Business Process Evaluation for Dynamics NAV Users Moving to Business Central
A structured pre-migration evaluation that separates "lift and shift" from "rebuild what was always broken."
Why "Lift and Shift" Fails
A pure lift-and-shift from NAV to Business Central ports every customisation forward — including the ones that exist because somebody in 2014 wrote a workaround for a problem that has since been fixed in standard BC. The result is a "new" system that looks identical to the old one and ages just as badly.
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40–60%
of NAV customisations are now in standard BC
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2–3 wk
typical process-evaluation workshop length
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30–50%
cost-reduction vs blind lift-and-shift
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Migration is the cheapest time to fix processes
The work to map a process and confirm BC's standard handling of it is 80% of the same work needed to port a customisation. So the choice — fix or port — costs the same; the difference is what you live with for the next decade.
For UAE and KSA businesses preparing to move off NAV, the disciplined evaluator emerges with fewer extensions, lower maintenance cost, and a system that absorbs BC's twice-yearly releases without breaking.
The Six-Step Evaluation
Run sequentially. Each step's output feeds the next.
- Customisation inventory. Catalogue every NAV customisation — page, table, report, codeunit — with current usage stats.
- Standard-BC mapping. Map each customisation against current BC functionality. Mark "now standard," "still required," "obsolete."
- Process owner interviews. Sit with the actual users — not just IT — and verify whether the workflow they perform is the workflow the customisation was built for.
- Compliance + integration review. Confirm UAE VAT, KSA ZATCA, bank integrations, and external system dependencies — these are the non-negotiables.
- Re-imagined process catalogue. For every retained workflow, design the BC-native or AppSource-extension version — preferring "now standard" over "still required."
- Roll-out plan. Group processes into rollout waves; pick the easiest wave first to build momentum.
Skip the Evaluation vs Run It
Why Implement with Novasoft?
Novasoft has migrated NAV and GP customers to Business Central for over a decade. Our upgrade and migrate practice runs the evaluation as a fixed-scope, fixed-fee engagement before the migration proper. Output: a re-imagined process catalogue, a customisation kill-list, and a phased rollout plan. The evaluation also surfaces opportunities for Novasoft AppSource apps like NOVAREQ or NOVAPROD where standard BC plus an extension beats a custom build. Migration then runs through our implementation team.
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Fixed-Scope
Evaluation runs to a fixed timeline and fee.
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User-Led
Workflow validated with actual users, not just IT.
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Standard-First
Default to standard BC; extend only when needed.
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Run the Evaluation Before the Migration
Bring your NAV customisation list (or we'll build one). Two to three weeks later, we will hand you a phased migration plan.
Book Free Assessment Upgrade & MigrateSources
- Microsoft Learn — NAV to BC migration overview. learn.microsoft.com — BC upgrade
- Microsoft Learn — Business Central overview. learn.microsoft.com/dynamics365/business-central
- Microsoft — Business Central product hub. microsoft.com/business-central
Last updated May 2026