… and when it comes from a sceptic like me, it is not an empty statement. So for the benefit of those that still haven’t heard about Dynamics NAV – what is it?
Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Navision) is multi-language, multi-currency business management solution that helps small and mid-size companies worldwide manage, connect and automate their accounting and finances, sales, purchasing, inventory management, supply chain, and operations. Businesses can start with what they need now, and easily adapt as their needs change.
The new evolution of NAV focuses on integration and simplicity and works like the familiar Microsoft Office tools you already use, working seamlessly with Outlook, Word, and Excel to help you complete common tasks right from your Inbox. And you get the same powerful capabilities across iOS, Android, and Windows platforms for a consistent, more secure experience across your desktop, laptop, and mobile device.
It is getting harder and harder to ignore the Dynamics NAV 2017 game changing trends.
With the improved mobile experience your mobile workforce can stay connected to the information they need. With cloud-based Dynamics NAV, they can be “in the office” as soon as they turn on their mobile device.
Dynamics NAV works seamlessly with Office 365, which means you can easily manage business interactions with your customers and vendors directly within Outlook. Navigate effortlessly between your Dynamics NAV data and your Office tools – for example, Outlook, Microsoft Bookings, or Excel.
The improved compatibility enables you to easily create customers, vendors, quotes, and invoices, all without leaving Outlook. There is also improved Word integration, to help you lay out your documents professionally. The seamless experience means that you can save time, increase accuracy, and offer your customers an improved experience.
The assisted setup wizard will get you up and running faster by helping you import data, set up integration with Office 365, and enjoy a simplified setup experience, with predefined setup data.
You can use the assisted setup feature to guide you through setup scenarios – simplifying and streamlining your tasks. For example, follow wizards to set up workflows for approvals, set the fiscal year, or set up sales tax.
The enhancements in user experience include switching views to see and identify your list of records, seeing picture thumbnails in different sizes, and use wizards to learn new concepts or simplify data entry. In the Web Client, you can also use popular shortcuts; for example, press Escape to instantly exit a page, or F5 to refresh the latest data in your browser, without fully reloading the page.
Use advanced functionality by following non-intrusive, intelligent, in-application notifications, which guide you through relevant processes according to the context you are working in. These new types of notifications help even untrained users carry out advanced tasks.
Working with Jobs is now more straightforward, helping you manage projects more easily and get more visibility into the details. Set up jobs and enter time sheets using the new Jobs setup wizard and quickly access common tasks, new charts, and a new My Jobs list using the updated Project Manager role center.
Work with ready-to-use financial statements and gain accessible insights into the financial performance of your business. The new default Account Schedules means that no set up is required, making it quick and intuitive to produce the financial reports that you need, and point-in-time reporting means you can view the financial state of your business for any given time. Reporting is also made easier with the new Account Categories that provide structure to your chart of accounts.
Payment reconciliation is now much more efficient because you can complete your payment and bank reconciliations in one step, matching all transactions at once, then posting and updating the bank reconciliation at the same time.
Make it easier for your customers to pay your invoices online by including hyperlinks to payment services, such as PayPal. Even provide PayPal Standards payment links in invoices, supporting multiple ways of accepting payments, including credit cards and PayPal accounts.
Built-in Cortana Intelligence takes advantage of historical data and improves your insights into your predicted sales, helping you manage your stock and respond to your customers. Based on the forecast, the Sales and Inventory extension helps create replenishment requests for vendors, saving you time. You can be confident that you are working with the best predictions, because the system uses different machine learning algorithms and compares the results, returning the predictions with the highest quality.
Organize and classify your products the way you want, performing advanced searches on your catalog in just a few clicks and displaying only the information you need. You can create custom item attributes and assign an item attribute value, according to your business needs, helping you manage items or create sales documents.
Further enhancing navigation and web store integration, you can use categories to group items into a hierarchical structure, defining your own custom categories and assigning attributes to each category. When you add items to a category, the items inherit the attributes of the category, ensuring a common set of attributes on items in the same category, and saving you time.
The embedded Power BI allows users to easily create insightful charts and reports, and then make them available within the Dynamics NAV 2017 role center, making it easy to keep people informed with easy-to-share reports including key performance indicators (KPIs), inventory, sales and order status. Having easy reporting technology will help business to identify patterns, track trends, and even predict behaviors.
IT moves to the background – Business outcomes—instead of technology—should drive your decisions. The option for the cloud-deployment allows your business to focus on the future instead of getting bogged down by outdated technology.