Is Dynamics AX or Dynamics NAV Better for SMBs?

Microsoft’s Dynamics enterprise resource planning (ERP) software has become an integral part of business today. It provides businesses with the tools they need to connect and manage their people and processes as well as with the insight to make smarter decisions. Dynamics is designed to easily adapt as businesses grow and business needs change, with Dynamics NAV for small-to-midsized businesses (SMBs) or Dynamics AX for enterprise, global organizations.

Each new version of Microsoft Dynamics AX delivers a variety of features and functions that are much more powerful and faster in their performance, but are usually accompanied with greater requirements. Given this, the newer versions of Dynamics AX may seem too powerful and complex for smaller companies to upgrade to and maintain.

This puts SMBs with an outdated Dynamics AX solution in a rather difficult situation—on the one hand, upgrading to the newer versions of AX may be too large and complicated, while on the other hand, remaining on an older version of AX could lead them to deterioration, a loss of competitiveness and a reliance upon an unsupported Microsoft product (e.g. AX 2009 & earlier versions).

As suspected, in these situations SMBs will naturally begin to look for other opportunities to enhance their ERP capabilities.

Dynamics NAV – a Powerful ERP Solution for SMBs

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is a great alternative to Dynamics AX for SMBs. The new NAV 2016 delivers a variety of powerful enhancements that translate into higher productivity and cost savings for SMBs. It is quick to implement and simple to use. It enables SMBs to streamline and connect their entire business. There are many reasons Microsoft Dynamics Partners and their SMB customers should consider Dynamics NAV:

• Deploy in the cloud or on a private server.
• Connect key functions within an SMB organization to boost productivity.
• Employ global ERP features to manage multi-location and multi-national business.
• Integrate fully with Dynamics NAV and Office 365 to bring together e-mail, calendaring, business data, reports, and business management software.

The Challenge of Migrating from Dynamics AX to Dynamics NAV

However, the switch from AX to NAV can be stressful and straining on SMBs and their solution provider. An SMB, with their Dynamics Partner, must thoroughly analyze their existing AX solution, prepare the necessary NAV process, and meticulously plan the transition process.

To alleviate this labor intensive process, 1ClickFactory developed a Data Transformation Service to help you easily move your SMB customers from AX to NAV. This service takes care of the strenuous and time consuming data transformation between systems as a portion of the whole NAV implementation project.

Data Transformation from AX to NAV

There are various ways to transform AX data to NAV. With 1ClickFactory’s Data Transformation Service from AX to NAV, you can grow your NAV customer base by offering the best data migration approach from AX to NAV for any AX 2009 or older installation. Moreover, you can strengthen the relationship and trust between you and your customers by using your customers’ real business data to create reliable, fixed price proposals.

As your SMB customers will come in all shapes and sizes, so does our Data Transformation Service from AX to NAV with Self-Service or Full-Service data transformation options. This provides you with the opportunity to select the service that best fits your customers’ needs, your in-house resources and expertise, as well as your/your customer’s desired output for each transformation/implementation project.

Data Transformation Self-Service vs. Full-Service

The Data Transformation Self-Service from AX to NAV (available at partners.1clickfactory.com) allows you, the Partner, to upload 2 datasets and perform multiple data transformations for each dataset. Moreover, the transformed data can be imported to any environment.

When you have limited internal resource availability, you do not feel you have sufficient competency, or you simply want to save time on single case, you can choose the Full-Service Data Transformation from AX to NAV. With the Full-Service option, 1ClickFactory works directly with you, the Partner, to define the project scope and set the timeline. This service includes an upload of 2 datasets and a one-time transformation for each.

Standard Data Transformation vs. Standard & Customized AX Data Transformation

Both the Self-Service and the Full-Service can be used for:

• Standard Data Transformations
• Standard Customized Data Transformations

Standard Data Transformations from Dynamics AX to Dynamics NAV

Standard Data Transformation includes transformation from 65 AX tables with 514 fields to 79 NAV tables with 549 fields and covers the Master data, Open balance and Transactions.

Standard & Customized Data Transformations from Dynamics AX to Dynamics NAV

Beyond the Standard Data Transformation outlined above, the Customized Data Transformation may include:

• Standard AX table fields that are not included in the standard data transformation scope;
• Customized AX standard table fields; and/or
• Customized AX tables.

Important! Transactional data (e.g. ledger entries) are beyond the scope of 1ClickFactory’s Data Transformation Service from AX to NAV.

What About Transformation for Pre-AX 2009 Versions?

If your customer has an older than AX 2009 version, you will first need to upgrade the data. To upgrade the data, you can use 1ClickFactory’s Upgrade Service for AX by selecting the data upgrade option.

How to Guarantee Customer Upgrades on Dynamics NAV

Once moved to NAV, your customers may also be interested in 1ClickFactory’s Upgrade Subscription for NAV, which would ensure your customer a NAV upgrade once per year. This upgrade service is provided for a fixed monthly price and ensures minimal solution downtime, fitting nicely with the annual Dynamics NAV release cycles.

What About Dynamics NAV on Microsoft Azure?

To minimize ERP maintenance and optimize operational costs for your customers, you should consider deploying the Microsoft Dynamics NAV environment on Microsoft Azure. 1ClickFactory’s Self-Provisioning for NAV on Azure provides a number of services necessary for you to execute a smooth and secure running of Microsoft Dynamics NAV on Microsoft Azure for your customer.

To deploy Dynamics NAV on Microsoft Azure, you’ll need an NAV subscription license. You can provide your customers with Microsoft Dynamics NAV subscription licenses using 1ClickFactory’s Subscription Licensing for NAV.   

Get the Best ERP Fit for Your SMB Customer

As Microsoft continues to grow Dynamics AX’s robust features and functionality, it’s time to start thinking about what is realistic and sustainable for your SMB customers. Dynamics NAV is a logical choice to transition your Dynamics AX SMB customers to and with 1ClickFactory’s Data Transformation from AX to NAV, migration has just become significantly easier.

Check out our Data Transformation Service from AX to NAV to discover the best migration option to fit each of your SMB customer’s needs.

Author of the post: our former Product Marketing Manager Asta Sabaitė.

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