Planning Your Upgrade To NAV 2015: The Definitive Guide

Planning Your
Upgrade to NAV 2015

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE
Managed services and long-term support

for Microsoft Dynamics NAV | CRM
catapultERP.com
Developed in partnership with:
Foreword
JANNIK BAUSAGER, DIRECTOR,

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV
GLOBAL PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
When we are talking about upgrading Microsoft Dynamics

NAV, the something is not the software, the something
is the organization that is running Dynamics NAV.
If you search for the definition of upgrade

on Bing, the result is: to improve the
quality, standard, or performance of
something, especially by incorporating
new advances.
So the answer to the question, why should I upgrade? is that you should
upgrade because you want to improve quality and increase productivity in
your business. One of the major reasons why customers do not upgrade
from Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 or earlier versions is because our
customers are satisfied with their current solution. We are happy that
we produce software that people find sufficient and see no need to get
updated. However, even though we control the quality of our products, we
do not control the market forces that keep introducing new opportunities
and new challenges for companies in todays economy.
The world is changing so fast that we found that in order to be able to
serve our customers better and respond to their needs of improving their
businesses, we changed our release cadence from several years down to
a release every year. This has enabled us to respond faster to the changing market environment and to serve customers that want to be able to
realize the benefit of the latest technology innovations.
The major drivers for our recent releases like Microsoft Dynamics NAV
2013 and our upcoming release Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015 has
been In Office 365 and On Microsoft Azure. Customers no longer
request a stand-alone ERP system, but a system that helps them with
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO UPGRADING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV | 2
As we keep investing in Microsoft Dynamics NAV, we encourage

our customers to keep taking advantage of these enhancements
and innovations.
their complete business processes, anywhere.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV now works with Office
365 and customers can, with single sign-on, get
access to their daily productivity tools like Word,
Excel, and SharePoint combined with information
from Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Running on Azure
helps customers reduce the cost of maintaining
hardware on-premise while getting the benefit
of accessing Microsoft Dynamics from anywhere
using the Web Client. With Microsoft Dynamics
NAV 2015, we are also going to optimize our user
experience for tablets and hence enable our users
to be productive, even at home on the couch.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2015 is going to introduce a lot of new capabilities that are going to
help companies be more productive. The stepping
stone for getting onto Microsoft Dynamics NAV
2015 is Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2, and in
CATAPULTERP.COM/NAV-UPGRADE-GUIDE|3
this version, there are also several improvements

that we believe will help companies be more productive. To get an overview of the features in each
Microsoft Dynamics NAV release, we recommend
that you review this page
We will keep investing in Microsoft Dynamics NAV
and enable you to get a competitive advantage
by having a complete business solution from
Microsoft that works with your familiar productivity tools.
As we keep investing in Microsoft Dynamics NAV,
we encourage our customers to keep taking advantage of these enhancements and innovations.
In order to do so, they need to stay current on the
latest version. This eBook is a wonderful resource
that describes the various processes for accomplishing this, happy reading.
Contents
05 How to Approach
29 Determine Your
09 Start
with Why:
Upgrade Motivations
40 Create
an
Infrastructure Plan
19 Evaluate Your Existing
46 Plan Your Upgrade Project
INTRODUCTION
Your Upgrade
CHAPTER 1
and Outcomes
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 4
Upgrade Path
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
NAV Solution
23 Develop Upgrade
CHAPTER 3
Requirements
Your
50 Develop
Support Strategy
CHAPTER 7
55 Essential ISV Solutions

APPENDIX
INTRODUCTION
How to Approach
Your Upgrade
If youve been through a NAV upgrade before, or any ERP system,

chances are youve got some stories to tell.
Lets be honest upgrading is never easy and hasnt always seemed like it was worth
the effort and investment.
In the past, the analysis and decision to upgrade Dynamics NAV was guided by IT and the
goals were usually to keep the technology investment current, maintain vendor support,
maximize the investment in software enhancement plans, or address bugs and issues.
Its less common for business stakeholders, guided by a desire to optimize processes
in the pursuit of operational excellence, to drive the NAV upgrade strategy. We want to
change all of that before your next upgrade to NAV 2015.
We suggest a new approach for thinking about your upgrade and its based on one simple
idea: Your business should be positioned to perform significantly better and your users
should be happier and more productive as a result of your upgrade.
Our goal is to help you, a current Microsoft Dynamics NAV customer (whether youre on
version 3, 5, or 2009) plan for a successful and transformative NAV upgrade.
By outlining a methodology for planning an upgrade to NAV 2015 (or NAV 2013 R2), we
help to clarify:
How you can create positive ROI by upgrading
The specific upgrade path that is most efficient for your company
How to minimize the risk and maximize the benefits of an upgrade, and
How to set the stage for simpler upgrades moving forward
What do NAV upgrades and

new tires have in common?
Most companies think

about upgrading NAV
the way many people
think about buying
new tires for their car.
We notice that most companies think about upgrading NAV the way
most people think about buying new tires for their car.
Weve all been there: you take your car in for regular service and the mechanic says your tires are almost bald and need to be replaced. Theres a
good chance you didnt even realize there was a problem! You might hold
off, do a bit of online research and comparison shopping, and become
easily overwhelmed with choices and perspectives. But, you dont actually take action and buy the tires.
One day, you find your vehicle sliding dangerously out of control across a
wet road confirming that yes indeed, youve got less traction and control
than you thought. You then rush out to buy the tires and have them installed, avoiding what could have been a costly and dangerous accident.
You know you are riding safer, but you have this nagging feeling that your
car is driving much the same as it always did. For some companies, the
psychological experience of a NAV upgrade can feel a lot like this.
A New Philosophy: Upgrade NAV to improve

business performance
A better philosophy is to think of your NAV upgrade the way you might a
home renovation. You and your family sit down and discuss your needs,
then map out goals for your home redesign like more storage space, a
bigger kitchen, and a backyard.
To bring your plans to life, you may consult with a few contractors and designers on whats possible given your existing home, detailed drawings,
budget and other details. Only then do you move forward with confidence that
the outcome will provide long term benefit over the coming years as your
family grows and changes.
Your business also grows and changes and your NAV solution needs to
keep up. Spending time planning how to deliver benefit and valued results
from your ERP investment will more than justify the investment of time and
expense associated with the upgrade. And just like a home renovation, it may
reduce ongoing maintenance costs and increase satisfaction for everyone
who uses it.
Upgrading NAV is an opportunity to breathe new life into an outdated business solution which may not be very livable anymore.
Next Steps
This guide is specifically designed to help you take the next steps toward
making the best upgrade decisions.
Planning your upgrade to NAV 2015 and choosing the most efficient upgrade
path requires following a structured methodology and analysis process.
There are seven major steps involved in NAV upgrade planning:
Below are all of the steps involved in developing a solid NAV upgrade plan.
Each step corresponds to a chapter in this book. Feel free to read it cover to cover or skip to
the sections you want to learn more about.
CHAPTER 1
Define Upgrade
Motivations
and Outcomes
CHAPTER 2
Evaluate
Your Existing
NAV Solution
CHAPTER 3
Develop
Upgrade
Requirements
CHAPTER 4
Determine Your
Upgrade Path
CHAPTER 5
Create an
Infrastructure
Plan
CHAPTER 6
Plan Your
Upgrade
CHAPTER 1: START WITH WHY
CHAPTER 7
Develop
Your Support
Strategy
NAV
2015
CHAPTER 1
Start with Why:

Upgrade Motivations
and Outcomes
CHAPTER SNAPSHOT
The start of every successful NAV upgrade begins with clearly

defining the desired outcomes and how the upgrade will
support them. Just like deciding to implement an ERP system
in the first place, we are firm believers in the importance of
developing an upgrade business case.
This chapter will help you uncover ways an upgrade can drive
performance improvement in your business, as well a more
robust system.
CHAPTER 1
Define Upgrade
Motivations
and Outcomes
CHAPTER 2
Evaluate
Your Existing
NAV Solution
CHAPTER 3
Develop
Upgrade
Requirements
CHAPTER 4
Determine Your
Upgrade Path
CHAPTER 5
Create an
Infrastructure
Plan
CHAPTER 6
Plan Your
Upgrade
CHAPTER 7
Develop
Your Support
Strategy
NAV
2015
If youre like many companies, you may

have been putting off your upgrade, and
for good reason. In the past, NAV upgrades
have had a reputation for being costly and
time-consuming, and for not always delivering tangible business benefits.
So, why upgrade? And, why upgrade now? How do
you find the ROI in an upgrade project? This chapter
lays out some of the places and reasons our customers
find value in upgrading from NAV 2009 or earlier to NAV
2013 or later.
Your Last Major Upgrade

In the past, each new version of NAV meant major
changes, often in the application architecture and with
new functionality to understand and adopt. Supporting
technology like SQL Server, Windows Server and Microsoft
Office may have also needed upgrading to work with
the newest version of NAV. This made upgrades more
complex, costly, and time-consuming.
Microsofts move to annual NAV releases is a major
benefit for customers as it means that an upgrade to
NAV 2015 is likely to be the last major upgrade you will
need to undertake.
Future upgrades will be incremental and smoother, and

most likely behind-the-scenes. This shift mirrors the
upgrade model seen in the SaaS world where vendors
push updates automatically. Continuously upgrading
as new versions become available is recommended to
keep functionality and technology current and avoid
the need for major upgrades.
New Features
An upgrade is an opportunity to streamline your NAV
solution either by reducing the degree of customizations or using features of the newer version to address
current or anticipated business needs. The chart below
provides a high-level overview of the key improvements
in each major version of NAV.
For a more detailed overview of changes between versions, check out Microsofts feature comparison tool.
NAV Version Comparison

3.7
4.0
5.0
2009/R2
OUTLOOK
INTEGRATION
CONSOLIDATION
ENHANCEMENTS
INTEGRATION
WITH OFFICE
MULTI-TIER
ARCHITECTURE
PRODUCTION
ORDERS
GRAPHICAL
PRODUCTION
SCHEDULE
PREDEFINED
USER
PERMISSIONS
WEB SERVICES
SUPPLY
PLANNING
ITEM BUDGETS
SERVICE ORDER
MANAGEMENT
INTER-COMPANY
POSTINGS
PROJECT JOBS
NAVIGATION
MANUSCRIPT
BANK ACCOUNT
MANAGEMENT
+ PREPAYMENTS
ROLE CENTER
ONLINE PAYMENT
SERVICES
RDLC REPORTING
2013
WEB CLIENT
IMPROVED
CHARTING
CAPABILITIES
COST ACCOUNTING
CASH FLOW
FORECASTING
NEW DIMENSION
SET ENTRY TABLE
IMPROVE
POSTING SPEED
AND PERFORMANCE
EXCEL ADD-IN
FOR AD HOC
REPORTING
2013/R2
2015
SHAREPOINT
AND OFFICE 365
INTEROPERABILITY
WITH SINGLE
SIGN ON
UPGRADE TOOLS
AZURE
PROVISIONING
TOOLS
MULTI-TENANT
DEPLOYMENT
MOBILE DEVICES
(WINDOWS, IPAD,
ANDROID)
EXPRESSIVE
TILES
EASY BUILD
WORD TEMPLATE
REPORTS IN
ADDITION TO
RDLC
Reasons to Upgrade
Stay Supported
One of the major challenges NAV customers face is the availability of support
resources. Can you continue to get support from:
Microsoft for your existing version,
Your NAV partner for your customizations and reports,
ISVs for capabilities that they are supporting in your existing system?
This topic is at the forefront of many peoples minds with the retirement of
support for the Microsoft XP operating system, older versions of Internet
Explorer, and office tools which do not integrate well with the new mobile
and cloud based systems.
The older your version of NAV, the harder it will be to find the support and
responsiveness you need from Microsoft, partners, and ISVs. For example,
mainstream support for 2009 will be ending in 2015. As the technology
evolves, these vendors are training their staff and evolving their products to
leverage the most current version, leaving fewer resources left with the skills
to support older versions of NAV.
Fill a Business Capabilities Gap or

Improve Business Processes
Our customers have found this is the place where upgrades can have the
biggest impact. How has your business changed or grown since your implementation or last upgrade? Your business is constantly evolving, but your
ERP system may not be keeping up with robust support of your operations.
Mid-size companies evolve and change quickly, and often need new capabilities from their ERP system. You may have added staff and locations. Your
lines of business, distribution or channel strategy may have changed or
youve acquired other businesses that need to be integrated. Its likely that
you need to manage and track different things than when your system was
first implemented.
Have your teams created clumsy workarounds because your existing system
does not have the functionality to support them? Or, did you add an additional
system to track that data which is not integrated with NAV? Did you create
additional customizations for NAV to support this business change? In many
situations, NAV customers find that the new version has more robust standard functionality and they can retire customizations.
Risk Management and Compliance

Businesses today need to be transparent and accountable while managing a wider range of risks than ever
before. Many are required to comply with external standards and controls frameworks or meet regulatory and
audit requirements. These requirements can be onerous
and be a source of significant cost.
Can your existing NAV solution provide the reports you
need, and is the data accurate? Are you able to audit
business processes, segregate key functions, structure
processes, and implement business rules to minimize
financial risk?
If your company is audited annually, your auditors may
have pointed out ways that your NAV solution may be
introducing the risk of financial misstatement or weakening internal control.
A clean upgrade to NAV 2015 can minimize business risk
and better support governance over business processes. The latest release of NAV also provides improved
accountability with more granular control over user
roles and permissions.
Modernize & Integrate

Your Software Experience
In some cases, just the need to modernize software
alone may be a major factor driving value in a NAV
upgrade. This is especially the case if you are still using
one of the older versions of NAV with the classic client
user interface.
The up-to-date interface of Dynamics NAV 2015 is role-tailored and works like Microsoft Outlook and Office. In fact,
they are closely integrated so it appears to the user that
they are just working in another Office application.
This more modern interface allows easier access to
key functions and data. It speeds up your staffs ability
to quickly answer your questions and improves their
job satisfaction.
The ability to easily integrate with SharePoint and
Office 365 is another possible source of value. Tighter
integration with Excel can facilitate smoother reporting and users with less robust needs can often be supported effectively through simplified web or SharePoint
client interfaces.
Office 365 and NAV

Office 365 is a fully hosted multi-tenant platform that includes Exchange for email, the
latest versions of the standard MS Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and others),
Lync for instant communications and online
meetings and SharePoint for document management and portal integration.
The dashboard and reporting features of SharePoint and
Office 365 can streamline and eliminate hours of manual
preparation time for reports and spreadsheets tracking sales,
accounting, inventory and many other common business
data requirements. You can manage all of the documents
associated with your business transactions in SharePoint
like contracts, receipts, statements and invoices linked to
your NAV transactions.
Older versions of NAV did not have the capability to easily integrate with this type of collaboration and business software.
Just this capability alone may provide additional business
process improvements and return on investment to justify

upgrading your NAV implementation to the Azure platform.
Adopting Office 365 cloud services is truly a game changer
for many businesses because it opens up the opportunity
for interoperability across all of your business departments.
Staff who only require occasional access to NAV can update
information through a SharePoint application or form. These
inputs, like purchase requisitions or expense data, can then
be reviewed and approved by a NAV user, and update the
system without moving paper around or duplicating data
entry. Any substantiating documents can be scanned and
saved to SharePoint for filing and retrieval in the future,
if needed.
Office 365 offers powerful business intelligence tools such
as PowerBI. Using these capabilities, businesses can expose
data for reporting through an easy to use web interface
and produce rich and detailed analytics in a visually compelling way.
There are incredible possibilities for overall business process
improvement through these applications, the platform, and
their tight integration with NAV.
With Microsoft
now releasing
a new version of
NAV every year,
it is easier than
ever to migrate
to the cloud and
continue to
keep your software
version current.
Upgrade Infrastructure or
Move to the Cloud
Over time, the hardware infrastructure NAV
runs on may become obsolete or difficult to
maintain. Companies that run enterprise software on-premise are increasingly rethinking
their strategy and exploring infrastructure as a
Service (IaaS). The reality for most companies
is that porting legacy applications and old database technology to the cloud may be problematic. Recent versions of NAV like 2013 R2 and
upcoming releases like NAV 2015 are ideally
configured to run on cloud infrastructure.
With Microsoft now shipping a new version of
NAV every year, it is easier than ever to migrate
to the cloud and continue to keep your software
version current. Microsoft has also made major
database efficiency improvements to the SQL
Server which allow for more processing of data
directly in memory.
Deploying NAV on cloud infrastructure such as
Microsoft Azure offers:
Over the long term, cloud infrastructure offers

a major opportunity to reduce costs by outsourcing daily maintenance, monitoring and
server management tasks to managed services providers.
Cloud-based virtual servers are more reliable
and provide redundancy to ensure your business critical systems do not go down and are
maintained to perform at top speed.
A software upgrade or reimplementation can be
the perfect time to transition a major part of
your information technology infrastructure to
a hosted environment with the help and advice
of your Microsoft Partner. This is another area
where your partners expertise and analysis of
your business needs moving forward will help
match your technology landscape to your strategic goals and plans.
For a more in-depth analysis of cloud options,
refer to chapter 5.
Best-of-breed hardware architecture

Flexible capacity
Best practices for infrastructure management
Better control over development, test, and
production environments
More reliable backup and recovery processes
UPGRADE SUCCESS SNAPSHOT:
Canyon Technical Services

Engineering services in the oil
and gas industry
INDUSTRY:
ORIGINAL VERSION:
2009
UPGRADED VERSION:
2013
To put this all into perspective, lets start by describing a recent customer scenario
you might identify with in terms of upgrade concerns and requirements.
Upgrade Objectives
Since their last upgrade (from NAV 5 to 2009), the company has grown both in size and complexity. Motivated
by a need to accommodate growth and manage risk, Canyon decided to upgrade to NAV 2013, focusing on
specific improvements in the following areas:
Reporting: Improving financial and operational performance reports
New functionality: Introducing more structure and governance in the procurement process
Security: Managing data security by establishing better controls over user permissions
Stability: Cleaning up data and going with a more standard version of NAV moving forward
Upgrade path
After analyzing the steps to move to NAV 2013, Canyon chose a hybrid upgrade (a technical upgrade combined with a partial object merge) because they wanted to re-envision many processes and retire some
customizations, while bringing forward certain custom objects that were still serving their needs.
UPGRADE SUCCESS SNAPSHOT: CANYON TECHNICAL SERVICES CONTINUED
Business Benefits
Better Data Security

Prior to upgrading, security options werent
consolidated, which opened up the company to
potential risks. For example, in the old system,
two users in the same role could have completely different security positions. The move to NAV
Canyons ERP system now enables them to

meet regulatory compliance standards for public
companies.
Improved Reports and Data Quality

In Canyons NAV 2009 environment, dimensions
and GL structures were complex and many of these
A System for the Long-Term
dimensions captured the same information. The
When they upgraded from NAV 5 to 2009, Canyon
upgrade included a consolidation of the existing
brought forward a number of customizations
dimensions as well as an extenwithout analyzing whether or not
sive data cleanup process. Now,
they continued to bring value to the
due to the improvements to data
system. This time around, Canyon
structure and quality, key reports
was able to analyze which cusRe-thinking the basic upgrade philosophy to focus
are more efficient and focused,
tomizations they were no longer
on business outcomes allows organizations like
providing value-add rather than
leveraging and retire many custom
over-abundant classification.
objects. Working with a more stanCanyon to choose an appropriate upgrade path and
dard version of NAV will allow for
New Functionality
methodology one that sets them on the path to
simpler upgrades in the future.
Prior to moving to NAV 2013,
Canyon was not using NAVs purchase order functionality extensively and they wanted to introduce more controls over purchase approvals.
The entire procurement function was overhauled
and resulted in improvements in vendor management, better control over costs and improved
management/approval oversight.
realizing true business value.
2013 provided opportunities to tighten up user

permissions by implementing advanced security levels using Mergetool and ensuring rolebased security access tailored to specific functional needs.
Through the upgrade process,

Canyon met their objectives while
also developing a NAV solution
that they can continue to build on.
Now that you have a sense of why to upgrade
your NAV system, the next few chapters will
outline the methodology for how you convert
these motivations into a formal upgrade plan.
CHAPTER 2: EVALUATE YOUR

EXISTING NAV SOLUTION
CHAPTER 2
Evaluate Your Existing

NAV Solution
CHAPTER SNAPSHOT
Once youve identified and reached consensus on the rationale

to upgrade, the first step is to evaluate your current NAV
solution and how well it is supporting your business. You may
have already done some of this analysis when you developed
your business case for an upgrade.
This chapter outlines how to review your NAV solution in detail
to understand exactly what must be brought forward into the
upgraded solution.
CHAPTER 1
Define Upgrade
Motivations
and Outcomes
CHAPTER 2
Evaluate
Your Existing
NAV Solution
CHAPTER 3
Develop
Upgrade
Requirements
CHAPTER 4
Determine Your
Upgrade Path
CHAPTER 5
Create an
Infrastructure
Plan
CHAPTER 6
Plan Your
Upgrade
CHAPTER 7
Develop
Your Support
Strategy
NAV
2015
STEP 1
Code Comparison
A code compare is an automated process that looks at your NAV system and reveals,
in detail, objects that differ from the standard NAV database due to customization, and
additional objects that have been added. A code compare can be scripted or performed
manually but it is far easier and more accurate to use the Mergetool which looks at NAV
objects exported in text-format. In most cases, this is a step that should be handled
by your partner as a developers license is required.
Mergetool delivers a report that outlines the
number and type of objects (tables, dataports,
forms, reports, tables, code units, etc.) that were
modified from standard NAV or custom objects
that were added to the database, and the percentage difference from the base code. The report
also identifies code that may not be functioning
properly in your system. An example of a report
summary is provided to the right.
BASE/STANDARD
OBJECTS
MODIFIED
BASE OBJECTS
%
CHANGED
NO. OF CHANGES
IN BASE OBJECTS
NO. OF MERGE
CONFLICTS
NO. OF NEW
CUSTOM OBJECTS
CODE LINES IN
NEW OBJECTS
Table
945
84
8.9%
418
128
122
11,926
Form
1,636
162
9.9%
1,191
217
50,429
Report
793
50
6.3%
693
71
147
102,030
Dataport
10
0.0%
27
3,546
Codeunit
607
57
9.4%
368
115
25
11,297
XMLPort
30
6.7%
456
MenuSuite
0.0%
1,746
Page
0.0%
Total
4,023
355
8.8%
2,674
314
544
181,430
STEP 2
Custom Object Review

The next step is to dig into the details
of the code compare to determine
exactly which custom objects from
the current implementation need to
be carried forward in the upgrade.
This review will tell you a lot about
the potential complexity of your NAV
upgrade and which upgrade path will
be the most efficient.
The code compare results specify exactly which
database objects differ from standard NAV. At
this point, it is essential to review the custom
objects systematically to understand exactly
what purpose each custom object serves. This
includes reviewing what may be a long list of
custom reports you may have developed in
NAV. For each custom object in your NAV database, the code compare will indicate one of
three possible upgrade actions:
Merge: If a standard NAV database object

has been customized, and there is a corresponding object in the standard database
for the target version, the code compare
will likely indicate that it can be merged.
Re-Implement: If a standard NAV database
object cannot be merged with the target
version objects for any reason, it will need
to be re-implemented as a new customization in the upgrade. In certain cases, newer
versions of NAV may not be backward compatible therefore merging is impossible.
Use Customization: If a customer-specific
database object exists, the code compare
will, in most cases, recommend using it in
the target NAV version. Note that in many
cases these objects will need significant updating or re-writing to work properly in the
new NAV version. Custom database tables
generally port without difficulty, however,
reports, forms and certain other objects
may be problematic due to changes in the
underlying NAV application architecture.
There are a variety of reasons that certain

code may not compile correctly. Unknown variables and libraries that fail to load are common
reasons. This list of non-compiling objects
must be reviewed to determine if they are critical to the performance of the NAV system. It
is helpful at this stage to review these items
to determine if they will need to be addressed
or restored in the upgrade process.
In most cases, many of the custom objects in your
system will no longer be needed. Understanding
the history of your NAV solution is particularly
important here. For each custom object in your
system, you must identify the specific business
need it supports or its specific purpose in your
system. This goes for custom functionality,
forms, menus, reports, and integrations. Custom
code should be sufficiently documented to easily
identify what it is for and in cases where documentation is lacking, your partner can help you
determine where custom objects are used in your
solution.
CHAPTER 3:
DEVELOP UPGRADE REQUIREMENTS
CHAPTER 3
Develop Upgrade
Requirements
CHAPTER SNAPSHOT
At this stage, you have a very clear idea of what your existing
NAV solution contains on a very granular level.
Now, it is time to determine what your upgraded NAV
solution will look like. These decisions will be based on
your understanding of the business processes, use cases,
and requirements that you need NAV to support after
the upgrade, which may be very different from how it is
configured today.
CHAPTER 1
Define Upgrade
Motivations
and Outcomes
CHAPTER 2
Evaluate
Your Existing
NAV Solution
CHAPTER 3
Develop
Upgrade
Requirements
CHAPTER 4
Determine Your
Upgrade Path
CHAPTER 5
Create an
Infrastructure
Plan
CHAPTER 6
Plan Your
Upgrade
CHAPTER 7
Develop
Your Support
Strategy
NAV
2015
STEP 1
Customization
Upgrade Analysis
Start with the details of your custom object
review from the prior step. In most upgrade
situations, many of your custom objects will
not need upgrading. Eliminating customizations from your solution is an excellent strategy to streamline the upgrade plan.
There are several scenarios where customizations may not
need to be carried forward into the new, upgraded solution:
1. No longer needed: In many cases, the business need
that gave rise to a customization in NAV is no longer relevant. As businesses grow and change, functionality that
may have been useful previously may have outlived its
original purpose. This is especially true for integrations
that may have been developed for a one-time use such as

a data load from another system.
Static reports that are no longer used, or those which are
simply variations on a master report that could be replaced with a parameter-driven report may not need to be
upgraded. Upgrading reports to the new Report Definition
Language Client Side (RDLC) format in NAV 2013 and up
can add significant time and cost to your upgrade so it is
advisable to upgrade only those reports which are essential in everyday operations. In addition, NAV 2015 promises
far-greater flexibility and power when it comes to data
analytics and reporting. We advise looking carefully at
Business Intelligence options in NAV 2015, and ISV solutions like Jet Reports, before committing to upgrade all
of your reports. See the sidebar Business Intelligence in
NAV 2015 for more details.
2. Built into standard NAV: Each new version of NAV contains more features and robust functionality. In many cases, standard NAV functionality in
the new version can replace a customization that was implemented. Before
deciding to bring a customization forward into the new version, it is essential
to understand the full scope of what the latest NAV version offers.
3. ISV solutions: The community of independent software vendors (ISVs)
has grown to several hundred with commercially available solutions for a
staggering array of needs over and above what NAV offers. Often, a customer solution includes functionality that can be replaced and more robustly
supported by off-the-shelf software that may be licensed and configured to
work with NAV 2013 R2 or NAV 2015.
For existing ISV solutions in your pre-upgrade NAV environment, find out if
there is a version of the add-on that has been upgraded for the latest release
of NAV and obtain the source code from the vendor.
If the partner does not have a version of the add-in that works with Microsoft
Dynamics NAV 2013 R2, or NAV 2015, there are several options, discussed
under Technical Upgrades in the next chapter.
4. New customization: Sometimes, due to code quality, performance or other
issues, it may be desirable to re-write a customization in the new version of
NAV instead of porting the existing legacy objects. Over time, with multiple
upgrades, customizations can become problematic or unsustainable. In these
cases, replacing with a new customization is preferred.
NOTE ABOUT UNSUPPORTED FUNCTIONALITY:
There are some areas of NAV that have been

enhanced in new versions in ways that are not
backwards compatible. In these cases, there are
no standard data migration tools available
so consideration must be given to how this
functionality can be configured in the new
version and data brought forward, if necessary.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV Job and Service
Management are the two most significant areas
where this is a concern.
STEP 2
Business Process &

Requirements Analysis
During your initial NAV implementation, a cross-functional team of stakeholders probably participated in
a requirements gathering and business needs analysis to define exactly how NAV would be configured
and customized.
A similar series of iterative, process-centric discussions should take
place during the planning for a major NAV upgrade. Stakeholders should
be prepared to discuss workarounds which are not supporting the processes and operational areas they are responsible for. Also, consider
other departments or processes where support from your ERP system
can add automation or create a better flow of information and data.
Your goal should be to not only deploy a system that supports current
operational needs in the business, but also to establish a solution that
will scale to accommodate your business future growth. It is always

worth revisiting the full suite of capabilities that NAV offers in the context
of todays business operations. In many cases, companies find value in
an upgrade by rolling out additional capabilities to support things they
are already doing using offline tools, spreadsheets, or simply through
manual effort.
What are the biggest challenges and pain points impacting daily operations across finance, customer service, in the warehouse, manufacturing
floor, or supply chain? What problems do your key stakeholders and
business unit leaders want solved? What would your front line staff say
are the most pressing challenges and issues they face each day?
Understanding how NAV can support new business needs may require
some research by your staff or your Microsoft Partner and brought back to
the team for review prior to each step in the upgrade analysis methodology.
STEP 3
Reviewing Your
Dimension Structure
This is a critical exercise which again may reveal significant opportunities for improvement. NAVs dimensions are at the core of a clean chart
of accounts and powerful, flexible reporting and analytics.
Does your current Dimension structure support your financial reporting requirements?
Are the dimensions aligned to the way your company sets budgets and manages key
performance indicators?
As every NAV user knows, it is difficult and risky to change the dimension structure after
NAV is deployed. An upgrade is the perfect time to tighten up and streamline dimensions to
simplify data entry and improve reporting for your users. A refreshed dimension structure
will clean up and improve your database performance. It will also have a big impact on how
you think about your approach to reporting and analytics.
If the dimension structure needs to evolve or change significantly, this will be an important
part of your upgrade project plan and the focus of additional deep discussions.
CHAPTER 4:
DETERMINE YOUR UPGRADE PATH
CHAPTER 4
Determine Your
Upgrade Path
CHAPTER SNAPSHOT
The specific path you choose determines how much time,

budget and work effort is expended by your staff and your
partner to reach your upgrade destination.
This chapter outlines the three possible upgrade paths and
provides some general criteria for when they would be the
most efficient.
CHAPTER 1
Define Upgrade
Motivations
and Outcomes
CHAPTER 2
Evaluate
Your Existing
NAV Solution
CHAPTER 3
Develop
Upgrade
Requirements
CHAPTER 4
Determine Your
Upgrade Path
CHAPTER 5
Create an
Infrastructure
Plan
CHAPTER 6
Plan Your
Upgrade
CHAPTER 7
Develop
Your Support
Strategy
NAV
2015
What is an
upgrade path?
The upgrade path is the specific method chosen that results in:
The latest version of the application software installed
Your NAV database upgraded
Configuration and customization of functionality to meet your business needs
There are three possible paths a technical upgrade, a re-implementation, or a hybrid upgrade.
The following diagram provides a high level overview of typical motivations behind the selection
of one path over another.
S TAR T HE R E
NAV 3.x, 5, 2009/R2
Technical Upgrade
Reimplementation
Hybrid
You are only making 1 version jump

Your system has few customizations
Your business processes and requirements have not
changed signicantly
Your existing customizations are still functioning well
to meet your business process and user needs
You are several versions behind the latest release

34 years since last upgrade
Your existing customizations can be replaced by
current functionality
Your dimension structure needs signicant revision or
was never implemented
Your business needs have evolved and changed
ISV caps no longer needed
Seeking changes to existing infrastructure

You have a large amount of customizations in the
existing system that cannot be replaced by
new functionality
You are several versions behind the latest version of
NAV but the system mostly meets your needs.
You may want to bring forward relevant business process,
functionality, and data but it is not practical
to perform each version hop on the way to your
upgrade destination.
FINIS H: NAV 2015
A Technical Upgrade Path

Think of a technical upgrade the way you might think
about moving from Windows 7 to Windows 8: the software analyzes what you currently have and does the
work of making the necessary changes, merging old
code with new, to result in the newer version being
deployed. It starts with analyzing your existing NAV
database, focusing on customized objects, reports,
tables, and ISV functionality as discussed in the
previous two chapters. The technical upgrade process
updates the solution to the current version of NAV in
a test environment and customizations are modified
or developed as needed. Once testing is complete, the
solution is deployed to production servers.
Overview of a Technical Upgrade

A technical upgrade has three major components:
Upgrading the application code involves bringing application components forward from your existing version to the
newer version
Merging custom objects involves making pre-existing customizations functional in the new version of NAV
Upgrading the database involves using data conversion tools to
convert the existing data, and customizations
To do a technical upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 or
later, you must have already upgraded to NAV 2009. The process
to upgrade from NAV 5 or earlier to NAV 2009 is more cumbersome
than moving from 2009 to 2013 so we recommend working with a
partner. In many cases, a technical upgrade is the least efficient
upgrade path for pre-2009 NAV versions because of the requirement for a multi-step upgrade.
Upgrading from NAV 5

or earlier to 2009
Upgrading from NAV 2009

to NAV 2013
The following high-level steps must be performed

to upgrade from NAV 5 or earlier to NAV 2009:
Microsoft Dynamics NAV partners and customers

can download an Upgrade Toolkit from Microsoft to
facilitate a technical upgrade. The upgrade toolkit
is particularly useful for automating the upgrade
process from Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2 or
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 SP1 to NAV 2013
R2 or NAV 2015. You will also need the Microsoft
Dynamics NAV 2013 development environment.
1. Prepare for the data conversion.

2. Upgrade C/SIDE on Microsoft SQL Server if you
are upgrading an SQL database
3. Open the old customized data with the Microsoft
Dynamics NAV 2009 Classic client.
4. Delete all objects except tables
5. Import the new customized objects that you
created in the compare and merge process
6. Compile all objects in the new database.
7. For each company, initialize the company in the
upgraded database.
8. Upgrade data common to all companies.
9. Test the database.
We strongly recommend that you upgrade the application objects as well as the database so that
your solution includes the important application
fixes and new functionality that is introduced in
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 and NAV 2015.
You can fully automate the data upgrade process
using the Windows PowerShell scripts that are
included in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2

product media. Historically, this process has been
known for its tediousness and high risk of human
error when multiple operations had to be executed consecutively in all companies of the database
that you were upgrading. The scripts automate
this work so that you can test and execute your
data upgrades more reliably.
Included in the new upgrade toolkit are all known
data upgrade-related application hotfixes that we
are aware of, and we also addressed several platform issues that affected the upgrade scenario.
Detailed instructions and information on how to
use the Upgrade Toolkit to upgrade from NAV
2009 to NAV 2013 R2 can be found here. Microsoft
announced that NAV 2015 will ship with a similar
Upgrade Toolkit.
Upgrading Custom Functionality
Upgrading Partner Solutions
In cases where customers want customizations that have been implemented in their Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 databases to be migrated to their
new Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 databases, they have the choice of two
actions. Either you can implement new customizations in Microsoft Dynamics
NAV 2013 R2 or NAV 2015, or upgrade the application code by using a compare-and-merge process. This compare-and-merge process is known as a code
upgrade. You perform the code upgrade before you perform the data upgrade.
Frequently, customers use Microsoft Dynamics NAV solutions with one or

more Microsoft Certified Partner (ISV) add-ons, which consist of custom
Microsoft Dynamics NAV objects that have been developed by a third-party.
The code upgrade may include an upgrade of these solutions. You can do this
using the following methods:
The code upgrade is a sequence of development actions intended to fully

transfer the functionality of the customers solution to the new version of
Microsoft Dynamics NAV. A code upgrade can also include add-on functionality developed by third parties or objects changed by the customer.
If there is a version of the partner add-on that has been upgraded for the
latest release of NAV, obtain the source code from the vendor and import it
into your database before you perform the upgrade.
If the partner does not have a version the add-in that works with Microsoft
Dynamics NAV 2013 R2, you can:
Postpone the upgrade until the needed version of the add-on is released.
Not transfer the partner solution to the target version.
Transfer the partner solution to the target version as it is and then do a
code compare and merge for your standard application.
When does a technical upgrade

make sense?
A technical upgrade is likely to be the most
efficient path when:
You are only making one version jump to
get to the latest release. An upgrade covering multiple releases (from NAV 5 to
NAV 2015, for example) adds complexity
since skipping a version in the upgrade
process is generally not possible.
Existing database tables, objects and
reports have not been changed significantly from standard NAV (i.e., fewer
customizations).
From a business point of view, your
requirements, capabilities, and processes have not changed significantly
from when the last implementation or
upgrade was performed.
If the existing customizations are functioning well to meet your business
process and user needs.
Technical Upgrade Case Study

An Accounting Services company using
the NAV 2009 system selected a technical
upgrade to NA V 2013.
When the code compare was performed, they
found they only had a moderate amount of
customization as shown by the corresponding table.
They had 16 different companies in their
current system and only 12 needed to exist
in the upgraded software since several
were no longer relevant.
Some custom reports needed to be redeveloped to work correctly on the new
system. They had been created in SQL
Reporting Services.
And, some recent changes to their business model would be better supported by
the new functionality in NAV 2013 R2.
Technical Upgrade Scenario

OBJECT TYPE
COUNT
Table
57
Form
28
Report
20
Dataport
XML port
Codeunit
23
Menusuite
Page
36
Total
168
Why did they choose a

technical upgrade?
Few existing customizations
Could replace some of those customizations with new release functionality
Could retire add on software which was
not well integrated
Their final plan included implementing Jet
Reports instead of redeveloping some of
the custom reports in SQL Services, and
migrating their platform to Microsoft Azure
as an infrastructure service upgrade.
Reimplementation
as an Upgrade Path
At the other end of the upgrade
spectrum is re-implementing
NAV. This involves a fresh install
of the latest NAV application
objects and database, configured
and customized to support the
business current and anticipated needs.
While it is a fresh install, a re-implementation will differ from your initial deployment
because your existing data will need to
be considered. In some cases, companies
opt to clean, archive and import the data
into the fresh install while in other cases
companies may simply archive the data
and go-live with opening balances in their

upgraded solution.
When does a reimplementation

make sense?
The process starts with the same analysis

of your existing system objects, tables,
reports and customizations and consideration for the number of versions you
need to upgrade to reach the latest NAV
software release. A detailed look at your
existing customizations is important to determine if they can be replaced by standard
NAV functionality in the latest version.
Adopting standard NAV features and configuring them during the upgrade can save
considerable time and money over redeveloping custom code. Moving forward, it
will be much easier to implement future
upgrades with modules which are only
configured instead of customized.
Your business is a candidate for a reimplementation if your system is:
Several versions behind the most recent

NAV release
It has been more than 3 or 4 years since
your last upgrade or implementation
Many of your existing customizations
can be replaced by the new, current
functionality
Your dimension structure needs significant revision or was never implemented
Business needs have evolved and changed
ISV capabilities are no longer needed
Reimplementation Case Study

A non-profit organization had been running
NAV 5 and wanted to upgrade to NAV
2013. The code compare revealed almost
300 custom objects, which is a moderate degree of customization. To put it in
context, this is a moderate degree of customization in our experience. The company
had also gone through significant changes
in their business model since implementing
NAV 5.0 and needed to re-examine their
business system requirements. There were
a large number of custom forms which
would need to be redeveloped in the Role
Tailored Client (RTC) pages on NAV 2013.
not found to be relevant for their current

business needs.
For this customer, revising their dimension
structure would create the basis for better
management and tracking of KPIs, deeper
analytics, as well as financial reporting
that was matched to the organizations
current needs and preferences.
Reimplementation
Upgrade Scenario
OBJECT TYPE
COUNT
Table
94
Form
119

reimplementation?
Report
62
A technical upgrade presented little value

in this case. With needing to upgrade
across two versions, testing would have to
be performed twice, at each version stop.
Furthermore, a lot of the custom coding was
Dataport
XML port
Codeunit
11
Menusuite
Page
Total
296
An economic analysis of a technical upgrade

versus doing a re-implementation found a
re-implementation would only be two-thirds
of the cost of a technical upgrade.
The organization was able to complete
a re-implementation of NAV 2013 which
included:
Implementing Jet Reports
Cleaning up old custom code
Updating and revising their old dimension structure
Adding new functionality to handle
cost allocations which they had not
had in the old version
Training users on the new platform and
best practices
This re-implementation saved the client a
significant amount of money and time. The
result of a re-implementation is often better
performance, a cleaner, more tightly-architected solution, better data for decision
making and improved user satisfaction.
The Hybrid Upgrade Path

A hybrid upgrade includes a fresh implementation
of the latest NAV software release, combined with a
process called an object merge which takes only a
desired subset of existing customizations and integrates them with new software release objects. This
Hybrid approach can encompass any scenario that
does not fit neatly into the other two models as it is
equal parts technical upgrade and re-implementation.
Its the best of both worlds and a particularly helpful approach
when the amount of customization found in the code compare is
extremely large and where significant investments were made in
customizations that are still serving an important purpose.
When does a hybrid upgrade make sense?

You are several versions behind the latest version of NAV but the
system mostly meets your needs. You may want to bring forward
relevant business process, functionality, and data but it is not practical
to perform each version hop on the way to your upgrade destination.
Often a hybrid upgrade path is best when there is a large amount
of customization and unique reports in the existing system that
cannot be replaced by new functionality in the latest NAV release.
In this case, companies can benefit from greater utilization and
adoption of standard NAV capabilities while preserving important
customizations that are still functioning well and supporting key
business needs.
Case study for Selecting a

Hybrid Upgrade Path
A business with a very high level of customizations was using NAV version 2009
and wanted to upgrade to NAV 2013 R2.
This company had almost 600 custom
objects which were not well documented, and their functionality was not well
understood by the existing staff. Also, the
company was struggling to get support for
their customizations from partners or independent software vendors.
Adding to the complexity, the old customizations had been continuously included in
previous upgrades without really understanding whether they were required or
what the functionality provided.
Analysis and discussion with the users revealed they had adopted numerous shadow
systems and workarounds to compensate
for perceived functionality limitations and
lack of understanding of the capabilities
of NAV.
Other challenges included security and
user roles that were not well applied and
did not match their existing business structure or processes. As well, the company
was not using dimensions effectively and
had an extensive amount of old data which
needed to be cleaned up and was slowing
their database and system performance.
Hybrid
Upgrade Scenario
OBJECT TYPE
COUNT
Table
115
Form
122
Report
86
Dataport
20
XML port
Codeunit
70
Menusuite
Page
168
Total
581

hybrid upgrade?
This company was able to benefit from a
fresh implementation of NAV and redevelopment of some of the custom objects
which they needed to support their existing business.

The review process was carefully conducted to determine exactly which components
to upgrade and what could be discarded.
This hybrid approach addressed a lot of the
inadequacies of the old system by applying
a totally new dimension structure, revised
data mapping, upgraded code for custom
objects and implemented new roles and
security layers.
This company and their Microsoft Partner
also implemented a monthly continuous improvement process to help implement and
support their transition to public company
accounting best practices.
Although the discussion so far has mostly
been software-related, the upgrade planning conversation wouldnt be complete
without reviewing your solutions underlying infrastructure. Is it time to move to
the cloud?
CHAPTER 5:
CREATE AN INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN
CHAPTER 5
Create an
Infrastructure Plan
CHAPTER SNAPSHOT
Most of our upgrade discussion so far has focused on the

software, but new versions of NAV have updated server
specifications making it important to review of your hardware,
server configuration and user authentication strategies.
This chapter outlines the current infrastructure requirements
for NAV and profiles your various options for upgrading your
hardware or moving to the cloud.
CHAPTER 1
Define Upgrade
Motivations
and Outcomes
CHAPTER 2
Evaluate
Your Existing
NAV Solution
CHAPTER 3
Develop
Upgrade
Requirements
CHAPTER 4
Determine Your
Upgrade Path
CHAPTER 5
Create an
Infrastructure
Plan
CHAPTER 6
Plan Your
Upgrade
CHAPTER 7
Develop
Your Support
Strategy
NAV
2015
The latest application architecture requires modern infrastructure to run properly and function well. Upgrading to
NAV 2013 R2 or NAV 2015 must include an assessment of
the infrastructure it runs on.
There are two major areas to review which will determine the infrastructure
that is best scaled to meet the needs of your upgraded NAV solution:
1. If you are moving from NAV 5 or earlier, what is the impact of NAVs
three-tier architecture? And,
2. Do you want to continue managing your hardware and infrastructure
platform on premise?
With this architecture, in which the data and data manipulation layers are put on
their own servers, the application logic is put on its own server, and the presentation and presentation logic are put on the client. The new three-tier architecture
is multi-threaded so that it can handle more than one process at a time. This
architecture overcomes the intrinsic limitations of the two-tier architecture.
System Requirements for a MS Dynamics NAV Server

64-bit editions of the following versions of Windows:
Operating
System
Server Hardware: From Two-Tier

to Three-Tier Architecture
Older versions like NAV 5 and earlier were based on a two-tier architecture.
In two-tier architectures, the data and data manipulation layers reside on the
server, whereas the application logic, presentation logic, and presentation
layers reside on the client. It puts the application logic (Business Logic) and
presentation logic/layers (User Interface) on the client computer. The two-tier architecture also puts the data and data manipulation layers (DML) on the
server in the native database and SQL Server configurations. NAV 2009 was
the first NAV version capable of being deployed in a 3-tier architecture.
Both recent versions of NAV 2013 and 2015 are built on a three-tier architecture. This scalability allows you to quickly add a large number of additional
users due to the new middle layer. Your current infrastructure may be inadequate to run the newest version effectively. Refer to the table below for
an overview of system requirements for a NAV server and comparing them
against your current resources.
Hardware
Windows 8 Professional or Enterprise.

Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise.
Windows Server 2012.
Windows Server 2012 Essentials.
Windows Server 2008 R2.
Hard disk space: 500 MB.
Memory: 2 GB
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 Setup installs this software if it is not already
present on the target computer
Software
Windows PowerShell 3.0. For other supported operating systems, see Windows
Management Framework 3.0 on the Microsoft Download Center.
Microsoft Report Viewer 2012 is required for Save as Excel or Save as
PDF functionality
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 Setup installs this software if it is not already
present on the target computer.
Note: These are minimum requirements from Microsoft. Most customers should go
through an infrastructure sizing exercise to determine the appropriate server resource
to run their NAV solution.
Current Platform Analysis

We recommend a detailed review of your on-premise hardware resources and
determining if your company wants to continue to maintain your own servers,
switches and other components. Start by asking:
What is the age and capability of your current hardware?
What is the strength of your technology department staff in knowledge
and support of your hardware and software systems?
What is your companys philosophy for cloud migration and IT infrastructure overall?
If you have a strong technology team that is well-versed in maintaining NAV
infrastructure, then it may make sense continue hosting internally.
If your assessment shows some gaps or weaknesses, or cost-savings is an
important factor, it may make sense to plan for a strategic move to an infrastructure platform hosted with your Microsoft Partner or another data
center provider. Microsoft Azure infrastructure services is an ideal platform
for hosting NAV on virtual servers for companies that enjoy robust, highly-available access to the Internet.
Implementing virtualization on your servers is another way to increase your

infrastructure capability without buying new servers. Virtualization also provides better administration tools for server management.
Recent advancements in server virtualization technology may save you thousands of dollars over buying new equipment. This is a very cost effective
way to create a better platform for NAV to run on, as its easier for your IT
department to manage and can reduce system downtime for your users.
Keep in mind that the actual infrastructure specifications for your company
will be determined on a case-by-case basis after your upgrade path and
project plan design is determined.
Carefully review the list of additional hardware which will be needed to
support your upgrade. Compare the total costs with converting your NAV
system to a hosting partner or one of the cloud provider variations now possible due to advances in technology, networking and reduced hosting costs.
Consider Infrastructure as a Service

Hosting your NAV solution on cloud infrastructure gives your business a number of advantages which did not exist only a few years
ago. Infrastructure as a Service offers significant cost and efficiency
advantages over running on-premise datacenters.
Your business team and internal staff will likely not have to manage:
The equipment servers, routers, network devices, etc.
Server software
Operating systems
Security for all of the equipment and software
Or, Backups of the software and data
And, there is no difference in user experience with the front end client
interface. Your business users will not be able to tell if the software
is installed in your company offices or at a data center miles away as
long as your network connectivity and bandwidth is robust.
If you would like additional information about the cost, extensibility, network bandwidth requirements and scalability of moving
to the cloud this article explains some of the details to consider
Upgrading NAV: Stay on Premise or Move to Cloud?
Microsoft Azure Cloud Services

The Microsoft Azure service offers benefits for Microsoft Dynamics
and Microsoft system-based businesses as it can host a wide variety
of applications and databases.
New provisioning tools included in NAV 2013 R2 allow you to easily deploy your system
on Azure. This provides even small to mid-size businesses with enterprise class infrastructure at budget friendly prices.
An Azure platform for your upgraded NAV solution has the following benefits:
A stable and secure infrastructure platform backed by a strong service level agreement from a global company.
A pay as you go, low cost subscription model where you only pay for what you need.
There are no upfront costs.
Easy and fast deployment and migration of existing servers. The service even includes
a server Image Gallery to choose from several standard server types like Windows
or SQL servers which can be created in minutes on the Azure platform.
CHAPTER 6:
PLAN YOUR UPGRADE PROJECT
CHAPTER 6
Plan Your
Upgrade Project
CHAPTER SNAPSHOT
With your initial analysis and solution design complete, now

is the time to put all of your steps into a cohesive plan that will
serve as the guide for your upgrade project.
This chapter outlines elements to consider when creating
your plan that will help make your project a success with an
emphasis on practical tips and lessons learned.
CHAPTER 1
Define Upgrade
Motivations
and Outcomes
CHAPTER 2
Evaluate
Your Existing
NAV Solution
CHAPTER 3
Develop
Upgrade
Requirements
CHAPTER 4
Determine Your
Upgrade Path
CHAPTER 5
Create an
Infrastructure
Plan
CHAPTER 6
Plan Your
Upgrade
CHAPTER 7
Develop
Your Support
Strategy
NAV
2015
TIP:
The sooner you get buy-in at all

levels (from the executive down
to end users), the more likely
you are to experience success.
Whats in a project plan?

Now that youve scoped out your future
NAV solution and the best path for
getting there, its necessary to put this
plan into writing so that everyone is operating under a shared agenda. The best
way to do this is by developing a project
charter that outlines the objectives,
scope, and participants in the project.
Of critical importance, the upgrade project charter
also needs to address the following key areas:
Communication Plan
Your upgrade project involves a lot of moving
parts. How will you ensure that everyone stays
on the same page? As a baseline, we recommend
incorporating the following into your upgrade plan:
Status Meetings
Your implementation team (typically, a
Microsoft partner) should hold, at a minimum,
bi-weekly meetings to discuss, in detail, each
area of the project.
A Policy for Ad-hoc Communications
Develop a policy to ensure that all communications regarding the project are logged and
visible to the project manager. This would
include any inquiries in person, over the
phone, or over email.
Change Management
An upgrade means change, and change is hard for
people and organizations. Acknowledge that this
will be true, but look for ways to build excitement
and anticipation based on the features the upgrade
will provide such as time savings and automation.
Old habits and routines are hard to break and your
staff will need incentives to adopt changes.
Project Management Meetings

Bi-weekly check-ins between all project managers (on the client and partner side). These
meetings will cover any immediate risks/
issues, scheduled activities, approval and any
other project related items that may arise.
Training
Who needs to be trained on the new system and what approach will
you take?
Train the trainer This is when key stakeholders or department
heads are trained by system implementers. These stakeholders will
become subject matter experts that are capable of training other users
for go-live.
End-user training This can be completed by key stakeholders mentioned above or by your Microsoft partner.
User Acceptance Testing
Before going live, it is necessary to introduce your users to testing processes and procedures. Plan and discuss which representatives from the
user teams will be involved, what they will test and how they will perform
the testing.
TIP:
No amount of testing can be too much!

Testing both standard processes and
common exceptions will reduce the
frequency of urgent support calls.
Even though it can be a struggle to get users to test scenarios thoroughly

(especially because this work is on top of their regular jobs!), this is a
critical step in your upgrade success. This is especially crucial if you are
incorporating a lot of new features or a new interface that is not familiar
to users. Make sure that department managers not just the project managers take a vested interest and hold users accountable for testing.
CHAPTER 7:
DEVELOP YOUR SUPPORT STRATEGY
CHAPTER 7
Develop Your
Support Strategy
CHAPTER SNAPSHOT
Now that youve got a plan for upgrading NAV to the latest
generation, you want to make sure that you keep getting
value out of it. Thats where support planning comes in both
for immediately after the upgrade as well as a long term plan
for continuous improvement.
This chapter profiles the necessary elements of a support plan,
including: maintenance tasks, taking care of your users, and
continually enhancing capabilities.
CHAPTER 1
Define Upgrade
Motivations
and Outcomes
CHAPTER 2
Evaluate
Your Existing
NAV Solution
CHAPTER 3
Develop
Upgrade
Requirements
CHAPTER 4
Determine Your
Upgrade Path
CHAPTER 5
Create an
Infrastructure
Plan
CHAPTER 6
Plan Your
Upgrade
CHAPTER 7
Develop
Your Support
Strategy
NAV
2015
Youve completed the upgrade project and deployed the latest version
of NAV to production servers. Your users are logging in and getting used
to the new environment and business is getting done. We know it was a
lot of work getting this far, but, this is a pivotal time a moment you can
either lock in a path to realizing your ERP hopes and dreams, or a time
when enthusiasm and momentum fizzle out. How will you ensure that
your company maximizes the benefits NAV offers to drive efficiency,
agility and insight?
There are two critical strategies you must implement to realize the intended benefits of your
NAV upgrade:
A stabilization and support strategy
A plan for continuous improvement
Stabilization and Support

Keeping the engine running
Your car needs regularly scheduled maintenance and service, and so does NAV. Everything
that it takes to keep your solution running well from maximizing availability, minimizing load
times and refresh rates, minimizing system errors, applying the latest updates and fixes, and
monitoring the servers can be scheduled and addressed proactively.
In addition to responsive (help desk) support,

your technology staff or a team from your partner
must handle the following tasks:
Apply system hot fixes, updates and rollups
Monitor application, server and database logs
and manage hardware resources
Monitor and manage integrations
Troubleshoot and resolve issues
Manage backup and disaster recovery strategy
Manage development and test environments,
and production releases
Keep the system running at peak performance
for the users
From NAV Newbies to NAV Ninjas

End user proficiency is the single biggest key
to driving valued business outcomes with NAV.
Ongoing support for end users must provide
a communications channel which will rapidly
answer their day to day questions (e.g., How do
I?), and a methodology to log and take action
on requests.
Consider these suggestions to ensure your users
have the resources they need to put NAV to work,
making their jobs easier and more enjoyable, and
improving the way your business functions:
When the upgraded NAV solution is initially deployed, you will need a higher
level of proactive follow up for users. Plan
to reach out to them often, both formally and
informally to understand their experience with
the new system, as well as to identify sticking points, frustrations, or areas for additional
training and development.
Consider formal training especially for
users who may be newer to NAV or who were
not part of the team when NAV was originally deployed. Microsoft offers online training
modules, and communities like NAVUG offer
many webinars, training sessions, and conferences to facilitate ongoing learning.
Encourage participation in online support
communities like NAVUG, MIBUSO and
LinkedIn groups for NAV users. These communities are a fantastic (and free) resource to
learn about how other organizations are applying NAV capabilities to drive performance
improvement, and get challenging questions
answered by other users who may have run
into similar challenges.
Establish a steady state service in your
company or with your NAV partners to
deal with user requests for help as they
arise. After NAV is upgraded, there will likely
be a higher than usual volume of requests.
Supporting users at this time is critical to generate buy-in and stabilize the new system and
how it integrates with your business. Support
requests from users will diminish over time
and you can easily establish knowledge bases,
wikis, and help desk services to ensure that
users are getting the support they need and
have their most urgent questions answered.
Leverage your connection to end-users
in order to gain suggestions for ways to
improve the way NAV supports your business. Create a mechanism, like a company intranet, where users can submit requests for
reports, interface (form) changes, portal integrations, new features or workflows. Establish
clear governance processes and accountabilities for reviewing these requests, evaluating
the effort to address them, the technical and
business impact, and decisions about priority.
Continuous Improvement
Even though the move to NAV 2015 will put you
on a path to simpler upgrades in the future, your
business evolves continuously and needs can
change (and thats a good thing!). Your system
should continue to evolve along with your business. Since no organization can absorb all the
capabilities your NAV system can deliver right
at go-live, you need a plan to drive adoption of

NAVs capabilities into your business over time.
A strong continuous improvement mechanism

includes:
Traditionally, the approach to evolving capabilities with NAV is to bundle enhancements into
discrete phases or projects. However, our experience is that such projects tend to under deliver
because they are typically infrequent and may not
address the most critical needs in the right order
and their impact is limited by scope and budget.
As a result, many important or desired operational improvements are ignored, passed over,
or left for next time.
A structured way to connect with key stakeholders to identify and understand capabilities gaps and opportunities for improvement
and to connect ERP evolution activities with
business strategy,
A plan for how to continuously improve the
level of user proficiency and skill
Escape the Phase 2 Trap

Rather than bundling enhancements and new
capabilities into phases or projects, we suggest
creating a continuous improvement program
that focuses on ensuring the optimal health of
your system. Not just when you need it but
all the time.
Continuous improvement includes key user coaching, business process monitoring and improvement,
as well as a plan to tackle the ongoing list of enhancements, reports, suggestions and changes
requested by stakeholders and users.
Rather than bundling enhancements

and new capabilities into phases or
projects, we suggest creating a continuous
improvement program that focuses on
ensuring the optimal health of your system.
A process for rolling out new features, functions, reports and capabilities on a continuous
basis. Monthly release cycles have worked
well in our work with client organizations.
A communications plan that updates stakeholders and users on upcoming system changes and
new features, integrations, reports, and capabilities, feedback sessions and process improvement workshops
A cycle of continuous configuring, testing, training and roll out will encourage users to adapt to
a new norm based on continuous improvement
and the beneficial results of the ongoing changes.
A good example of continuous improvement activities might be configuring additional workflows,
refining permission settings or enabling user
defined data input fields for reporting.
For example, a recent upgrade customer initially left the permissions very open, but then
experienced unauthorized purchase order
generation. They reviewed the workflow, user
roles and implemented strict procurement
permissions as part of their ongoing improvement process.
Other priorities might include further reducing customizations which had to be carried
over in the upgrade project due to time or budget
constraints.
Your upgrade project will supply lasting benefits
with a well thought out and prepared support and
maintenance plan.
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
Essential ISV Solutions
CHAPTER SNAPSHOT
When planning your new version, you should review some of

the latest offerings from the ISV community. There are many
new, modernized add-ons which can significantly enhance
NAVs capabilities. These add on software tools augment the
workflows, processes, tools and scenarios which can be built
into NAV, but are not offered by Microsoft.
If part of your upgrade path includes redevelopment of custom
code, look for an ISV which offers this functionality instead.
Anytime you can buy, implement and configure instead of
customizing, it is always worth it.
This section profiles 4 essential ISV solutions to consider as
part of your upgrade strategy.
REPORTING
Jet Reports provides robust, easy-touse Reporting and Business Intelligence

solutions that empower over 100,000
business users across the globe to make
informed decisions.
How does Jet Reports fit
into your upgrade strategy?
When approaching an upgrade, there are two important
things to consider:
1. Will your existing NAV reports work in the
new version?
In the past, it was easy to migrate existing reports
to a new version of NAV. Beginning with NAV 2013,
this is not so because it is a different programming
language and all those reports will have to be rewritten by a developer. This can really add to the
cost of the upgrade so the question then becomes,
what are some affordable alternatives?
2. Will your data history fit neatly into the new
version of NAV?
You still need your data history if you are trying to understand the trends in your business but how do you
fit it into your new system? It can be costly to migrate
that data and make it fit into the new system. Also, if
you have years of history, you may be experiencing slow
performance in NAV. Wouldnt you prefer to have a really

fresh start without losing your history?
Jet Reports has two great solutions that address
those particular issues.
Jet Essentials is an Excel add-in that will let you query
your old database and your new database right in the
same Excel worksheet. Designed for the Excel user,
it is simply 4 new functions in Excel. (Think of =sum.
Thats a function.) These new functions will also work
with other Excel functions to help you design dynamic
reports in Excel. You lay out the reports the way you
want to see them and always get real time data when
your refresh your report.
Jet Enterprise is a Business Intelligence solution.
Business Intelligence is a methodology of extracting
data from one or more databases and storing it in a
data warehouse. You access your data via data cubes
that has that data stored in all the different ways you
would like to analyze it.
With either product, you can recreate those NAV reports
yourself without needing programming knowledge. Jet
Reports provides you with over 90 working reports to
help you get started. And, because youre in Excel, you
can format and colour graphs and charts to create your
own dashboards.
You will see your business like youve never seen
it before.
DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT AND DELIVERY
Zetadocs for NAV adds a set of document

management, electronic document delivery, and AP approval solutions to Microsoft
Dynamics NAV. These solutions are embedded right into the NAV client for a truly
integrated solution that is tailored for use
exclusively with NAV. As for the benefits,
Zetadocs helps organizations save money
and time, improve the level of service they
can offer customers, and reduce their
carbon footprint.
How does Zetadocs fit
into your NAV upgrade?
Zetadocs Express
For those upgrading to NAV 2015, a version called
Zetadocs Express is available at no additional cost for
users who are on a Business Ready Enhancement Plan.
Providing foundational document management capabilities, Zetadocs Express includes:
The ability to email NAV reports as PDFs

Drag and drop archiving (including linking to a NAV
record) of emails and other files.
Check out this video to see Zetadocs Express in action.
Expanded Functionality
Upgrades to more advanced Zetadocs modules are
available and provide power users with advanced
functionality, including batch delivery of NAV reports,
batch scanning of vendor invoices, and streamlining of
AP approval processes.
Zetadocs Delivery Essentials/Plus: These modules
offer advanced functionality for sending documents
from NAV via fax or email.
Zetadocs Capture Essentials/Plus: These modules
offer advanced functionality over and above the drag
and drop archival capability of Zetadocs Express.
Zetadocs Payables Approval: On-screen approval of POs and Invoices from any device with
electronic access to supporting documentation
ECOMMERCE
Nav-to-Net, Digital Vantage Points flagship product, is built exclusively for Microsoft
Dynamics NAV. Tightly embedded within
Microsoft Dynamics NAV, it delivers
maximum value by blending sophisticated
functionality with low cost of ownership
and express or custom implementation.
This B2B/B2C/B2E-ready solution is capable of
managing webshops entirely within NAV, improving
operational efficiency while reducing maintenance
and training costs. Nav-to-Net features effective built-in content management tools and a user-friendly interface, reducing the imposition on the
IT department and making it ideal and manageable
for a typical business user.
Nav-to-Net utilizes technologies that align with your
business objectives, such as:
support for multiple websites, languages, and
currencies
unlimited catalogues and categories
SEO optimization
and much more
It also enables you to reach and engage your customers in a personalized way with features like parametric search, advanced coupon management, and profile
selling capabilities.
When youre managing all the elements that make
e-Commerce successful, you will gain positive feedback from your customers and overall added value.
With more traffic, customers, and orders coming in,
a self-contained and scalable solution like Nav-toNet can handle this growth easily with minimal
effect to your NAV environment.
Nav-to-Net is the e-Commerce solution that will
take your business where you want it to go. It is
backed by the expert team at Digital Vantage Point,
a unique blend of tech-savvy e-Commerce specialists and NAV-certified developers. With a variety of
business and technology partners all over the world,
Digital Vantage Point is dedicated to growing partnerships and businesses in order to provide customers
with the best e-Commerce solution for NAV.
DATA MIGRATION AND INTEGRATION
Scribe Insight provides a visual model

with built-in connectors that allowed
us to get up and running very quickly
and cost-effectively. Custom coding
would have taken at least twice as
long at much higher cost.
Robert Hughes,
Director of Information Systems,
Onity
Scribe Software is the leader in Dynamics

integration and provides cost-effective
solutions that can be used as the only tool
businesses need to integrate virtually any
application, data source, or Software as a
Service (SaaS) platform.
How can Scribe improve your
NAV 2015 experience?
Migrate Your Data
Are you re-implementing Dynamics NAV?
Whether youre moving from NAV 2009 R2, NAV 2013,
or NAV 2013 R2, youll likely want to bring select data
from your old system to your fresh environment. Using
Scribe Insight, you can easily cleanse and transform
master and historical transaction data to bring forward
the amount of history you need. Scribe provides an
intuitive interface for your system administrator or
Dynamics NAV partner to perform the necessary data
mapping and conversion.
Integrate Your Applications with Dynamics NAV

Which additional applications can you connect to
NAV? How can you get the most complete picture into
your operations?
Through integrating NAV with your various front and
back-office applications CRM, shipping, payroll, manufacturing, billing, and more your executive team can
identify the trends and patterns necessary to develop
clear strategies for moving forward. Scribe Insight can
help centralize integrations by providing one platform
to integrate various systems and monitor them all in
one user friendly interface.
Refer to this case study for more insights on how
one customer used Scribe to connect their Dynamics
CRM and NAV systems, and increased new business opportunities.
Directory
Elliot Fishman, CEO
E elliot@catapulterp.com | T 778 383 1092 |
@CatapultERP
www.catapulterp.com
Janice Taylor
E janice.taylor@jetreports.com | T 416 265 6600 |
@JetReports
www.jetreports.com/ca
E sales@dvp.net | T 1 905 415 8455 |
@digitaldvp
www.dvp.net
E sales@scribesoft.com | T 1 603 622 5109 |
@ScribeSoft
www.scribesoft.com
Ryan Pollyniak, Zetadocs Channel Manager

E rpollyniak@usa.equisys.com | T 679 942 7213 |
www.zetadocs.com
@PaperlessNAV and @EquisysPLC
THIS EBOOK HAS BEEN DESIGNED BY:
CREATIVE ENGINE
We are a differentiating agent for your organization.

We will make you stand out.
We are committed to providing clients with strategic solutions that deliver a
competitive advantage and strengthen customer relationships.
Our underlying objectives are to generate customer loyalty and intimacy. How?
By creating human-to-human interfaces. Not interactions between people and
computer screens, or people and paper.
We dont just design good logos, we design strong brand identities.
We dont just design websites, we produce strong customer experiences.
There is a difference.
www.creative-engine.ca

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Planning Your

Upgrade to NAV 2015

Managed services and long-term support

Developed in partnership with:

JANNIK BAUSAGER, DIRECTOR,

When we are talking about upgrading Microsoft Dynamics

If you search for the definition of upgrade

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO UPGRADING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV | 2

As we keep investing in Microsoft Dynamics NAV, we encourage

this version, there are also several improvements

19 Evaluate Your Existing

46 Plan Your Upgrade Project

55 Essential ISV Solutions

If youve been through a NAV upgrade before, or any ERP system,

What do NAV upgrades and

Most companies think

A New Philosophy: Upgrade NAV to improve

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO UPGRADING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV | 8

CHAPTER 1: START WITH WHY

Start with Why:

The start of every successful NAV upgrade begins with clearly

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO UPGRADING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV | 10

If youre like many companies, you may

Your Last Major Upgrade

Future upgrades will be incremental and smoother, and

NAV Version Comparison

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO UPGRADING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV | 12

Fill a Business Capabilities Gap or

Risk Management and Compliance

Modernize & Integrate

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO UPGRADING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV | 14

Office 365 and NAV

process improvements and return on investment to justify

Over the long term, cloud infrastructure offers

Best-of-breed hardware architecture

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO UPGRADING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV | 16

UPGRADE SUCCESS SNAPSHOT:

Canyon Technical Services

UPGRADE SUCCESS SNAPSHOT: CANYON TECHNICAL SERVICES CONTINUED

Better Data Security

Canyons ERP system now enables them to

Improved Reports and Data Quality

realizing true business value.

2013 provided opportunities to tighten up user

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO UPGRADING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV | 18

Through the upgrade process,

CHAPTER 2: EVALUATE YOUR

Evaluate Your Existing

Once youve identified and reached consensus on the rationale

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO UPGRADING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV | 20

Custom Object Review

Merge: If a standard NAV database object

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO UPGRADING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV | 22

There are a variety of reasons that certain

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO UPGRADING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV | 24

that may have been developed for a one-time use such as

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO UPGRADING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV | 26

NOTE ABOUT UNSUPPORTED FUNCTIONALITY:

There are some areas of NAV that have been

Business Process &

will scale to accommodate your business future growth. It is always

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO UPGRADING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV | 28

The specific path you choose determines how much time,