UPGRADE Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur Solution Upgrading Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur to Microsoft Dynamics NAV White Paper June 2008
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Table of Contents Introduction... 4 A word about licensing and upgrades... 4 Upgrade Path I: Replacing the license key... 4 Upgrade Path II: Integrating Microsoft Dynamics NAV features... 4 Upgrade Path III: Migrating data to Microsoft Dynamics NAV... 5 Conclusion... 6 3
Introduction Growing small businesses often face a common challenge: they begin to outgrow their business management solution. Replacing their existing systems with larger business management solutions may suit their growing needs, but such upgrades often lead to costly system implementations. Many companies postpone the inevitable for as long as they can and become locked into their existing system. Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur Solution enables businesses to grow without worrying about the challenges of upgrading to a larger system. Because Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur is built on the industry-proven Microsoft Dynamics NAV business management platform, companies have a straightforward upgrade and migration path as they continue to grow. Depending on your needs, there are various options for upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics NAV. This white paper outlines some of the possible approaches. A word about licensing and upgrades As is common for all these upgrade paths, businesses must transition from the Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur licensing model to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV licensing model to acquire the right to implement and use this solution. All Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur customers who have a valid Business Ready Enhancement Plan (BREP) can transition to Microsoft Dynamics NAV without cost. They also receive a credit for their investment in Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur as described in the Customer Service Agreement and Customer Service Guide. When upgrading, customers have the right to continue using their Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur application objects if they choose. In comparison with most upgrades projects, the move from Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur to Microsoft Dynamics NAV enables businesses to migrate step by step, gradually adding functionality as needed. Upgrade Path I: Replacing the license key For businesses that have reached the user limit of Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur or that want to add major customizations to their solutions, they can transition to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV licensing model. With this approach, the business can continue using the current solution, but with a Microsoft Dynamics NAV license key. The advantage is that the business can purchase additional users under the Microsoft Dynamics NAV licensing scheme and have a certified Microsoft Dynamics NAV partner customize their solution to any extent necessary. Exchanging the license key is a matter of a few mouse clicks, and for Microsoft Dynamics NAV licensees, no customization restrictions exist. However, using a new key does not automatically provide access to the additional functionality provided in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV licenses, and customers cannot directly access these functions from the menus and windows in Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur. To gain access to additional Microsoft Dynamics NAV features, companies must link the Microsoft Dynamics NAV application objects that are already contained in the Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur database to the user interface (UI) of their current solutions. This process is described in Upgrade Path II. Upgrade Path II: Integrating Microsoft Dynamics NAV features As companies grow so do their needs and the functionality in Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur might no longer support their requirements. However, the company might want to continue using the user interface and functionality found in Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur. The upgrade path described here is intended for those customers who want access to parts of the additional functionality included 4
in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV license but who want to keep the Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur look and feel and feature set as their core. Because Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur is built on the Microsoft Dynamics NAV platform, customers can combine the user interface and features of Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur with the functionality in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The Microsoft Dynamics NAV application objects for example, those containing the forms and business logic for each functional area are already contained within the Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur database. So, customers who want to upgrade can use the additional functionality without having to implement a new solution from scratch. When a business acquires the Microsoft Dynamics NAV license key, they can work with a Microsoft Dynamics NAV Certified Partner to make the additional functional areas available from the menus and forms in Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur. This is a fairly simple process. For example, to add links to the Navigation Pane, you open the Navigation Pane Designer, select the Insert option, and then choose which items to add. If companies want access to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV functionality only, without any adaptation of the user interface, no additional steps are required. However, businesses can match the look and feel for the new functionality with the user interface in Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur. In that case, a Microsoft Dynamics NAV Certified Partner should customize the solution to tailor it to their needs. The work required depends on the scope of the project and the depth of the functionality in question. For example, transforming the manufacturing module to fit the Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur user interface is a more complex task than transforming the Stock Keeping Unit module. Certified Microsoft Dynamics NAV Partners can also assist with customizations in addition to adapting the user interface, such merging features from both products. The availability of Microsoft Dynamics NAV application objects in the Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur database provides a big advantage to businesses that can add features to the solution step by step, without worrying about a complete new installation and complex data migration. Upgrade Path III: Migrating data to Microsoft Dynamics NAV As businesses continue to grow, business processes requirements become broader and more complex. At that point, customers might consider a complete migration to Microsoft Dynamics NAV, which provides more specialized and separated functional areas and a user interface targeted at midmarket companies. In this case, a new installation of Microsoft Dynamics NAV followed by migration of the company data from Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur might be the best approach. Because both products share the same data model, data compatibility is not an issue, and customers can back up their company information and restore it in a Microsoft Dynamics NAV database. However, to help ensure that customized data in Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur such as information stored in the User Defined Fields is migrated correctly, a Microsoft Dynamics NAV Certified Partner must add the appropriate fields to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV tables. Automatic import of the data backup involves adding approximately 180 fields to various tables a task that can be easily completed by a Certified Microsoft Dynamics NAV Partner. They also can provide the customizations required to access the Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur data from the Microsoft Dynamics NAV user interface. After all fields have been created in the tables, the data backup can be restored by a few mouse clicks. At this point, users can continue their work where they stopped using all features and functionality in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. If a customer doesn t want to migrate customized data from Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur, it should be deleted from the tables before the data backup is created. Then, the data can be 5
automatically restored into Microsoft Dynamics NAV without adding the customized fields. A combination of both approaches migrating only part of the data is also an option. Conclusion Sharing a common code base and data model between Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur and Microsoft Dynamics NAV gives customers a choice about the scope and timing for the migration of their business management solution. Businesses can add users easily by switching the license key, and they can add Microsoft Dynamics NAV features by linking them to the menu items and windows in Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur. If necessary, a Microsoft Dynamics NAV Certified Partner can customize the solution to specific business needs; for example, the look and feel for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV features can be modified to match the user interface in Microsoft Dynamics Entrepreneur. By taking advantage of the shared code base and data model, companies can easily transfer business data by restoring a previous backup and migrate completely to Microsoft Dynamics NAV. For more information, customers should consult with their certified Microsoft Dynamics NAV partner who can support them with any upgrade projects and general questions. Every business is different and customers are therefore encouraged to work with their partner to identify the best upgrade approach for their situation 6