What the Cloud Really Means for Microsoft Dynamics NAV

To understand what the cloud really means for Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision) today and in future releases we first have to agree on what we mean by the cloud. Forrester published the SaaS (Software as a Service) Maturity Model which probably does the best job of helping to calibrate cloud conversations so that everyone is talking about the same thing. The model is predicated on how the basic question is answered of who provides what and to whom.

The levels of Forrester's SaaS Maturity Model are as follows:

Level 0 is simplifying outsourcing applications to an outsourcing firm. Forrester would argue that this is neither SaaS nor part of a cloud conversation.

Level 1 is characteristic of the manual application service provider (ASP) that hosts applications for other companies. While it can be argued that hosting is part of the SaaS or Cloud conversation it should also be understood that this is the starting point for the conversation and represents the lowest level of SaaS or Cloud maturity. For the Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision) customer that has chosen simply to take what they would have previously deployed in house and move it to a hoster would be characteristic of a Level 1 cloud deployment.

Level 2 is the realm of the manual application service provider or hoster that has begun to create and deploy preconfigured instances of the same software that would be have traditionally been deployed on premise or with a hoster as in Level 1. However at this level the hoster is focused on driving down operational and maintenance costs so customization is held to a minimum and the focus is on replicating identical software across multiple instances. For the Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision) customer that has chosen ...