Modern businesses are looking for a better data-driven answer to decide whether they should migrate NAV to Business Central or not. Such businesses want some factual or valid data to decide what’s good for their business or not. This blog will clear all your issues and guide you on the right path if you belong to such a business. 

You might agree with me when I say NAV is an amazing tool and should be implemented in all businesses to make business management easy. With over 125,000+ clients and more than 2,000,000 users around the globe, it is one of the most popular ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions developed by Microsoft and available worldwide for all kinds of industries.   

Being a popular tool in the market and organisations are still migrating to Business Central. Isn’t it a little weird? 

The answer is simple; modern businesses are evolving rapidly, and so are the ways of business management. A lot of features and capabilities of NAV or Microsoft Navision are becoming outdated and making businesses struggle with proper overall management. 

People are already started moving towards Microsoft Business Central to leverage the latest features and functionalities. Before discussing Business Central, let us get an overview of Microsoft NAV.  

NAV; Outdated yet Powerful Application? 

Microsoft Dynamics NAV (formerly Navision) is an ERP software built to ease the business management processes of small and medium-sized organisations.  

This powerful application can manage various departments, like finance, accounts, supply chain, inventory, customer relationships, and more. 

NAV allows users to host the servers on-premises, an outdated technology. We can see it in the current scenario because people are leveraging advanced technologies to move ahead of the competition.  

One such technology is cloud computing. Modern businesses want to access and operate the data 247, and it can only be possible with the cloud deployment of the servers. Also, organisations opt for cloud and hybrid deployments to access mixed technologies for better business management. 

This was the major drawback for NAV users as they became restricted in the ease of data access from anywhere and anytime. 

But in 2018, Microsoft upgraded the Dynamics NAV to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central with new and advanced capabilities to deal with the issues of modern organisations. This made the whole business automated and simplified using the technologies like AI and ML. 

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for Seamless Business Management 

Dynamics 365 Business Central is one of the best ERP tools available, allowing users to manage their business in real-time. It provides a centralized mode to operate all the processes and operations while supervising the task in real-time to make informed decisions whenever needed. 

Business Central allows the users to communicate, collaborate, and share the data using a single dashboard, making the data easily accessible for all, whether an executive or a higher authority. 

It is cloud-based software and flexible enough for users to add or customize it as per changing business needs. This feature makes this application suitable and ideal for all industries, like service, manufacturing, distribution, and other industries. 

Regarding scalability, no one is better than Business Central as it allows the organization to expand or decrease the parts of processes or operations based on changing requirements. 

The cloud deployment of the servers allows the users to add or update the processes in real time for high business profitability with low risks. 

Also, the cloud costs way less when compared with the on-premises deployment because users can access the cloud on a monthly basis, whereas organizations have to invest a lot of money and effort in setting up the servers on company premises.  

Why should you Migrate your NAV to Business Central? 

Suppose your business is expanding, and you want a simple yet powerful solution to manage the business utilising advanced technologies. In that case, you should migrate to Business Central. 

Currently, NAV isn’t an outdated solution, and some organisations still use it to deal with their business management processes. But you should ask yourself the right question: Is it compatible with changing business needs? 

No, it isn’t compatible because it lacks many features and benefits essential for today’s businesses. 

Even Microsoft has stopped launching new updates and features for NAV, making it a troublesome situation for current users. Also, Microsoft stopped providing customer support to resolve any security and functionality issues. Such NAV users have to rely totally on their NAV support partner to get the business back on track whenever they encounter any issues with the system. 

If you are a current user of NAV, you might be aware of the cumbersome process of updating the system that normally take days with a lot of resources to successfully install everything, and still, there may remain some errors.  

But, with the cloud deployment of Business Central, the organisation need not suffer as the updates will be installed automatically on release by Microsoft without hampering the current system or any of the organisation’s processes. Generally, Microsoft releases the updates in April and October every year. 

You might feel that migrating NAV to Business Central is hectic, requiring time, effort, and a lot of money. No, it isn’t as compared to NAV. 

If you calculate the long-term goal, you will enjoy the benefits of many future-ready features and capabilities. 

The Simple Process of Navision to Business Central Migration 

The process to migrate NAV to Business Central isn’t complex. However, you will need the right NAV migration partner, like Dynamics Square, to simplify the process. A step-by-step procedure will give you an overview of the process and the things a partner will need to migrate successfully to Business Central. 

Knowing the Requirements 

The first thing a NAV support partner or migration partner follow is to know and understand the business requirements. The partner will need accurate information about the current integrations and customizations and how they benefit the organization. Even the partner would ask about the growth to understand the future possibilities of customizations to ease the business process. 

Analyzing the current NAV 

After knowing the requirements, the business central implementation partner will analyze the current NAV system for its performance and adaptability. Various factors must be checked in this process, like: 

• Checking the version of NAV. 
• Evaluating the existing integrations. 
• Auditing the customizations. 
• Calculating the volume of data. 
• Measuring the amount of data to carry forward in the new system 

Migration to Business Central 

When the NAV migration partner is ready with the data for a successful migration to Business Central, the core process of moving data from the old system to the new system will start. In this process, the unusable data will be removed, and essential data will be moved to the new system, whether on-premises or cloud. 

Also, the partner will start to install the Business Central on new servers and later migrate the NAV configurations to it. 

Training of New System 

After the successful migration to Business Central, the partner will train the users with the new interface, features, and functionalities of Business Central. Although it has a simple user interface, users still need an overview of the whole application. 

Also, the NAV to Business Central migration partner will guide the users through the usage of integrations and customizations. 

How can Dynamics Square help you with Seamless Migration Process? 

Dynamics Square is one of the leading Microsoft Support Partners in the UK, providing seamless services to migrate NAV to Business Central for years. Being a Microsoft’s Gold Partner, Dynamics Square helps and understands the requirements of small and medium-sized industries to use the advanced technologies for rapid business growth. 

We have a team of 135+ Microsoft Certified Professionals serving 250+ clients to eliminate the growth restrictions using this technology-driven solution. 

For the last 11 years, we have been working for the organization to provide flawless support and help them grow in high competition. Our team of professionals has immense knowledge of resolving errors during smooth business management. 

Regarding NAV and Business Central, our team is experts in resolving issues, whether migrating, updating, or upgrading the system, irrespective of the industries they belong to. Whatever the issue you encounter with your system, we are here to resolve it with utmost support.  

Most asked FAQs 

How do I migrate from NAV 2016 to Business Central? 

The migration process for all NAV versions to Business Central is the same. You can book a call with Dynamics Square to help you get started with the process. 

What is the cost of NAV to Business Central Migration? 

The cost of migration differs from one organisation to another. Also, the cost depends on the requirements, customisations, and integrations. For an exact quotation, you can contact Dynamics Square. 

How much time will the migration take? 

Time depends on the data you want to move from your old system to the new system and the kind of customisations you need with Business Central. However, an executive of Dynamics Square can help you with the exact time and quotations.