GP and NAV to Business Central Migration, Demystified
A practical step-by-step from on-premise Microsoft Dynamics GP or NAV to cloud Business Central in 12–16 weeks.
GP vs NAV vs BC — the Short Story
Dynamics GP and Dynamics NAV both descend from acquisitions Microsoft made in the early 2000s — GP from Great Plains, NAV from Navision. Business Central is the cloud successor to NAV, with much of the GP user community migrating into BC too. Microsoft's mainstream support for GP and on-prem NAV is winding down — the migration question is now a calendar question.
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12–16 wk
typical NAV → BC cloud migration
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16–22 wk
typical GP → BC migration (chart redesign)
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Cloud
SaaS by default; on-prem only by exception
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Cloud is the default — choose deliberately if you don't take it
BC SaaS gives you Microsoft-hosted infrastructure, twice-yearly automatic updates, native Copilot, and a predictable per-user subscription. BC on-prem still exists for businesses with hard data-residency or sovereignty constraints — but it inherits the upgrade burden the cloud version removes.
For 90% of UAE and KSA mid-market customers, SaaS is the right choice. The 10% who pick on-prem do so for specific compliance reasons, not as a default.
Eight Migration Steps
- Customisation evaluation. See the dedicated process evaluation guide — strip the chaff before the migration.
- Chart of accounts redesign. Especially critical for GP customers — BC uses dimensions where GP used segmented accounts.
- Master data cleanse. Customers, vendors, items, employees — dedupe and normalise before the move.
- Data migration build. Mass-import in BC handles standard tables; custom mappings for anything outside the standard schema.
- Extension build. Re-implement retained customisations as AL extensions on the SaaS-supported pattern.
- Parallel run. 30–60 days of running both systems; reconcile every variance before cutover.
- Cutover weekend. Freeze posting on the legacy system Friday evening; cutover and validate over Saturday and Sunday.
- Hypercare and stabilisation. First 30 days post-cutover — a dedicated support tier from your partner, not a ticket queue.
GP vs NAV vs BC Cloud
Why Implement with Novasoft?
Novasoft has migrated dozens of UAE and KSA customers from GP and NAV to Business Central. Our upgrade and migrate practice runs the full cycle — evaluation, COA redesign, master data, parallel run, cutover, hypercare. Where customisations earn their keep, we re-implement as AppSource-style extensions; where they do not, we retire them. See also Reasons to Migrate from NAV to BC for the strategic case.
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Predictable
12–16 weeks NAV → BC, 16–22 GP → BC.
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Cloud-First
SaaS default; on-prem only by exception.
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Hypercare
30-day dedicated support after cutover.
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Plan Your GP or NAV Move
Bring your current system version, modules, and rough customisation count. We will sketch the migration plan in 30 minutes.
Book Free Assessment Upgrade & MigrateSources
- Microsoft Learn — NAV / GP to Business Central migration. learn.microsoft.com — BC upgrade
- Microsoft Lifecycle — GP and NAV support policy. learn.microsoft.com/lifecycle
- Microsoft — Business Central product hub. microsoft.com/business-central
Last updated May 2026