At Directions EMEA in September, Microsoft announced that Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 would be released by the 31st October. This weekend, true to their word, NAV 2013 R2 went on general release.

Unlike a major release there was no pre-release to partners phase and so we are still evaluating the changes. As always, TVision clients are advised on the specific benefits for them when deciding whether to upgrade. There has never been a forced upgrade path and with extended support since v5, NAV really does suit an approach of upgrading as and when it suits your business (we find that clients typically leap-frog versions).

So who will benefit from NAV 2013 R2?

  • New clients: we always aim to install on latest version unless there is a key business driver for not doing so. Sometimes there is a reticence to be an early adopter for a major release (although with the vigorous testing and release procedures, once the version is on general release you’re already too late to be first!); as a relatively minor release, we expect to be steaming ahead with NAV 2013 R2
  • Cloud customers: NAV 2013 R2 has been optimised for the Cloud (remember Paul White’s mantra, “In Office 365, on Windows Azure”). So whether you are looking for public or private cloud, NAV 2013 R2 is the most advanced of the Dynamics ERP solutions and outperforms products that were designed exclusively for Cloud
  • Finance users: most of the changes for NAV 2013 R2 are all about the architecture rather than the functionality. having said that, there are some enhancement in cash management
  • Forgetful users: NAV is licensed on a concurrent user basis; historically this can be annoying is one user has the habit of logging on multiple times, effectively taking up all the seats. Typically this is managed by the administrator closing sessions. the good news with NAV 2013 R2 is that a user can log on as many times as they like only ever using one session! (Although you probably wouldn’t want them to!)

More to follow once we’ve finished our evaluations. in the meantime, to find out if Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 is for you, please contact us.