Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (On-Premise) is here! What does this mean for you as Partners?

Now that we are getting to grips with Dynamics 365 Business Central’s cloud solution, Microsoft has just released the On-Premise Version, and this means big things in the on – premise market, as well as the existing NAV market.

What does this mean for your customers?

It means that companies not wanting to make the move into the cloud for whatever reason, now have the opportunity to use the most advanced and feature packed ERP solution released by Microsoft to date, in their On-Premise environment.

What does this mean for you as partner?

Firstly, it gives you as partner the capability to provide cloud overt customers access to Business Central and all of its class leading features in the “safety” of their own physical environment, which opens up the path for you to talk about the next steps in the customers ERP solution journey.

Secondly, there is another version of Business Central that you need to understand from a licensing, solution environment and supporting software requirements perspective. It also means that you need to stay abreast of what is happening around NAV 2018 and prior versions of NAV.

So, what’s the talk at the moment? Well here are some notes that we took at the recent Directions North America conference that took place from 30^th September – 3^rd October 2018:

Important Announcements from Microsoft at Directions North America:

• This announcement serves as notification that effective April 1, 2019, Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018 on-premises, sold via the Dynamics Price List (DPL), will no longer be available for new customers.
• New customers have the following purchase options:
  • Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premises via DPL
  • Dynamics 365 Business Central cloud via Cloud Solution Provider program (CSP)
• Existing Dynamics NAV 2018 customers may continue to purchase additional Dynamics NAV 2018 licenses as needed.
• Impacted Channel:
  • Dynamics Price List (DPL) Impacted Products:
  • Dynamics NAV 2018 Impacted Customers:
  • New Impacted Countries: Worldwide

For new customers from 1^st October 2018

NAV 2018 is only available to new customers until March 31, 2018

• Business Central in the cloud can only be purchased via CSP (Dual Use Rights allowed)
• Business Central as On-Premise is available through DPL as a purchase license (Partnersource) or a Business Central Subscription (also via PartnerSource)
• For new customers NAV 2018 from 1st October 2018 there are limited upgrade rights (Fig 3)
• Business Central Subscription pricing available now (this is shown further down in this article)
• NAV 2018 New customer licenses can still be purchased until 1 April 2018 under the existing Concurrent User model (and Starter / Extended Pack)
• Business Central On-Premise can NOT downgrade to NAV2018 or earlier

For new customers from 1^st April 2019

NAV2018 or older is NOT available for new customers from January 01, 2019 onwards

• For existing customers from the 1st of October 2018
• NAV2009 or older can NOT upgrade to NAV2018 On-Premise as of April 01, 2019 (Business Central only)
• Business Central ON-PREMISE Licenses acquired through DPL are now only available as NAMED users
• NAV existing customers with an active enhancement plan can continue to buy concurrent users or continue to extend the license under existing conditions
• SQL Runtime licenses are only available in the price list up to NAV2018
• NAV2018 existing customers with an active enhancement plan who have acquired an SQL Runtime license will continue to have the SQL license available in Business Central ON-PREMISE – however, no additional can be purchased

What happens when a customer wants to move from NAV 2018 to Business Central On – Premise?

Dynamics NAV 2018 Subscription customers who wish to move to Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premises Subscription may cancel their Dynamics NAV 2018 Subscription and license a new Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premises Subscription. Note that customers will not receive any credit for value remaining on their Dynamics NAV 2018 Subscription against their Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premises Subscription license order.

Purchasing Dynamics 365 Business Central On – Premise

When and which geographies will Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premise be available?
Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premises is available worldwide (excluding embargoed countries), localized for Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States. Reference the Dynamics 365 Business Central On-Premise price list.

Is Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premises available for Academic institutions? For more information, please contact the Dynamics Academic Alliance Team.

Now that we have the overview done, let’s have a look at the monetary impact using a comparison of NAV 2018 On-Premise vs Business Central On-Premise perpetual licenses:

 Pricing Overviews

• Mirror of the CSP SKUs i.e very simple
• Named User now – no longer concurrent
• Premium SKU functionality now maps to Starter Pack + Extended Pack
• SQL No longer available
• The On-Prem Team Member Maps to Limited User functionality exactly

• Limited Upgrade SKU is heavily restrictive – mapping at 1:1
• Will cease to be available from 1^st April 2019
• 40% discount on CSP SKUs for transitioning customers, expiring in April 2021

Below is a more visual view on the overall pricing total for the 2 options until the end of March 2019.

You may now be asking how is this going to impact current customers licensing on NAV 2018 when they are wanting to make the transition to Business Central?
Below is a more visual mapping explanation to make it easier to grasp:

If you were wondering if there are different licensing options for Business Central On-Premise, the answer is, Yes. Below you will see there are two different options, Perpetual and Subscription. Each has their benefits.

Dynamics 365 Business Central on-premises packaging and pricing:

• 16% annual BREP required for Perpetual licensing
• Business Central on-premises Subscription will be charged on per user per month basis

On-Premise licensing be it Perpetual or Subscription, does have dependencies on both hardware and underlying software, as well as experienced resources to maintain the environment and ensure that DR practices are adhered to, to limit the impact of downtime for the business.

This is going to be a significant journey that we are embarking on with Microsoft. One that’s sees change from what the channel is used to, but one that holds many more benefits for both the Partner Network, and the customer.