Microsoft Dynamics® NAV 2016 Licencing - an Overview

Licensing Types

There are 2 main licencing models now available with Dynamics NAV, Subscription and Perpetual. The main features of the 2 licensing models are as follows:

Subscription
Perpetual
Purchased on a per user per month basis.

Purchased up front with an annual enhancement.

You must continue to pay in order to be able to use the software and allows the right to use the latest version of the software.

Enhancement after the first year is optional (but recommended) but allows the right to use the latest version of the solution.

Can be used both in a hosted or on premise environment.

Can be used both in a hosted or on premise environment.

Named user basis via User Subscription Access Licence (SAL)

Concurrent user basis via Concurrent Client Access License (CAL)

The customer cannot have administrative access to the system.*

The customer can have administrative access to the system.

Ideal for:
Low initial outlay
Seasonal variation of workforce
Likely decrease in no. of users
OpEx spend

Ideal for:
Reduced future risk
Users in different time zones
Lower TCO over several years
CapEx spend

*This is because the customer cannot have the ability to continue to use the system in the event the subscription is not paid.

Which of these models is right for you depends on a number of factors and can be down to personal preference. It is important to point out that Microsoft allows a degree of flexibility in its Dynamics NAV licensing by allowing either licensing model to be used either hosted, or on premise, however, you cannot use a mixture of both licensing models.

Solution Functionality

Once you have decided on what licensing model is right for you, it’s now time to turn your attention to the functionality you require. Again, this is licensed in 2 ways with the Starter Pack and the Extended Pack.

The Starter Pack is the base license, and you cannot have a NAV license without the Starter Pack which, in broad terms, includes:

3 full concurrent users (perpetual license only).

Financial Management

Sales Order Processing

Purchase Order Processing

Inventory

Fixed Assets

Project Management (Jobs)

CRM (not to be confused with Microsoft Dynamics® CRM)

Basic HR

External User Access

The Extended Pack can be purchased in addition to the Starter Pack and provides the following advanced functionality:

Manufacturing

Warehousing

Service Management

Starter/Extended Pack
The NAV 2016 release saw some of the functionality previously available only in the Extended Pack moved to the Starter Pack (the more advanced CRM functionality) as well as new functionality released with NAV 2016 (workflows, deferrals, document management etc.) also being placed in the Starter Pack making it even more functionally rich. See Appendix B of the Licensing Guide for full details of the included functionality.

User Types

There are 2 user types available, the full user, and the limited user.

Full Users – as their name suggests – have full read and write access to the whole system (of course, this is subject to system permissions). By contrast, Limited Users have full read access but write access is limited to a number of ‘Included Tables’ and 3 other tables (the first 3 tables the user accesses during their session), again this is subject to being given the appropriate permissions. Limited Users like Full Users are either Concurrent (perpetual) or Named (subscription) users depending on the license type.

Since October 2016, the value of the limited user increased significantly by adding a large number of ‘Included Tables’ to the license (Appendix A of the Licensing Guide if you are interested). This change applies to all Perpetual licenses (NAV 2013 onwards) and now allows a user the access for Sales Ordering and Purchase Ordering roles. There is one important point to mention here – a Limited User is not allowed to ‘post’ to the database – i.e. they cannot write to the General Ledger Entry table.

Despite this restriction on posting, the Limited User now opens up NAV to a much larger number of users, allowing functions such as raising POs, entering timesheets and maintain contact information to be carried out on an occasional basis by anyone in the organisation using a low cost concurrent (perpetual licensing model) user licence.

User Types

External User Access

The starter pack allows an unlimited number of external users (your customers) to access the solution provided:

They are customers (i.e. they do not work for you, or are sub contracted to you etc.)

They do not use any of the clients provided (Windows, Web or Tablet).

They are not used to provide business process outsourcing services to your customers.

Acceptable uses include web shop integration and customer portals.

 

For a more detailed look at NAV licensing, please refer to the licensing guide, or please feel free to contact me with any specific questions.

External Users
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