Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018 → Business Central

Executive overview

A governed path from legacy ERP to a modern operating platform.

The lab examines how NAV 2018 processes, custom objects, integrations, and historical data can be assessed before choosing a Business Central target. The business aim is continuity and clearer information; the technical aim is supportable extensions, interfaces, data, and operations. Work proceeds through discovery, disposition, migration design, validation, and cutover planning.

Legacy environment

Start with what NAV 2018 actually does.

The lab assessment covers the NAV client and Role Center, representative workflows, C/SIDE objects, C/AL logic, and SQL Server data context. Verified screenshots and selected sanitized examples will join this section as the work progresses.

LAB IMPLEMENTATION — NAV 2018 lab context. Detailed public media is pending verification and sanitization.

Migration challenge

Protect business continuity while changing the platform.

A NAV migration may need to address aging technology, technical debt, customizations, integrations, historical data, reporting and operational dependencies, security, infrastructure, and migration risk. These are assessment categories, not claims about a named customer environment.

Current-state assessment

Inventory the system before defining the destination.

MIGRATION DESIGN — assessment dimensions; findings will be published only when supported by lab evidence.

Fit / gap and disposition

Decide the future of each capability deliberately.

MIGRATION DESIGN — disposition options, not completed decisions for a client system.

Enterprise migration pipeline

A controlled transformation roadmap.

1. 01

   Legacy ERP

   NAV 2018 · C/SIDE · C/AL

2. 02

   Assess & discover

   Processes, objects, dependencies

3. 03

   Fit / gap

   Standard fit and disposition

4. 04

   Migrate & reconcile data

   Map, cleanse, stage, validate

5. 05

   Modernize customizations

   C/AL analysis → AL extensions

6. 06

   Modernize integrations

   APIs and external systems

7. 07

   Test & validate

   SIT → UAT → rehearsal

8. 08

   Cutover & hypercare

   Readiness, contingency, support

9. 09

   Modern ERP

   Dynamics 365 Business Central

10. 10

    Analytics + automation

    Power BI + responsible AI

MIGRATION DESIGN — stages describe the intended sequence. Lab evidence and outcomes are labeled separately.

Target architecture

Business Central as a governed application platform.

The target design evaluates Business Central, AL extensions, APIs and external systems, migrated data, role-based security, Power BI, and the operational architecture needed to support change. A verified architecture diagram will be added as an artifact.

MIGRATION DESIGN — conceptual layers, not a claim that every service is deployed.

C/AL → AL modernization

Analyze legacy logic before rebuilding it.

MIGRATION DESIGN — representative method; no completed extension code is implied.

Data migration

Map, move and reconcile with repeatable controls.

Source analysis → mapping → cleansing → staging → migration → validation → reconciliation → rehearsal → final migration. Future sanitized mappings and reconciliation examples can be added to the artifact collection.

Integration modernization

Make external connections explicit.

Inventory interfaces and evaluate supported APIs for external systems, EDI, barcode and mobile patterns where relevant. Each integration requires its own scope, security review, test plan, and evidence before it is described as implemented.

Testing and validation

Prove both the technology and the business process.

The validation plan spans technical and unit tests, system integration testing (SIT), user acceptance testing (UAT), migration validation, data reconciliation, defect management, sign-off and migration rehearsal.

Cutover and hypercare

Treat go-live as an operational transition.

Production readiness, a cutover checklist, contingency and rollback planning, training, support ownership, stabilization and hypercare form the release plan. Go-live outcomes are not claimed at this lab stage.

Hands-on technologies

Tools and platforms in the modernization scope.

Microsoft Cloud/Azure is considered where applicable; inclusion here does not assert a deployed Azure service.

Power BI and decision intelligence

Turn ERP information into better decisions.

A modern data foundation can support financial and operational analytics, FP&A, Power BI dashboards and decision intelligence. The existing Power BI case study provides a separate analytics example.

AI and automation

Apply AI where reviewable evidence can support it.

Opportunities include analysis and documentation assistance, migration intelligence, anomaly identification, workflow automation and decision support. These are future opportunities to evaluate, not production AI integrations.

MIGRATION DESIGN — opportunity areas, subject to human review, security and validation.

NAV 2018 before / Business Central after

Compare the same business process on both sides.

Each comparison row is reserved for equivalent, sanitized evidence from the same representative workflow. Until both sides are verified, the paired framework shows what will be compared.

SIMULATED ENTERPRISE SCENARIO may be used for a representative business process and will be labeled when published.

Project artifacts

Evidence will be added as it is verified.

The collection is prepared for sanitized screenshots, short videos, architecture diagrams, fit-gap and migration matrices, data mappings, reconciliation examples, test plans, project plans and cutover artifacts.

No public migration artifacts are published yet. The roadmap and comparison above describe the work and its evidence requirements.