Summit 2017: Microsoft assures Dynamics NAV users of their place in roadmap to NAV 2018, Dynamics 365 Tenerife

For Dynamics NAV users, Microsoft's roadmap guidance at NAVUG Summit 2017 in Nashville was clear: NAV will continue to get yearly updates, and any customers who want to remain on-premises or hosted (non-SaaS) can do so. And customers can expect Dynamics 365 "Tenerife," when it arrives in 2018, to offer both a SaaS option and an on-prem roadmap that carryies on from NAV.

Naming of the Tenerife release is still undecided, according to Dynamics 365 R&D general manager Marko Perisic, who donned a cowboy hat as he led a roadmap session on NAV/Tenerife for about 1,000 attendees on Wednesday.

The NAV/Tenerife product roadmap now calls for Dynamics NAV 2018 in fall 2017, with a December 1 general availability date expected; then NAV 2018 R2 in Spring 2018 alongside the initial Tenerife launch. Beyond NAV 2017 R2, Dynamics NAV will adopt a new name under the Dynamics 365 brand, but the software continued updates to the same product, said Perisic.

"Codename Tenerife will be rolled up into the Dynamics 365 brand," Perisic said. "It is an important brand that Microsoft is putting its weight behind."

Microsoft program and product managers showed off a range of productivity updates that are coming in NAV 2018, with less focus on specifics of the Tenerife release in 2018. Office integration will continue to expand in NAV 2018, with an eye toward more streamlined processes. Microsoft demonstrated a quote-to-cash process executed entirely in Outlook, driven by NAV. After creating a quote, order, and invoice from Outlook, the customer could also pay the invoice via their Microsoft account, again ...