicalities or referring to extensive news guides. For this reason, we have thought it convenient to bring together the highlights of the last four versions of Microsoft Dynamics NAV (2015 – 2016 – 2017 – 2018).
Know in detail the improvements of each version
What’s new in Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018
The innovation presented in this version of Microsoft’s ERP for small and medium-sized companies is based on its roadmap on 3 main pillars:
1. Application improvements: new functional capabilities.
If the 2017 version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV incorporated interesting novelties in the financial field, in product management, in project administration, in the reorganization of the CRM module or in the incorporation of new web services, the new edition (2018) brings advances
in terms of:
– Task management. This functionality allows you to create tasks as reminders associated with jobs. They can be for oneself (their author) or to be assigned to another co-worker.
– New type of entries (employees) in the general journal. In the general journal there is a new type of account and a new type of balance sheet account called “employee”. Allows you to generate a new employee movement table by registering associated accounting payments.
– Optical Character Recognition (OCR) . Vendor synchronization (name, address, VAT, telephone number, account number) with Lexmark ICS to improve processes with digitized purchase invoices.
–New reports integrated into Dynamics NAV lists built on Power BI . The associated Power BI charts are incorporated into the most relevant lists of Microsoft Dynamics NAV (eg clients). The functionality allows you to not only view selected Power BI reports but also interact with and filter chart information based on selected records in the associated list.
Improvements in the web client:
– Customization of workspaces . Allows you to customize workspaces directly from the browser (Microsoft Dynamics NAV web client). Among other options it is possible to move or hide fields; freeze columns so they are always visible; change company without having to refresh…
– New report viewer . Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018 allows preview in all supported browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, Explorer), navigation (with keyboard and mouse) and download.
Assisted configuration . The initial start-up of Microsoft Dynamics NAV is simplified with an automated configuration screen of its key elements (company information, countries and regions, currencies, languages, serial numbers, postal codes…) and its connectivity with other management tools and productivity (synchronization with Dynamics 365 Sales and Office 365).
Image Analyzer . It is a connection with the cognitive services (artificial intelligence) of Azure that allow to detect attributes (eg color, shape, age, gender) in the images and add them to their corresponding product or contact (person) files indicating details and degree trustworthy
Other improvements :
. Cancel or correct invoices related to work.
. Improvements in the configuration and notifications of records.
. Batch records of orders, invoices and payments.
. Global currency exchange enhancements.
. Intrastat reporting improvements.
2. Greater integration with other technologies in the Microsoft ecosystem :
Dynamics 365 Sales (CRM Online) Important improvements in the bilateral and transparent (background) synchronization of the two applications (NAV and Dynamics 365 Sales), including sales orders, item availability, units of measure and currencies. Vendor synchronization and automatic creation in NAV of orders from CRM.
Office365 . New pre-configured Excel reports available on the ribbon: balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, withholding statement report, balance of sums and balances, aging of collections and payments.
Microsoft Flow – Allows users to automate tasks within the context of Dynamics NAV
3. Technical News (for partners)
– New development environment ( Visual Studio Code ).
– Extensions 2.0.
What’s new in Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017?
An increasing integration with Office 365 tools (mainly in the field of email, calendars, Excel and Power BI Service) and Dynamics 365 Sales stands out.
Improvements in product capabilities (functionalities) . Specifically, the most relevant improvements in Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017 are:
– Smart notifications . They will help us speed up the work through contextualized, interactive and customizable notices.
– Integration with PowerBI . Dynamics NAV 2017 adds the ability to embed charts and gauges from PowerBI. With this, it is possible to have the business intelligence data within the ERP, thus gaining agility in the decision-making processes.
– New customizable email templates for each client , applicable to different documents (offers, confirmation orders, invoices, payment, client statements and job offers).
– Improvements in incoming documents (OCR). Document filtering has been optimized for easy searches and scanning of document lines has been incorporated.
– Significant improvements in purchase and sale documents . Invoices and sales documents can be edited with Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2017. Users can correct and cancel purchase and sales invoices that are archived in the historical files, as well as create corrective credit memos from them.
– News in product management ; specifically, the possibility of working with attributes (eg material, width, height, color…) and categories (hierarchies), which help filter information in an agile and visual way.
– New account categories appear for the chart of accounts . In addition to the categories, subcategories have been introduced in the account book. New simplified reports have been created that help make business decisions more agile.
– Improvements have been introduced in the reconciliation of payments . It is now possible to simultaneously settle entries from customers, suppliers and banks. In addition, the display of entries pending settlement has been optimized.
– Integration with Paypal payment services . By configuring this extension in Dynamics NAV, when creating an invoice, the system will incorporate a link, accompanied by the Paypal logo, so that the customer can, if they wish, carry out the transaction through said payment method, without the need to to leave the received document or manually enter the information in Paypal.
– New center role for project management and improvements in the functionality of the module. A new role of “Project Manager” and a project creation assistant from previous projects are offered. Likewise, the possibility of preparing “project offers” is included and simplified access to billing information and direct costs is provided. Billing processes and calculation of work in progress are streamlined. Likewise, from Outlook, we can have the appointments linked to a specific project.
– The CRM module of Microsoft Dynamics NAV has also been revised in this version. On the one hand, we find a new role center, designed to simplify the management of contacts, opportunities and offer visual information through graphics. This role center is available for the desktop, web, tablet and Smartphone client.
– Technical news . New prediction and development capabilities, thanks to Extensions, Cortana Intelligence, e-everything, Microsoft Flow and PowerApps.
