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Microsoft's Dynamics NAV 2013 Hits General Availablity Status
Dynamics NAV 2013, Microsoft's enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution for small and medium-sized companies, is now generally available.
"With deep investments in new capabilities and improvements across all areas of the product, this is the most significant release yet in the history of Microsoft Dynamics NAV," wrote Paul White, senior director of ERP product management at Microsoft, in a blog post on Monday announcing the product's general availability.
"With this release, we've focused on building what we've come to call 'a business solution from Microsoft.' By this we mean a solution that combines comprehensive ERP capabilities for small and midsize businesses together with a simple, intuitive user experience, insightful business intelligence and reporting tools and deep ties into Microsoft's portfolio of products," White wrote. "The result is an ERP solution that is easy to use, works seamlessly with your existing productivity tools, and is quick and cost-effective to implement."
Information about new features and improvements in Dynamics NAV 2013 is available in this MSDN Library section and this product info sheet (PDF). Those interested in purchasing Dynamics NAV 2013 can go here.
Notably missing from the final product release is the promised Windows Azure-hosted version of Dynamics NAV 2013. Microsoft last year announced that it plans to eventually deploy Windows Azure-based versions of all four of its enterprise resource planning (ERP) products, starting with Dynamics NAV 2013. Now the company says that cloud component will arrive early next year.
"We are currently fine-tuning deployment scenarios and creating prescriptive guidance for deploying NAV on Windows Azure," a Microsoft spokesperson said in an e-mail on Monday. "We expect to make deployment of NAV on Windows Azure broadly available in Q1 of CY2013."
The next Dynamics ERP product slated for release is Dynamics GP 2013 in December. Microsoft's spokesperson did not disclose whether that product will have a version for Windows Azure. Dynamics GP 2013 is available as a beta.
Currently, Dynamics NAV 2013 is available on the cloud via "partner-hosted offerings," according to the spokesperson. "Microsoft has made significant investments in the 'hostability' of the product to ensure a great customer and partner experience deploying and using NAV in the cloud."
Perpetual Licensing
Microsoft is introducing a new "Perpetual Licensing" model with Dynamics NAV 2013 and, when it is released, Dynamics GP 2013.
"Perpetual Licensing provides a step forward by simplifying how customers purchase their ERP solution," explains Microsoft's Perpetual Licensing guide (PDF). "The entire solution can be licensed via four core components: The Starter Pack, the Extended Pack, the Full User and the Limited User. Additional configuration components are also available. With Microsoft Dynamics Perpetual Licensing, customers license the ERP Solution functionality and access to that functionality is secured by licensing users."
A Full User license grants a user unlimited read and write access. By contrast, the lower-cost Limited User license grants unlimited read but limited write access.
The Starter Pack component gives users access to core functionality and three Full User licenses. One Starter Pack license is required per deployment. "For many customers, this is the only Microsoft Dynamics license component they will need," Microsoft said.
The Extended Pack provides access to additional functionality including basic customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities. The added functionality also applies to the three Full User licenses included in the Starter Pack.
Both Dynamics NAV 2013 and Dynamics GP 2013 are available only with Perpetual Licensing. Users upgrading from previous versions of the products will need to transition from the older Module Based Licensing or Business Ready Licensing models to Perpetual Licensing.
More licensing information is available on the Dynamics ERP Licensing Guide (XPS) and the Perpetual Licensing Guide (PDF).