1. Upgrading vs. Reimplementation Don Saito – SCS, Inc.

2. Definition of Upgrade and Reimplementation Upgrade – this involves merging all customizations over to the version of NAV you are migrating to as well as converting all data including historical data. Microsoft provides upgrade tools to assist with this process. Re-implementation – You are currently on an older version of NAV. Rather than going through the above process, you will install a clean copy of the latest version of NAV on your clients and servers. You will then set up the database newly. This can be accomplished by manual entry, copy and paste, Rapidstart tools, XMLports, etc. You may decide to merge over desired customizations and import select data as part of this process.

3. Upgrade Considerations  High Cost from NAV 2009 R2 and earlier to NAV 2013. Cost depends on amount of data and customizations. Upgrades can take hundreds of hours.  Multiple upgrade paths add to the cost of upgrades. For example, if you are not on 2009 R2, you will need to upgrade to 2009 R2 first and then 2013 R2 and then to NAV 2015.  Lower Cost from NAV 2013 to NAV 2015 and beyond due to improved Upgrade Tools from Microsoft.  Reports are time consuming to convert from Classic to Role Tailored format. A report on average could take 2-3 hours. 100 reports = 200-300 hours!  Are the necessary add-ons available in the version of NAV you are upgrading to?

4. Reimplementation Considerations 1) Re-implementation sounds like starting from scratch, but is not necessarily so.  NAV application functionality from 2009 on has not changed markedly, so users will acclimate to NAV 2015 fairly easily.  Set up of the database can be copied from legacy NAV manually, using Rapidstart tools, or XMLports.  Data can be migrated to the target version of NAV.  Training and UAT times are abbreviated in an upgrade as users are familiar with NAV. 2) Should we look at other ERP systems if we are going to re-implement?  Not unless there is key functionality that NAV does not provide for in the latest version of NAV per the reasons in 1 above. 3) Will the cost be the same as the original implementation?  The cost should be less due to the reasons in 1 above. 4) Are the necessary add-ons available in the version of NAV you are upgrading to?

5. Reimplementation Options Re-implementation can include legacy NAV data and/or customizations Re-implement from Scratch Manual Entry/Use Rapidstart to copy set up Data Convert Master Data Convert Opening Balances Convert Open Transactions Suggest to Omit History (except G/L) Merge Desired Customizations (Tendency is to err by omitting needful customizations)

6. When to Upgrade vs. Re-implement UpgradeRe-implement Little to moderate customization which you are happy withHeavy customizations, some no longer relevant or could have been done better/differently or not done at all. Data and history is cleanData is suspect or bad. Lots of old records that need clean up or purging. History is bad or non-optimum. Business model and structure have not changed significantly requiring a different company/dimension setup. Business model and/or structure has changed or is changing and the current set up does not adequately support the business. Alternatively, if you are not happy with the set up in NAV, this is another good reason to re- implement. You are okay with the upgrade costs.You are not okay with the upgrade costs and the cost of re-implementation is likely less. You may be multiple versions behind. You do not have a large number of customized reports. You can also choose not to upgrade specific reports. You have a large number of customized reports which can be discarded or re-written using Jet or other tool.

7. Reducing Upgrade Costs You’ve selected the upgrade path. How do I reduce my costs?  Compress history (be careful compressing Item Ledger). This will reduce the time to convert data.  Select only the companies you need to upgrade. Upgrading companies takes additional time.  Review all modified reports and only upgrade absolutely necessary ones. Reports are often the high proportion of the upgrade cost. Don’t let your VAR do this alone!  Review all dataports/XMLports to see if you actually need them. Usually most of these are used for the initial data conversion from your pre-NAV system. Don’t let your VAR do this alone!

8. Reducing Re-Implementation Costs You’ve selected to re-implement. How do I reduce my costs?  Insist on design requirements meetings and documentation if the business model has changed significantly requiring a new setup in NAV. If implementing new modules or re-designing modifications, insist on design requirements documentation.  Copy the set up data from legacy NAV yourself rather than your VAR. This includes items such as chart of accounts, dimensions, master tables such as payment terms, reason codes, no. series, etc. This is a great way to get familiar with the latest version of NAV.  Go through your modifications and discard any non-relevant or non- desirable mods. Get a vanilla copy of NAV and compare to your NAV using two monitors or computers and compare screen by screen.  Review all modified reports and only upgrade absolutely necessary ones.  Review all dataports/XMLports and only upgrade absolutely necessary ones.  Don’t bring over history if you can live without it. Keep a copy of NAV prior to the re-implementation.

9. NAV 2015 and Onwards The question of upgrading vs. re-implementation will still occur in the future. However, likely upgrading will be the typical choice as upgrades will no longer be time-consuming and costly. Expect Microsoft to continue to improve upgrade tools as part of its cloud strategy.

10. What’s New in 2013  Improved Licensing – all modules included  Office look and feel  Windows client, web client, SharePoint client  Includes Zeta Docs Express and Jet Reports Express  Copy and Paste from Excel into Journals  Notifications feature – send notes to NAV users along with links to pages.  Ability to save filtered views  Improved Rapidstart Services to import beginning balances and ability to run at command shell  Assembly replaces kitting. More of a production order-type look and feel. Ability to add labor costs to BOM.  Cash flow functionality tied in with Account Schedules  Cost Accounting – ability to track cost data from the G/L into a separate module for more operational/detailed analysis. Does not update G/L.  Time Sheets functionality to support Jobs, Service Orders and Assembly Orders.

11. Deprecated Features in NAV 2013  Business Analytics  Business Notifications  Demand Planner  Production Schedule (Gantt chart)  Microsoft Dynamics Mobile  Employee Portal  Rapid Implementation Methodology Toolkit

12. What’s New in NAV 2015  Improved Upgrade tools for merging customizations and upgrading data  Improved Rapidstart tools for data transformation and import  iPad and Android apps  Email documents as PDF (orders, invoices, etc.)  Mandatory fields can be specified and are indicated by an ‘*’  Color coded and customizable cue tiles  Small Business Role Center  Document Reporting – ability to use Word to create documents in NAV such as invoices, credit memos, sales orders, pick tickets, etc.  Schedule reports to run on the server and are deposited in your role center.  Power BI for Excel Integration – ability to visualize and share data using Power BI within Excel.

13. NAV 2013-2015 Summary  If you plan to upgrade/reimplement, go to NAV 2015, not NAV 2013.  Cumulative updates are released monthly. Mainly consist of fixes, minor enhancements, etc.  NAV 2013-NAV 2015 modernizes platform and brings NAV up-to- date technologically  NAV 2015 runs efficiently in the cloud without RDP, Citrix, etc.  Core functionality has not changed significantly since NAV 2009, so users will not have a difficult time adopting to NAV 2015.