What’s New in Business Central 2025 Release Wave 2
The Autumn brings the second major release of the year for Business Central, as part of the 2 wave annual update cycle. Here we look at the highlight features.
Business Central Licence Update
Dynamics 365 Business Central on Premise
Jesse Lawrence
Having spoken about the future of Dynamics NAV and Business Central, announcements are already being made by Microsoft ahead of the Directions event later this month. From this month, there will be one brand name, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, sold either as the Software As A Service (SAAS) model which has been available since April, or the newly released on-premise version. This blog will look at the latest announcements from Microsoft that have been coming out this week. It is worth noting that we are giving the information as it comes, so keep an eye on the blog for further updates or any changes to this information as we move forward. If you are looking to implement or upgrade Business Central, please talk to our team to discuss your specific situation and we will help to guide you through your project.
Business Central On-Premise Licence information
As with the previous NAV licensing, there are two options perpetual and subscription. Unlike previous perpetual licenses, perpetual licensing will be on a named user basis rather than concurrent users. Whereas previously it was necessary to buy starter packs (and extended packs where required), there is no base product license - either purchase essentials users for the starter pack or premium users for the extended functionality. It is not possible to mix and match Premium and Essential user licenses. Limited users are now known as Team members, however, it is worth taking note of changes in capabilities.
Would also state that this is if upgrading from NAV2013-NAV2018, for older versions please speak to us.
| License type | Price |
|---|---|
| Premium | £1878.00 |
| Essentials | £1341.00 |
| Team Members | £268.00 |
Upgrades
If you are upgrading from older versions of NAV with perpetual licenses, your users will be concurrent. With the upgrade to named user licenses, Microsoft has stated that there will be multiple user licenses created for certain user types. The licensing guide shows:
SAAS and Hybrid
As well as the on-premise version, Business Central will continue to be available through the software as a service model, priced as monthly user prices hosted in the cloud. For new customers, it is possible to have a hybrid deployment utilising on-premise and synchronisation to a SAAS instance to allow on-premise customers to gain access to many of the cloud features. Hybrid is only available for CSP licences and is therefore unavailable to existing NAV users who are upgrading their existing on-premise deployments.
The Future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Regulation in the UK
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D365 Business Central vs Sage 200: Comparing Sage 50 Upgrade Options
Choosing the right ERP system when moving on from Sage 50 can shape how efficiently your business grows and adapts. If you want advanced features, greater flexibility and easier integration with familiar Microsoft tools, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is often the stronger option compared to Sage 200. As real-time data insight, automation and scalability are now necessities and not luxuries, your ERP upgrade decision is more important than ever.