Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central: What's in a name?

It's official: In a formal announcement yesterday, Microsoft confirmed that Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Business Edition, will be re-branded as Dynamics 365 Business Central as part of the Spring Update rolling out on April 2, 2018. Also significant in this announcement was that the Spring Update would add truckloads of new functionality to the cloud solution, "bringing the full power of Dynamics NAV to the cloud" as noted on Microsoft's official blog by Alysa Taylor, GM for Business Apps and Strategy.

Ordinarily, the focus of such an announcement would be the "truckloads of new functionality" part. And to be fair, it has gotten some attention. Existing users and prospective customers have been waiting for this, and it signals Microsoft's continued focus on improving the solution.

But as I scanned through my Twitter and LinkedIn feeds, I found that most of the conversation in the ecosystem was happening around the re-branding. It took center-stage over conversations about the upcoming new functionality, such as manufacturing, warehousing, and service management. If I had to use one word to summarize the prevailing sentiment of these conversations around re-branding, it would be "UNPOPULAR." And much of that sentiment has to do with how it impacts Dynamics NAV, although it was barely a footnote in yesterday's announcement.

See also: Microsoft to launch Dynamics 365 Business Central on April 2 in 14 countries.

The journey so far

If you don't already know the history, Microsoft's currently available SMB SaaS ERP offering, Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, ...