Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 Windows Client - Bookkeeper Role Center (North American edition)
Developer(s)	Microsoft Corporation
Stable release	7.1 (2013 R2)
Preview release	None
Development status	Active
Operating system	Windows Server 2008/2012 (Application server), Windows 7 and later (Clients)
Platform	x64 (Application server), x86 (Client)
Available in	Multilingual
Type	Enterprise resource planning
License	MS-EULA
Website	Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software product from Microsoft.

The product is part of the Microsoft Dynamics family, and intended to assist with finance, manufacturing, customer relationship management, supply chains, analytics and electronic commerce for small and medium-sized enterprises. Value-added resellers (VAR)s can have full access to the business logic source code.^[1]

For modifications of the system, the proprietary programming language C/AL is used.

History

The company was founded in 1983 in Denmark as PC&C A/S (Personal Computing and Consulting).

In 1984 they released their first accounting package called PCPlus. It was for its time a very user-friendly single user package with all the basic accounting functionality. In 1987 the first version of Navision was released.^[2] This was also their first client/server based package allowing multiple users to access the system simultaneously.^[3]

Until 1990 the system was primary sold in Denmark, Iceland and Germany. But with the release of Navision version 3 (of the character-based system) a heavy international expansion was initiated and distributors and localized versions became available in many other countries.

In 1995 their first Microsoft Windows 95 based version was released.

In 2000, Navision Software A/S merged with fellow Danish firm Damgaard A/S (founded 1983) to form NavisionDamgard A/S.^[4] Later the name was changed to Navision A/S.

On July 11, 2002 Microsoft bought Navision A/S to go with its previous acquisition of Great Plains. The new division in Microsoft was named Microsoft Business Solutions and also included Microsoft CRM.^[5][6]

In 2003 Microsoft announced their plans to develop an entirely new ERP system (Project Green). But later it was decided to continue development of all ERP systems (Dynamics AX, Dynamics NAV, Dynamics GP and Dynamics SL). All four ERP systems were launched with the same new role based user interface, SQL based reporting and analysis, SharePoint based portal, Pocket PC based mobile clients and integration with Microsoft Office.

In September 2005 Microsoft re-branded the product and re-released it as Microsoft Dynamics NAV.^[7]

In December 2008 Microsoft released Dynamics NAV 2009, which contains both the original "classic" client, as well as a new three-tier GUI called the RoleTailored Client (RTC).^[8]

The product itself has gone through several name changes over the time. Initially Navigator was used in Denmark, although most Danes knew it as IBM-Navigator, as IBM was the distributor. Internationally it was sold as Navision, except for the US where it was called Avista. The names "Navision Financials", "Navision Solutions", "Navision Attain", "Microsoft Business Solutions - Navision Edition", and the current "Microsoft Dynamics NAV" (pronounced N-A-V, except in the U.S. where most customers simply say, "nav" which is short for Navision) have all been used to refer to this product.

Versions

Windows based Navision versions from 1.00 onwards were:

• Navision Financials 1.00: 1.00, 1.00A, 1.00B, 1.10, 1.10A, 1.20, 1.30
• Navision Financials 2.00: 2.00, 2.00A, 2.00B, 2.00C, 2.01, 2.01A, 2.01B
• Navision Financials 2.50: 2.50
• Navision Financials 2.60: 2.60, 2.60A, 2.60B, 2.60C, 2.60D, 2.60E
• Navision Solutions 3.00: 3.00
• Navision Attain 3.01: 3.01, 3.01A, 3.01B
• Navision Attain 3.10: 3.10, 3.10A, 3.10B
• Navision Attain 3.60: 3.60, 3.60A
• Microsoft Business Solutions Navision 3.70: 3.70, 3.70A, 3.70B
• Microsoft Business Solutions NAV 4.00: 4.00, 4.00 SP1, 4.00 SP2, 4.00 SP3
• Dynamics NAV 5.00: 5.00, 5.00 SP1
• Dynamics NAV 2009: ("6.00") 2009, 2009 SP1, 2009 R2
• Dynamics NAV 2013: ("7.00") 2013, ("7.1") 2013 R2

Features

Before NAV 2013, Microsoft Dynamics NAV gave administrators the option of using either a native database server or Microsoft SQL Server, as the DBMS. SQL Server is now the exclusive database option for NAV. This change was fostered by the need to reduce database locking, which can occur many users are using the same data at once. This change removed the option of numeric fields in tables such as the all-important Chart of Accounts. With SQL Server, most fields are text, meaning the accounts sort in every drop-down selection box as 1, 111,21,211,3...

Document reporting in NAV 2013 is based on the RDLC 2008 format (RDLC 2010 in NAV 2013 R2). Reports are edited partly in the NAV Development Environment and Visual Studio. NAV 2013 R2 includes a free report editor. Any reports will render in either Screen preview, PDF, Word or Excel formats, depending on the users needs. Header and/or selection criteria for exports is not supported. Formatting for reports is not exported. Exports require re-arranging RTC views to select the fields for export desired, and then re-re-arranging the fields back to the user's preferred layout. Check preview reporting continues to result in an error message, as it has for the past 10 years.

NAV 2013 also supports the OData format. With OData support in NAV 2013, Excel pivoting can now be done without knowledge to SQL specifics, with a 5.000 record limit, limited to only those fields available for RTC views.

With NAV 2009, Microsoft introduced a completely new client interface named the RoleTailored Client (abbreviated RTC). The RTC allows tailoring the NAV experience by individual users, based on their job responsibilities. In one-person offices this can be a serious disadvantage as users must re-login, with a different user name/profile in order to access the varying RTCs they would want to use; in multi-person offices it can lead to confusion when attempting to help individuals who may have wildly different screen layouts and settings. RTC can only be setup by individual user, not company roles. Multiple setups per user is not supported, for example, an Excel export view versus an everyday working view. The interface remains cluttered, jumbled and disjointed, with fields commonly updated together separated into different tabs and screens.

The NAV client interface previously available in versions 5 and older was retained in NAV 2009, but renamed the Classic Client, making NAV 2009 the only "hybrid" version, offering both the Classic and the RTC interface.

While the Classic Client supports both Native and SQL databases, the RoleTailored Client requires a SQL database. Additionally, SQL database logins are not supported with the RoleTailored Client.

In October 2012, Microsoft released NAV 2013, which discontinued support for the Classic Client. The RoleTailored Client has been renamed the Windows Client. Additionally, a built-in Web Client and SharePoint Client were added. The Web Client does not require any special add-ins and works on computers and mobile devices alike. The report-building and database access that had been previously available with the Classic Client was taken away and can now only be accessed by a reseller (consultant).

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 Web Client (Order Processor Role)

Relative to Microsoft's other 3 ERP products, Dynamics NAV's sector is small distribution and manufacturing companies that want more than "out of the box" functionality. Very few installations are actually made "out of the box" as all sales of the product are through Microsoft-approved resellers who base their entire businesses on how many consulting hours they can apply to any given installation. The solution has a standard feature set, but it can also be thought of as an "ERP System construction set" if, at the end of the installation, you want to end up with every erector piece that was in the box still attached to your system. A better analogy would be to think of the NAV program as a 4'x8' sheet of pegboard, with 4,600 evenly spaced holes. It is used to cover various sized company boxes, ranging in size from shoebox, through pizza box, knockdown furniture box, up to double-doored refrigerator box. No matter the size box the underlying company is, the 4'x8' sheet of pegboard remains the same. It then becomes the reseller's job to link up whichever pegholes are needed to the specific company under the interface. They may not need all of the holes; some company boxes may need less than 1,000 links, but all of the holes remain visible to the end-user after the installation is complete. The Pascal-like development language is easily accessible to appropriate developers and is designed for rapidly customizing the software. T

As of July 2013 Dynamics NAV is being used by 92,500 companies globally.^[9]

As a native international ERP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV is available with 43 official localizations^[10] and several unofficial ones (provided by local partners).

The NAV solution is also compliant with IAS/IFRS.^[11]

Microsoft Dynamics NAV delivers integrated functionality to provide support for:

• Financial management
• Supply chain management
• Manufacturing
• Distribution
• Customer relationship management
• Sales and marketing
• Service management
• Human resource management
• Project & Resource management

Architecture

The Microsoft Dynamics NAV software is composed of three major components:

• The Database Server, a database that stores the Microsoft Dynamics NAV data (as of NAV 2013 only Microsoft SQL Server)
• The Application Server (starting from NAV 2009 RTC), a service that controls all aspects of Microsoft Dynamics NAV's operation
• The Client(s), the actual user interface into Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Licensing Model

Microsoft Dynamics NAV uses a concurrent user licensing model.

In 2006, Microsoft introduced the "Business Ready License" (BRL) model. The customer purchases user sessions, which have access to certain parts of the system included. There are two types of user - Business Essentials (BE) and Advanced Management (AM); AM provides access to more functionality than BE. Under the previous licensing model, "Module Based License" (MBL), users came with no functionality - this all had to be bought separately. Microsoft offers a path for customers to transition from MBL to BRL licensing.

With the arrival of NAV 2013, Microsoft introduced a new licensing model called "Perpetual Licensing", which considerably simplifies the pricing structure. With Perpetual Licensing, customers license the Solution functionality and access to that functionality is secured by licensing users. Upgrades are not available unless customers are current with all past years' annual licensing payments. Upgrades have been occurring at a rate of once every 2 years or so, though many seem to be more of a 'rebranding' than substantive upgrade.

In addition to the base product, Add-ons are also sold. Because the 'one sheet covers all users' model is fundamentally a flawed design, software products supplementing NAV functionality are required, sold and distributed as granules or modules to improve functionality of NAV system or make it applicable in some business spheres.

There are vertical and horizontal add-on solutions. Horizontal add-on solutions supplement one of the NAV functions or add new function (e.g. financial management, human resources management etc.). Vertical (or industry-specific oriented) add-ons expand NAV functionality to support some industry (e.g. health care, brewery, financial services etc.) The majority of add-on solutions are multilingual with most supporting English.

Utilities are another form of add-on for Microsoft Dynamics NAV that make the resellers' jobs simpler. Utilities are small software modules used by Microsoft Dynamics NAV programmers and database administrators, to make their jobs more convenient and effective. Also it makes program development and implementation processes faster and the cost lower for the resellers.

In conclusion, NAV is a Microsoft-owned program, which it purchased decades ago, which Microsoft has laden with Microsoft-sourced products. Out-of-the box it functions as it always has since its 1980s genesis as a European software package; a quirky, serviceable, though messy program. With many, many consulting hours from the resellers who use it as a money tree, it can approximate a good package though still with a European feel.

References

External links

• Official website