Dynamics 365 Business Central (Dynamics NAV)

This article is intended to highlight the key points relating to Dynamics 365 Business Central (the new SaaS version of Dynamics NAV since 2018). Let's explore Dynamics NAV in following aspects:

General aspect and
Technical aspect

Dynamics 365 Business Central: In General Aspects

An intelligent ERP (Enterprise Resource Management) software made by Microsoft
Works as a centralized platform for managing businesses processes
Helps businesses in managing their back-end operations
Helps in
- Orders planning & deliveries, inventory, warehousing, picking to shipping
- Forecasting demands, automating invoices
- Scheduling & purchasing (supply chain management)
- Budgeting and capacity management
Consists of important modules like
- Warehouse management
- Inventory management
- Financial management
- Manufacturing management
- Human resource management
- Project management
- Service management
- Retail & E-Commerce
- Business Intelligence
- Sales & Marketing capabilities (not full-fledged)
Can be used by
- Service Industry
- Manufacturing Industry
- Distributors Industry
- Any industry by customizing it as per requirements
User Interfaces
- Easy, modern & user-friendly interface
- Drag and drop customization of pages
Compliances
- GDPR support
Licensing model
- For updated details, please refer Microsoft Updates...
- In case of NAV
  - There are two plans
    - Starter Pack
    - Extended Pack
  - Manufacturing & Warehouse capabilities are not available in Starter pack and only Financials, Distribution and Professional service modules are available. Also, there is some limitation in terms of concurrent users, read only accesses.
- In case of Dynamics 365 Business Central:
  - Three plans
    - Team Member License (around $8 per user per month)
    - Essential License (around $70 per user per month)
    - Premium License (around $100 per user per month)
  - For exact price, please refer Resellers)
History
- In 2000, Navision Software A/S company merged with Damgard A/S
- In 2002, Microsoft acquisition this merged company and given a new name "Microsoft Business Solutions"
- In 2005, Microsoft renamed it to Microsoft Dynamics Nav

Dynamics NAV: In Technical Aspects

Back-end
- Uses MSSQL
  - Accessible
  - can be accesse via SQL Server Management Studio
Front-end
- Modern, User-Friendly interface
Expose to outer world communication
- Web pages as a Web Service (requires registering & publishing) for read/update NAV data. Refer
- Web client services
- Access NAV data directly from MSSQL
- File exchange (via shared-folder) with folder listener feature. Nav application server can create a folder listener.