As Microsoft Dynamics NAV experts we are often asked about the differences between Dynamics NAV and its “siblings”, GP, SL and AX. Almost as often as we’re asked about the differences between CRM in NAV and Dynamics CRM.
The history of how Microsoft came to have a number of different products under the “Dynamics” banner and high level information about all four Dynamics ERP solutions is available here, or call me as I have become an absolute bore on the subject! If I were ever to go on Mastermind it would be my specialist subject.
Microsoft treats all of its products equally, although some are more equal than others . . . In the UK we see promotion of AX and NAV. There is little mention of GP and SL, very few partners and sites tend to be US subsidiaries directed to implement the corporate preference. This should make it easier with only two products to choose from; the challenge is the amount of overlap. If you are an international organisation looking for centralised, multi-country ERP then AX may be the better bet*. For everyone else it makes little difference in terms of functionality. With AX much more high maintenance, more expensive to licence and resource heavy to implement it really should only be the choice when NAV cannot easily meet your needs.
Budget and timescales should be a factor but it relies on good guidance from the supplier. At TVision we don’t have commissioned salespeople as we believe it has the risk of wrong motivation. Speaking with the team who will actually implement can help, also understanding how soon in the process you will get to certainty of budget.
Generally speaking, AX will cost 40% more and take almost twice as long to implement as NAV. In the past smaller organisations have been swayed to AX through offers of discounted software to match NAV pricing and a pitch that they’re getting a Ferrari for the price of a Ford Focus . . . the problem is that a Ferrari is less practical and more expensive to maintain! The consequence was a rash of unhappy sites.
The latest release of AX sees Microsoft becoming more prescriptive. This is from The Microsoft Dynamics AX Licensing Guide | February 2016:
“50 Enterprise User SLs and/or equivalent Device SL. It takes 2.5 Device SLs to equal 1 Enterprise User SL. For example, a customer could meet the minimum requirement with 10 User SLs and 100 Device SLs.”
There is no minimum or maximum on NAV licences. With most organisations aiming for simpler, cheaper IT, it is no wonder that NAV has seen a 42% growth in the number of companies signing up last year compared to 13% for AX.
To find out more about Dynamics NAV, contact us to discuss whether your project sounds more like an AX or NAV fit.
*NB: NAV is great for decentralised organisations. E.g. you have an office in London, Paris and Johannesburg, each could have their own NAV localised solution. These could be merged onto a centralised system but this is not standard. Decide to roll out to Delhi and Shanghai? Decentralised no problem but merging into centralised is now complicated (local alphabets and the increasing complexity of your hybrid) that you’ll start to wish you had bought AX.
