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Five highlights of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central autumn 2019 release

by Hannes Holst
Dynamics 365 Business Central Consultant, Freelance

Microsoft has promised that it will release a major version of Business Central every six months. The last major release in April was part of the spring 2019 release wave. With less than three months left until the next release in October, it's time to begin getting our heads around the autumn '19 release, or "wave 2" as Microsoft now calls it.

To start, I've sat down for an afternoon at laptop and filtered five highlights out of the coming release.

Working in the Business Central team must be one of the safest jobs at Microsoft. The company wants to position Business Central in the market with the unique selling point of continuous and regular updates. As a result, the autumn '19 release will contain 42 changes in total. That might put the dev team on fast-forward for a couple of months. And, because you never know how development progresses, all the changes mentioned in the release plan are subject to change.

Base application delivered as AL applications

All I can say is: Yes, finally! Integrating the programming language of NAV into Microsoft’s developer tools has been a rumor since Microsoft acquired Navision A/S in 2002. And now, this big and future-orientated step is set to go. Microsoft has phased in the introduction of the AL-language and extensions over a couple of years, allowing ISVs, partners, and the community a lot of time to adapt to the new technology. A lot of people made use of the opportunity. AppSource, Microsoft's store for Extensions and services, grows steadily. The blogosphere explodes with tips and tricks about AL. By contrast, some big ISVs are still struggling with the transition. For example, if an ISV won't offer its solution with Extensions until November 201, then their customers may not be able to do their upgrades this year.

Details about the new base application are rare. I expect that Microsoft will announce all the interesting bits in the key note of Directions EMEA this year in Vienna. At the moment, the only information available is that the Windows client and the C/SIDE development environment will cease to exist in the newer versions. Furthermore, the base application will be split in two parts: The System part and the Apps part. The System part will be delivered in single modules with the idea one feature = one module. And, to the relief many people, it will still be possible to modify the base application.

And don't forget: Due to this change, the Desktop client will go away too.

Figure 1: Implementation design of the new base application

Multiple production environments

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Business Central Directions EMEA 2019 Dynamics 365 Dynamics NAV
About Hannes Holst

Hannes Holst is a Dynamics NAV/365 Business Central freelancer with more than 13 years of hands-on experience. His involvement covers the full spectrum, including consulting and development of tailor-made modules and gold-certified industry solutions in various industries. He helps companies to prepare the business for future growth by adapting most of the standard functionality of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central into the company's processes.

"I always try to translate the (technical) world of Dynamics NAV and Business Central into a language that everyone can understand. Having all participants on the same level of understanding is a great foundation to create situations in which everyone wins."

Hannes also tries to convey Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning into the world of Dynamics 365 Business Central. Check out his blog for details and keep an eye out for 365 Saturday-events where he holds introduction sessions for Machine Learning.

Hannes has done work for Dynamics NAV and Business Central-projects in Germany, France, Denmark and the USA. Currently he is located in London, UK. In his free time, he studies Japanese and once or twice a year, he likes to run a marathon.

You can find more information about Hannes and his blog on his website http://www.hannesholst.com

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