News
Microsoft Unveils Dynamics NAV 2016, Readies Dynamics AX 7
- By Gladys Rama
- July 15, 2015
- Get more WPC 2015 news here.
The next version of Microsoft's enterprise resource planning (ERP) financial solution aimed at SMBs will be called Dynamics NAV 2016, Microsoft announced this week at its 2015 Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC).
Microsoft apparently gave an early look at the upcoming NAV 2016 product, previously code-named "Corfu," during a WPC session on Monday. Several session attendees, including Microsoft MVP Mark Brummel and NAV specialist Gary Winter, posted photos of the below slide from the session that gives an overview of NAV 2016's features:
[Click on image for larger view.] Source: Gary Winter.
According to the slide, NAV 2016 will include the ability to work natively with Power BI, Azure SQL and Dynamics CRM Online; improvements to useability; electronic invoicing; workflow and functionality improvements; and a test automation suite for partners.
Microsoft also plans to issue monthly updates to the product, with new releases coming once per year.
So far, there's no indication of precisely when Microsoft intends to release NAV 2016. The current release, NAV 2015, was released in October 2014.
Dynamics AX Changes
In other ERP news, Microsoft announced that the next release of Dynamics AX, code-named Dynamics "AX 7," will be included in its Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program. Unveiled at last year's WPC, the CSP is designed to give partners greater control over the selling, provisioning and customer billing of Microsoft's cloud services. Initially, the CSP included only Office 365 and Intune, although Microsoft announced during Monday's WPC keynote that it would be expanded to include Azure, Dynamics CRM Online and the Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS).
The inclusion of Dynamics AX 7 is also in the offing. "Dynamics AX7 -- the next version of our flagship ERP product, will join CSP in the coming year," wrote Neil Holloway, corporate vice president of sales and partners within Microsoft's Business Solutions group, in a blog post.
A public preview of Dynamics AX 7 is slated for sometime this quarter, Microsoft announced earlier in July. Organizations interested in testing the public preview can apply to the Go-Live TAP program here.
On the competency side, Microsoft also announced that it was adjusting the "requirements for the ISV track of the MPN ERP Silver and Gold Competencies for Dynamics AX." The changes are related to how Dynamics AX partners achieve the "Certified for Microsoft Dynamics" certification for solutions developed through Dynamics Lifecycle Services (LCS), according to Wayne Morris, an executive in Microsoft's Dynamics team.
"Specifically, we are changing the requirements for Certified for Microsoft Dynamics (CfMD) to validate the solution and methodology partners provide customers to deploy, test, and operate the solution through LCS," Morris said in this blog post. "Solutions that pass this test, will be listed and placed on the on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, giving customers the confidence that the solution they are selecting is meeting a high quality bar and will seamlessly work with the Dynamics AX solution."
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