Take managing your business processes to a whole new level with Dynamics NAV2016
The recent launch of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016, in my view, has taken it to a whole new level. I hesitate to sound like a marketeer for the product but it now really enables you to transform your processes to a whole new level in a way unparalleled in any comparative product.
So what’s my justification for that bold statement? Well tell me what other business system at any level of the market has all the following advantage:
Ultimate Flexibility with Easy Upgradability
Dynamics NAV main selling point has always been its total flexibility. You can take what is a good set of functionality across Finance, Customer Service, Logistics, Manufacturing etc. and add the specifics of what you really need very quickly and efficiently. This is still the case for Dynamics NAV 2016.
The trouble in the past was that the more you customised it the more difficult it was to upgrade. An upgrade required doing almost all of that work again, a process that took time and incurred expense. The last couple of versions have seen huge progress with scripted upgrades doing 98% of the work. This means that upgrades that used to take weeks could be delivered in hours.
See how Bounce Foods found upgrading Dynamics NAV:
With the new ‘events’ and ‘enhancements’ in 2016 however, we can do most of those customisations with zero changes to Microsoft’s standard code. That means updates can be delivered in a totally automatic process. You still have the total flexibility to make it do what you want but you can get new sophisticated functions such as the automatic OCR (Optical character Recognition) of incoming purchase invoices that’s in 2016, as soon as Microsoft releases them.
Ready for a Cloud First world (if you are)
I live out in the lovely countryside of Shropshire and know first-hand what restricted internet access is like. Any business of any size locally has to have servers on their premises because they could not get the bandwidth to work successfully, any other way.
At my office in Wolverhampton we have a great 1Gb capable connection. Here running in the cloud is not only easy but makes it easy for our staff all over the country to work simultaneously with no infrastructure investment and with reduced risk.
No single option is right for all businesses but Dynamics NAV gives you the total flexibility to choose. You can have the software on premise in the traditional way, hosted by a third party of your choice or now with 2016, as a true ‘software-as-a-service’ managed by Microsoft themselves.
You can even change from having it installed at your premises to be moved into the cloud or vice versa, any time you choose if your business circumstances change. The system you use in the cloud is exactly the same as you would have on premise, the users will not see a difference
A completely separate choice from where your software is installed is how you licence the software. Microsoft give you the option of paying up front for a so called perpetual licence or you can pay a monthly subscription. The choice again is what’s best for you rather than the system supplier.
Ready for a Mobile First world
With Dynamics NAV 2016 we have a new phone client that’s installable as an app on iOS, Android and Windows. That’s not unique I know but what is unique is that all the functions that I can do on the full Windows client I can now do from the phone. This is no restricted subset, even specific customisations made to your system are instantly reflected on your phone.
So no more returning to your desk when people ask you for information. Just whip out your phone, a couple of quick finger movements and you’ve looked up a balance or availability, run a report and emailed the PDF or amended/approved an order. Remember how the capability to do emails on our phone improved our productivity and flexibility? Expect the same from having your business system always available. It’s useful inside your office or on your production floor so being able to do it from anywhere in the world with a mobile signal, is just fantastic.
Can you think of another business system that has the choice of using any part of the system, not just from a Windows client but via any web browser (including Safari on a Mac), an interface designed for touch on any tablet or designed for your fingers on a phone? Which one can publish any screens into SharePoint making creating portals for intranets or extranets beautifully straightforward like Dynamics NAV can?
Information at your fingertips
One of the most exciting new features for me is the standard integration to Microsoft’s Power BI reporting tools. Recently rated by Gartner as the clear leader for usability across all business intelligence products, Power BI has a standard content pack for Dynamics NAV. This allows not just easy drag and drop reporting but also for you to type natural language questions to get it to present the data you need.
Even more exciting is that Microsoft’s Cortana digital assistant is integrated with Power BI. Imagine being able to push a button on your phone and ask for information from your ERP system such as ‘tell me all the customers with balances over 180 days’, then getting it read back to you complete with those balances. Only Microsoft has the combination of technologies to be able to do this.
The platform your business needs now
We are in a business world where you’re continually pressed by your customers to do more for less. Working harder is not viable, so you need systems that help you to work smarter. Isn’t now the time, while the economy is stronger, to prepare for any cyclical downturn by getting your systems in the best shape? Ask us to show you how much more productive Microsoft Dynamics will make your business today.
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