Beyond Features, Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 Focused on Securing the Future, Leaders Say

Is Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 is the "greatest release ever"?

That was the opinion of Microsoft Dynamics NAV senior managers speaking at Convergence 2013 this week.

"We have infinite places to work from," Jesper Lachance Raebild, senior product marketing manager said during the event's Dynamics NAV general session. "We no longer have the Role Tailored client. That doesn't exist anymore. We have the Windows client, the SharePoint client, the Web client. We know have Microsoft Dynamics NAV on devices with a Web browsers. We support multiple browsers and, hence, multiple devices."

General manager Erik Tiden told the audience that although over the years Microsoft has invested primarily in new functionality for Dynamics NAV, a lot of the investment also went into "securing the future" - revamping the architecture of NAV and making NAV ready for partners' demands in a world where software in the cloud, software as a service (SaaS) becomes more important.

"We have taken NAV and we have done the architectural changes," Tiden said. "We've done the technology development so that NAV can continue into the future and be [partners'] platform for serving customers and end users."

The NAV team also pointed out "substantial" new functionality with Dynamics NAV 2013 such as the web client, improved integration with Excel, and improved personal BI within the user interface.

For example, "the charting capabilities turn into an end-user experience rather than a partner experience," Raebild said. "We see charts helping end users to be more productive. They can go in and make their own charts to figure out what their impact is by doing their daily work."

Tiden said Microsoft is also invested in hosting. Dynamics NAV can now be run ...