microsoft dynamics nav vs ax

Microsoft Dynamics Nav vs Ax-THE REAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MICROSOFT DYNAMICS NAV AX

-Prepared ByAbhilash Warrier

*The Microsoft Dynamics product line includes several diverse ERP solutions. Each is designed for specific industries and purposes, but the two that people often have the most trouble distinguishing between are Dynamics NAV and Dynamics AX. So what’s the difference?

Dynamics NAV and Dynamics AX are both highly customizable ERP solutions available in many languages and currencies and have an impressive international install base. Both solutions are agile enough to operate in one centralized location or across multiple decentralized locations, and can scale along with your business. Both offer industry-specific functionality to meet local and regional needs. NAV and AX are described equally by Microsoft as end to end comprehensive ERP solutions with the ability to manage complex supply chains and inventory.You won’t uncover the differences by comparing them feature to feature, and you can’t realistically define them by the number of users they can handle, though many have tried. The real determining factors are at a higher level, and are based on how well the solution aligns with the goals and growth plans for the organization it will support.

***Dynamics AXDynamics AX (AX) is Microsoft’s enterprise ERP and MRP solution. AX is a favorite amongst mid-sized to enterprise companies especially within the manufacturing, distribution, supply chain & retail industries. It offers great support for companies with complex needs such as: multi-country, multi-language, multi-site, multi-currency, etc.

***Dynamics NAVDynamics NAV (NAV) fits well within the small to mid-sized market (i.e. companies with annual revenues between 10 million – 500 million) but some small enterprise companies use it as well. In comparison to Dynamics GP, NAV offers more flexibility when it comes to out-of-the-box (meaning not needing to customize the system) set-up and configuration. NAV fits the needs of companies in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Etc. Like Dynamics AX, it also offers flexibility to accommodate the needs of larger organizations that are doing business in multiple countries.NAV has a very friendly user interface and it allows users to easily modify the user interface, the report formats, forms, etc.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV vs AX

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 vs AX 2012 R3Microsoft Dynamics Nav

Dynamics NAV is geared toward small to midsize companies ($5M – $500M) with some international presence. It provides powerful technology that smaller businesses otherwise may not be able to afford, allowing them to compete with organizations many times their size. As the business grows, the ability to scale and keep pace with organizational goals is imperative, and NAV makes this very straightforward. Easy customization and the ability to scale make NAV an excellent choice for many companies.

Many NAV implementations require only a part-time project manager and a small implementation team. AX often requires dedicated technical resources to manage the solution once it’s up and running, while NAV does not.

Dynamics NAV is a very popular, effective ERP solution for growing international businesses that don’t have such a complicated organizational structure. Dynamics NAV does an excellent job of handling decentralized global operations

Microsoft Dynamics AX

In contrast, Dynamics AX is designed for large, enterprise class organizations with a broad international presence. Organizations of this magnitude have unique challenges, especially when it comes to large deployments across multiple countries with each operating in their own language and currency. Though both AX and NAV are designed to scale and grow along with a business, one of the main differences between these solutions is that AX is better equipped to address the specific size and scale challenges of enterprise organizations.

AX is much more complicated than NAV. The implementations are more complex, take longer, require more decisions, and must have excellent project management if you hope to succeed.

However, Dynamics AX works better for managing end to end global processes. As an example, this is especially important for large manufacturing businesses because it allows them to view inventory across international locations and have visibility into each area of the organization. For complex enterprise solutions who need visibility across multiple decentralized locations in different countries, this is best achieved with Dynamics AX.

Scaling: Enterprise vs. Mid-size

Complexity and Maintenance Costs

Global Operations vs. Global Visibility

Microsoft Dynamics Nav

Dynamics NAV is also available as hosted ERP solutions or a combination of hosted and on premise. Choosing the cloud-hosted model further increases the agility and breadth of these solutions.

Microsoft Dynamics AX

Because of its enterprise capabilities, Dynamics AX was identified by Gartner as one of three ERP solutions in their Magic Quadrant – along with SAP and Oracle.

Agility and the Cloud

A question that people evaluating Microsoft Dynamics ERP often, “How many companies are using Microsoft Dynamics?” These are the recently updated numbers from Convergence 2015 provided by Jim Desler, Director, Corporate Communications at Microsoft.

2015 Breakdown of the Microsoft Dynamics customer numbers worldwide by product:

*Microsoft Dynamics® AX 20,000 Companies*Microsoft Dynamics® GP 47,000 Companies*Microsoft Dynamics® NAV 110,000 Companies*Microsoft Dynamics® SL 13,500 Companies*Microsoft Dynamics® CRM 40,000+Companies 4.4 million UsersAlso:Microsoft Dynamics Retail: 46,500Microsoft Dynamics C5: 85,000Microsoft XAL,C4/ Apertum: 30,000

General DataProduct Name Microsoft Dynamics

NAVMicrosoft Dynamics AX

Version 2016 AX7 2016Price Range $8K -250K $20K -750KFinancing Option Lease, Owner Financing, Financing Lease, Owner Financing, FinancingMulti Site Yes YesArchitecture .NET SOA,.NET, CloudDatabase Platform MS SQL Server, Cloud-Based (SaaS), MS SQL Express, MS

Access, Microsoft AzureMS SQL Server, Oracle, Cloud-Based

(SaaS), Microsoft AzureServer OS Mac OS, Windows, Compatible w/all Operating Systems Windows

SaaS Yes Yes

Implementation Time 2-3 Months 4-12 Months

Resources 2 Min 4 Min

Microsoft Dynamics ERP Software Systems Comparison

Material ManagementProduct Name Microsoft Dynamics


Inventory ControlsManufacturing

Material PlanningWarehouse Management

Sales Order ManagementProduct Name Microsoft Dynamics


Sales & Service Management Sales & Marketing Sales Management

Financial ManagementProduct Name Microsoft Dynamics


Business Intelligence AR/APFinancial Management Dynamics AX Financial Features and

SummaryFixed Assets

General LedgerInternational

Project Accounting

Production ManagementProduct Name Microsoft Dynamics


Project Management Bill of MaterialsProduct Builder

Production Key Features

Additional CapabilitiesProduct Name Microsoft Dynamics


Human Resources Alert SystemBusiness Intelligence

Compliance ManagementHuman Resource

Service Management

Services SupportProduct Name Microsoft Dynamics


Support Options Support Options

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