Simplifying the Licensing Entanglement: Business Central

Whilst Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is probably already on everyone’s minds in the NAV community, not everyone sees the value of implementing the upgrade any time soon. But with NAV 2018 finally going into retirement on 1st April at the ripe old age of 32 (okay well that’s old for software) and with the promise of no more future updates, it’s definitely time to think about your long-term plans, and what’s more convincing than 2 for 1 licensing?

The Licensing switch

But first of all, we need to address the fact that NAV licensing can be frustratingly complex and there seems to be very little information out there to help explain the key facts you need to know and the flight path available to you when making the switch. That’s why we’re cutting through the bull to explain exactly what’s going to happen to your licensing when you upgrade to Business Central.

What’s the difference?

When you move from NAV to Business Central, you’ll experience a shift from concurrent licensing to named user. Whilst this is something which might take a bit of getting used to, and some people may even roll their eyes at the thought – hear us out.

Concurrent

In the days of concurrent licensing, users would have to predict the number of licenses they would need for their business, often overprovisioning ‘just in case’ and therefore overspending on what was genuinely needed.

Named

The common misconception of named licenses is that it’ll cost you more, but it actually introduces a great opportunity to take a look at your business operations and figure out how many users will really need access to your Business Central, meaning that you will no longer pay for what you don’t need.

Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty

If you’ve kept up an active Service Plan, you’ll have been paying a subscription fee every year, entitling you to an upgrade to the newest version of NAV software upon release. So basically, you’re already on your way to Business Central as this plan entitles you to make the latest move too. 

2 for 1 licensing offer

To make it even better, Microsoft is offering 2 for 1 on named user licensing when you choose to move to Business Central. This means that for every concurrent user you have purchased prior to October 2018, you can enjoy two named users instead when you make the upgrade. This means that you’ll have the freedom to allocate more people to Business Central than you may already have using your legacy NAV.

We know license talk isn’t everyone’s favourite topic, but it’s important to be aware of the changes that are happening and the benefits you can achieve by upgrading to Business Central. But if all of this is still making your head spin, simply get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to help clarify the information here or answer any questions you may have.