The Business Case For Your Business Central Upgrade

1. ‘We need to upgrade to improve our system performance’

Some Partners encourage Dynamics NAV customers to believe that that if their system performance is poor in NAV, upgrading will improve it. Yes, implementing Dynamics 365 Business Central will no doubt improve the performance of the system.

This improvement will reflect performance improvements that have been made in the product and the fact that, in undertaking the upgrade, you will probably clear out some old, unwanted data. However, upgrading isn’t the only answer. There are many options that TNP can explore to speed it up.

OUR RECOMMENDATION
To improve your performance, we can look at the environment your system resides on, we can clear down data (see next reason below!), or we can analyse inefficient code in your system and optimise it.

In addition, we can transition your system to a more robust cloud server. This allows for additional resources to be made available at peak times, for a fraction of the cost of an upgrade. There is also the option of inspecting background posting and a range of other performance tools, which should be considered before an upgrade project.

2. ‘We need to upgrade because we want to clear down our old data’

Cleaning up your data is a benefit of upgrading – but not a reason to do it. If clearing unwanted data is the only issue you need to solve, it’s possible to manage this in your existing system by carrying out a data removal exercise.

OUR RECOMMENDATION

Whilst not all data can be easily reduced, a very large amount of data can be extracted with minimal effort. TNP have significant experience in reducing the size of customers’ databases, without upgrading the solution at all.

3. ‘We need to upgrade because we’ve been told we have to’

Lots of other Partners tell their customers that their Dynamics NAV version is out of support with Microsoft and that they must upgrade. This is not true.

OUR RECOMMENDATION

Neither Microsoft nor TNP will force you to upgrade. Being out of support with Microsoft means that no additional patches and fixes will be applied, but TNP will continue to support your version forever.

We have some customers currently using Navision 1.2 who are perfectly happy with their system and we’re perfectly happy to support them. The decision to upgrade should be driven by the benefit to your business, not pressure from a mischievous Partner.

It is important to note that should Microsoft change Windows in a way that prevents very old versions of NAV from running, it may become increasingly difficult to provide workarounds for your support. Until then, with TNP, you’re all good.

4. ‘We need to upgrade because we must have mobile access’

Business Central is a web-based application and offers a native phone and tablet client. This offers lots of advantages in terms of making information from within your business system securely available from your phone or other device.

OUR RECOMMENDATION
Mobile access certainly is a benefit of upgrading to Dynamics 365 Business Central. If mobile access for service engineers, sales team, or your warehouse is the specific driver then you might want to look at a third-party app such as MobileNAV, Anveo or use of a Power App.

These applications extend the use of your solution to mobile devices. Some of these apps have extra customisation features and have offline mode, which may make it even more suitable than the standard Business Central application for certain mobile users.

5. ‘We need to upgrade to support changes within our business’

Dynamics 365 Business Central is beautiful. We’d be happy to help you better understand which new features will benefit your business but upgrading should not be the default strategy.

OUR RECOMMENDATION

Given a detailed understanding of the changes you need to make within your business you and we will be able to assess:

1. 1. 1. Whether the cost of adding a feature or two into your existing system will be much less than a full upgrade
      2. Whether the work required is such that it doesn’t make sense to make that investment in an older version of the product.

We are very enthusiastic about Dynamics 365 Business Central and the benefits to Dynamics NAV customers. That said we believe that the business case should be really solid. If it relies on one of the myths described above – it may not be good enough.

As with any major business decision, there are many unique factors that come into play when looking at the situation for your organisation. Whatever your circumstances, TNP are always available for a conversation and will happily offer advice.