For a long time, “we’ll deal with NAV later” was a reasonable answer. The system worked, your team knew it well, and Microsoft was still providing security updates.
That is changing.
Dynamics NAV 2017 reaches the end of extended support on January 11, 2027. NAV 2018 follows on January 11, 2028. Earlier versions are already out of support.
That does not mean your NAV environment suddenly stops working the next day. It means Microsoft stops providing security updates, fixes, and support. The system can keep running, but you are increasingly on your own when something goes wrong.
What does end of support mean?
The biggest concern is not that NAV will stop working overnight. It is what becomes harder to manage over time.
Security is one obvious issue. Your financial, inventory, and customer data is still sitting in the system, but the platform is no longer receiving the updates it needs to address new vulnerabilities. That can become a problem when auditors, insurers, customers, or your own IT team start asking how those systems are being maintained.
Finding the right expertise gets harder, too. NAV developers with experience in C/AL and heavily customized environments are not getting easier to find. If the person who understands your modifications leaves, replacing that knowledge can be difficult.
Then there are integrations. Banking, EDI, tax, ecommerce, payroll, and other connected systems continue to change. Every time one of those platforms updates its requirements, there is a chance an older NAV integration needs work to keep up.
And eventually, you end up spending more time maintaining the environment and working around its limitations than improving the business.
What does moving to Business Central give you?
Business Central is the direct successor to NAV, so the move is not starting from scratch. The underlying ERP concepts will be familiar to your team, including the way financials, inventory, purchasing, sales, and posting work.
The bigger difference is the platform around the ERP.
Business Central Online gives you continuous product updates rather than large upgrade projects every few years. It connects directly with tools your teams are already using, including Excel, Outlook, Teams, and Power BI, and removes the need to maintain your own ERP infrastructure.
There is also a different approach to customization. Some of the modifications that were necessary in NAV can now be handled through standard functionality or extensions, which makes future updates considerably easier to manage.
Microsoft is also offering an incentive for eligible customers through its Bridge to Cloud 3 program. Qualifying on-premises customers can receive 30% off Business Central Online for a three-year term. Enrollment is currently open until December 31, 2027.
Why start now?
A NAV migration is not something you want to rush.
Before you move, you need to understand your current environment, clean up data, review customizations, assess integrations, decide what historical data needs to come across, and give your users time to learn the new system.
That takes planning.
The closer we get to the 2027 and 2028 support deadlines, the more companies will be looking for migration resources at the same time. Starting earlier gives you more control over the project and your go-live date.
Waiting does not make the migration disappear. It just gives you fewer options around when and how you do it.
Where should you start?
Start by answering three simple questions:
Which NAV version are you running?
Which customizations do you still rely on?
How much historical data do you really need to bring with you?
These answers will give you a much better idea of what a move to Business Central will look like and where the work is likely to be.
Want to learn more?
Read our full blog on this topic for further information on the planned end of life for Dynamics NAV and reach out to our team of experts for guidance and tailored demos.
At Western Computer, we have completed more than 300 NAV-to-Business Central migrations since 1987, and we hold Microsoft Inner Circle status, putting us among the top 1% of Microsoft partners globally.
We have worked with a lot of different NAV environments over the years, including plenty of heavily customized ones. That experience matters when you are trying to figure out what should come with you, what can be replaced, and where the potential complications are lurking.
