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Designed for the Dynamics NAV end user, our 30-minute webinar will help you compare NAV to Dynamics 365 Business Central from a functionality perspective. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) app from Microsoft.The product is part of the Microsoft Dynamics family, and intended to assist with finance, manufacturing, customer relationship management, supply chains, analytics and electronic commerce for small and medium-sized companies and local subsidiaries of large international groups. Dynamics NAV is now Dynamics 365 Business Central Get the same rich functionality as Dynamics NAV, with full flexibility to deploy in the cloud or on-premises with Business Central, a comprehensive business management solution designed for small to medium-sized businesses. Dynamics NAV is now Dynamics 365 Business Central Get the same rich functionality as Dynamics NAV, with full flexibility to deploy in the cloud or on-premises with Business Central, a comprehensive business management solution designed for small to medium-sized businesses. Learn more about Business Central.

Microsoft launched Dynamics 365 Business Central in late 2018. At first glance, Business Central looks like a brand-new product, but it’s not – Dynamics 365 Business Central is the evolution of Microsoft’s popular ERP solution for SMEs: Dynamics NAV.

Technology moves quickly in a cloud-first world, and it can be tough to keep up with Microsoft’s frequent shuffling of brands, products, and features – particularly when it’s not clear what the real changes are behind a re-brand.

In this article, we’ve outlined what’s stayed the same in Dynamics NAV, where the key changes are as Dynamics NAV becomes Dynamics 365 Business Central, and how that impacts current users of Dynamics NAV.

A re-brand of the familiar core product

First, a bit of reassurance. Companies that depend on Dynamics NAV for critical business functions can be safe in the knowledge that, at its core, Business Central does what Dynamics NAV does.

Dynamics 365 Business Central is still the strong ERP solution that small and medium-sized businesses in a variety of sectors have grown to love. And yes, you can still deploy it on-premise if you prefer to do so.

It is common for tech companies to re-brand a product as it evolves, and that is what happened with Dynamics Business Central. In fact, in the long history of the Navision product, Business Central counts as the 3rd major rebrand since the original’s 1987 release.

Business Central is essentially version 13 of Dynamics NAV – the follow-up to Dynamics NAV 2018 R2, which was version 12.

However, the step from version 12 to 13 is a relatively large leap bringing several changes to the way Dynamics NAV is deployed. So, while the rebrand does not mean the product you rely on is going away, it may mean that you need to think a little differently about your Dynamics NAV deployment once you upgrade to Business Central.

So, what changed?

While we’re talking evolution rather than revolution, it’s worth understanding that a few key aspects of the NAV solution now look or work a bit differently. Deployment options have also changed and, no surprise here, so has licensing.

First, let’s take a look at the key changes in the UI and the functionality as Dynamics NAV switches to Business Central:

· Modern, web-based UI. The most visible part of the shift to Business Central is the slick new web-based interface. Business Central drops the desktop apps of Dynamics NAV. Via the slick new web interface users enjoy a clearer presentation of more personalised information including better dashboarding and use of graphs. It’s the UI familiar to many existing Dynamics 365 users.

· AL coding. In the past, customisation of a Dynamics NAV implementation was made integral to the core and written in the C/AL language. It made upgrades a big chore as modifications to core code had to be unpicked. Now, Business Central uses the AL language. Customisation comes in the shape of extensions – not alterations to the platform core. In theory, the upgrade process should be easier.

· Better integration. When hosted in the cloud, Business Central should offer better integration with other Microsoft solutions – Dynamics 365 CRM, for example. Tools like Microsoft’s Common Data Service have the potential to break down data silos, making it much easier to obtain a single version of the truth. You also get access to advanced analytics via Power BI and access to Azure’s AI prowess.

If you’re happy with the way your Dynamics NAV solution is running then, UI aside, not that much is changing. However, it’s worth keeping an eye on the future and getting to grips with the benefits that improved integration with Azure, Common Data Services and Power BI means for your business.

Changes to the way Business Central is deployed

In shifting from Dynamics NAV to Dynamics 365 Business Central you need to be aware of the UI changes and how customisation is now accomplished via extensions. However, even if you’re deploying an unmodified version of Business Central, you should still watch out for a few changes that affect the deployment of your ERP:

· Cloud hosting. You can now choose to run your entire NAV solution as a SaaS, cloud-first instance that’s hosted in Microsoft Azure. It offers the full functionality you’re used to alongside the flexibility of cloud-hosted solutions. The on-premise option remains if on-premise is your preferred mode of deployment, but you may miss out on close integration with cutting-edge Dynamics and Azure services.

· Upgrades. Business Central adopts a bi-annual release cadence with two significant upgrades every six months. If your Business Central solution is deployed in the cloud you’ll automatically be upgraded, but you do have the option to delay your upgrade for 90 days. Microsoft also offers a handy notification window during which you can easily set up a sandboxed environment to test the new version.

· Licensing. SaaS solutions are typically priced on a subscription basis, and that is the case with Business Central if deployed in the cloud. This can signal a major change in budgeting processes compared to perpetual licenses. In another shift, Business Central also moves away from licensing that is based on concurrent users to a new model based on the actual number of employees that use Business Central.

You’ll notice the impact of the above changes in the Business Central deployment model as soon as you upgrade from your Dynamics NAV solution – starting with Microsoft’s mapping of concurrent licenses to licenses tied to Named Users.

What’s the next step for your Dynamics NAV solution?

Dynamics NAV is now closed off to new customers – if you’re looking to deploy Microsoft’s ERP solution for SMBs you’ll automatically be redirected to Dynamics 365 Business Central.

For existing Dynamics NAV users, it’s clear that many aspects of NAV have been tweaked or changed in the evolution of Business Central. But, at its core, Business Central is the same product – with the same capable ERP functionality addressed at the same SMB audience.

Nonetheless, in the medium to long term, most users of Dynamics NAV will need to take some action to adopt Business Central. Your version of Dynamics NAV will eventually enter Extended Support and, at some point, no longer receive updates.

Depending on how you currently deploy your NAV solution and, of course, which version of NAV you’re on, you may find that upgrading to Business Central is seamless. Other implementations of NAV will require a bit more work to upgrade. Later in this series, we’ll publish a guide to upgrading from Dynamics NAV to Dynamics Business Central.

There are several obvious business risks to an out-of-support version of NAV. But we suggest that companies make an effort to stay up to date with the shift to Business Central anyway. The newer edition of Dynamics NAV brings significant benefits in terms of practical AI, analytics, and business processes.

Ready to take the leap to Microsoft’s next-gen ERP? Get in touch with Acora to see what you need to do to upgrade – or how your existing business processes can benefit from ERP.

Syntax

Description

Use the New-NAVServerUser cmdlet to create a new Business Central user.Anonymous accounts such as S-1-1-0 (Everyone) and S-1-5-7 (Anonymous) are not allowed.

Examples

EXAMPLE 1

This example creates a new Business Central user based on the built-in NT AUTHORITYNETWORK SERVICE account in Windows.

EXAMPLE 2

This example creates a new Business Central user based on a Windows user account that has the user name Chris from the domain Cronus.

EXAMPLE 3

This example creates a new Business Central user that has the user name Chris and a password that is entered as a secure string (****).

EXAMPLE 4

This example creates a new Business Central user that has the user name Chris and password Password1234.

EXAMPLE 5

This example creates a new Business Central user that has the user name Chris and a web services access key for logging on to Business Central.The web services acces key expires on 01-01-2014.

Parameters

Identifies the application this user represents.This requires that the application is registered in Azure Active Directory.The application is identified by its 'client id' in Azure Active Directory.

Specifies the Microsoft account that this user uses to access Office 365 and SharePoint.The authentication email address must be the Microsoft account that the users log in to Office 365 with, such as an account from Windows Azure Active Directory (AAD).

Specifies the authentication key for authentication with Windows Azure Access Control Service (ACS). This key must be at least 8 characters and contain combination of uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers. The authentication key is entered by the user the first time that the user logs on to Business Central.

Navision Business Central Development

Forces the user to change the password the next time that the user logs on.

Navision Business Central Versions

Specifies which of the Business Central companies will be used as the user�s default company in the clients. Be aware that if you set this parameter, you will not be able to remove the user later if desired. You will only be able to disable the user.

Business Central Vs Navision

Prompts you for confirmation before executing the command.

Specifies the contact email address for the Business Central user.

Creates a web services access key for the user. The web service access key is automatically generated. This parameter is relevant only when Business Central is configured to use either the NavUserPassword or AccessControlService credential type for authenticating users.The web service access key is used instead of a password to authenticate web service requests, such as SOAP and OData.

Specifies when the user's access to Business Central expires.

Forces the command to run without asking for user confirmation.

Specifies the user's full name.This is typically includes the user's first and last name.On the User card in Business Central, this value appears in the Full Name field.The value typically includes the user's first and last name.

Specifies which of the installed Business Central languages will be used as the user�s default language in the clients. Set the value to a valid language culture name, which typically has the format nn-NN, such as en-US or da-DK. Be aware that if you set this parameter, you will not be able to remove the user later if desired. You will only be able to disable the user.

Specifies the license type to assign the user.The parameter has the following values (you can use either the text value or the integer in parenthesis):

Full (0)

Limited (1)

DeviceOnly (2)

WindowsGroup (3) - Use this license type if the Business Central user is based on a Windows group in Active Directory. This user account cannot log on to Business Central.Instead, it is used to map the permission set to the individual Windows users in the Windows user group. You must apply the license type to the individual users in the Windows user group.

External (4)

Specifies a protected password for the Business Central user.The password is only used when the credential type for authenticating users who try to access Business Central is set to NavUserPassword.

Specifies the ID of the extension that defines the profile to assign the user. When assigning a profile from the System scope, don't use this parameter.

Specifies the ID of the profile to assign the user.

Specifies the name of a Business Central Server instance, for example, BC or myinstance.You can specify either the full name of an instance, such as MicrosoftDynamicsNavServer$myinstance or the short name such as myinstance.

Specifies the security identifier (SID) of the Windows user account for the user that you want to set up as a Business Central user. The SID is a unique value that identifies a Windows user account. You can use the Sid, UserName, or WindowsAccount parameters to create the user. If you use the Sid parameter, then you cannot set the UserName or WindowsAccount parameters.

Specifies the state of the user's account and access to Business Central.The parameters has the following values (you can use either the text value of the integer value in parenthesis:

Enabled (0)

Disabled (1)

Specifies the ID of the tenant of the Business Central Server instance on which to add the user. You can omit the Tenant parameter only if the Business Central Server instance is not configured to run multiple tenants.

Specifies the user name for the new Business Central user. The user name appears in the User Name field in a user's account in Business Central. You can use the UserName, WindowsAccount or Sid parameters to identify the user. If you use the Username parameter, then you cannot use the Windows Account or Sid parameters.

Specifies the date and time that the user's web services access key expires.

Describes what would happen if you executed the command without actually executing the command.

Specifies the Windows account user name of the user that you want to set up as a Business Central user. The value has the domainusername format. You can use the WindowsAccount, UserName, or Sid parameters to create the user. If you use the WindowsAccount parameter, then you cannot use the UserName or Sid parameters.

Dynamics Business Central Versions

Inputs

System.String

You can pipe a string that contains a Business Central Server instance name to the cmdlet.

Outputs

Business Central Navision Download

None

Notes

Because cmdlets do not execute application code, if there is any logic on application objects that are associated with creating or modifying users from the client, be aware that the logic will not be executed when you run the cmdlet.

Business Central On Premise

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