Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is the new version of Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Business edition – with full Dynamics NAV capabilities – enabling customers to upgrade their entry-level accounting software and legacy ERP systems with a single, comprehensive solution to manage finances, operations, sales and customer service. It is a cloud-based, all-in-one business management solution that helps organizations streamline business processes, improve customer interactions and enable growth by offering:

• Business without silos. Unify business, and boost efficiency with automated tasks and workflows—all from within familiar Office tools like Outlook, Word, and Excel.
• Actionable insights. Achieve greater outcomes and gain a complete view of business with connected data, business analytics, and guidance delivered by Microsoft’s leading intelligent technologies.
• Solutions built to evolve. Start quickly, grow and adapt in real time with a flexible platform that makes it easy to extend the solution based on evolving business needs.

During Directions Monthly Webinar: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Update, we have received some answers about D365 Business Central, which were a headache for most of Dynamics partners.

In our blog post we will share with you some of the most important answers from Microsoft received during the webinar about Dynamics 365 Business Central Update.

The main questions were about possibilities to upgrade to Business Central, Extensions and pricing. So let‘s review the main answers received from Microsoft.

Upgrading to Dynamics 365 Business Central and development possibilities

The painful question, which is relevant to most of Microsoft partners is migration from current Dynamics NAV version to D365 Business Central. Also, there are a number of questions concerning development. We have gathered questions, answered during the webinar, about upgrading to D365 Business central and development issues, see the answers below.

1. Will we be able to move Dynamics NAV 2018 On-Premise deployment to Dynamics 365 Business Central Cloud version? – Microsoft is constantly improving the tools for migration to D365 Business Central. Currently, RapidStart within Business Central has to be used. This mean that only some of the data could be transferred (probably just the balances) and there is no straightforward way to transfer the customizations.
2. Will C/AL be supported on Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premise release? And how long it is planned to have C/AL available? – C/AL will be available on D365 Business Central on-premise version. Microsoft does not have any additional information to share about the availability of C/AL in the future.
3. For how long will the C/SIDE development tools be available? Is there plan to “sunset C/SIDE”, ie allow only Extensions/VSCode? – Microsoft doesn’t have plans to share on this at this point in time. C/SIDE is not available for development against D365 Business Central CLOUD environment. Developing for Business Central cloud version is available only through Extensions meaning AL with VSCode and the in-Client designer.
4. How will the cumulative Updates in Dynamics 365 Business Central be deployed? – Microsoft will upgrade all tenants with CUs running in the Microsoft cloud.
5. When is the next release of Dynamics NAV planned, is there still going to be 2018 R2? – Dynamics NAV 2018 will receive updates in April.  Microsoft decided not to call it R2.
6. What development tools will be used by partners to modify standard Reports and build/modify custom Reports? – No change to the way reports are developed at this point in time.
7. What about the “old” development environment? Can we use it only for Business Central On Premise version? – Customizations for Business Central cloud will only be via Extensions.
8. Is personalizing in D365 Business Central requires Dev License? – No, it does not require a special license.
9. Regarding the support: If I have access to the base code, I can solve the problem quickly and do not need to wait for MS support. In the Cloud I need to wait one-two month till the update fix the problem. Or is there the quicker way? – Depends on the issue. If possible you will be able to fix it directly on the customer tenant using extensions. If not fixable through Extensions it is case for Microsoft support people. Time to fix depends on the severity
10. What are the features in D365 Business Central customers can benefit from to build compliance towards GDPR? – Microsoft has built functionality into D365 Business Central that helps customers with their effort to be GDPR compliant – see more here Here is the direct link.

Answers about Extensions in Dynamics 365 Business Central

There were different rumors on how customizations will be deployed in D365 Business Central. As we have already found out in the answers above, customizations can be done by using C/AL only in on-premise version, for any customization in cloud version we will have to create Extensions. Find out more answers about Extensions further.

1. How are customizations created in D365 Business Central cloud version? – Customizations in D365 Business Central can be created in two ways. Either by using the in Client Designer or through VSCode. Both will result in an Extension being deployed to the specific customer.
2. Do Extensions have to be published via AppSource before they can be deployed? – That depends on the scope of the Extension. If it is developed as a solution that suits several customers it goes through AppSource. if it is a customization for a specific customer it doesn’t have to.
3. When running in the cloud, hosted by Microsoft, how are Extension object licensed? What object numbers can I use when I upload a customer-specific Extension? – You can use the 50000 range for customizations. More documentation on this topic to come soon
4. If custom Extensions are developed for a single customer in Microsoft Cloud – what object id ranges should be used? – Customizations will be in the 50000 range.
5. When customizing a solution for a specific D365 Business Central client, is the only way to customize though extensions? – If running in our cloud that is correct.
6. Will we need to have an App in App Source to deploy to D365 Business Central? – D365 Business Central has the concept of a non-app source extension that can be loaded per tenant.

Answers about Dynamics 365 Business Central Pricing

Pricing for D365 Business Central is already published in USA market, pricing per user/month will be $70 and for Premium version – $100 per user/month. What concerns European market – exact prices are published in CSP preview price list right now. Let’s see other questions:

1. How should Microsoft partners handle Dynamics NAV deals that prospects want on-premise in April and beyond? Should they be selling Dynamics NAV or D365 Business Central? Business Central is the dual license, right? – Microsoft partners have to sell Dynamics NAV 2018 further.  On-premise solution will be simply re-branded with the next release this autumn.  No planned licensing changes to on-premise D365 Business Central solution is not planned.
2. The prices of 70$ or 100$ for the premium version also includes Azure Platform? – Yes, prices include the cost of running on Azure as well as operating the solution
3. What are differences between D365 Business Central Essential and Premium licenses? – Essentials have everything, but Service Management and Manufacturing.
4. Is Power BI included in the D365 Business Central license price or is that bought separately? – Power BI to the Business Central connection is included.

We can finalize from the material given through question-answer session, that Dynamics 365 Business Central cloud version can be customized only with Extensions. This spring we will not have Dynamics NAV 2018 R2 version, instead, Microsoft will release Updates. This autumn, next Dynamics NAV on-premise version will be called Dynamics NAV Business Central on-premise and for some time we will be able to customize it with C/AL, but as we all understand and feel not for long. The solution for NAV upgrading is clear, but not very simple – migrate all customizations, which are used by NAV customers, to Extensions. This should be done not so urgently, but there is no other way.

Simplanova is specializing in Dynamics NAV upgrades and offers full service of customizations migration to Extensions. If you have the NAV Upgrade project with constant migration to Extensions, fill-in the form below and we will provide you with a full solution for upgrading to Dynamics 365 Business Central.