James Crowter MVP for Microsoft Dynamics Microsoft Dynamics NAV Upgrade Best Practise (Or at least things to think about) James Crowter MVP for Microsoft Dynamics

Agenda Microsoft’s Release Strategy Should you Upgrade? What benefits will you get? What has to happen? Handling Customisations Extensions & Scripts Testing, Deployment and Training Data Migration Summary 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 2

Microsoft’s Release Strategy Consistently releasing new versions every October 2013 2013R2 2015 2016 Codename Madeira (2017?) Consistently releasing new updates every month Cumulative Update 1 to 24 Only for current version and last version Support question for partners is ‘which CU are you on?’ Agile Development producing consistent results 3 week development cycles We have v13 of Madeira to preview already Its why the roadmap is so short – they only know the next three weeks for definate 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 3

What does this mean for customers? You need to either to be able to upgrade frequently and easily or stay exactly where you are and wait till you have to 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 4

Why should you upgrade Latest and best capability & functionality From Microsoft and the ISV add on partners Better Support Recourse to Microsoft More skills at a higher level Speed of releases means its difficult to keep track Protection against Regulatory Change Mandatory changes might force a ‘Year 2000’ situation 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 5

BREXIT – which way will it go? But if we did vote to leave? Sudden introduction of tariffs/duties/export & import documentation? Would the EC VAT list be the same? What extra reporting would be introduced? Electronic VAT Reporting You’ve had RTI around payroll When will we get detailed electronic VAT submissions? 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 6

How do you know what you will get extra? Great tool at https://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/upgrade- compare/nav/default.html V4 to 2016 03/01/2019 03/01/2019 7 @NAVUG 7 @NAVUG 7

The bonus from Microsoft New licencing from 2013 means you get ‘everything’ Forced to upgrade you licence to new ‘Perpetual Licence’ Only option other than users is Extended Pack You get this if you have any granules which it included Must have had the granule for 12 months + Review your licence now to remove what you don’t need Saves you annual fees forever! Especially remove what’s obsolete Must have removed it 12 months before you upgrade to perpetual 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 8

Where you are now affects what it will take Effort to Upgrade Reports & Documents 4 5 2009 Classic 2009 RTC 2013 2013 R2 2015 2016 2017 Dynamics NAV Version 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 9

Reports have changed Change from Navision’s report writer to Microsoft Start report layouts again in either Report Definition Language Clientside (RDLC) Word Layout Most reports need RDLC to work effectively Word has issues with batch production e.g. page numbers & breaks Rewriting reports and document layouts can be significant proportion 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 10

Report upgrade strategy Work out the one’s you actually use/need Add a report production tracker to your current system Use enquiries/role centres/mobile clients rather than reports See if tools like PowerBI are more flexible and accessible 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 11

START AGAIN or SIMPLY UpGRADE Do you take all your customisations or do you start from standard Upgrade – transition your object set to NAV.Next Reimplement – decide what to want to take and what you want to lose For rapid annual upgrade you need to get to a ‘Upgradeable’ state rather than having ‘technical debt’ in your system Tidy up now – review what you use and delete what you don’t Be strategic rather than reactive – don’t customise for the short term 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 12 @NAVUG 12

Identify what else you have customised Object manager modified ‘should’ give you a start point What do you still use? What was a one-off report/backup/use that’s still in there? What can you simply export and import? 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 13

Understanding your object set CFMD Solutions Export/Update & Import 99,000,000 to 99,009,999 Standard Objects Merge CFMD Solutions ISV Solutions Export/Update & Import Company Specifics 50,000 to 99,999 1 to 49,999 Standard Objects Merge 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 14

Buy don’t build Using a CFMD solution means there is an upgrade path Upgrading a CFMD solution should be minutes & pain free Significant user base means you share the costs & benefits This is what you pay your annual maintenance for! 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 15

2016 has changed the game again Not all CFMD solutions are same! New Extensions capability mean zero changes to standard objects In 2016 not all add-ons can be extensions In Madeira much less excuse You should strongly preference CFMD Extension solutions 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 16

Why are Extensions a game changer? Just what each company needs Less complication Install & Uninstall quickly Standard NAV 1 Company A 2 Company B 3 Company C 4 Company D 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 17

Script Compliant Upgrades You need to be able to upgrade with a script rather than a developer If your modifications are done in the right way we can Make as little changes to standard code as possible Call a function rather than insert lots of code 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 18

Not like this 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 19

More like this 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 20

Script Upgrade Process Part 1 Your Current Version with no Modifications Object Sets Your Modified Objects Difference Delta No Modifications Your Modifications Just the Changes 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 21

Script Upgrade Process Part 2 Difference Delta Object Sets New Version Your New NAV 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 22

Automated Testing How can Microsoft produce a new version every three weeks? 17,000 automated ‘unit tests’ Setup the data, run the process and check the result Via a script, no user interaction needed Useful after customisation to check what been broken Set it going and forget (about 2 hours) 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 23

Training Much less for users that are experienced in NAV The ‘grumble zone’ – three to eight weeks Three months and they will prefer Its much easier to learn & use Consider creating online training for ongoing use 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 24

Deployment Web client verses Full Client Mostly web client but watch for flowfilters Make sure you setup SSL certificate protected external URL Phone client (you will not live without after a week) PowerBI content pack Convenience 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 25

Data Migration Don’t confuse data clean up with upgrade Space is cheap – easiest policy is to keep it and filter it out If you want to clean up then do it now The standard process for migrating data are excessively slow (poor design) The V2009 to NAV.Now process will need at least one test The 2015 to 2016 process is easier, the CU process in non-existant 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 26

Summary You need an update not a upgrade! Get to a position where you can update At least annually With a few hours effort Treat it like a tax return Buy don’t build Extensions are your friend Ask your existing ISV’s when they will be an extension? Don’t buy new solutions unless they at least commit to an extension roadmap If you have to build Make sure its done in an easily upgradable way, ask at build design time Do you really need things which get in the way of updating Ask for a fixed annual cost to deliver upgrade Welcome to the new world of Dynamics NAV 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 27

Any more questions please? 03/01/2019 @NAVUG 28