Best of 2018: Top Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central & NAV expert articles of the year

Microsoft launched Dynamics 365 Business Central early in 2018, setting in motion the next stage of the company's SMB ERP journey. Fortunately, we all benefited from the insights of channel veterans who shared their views with us on a regular basis. As the articles below demonstrate, Microsoft's progress on launching Business Central worldwide led VARs and ISVs to accelerate their preparations this year, whether they wanted to or not. Existing NAV customers were less likely to feel the same pressure, but as the articles below indicate, there is real value in getting educated now on the opportunities and challenges of a transition to  SaaS ERP.

From Tenerife to Business Central: What would it mean?

It is hard to believe that Microsoft only revealed the Business Central product name in March 2018. Just before the announcement, Microsoft MVP James Crowter reflected on what the future with Dynamics 365 would really look like. It would be something more substantial than the "Business Edition" solution that had been selling for $40 per user per month. NAV would not be discontinued, but Tenerife (as it was called at the time) was already being positioned as NAV's successor in some form. James concluded that while the product had promise, it was the product team's focus and priorities that would matter most. He wrote:

In fact, the biggest threat is the same one with which this article struggles. Tenerife can be so many things, how do the Microsoft product marketing team actually explain, in simple language what it is? It might suffer from the curse of being able to hit so many targets, that it hits none. It would be tragically ironic if such a capable solution failed, because it was too flexible.

On the pricing and licensing front, James predicted that Business Central, with its reliance on CSP and named users, was finally going to bring subscription-based licensing into the Dynamics SMB ERP mainstream. And, when followed to its logical conclusion, this line or reasoning suggests that now (i.e., March 2018) is the time to embrace the inevitable, for the good of the customer and for the partner's wellbeing. He wrote:

Ideally, business integrity will lead partners to look out for clients' best interests. But if not, competition will make it hard to continue pushing the perpetual option. I'm looking forward to our competitors trying the 'fingers crossed the client doesn't find out' strategy. The odds of that prospect trusting me or them just tipped decisively in my favour.

The community reacts (poorly) to the new NAV brand name