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.
Upgrade Dynamics NAV to Business Central
Upgrading from Dynamics NAV to Business Central
Jesse Lawrence
When Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central was fully launched in October, we explained that this was the next generation for Microsoft Dynamics NAV. As with most of the products from Microsoft, there is a transition in licensing to a named user basis, which means that people who own concurrent licenses will have to transition their licenses as they upgrade. When the Business Central was launched in October, there was a lot of discussion about the transition policy.
At the time, Microsoft had announced that customers upgrading from perpetual licenses would get 2 full named users for every full concurrent user. However, the limited users that were transitioning to team members would only get a 1 to 1 transition.
A voice within Microsoft
As Microsoft partners, our job is to understand the market, and this sometimes means that we have a better understanding of the end user requirement than Microsoft. Following the above release, some of our team attended the Directions EMEA event, where partners gather to learn about and discuss the latest releases in Dynamics NAV and this year the release of Business Central.
At the licensing seminar, Catherine Ross, who specialises in knowing how businesses operate with nearly 20 years in the industry, stood up in front of several hundred partners to let Microsoft know the issues with a 1-to-1 transition. Her account was a met with a round of applause, and the licensing experts from Microsoft met with Catherine following the session.
The new License Transition
This month saw a new release of the Dynamics NAV to Business Central license transition guide, with updates to how limited users will translate to two Team Member user licenses.
| From License Model | Edition | User/Functionality | BC Functionality Mapping | PLP Allocated to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perpetual | with Extended Pack | Starter Pack | 3 Premium User + 3 Premium User - Upgrade | Premium User |
| Per Full Concurrent CAL or Full Concurrent CAL - Upgrade | 1 Premium User + 1 Premium User - Upgrade | Premium User | ||
| Per Full Concurrent CAL - Limited Upgrade | 1 Premium User | Premium User | ||
| Extended Pack | Included in Premium User | Premium User | ||
| no Extended Pack | Starter Pack | 3 Essentials User + 3 Essential User - Upgrade | Essentials Users | |
| Per Full Concurrent CAL | 1 Essentials User + 1 Essential User - Upgrade | Essentials Users | ||
| Per Full Concurrent CAL - Limited Upgrade | 1 Essentials User | Essentials Users | ||
| Any | Per Limited Concurrent CAL | 1 Team Member + 1 Team Member - Upgrade | Team Member | |
| Per Limited Concurrent CAL – Limited Upgrade | 1 Team Member | Team Member |
To see the full details of the upgrade paths for Microsoft Dynamics NAV licenses to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central licenses, please see the full upgrade policy document.
The Future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Regulation in the UK
After a recent visit to the Digital Manufacturing 2day event in Coventry and an insightful presentation by Lord Chris Holmes, I thought I would delve a bit deeper into the current AI regulation facing UK industry.
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.