Licensing Model Changes for Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013, Part 2: Charting Microsoft's ERP Goals

In part one of this article we looked at some of the key details and differences between the new Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 licensing model and the previous one.  Given Microsoft's stated goal of simplicity and an attempt to be more competitive in the SME arena of ERP, some of the details may leave partners and customers with more questions than before.  Let's dive in a little deeper to see where we might find the real winners and losers in the new model.

When prices according to new and old licensing models are analyzed in parallel, the Business Essentials license, which was still somewhat expensive for small business, becomes even more expensive for any companies with only one or two seats. Those companies almost never purchased NAV, and it seems that Microsoft is not interested in motivating them to purchase NAV in the future either. If you only need the Starter Pack, and you are a company with 3 to 5 seats, then NAV is going to be cheaper. NAV is prohibitively expensive if you have only one user, it is slightly more expensive for two users, and starting with 6 users, NAV becomes increasingly more expensive as compared to previous versions. At 15 users, and without the Extended Pack, NAV is 26% more expensive than a comparable 15-user Business Essentials license.

On another hand, Microsoft gives companies very strong motivation to purchase the Extended Pack. Its flat fee completely redraws the price curve, so depending on how much Advanced Management functionality you needed in the past, and how many additional users you had, you can expect very convincing savings. For example, a company that uses simple warehouse management with modest customizations, depending on the number of users, saves up to 30% ...