Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 Released

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 ships today, having reached Release To Manufacturing (RTM), according to a post by Max Beuker on Microsoft's Dutch Partner Technology Advisors Blog.  The download is available via PartnerSource.

The RTM announcement comes after the release candidate build that was announced earlier this month.  The RC1 release included all the performance and architectural improvements that the NAV R&D and product management teams have been discussing for well over a year now.  Things like performance and architectural imporvements for transactions and reporting, Azure optimization, a new admin console, more APIs, and compliance with the Microsoft Common Engineering Criteria.

The first publicly announced live customer on NAV 2013 came in June when Sikich announced that SagePath Medical, an early-stage phramaceutical sales support firm, went live with a partner-hosted deployment.  Around the same time, Dynamics NAV product managers were predicting a release date in September or October.

Dynamics NAV 2013 also marks the full departure from the classic client of older versions of NAV, ensuring future use of the role-tailored client (RTC) and RDLC reports.   Upgrading legacy reports to RDLC can be an expensive proposition.  As MVP Vjeko Babic noted earlier this year, the NAV 2013 release opens up a new world of possibilities for making Microsoft Excel the central reporting and analytics a viable option.  With its ubiquity, ease of use, flexibility, and advances in terms of consuming OData and processing ...