What can you expect if you continue to use Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
Time passes by in a flash! This is also the case when you look at the current international ERP arena. Exciting cloud-based innovations are appearing faster than ever before. Artificial intelligence is sweeping the market with breathtaking new possibilities. Development departments have to work plenty of extra hours to keep up with all these developments. Unfortunately, it is not possible to keep adding new versions without managing the existing older versions. For this reason, all providers have some kind of version policy. This policy says how long users can expect full support. It also says what they can expect when that support runs out. Here is what you can expect if you continue to use your on-premise Dynamics NAV solution.
Your support levels. In accordance with the Microsoft Lifecycle Policy, each version of Dynamics NAV receives 10 years of support: 5 years of basic support and 5 years of extended support. Basic support includes new features and security and non-security updates. Extended support includes only security-relevant updates. The basic support for all Dynamics NAV versions no longer exists since the beginning of 2023. Extended support is now only available to companies using versions 2015 to 2018. For users of versions older than Dynamics NAV 2015, none of the support rules apply anymore!
The cost of your support. With the decline in user numbers, Microsoft is likely to continue to increase the cost of your annual Dynamics NAV maintenance. This means as more costs for less support.
The availability of your support. All NAV partners are fully focused on Dynamics 365 Business Central and are migrating their resources to the corresponding cloud offering. You must therefore expect decreasing availability of support, development and consulting – especially if you are working with an old version.
Your cyber risks. Hackers are always looking for weaknesses. They often find these in older versions with declining software support. Are you prepared for these additional risks?
Your hardware investments. The amount of data is still growing at a breathtaking rate. You have to reckon with continuous investments in storage capacity and other server-related matters.
Your innovation. Like all ERP providers, Microsoft relies heavily on its cloud offering. So the real innovation is happening in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Think Big Data and the AI-based Co-Pilot. Expect innovation to slow down in Dynamics NAV.
Your migration speed. If you are thinking about a migration to Dynamics 365 Business Central, you should not forget that such a changeover can easily take 6 to 12 months. Especially since most potential partners are currently very busy.
Your strategic question. As a professional company, can you afford to use a (version of) an ERP system with minimal or no support these days?
Would you like to know more about what a migration to Business Central means for your company? Then you should contact Mr Markus Köhler today.
