Most Microsoft Dynamics NAV migrations run into trouble for the same reason: the partner leading the project does not know NAV well enough, does not know Business Central well enough, or both.
That gap is where projects stall, budgets overrun, and businesses end up with a system that works on paper but causes daily frustration in practice.
At Tecvia, we work exclusively in the Microsoft Dynamics space. We have delivered NAV-to-BC migrations across manufacturing, distribution, professional services, and retail. This article explains what a successful migration actually requires and why your choice of partner determines the outcome before a single line of code is written.
NAV and Business Central Are Not the Same Product
This is the most important thing to understand before you start planning.
NAV and Business Central share a commercial lineage, but they are built on entirely different technical foundations. Moving from one to the other is not a version upgrade. It is a re-architecture.
The Nav Environment You Are Leaving
- C/AL code running inside the Classic Client or RoleTailored Client.
- A SQL database where tables, fields, and business logic were modified directly.
- Customisations baked into the base application, often without documentation.
- Years of workarounds and modifications layered on top of each other.
- On-premises deployment managed by your internal IT team or an external support partner.
The Business Central Environment You Are Moving Into
- AL Language with an extension-based architecture. Customisations sit outside the base application entirely.
- Cloud-first design. Microsoft manages updates, security patches, and infrastructure.
- API-driven connectivity to third-party tools and Microsoft 365 products.
- A modern development environment using Visual Studio Code and source control.
- Regular release waves twice a year, meaning your extensions must stay compatible over time.
Anyone who tells you this is a straightforward upgrade has not done it properly.
What a Generalist Partner Gets Wrong
A generalist Dynamics partner may have solid Business Central knowledge. What they typically lack is deep familiarity with NAV. That gap creates real problems in practice.
Your customisations are the problem. In NAV, modifications live inside the base application code. To migrate them correctly, your partner needs to:
- Read and understand C/AL code, sometimes written years ago with no documentation and by developers who no longer work at your business.
- Identify which modifications are genuinely needed today and which are outdated workarounds for problems that no longer exist.
- Translate that logic into AL extensions that work correctly within BC’s architecture.
- Test the results against your actual business processes, not just a demo environment.
- Understand the data model differences between your NAV version and BC so migration scripts do not silently corrupt records.
A partner who skips the analysis stage and jumps straight into BC will carry forward the problems you already have, plus create new ones.
We have seen this happen. A manufacturing business came to Tecvia after an initial migration left their production reporting broken. The previous partner had missed a set of custom NAV fields entirely. Six months of painful manual reconciliation followed before the data was corrected.
What Deep NAV and BC Knowledge Looks Like in Practice
Here is the difference between a specialist and a generalist at each stage of a migration project.
On the NAV Side, a Specialist Will:
- Conduct a full object and customisation audit before writing a single line of AL code.
- Identify deprecated features that need re-engineering, not just porting across.
- Know which NAV modules behave unexpectedly during data migration and plan around them.
- Understand your specific version of NAV, whether that is NAV 2009, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, or 2018, because each has its own quirks.
- Spot undocumented logic in report objects, codeunits, and modified table triggers that a generalist will miss.
On the Business Central Side, a Specialist Will:
- Design extensions that follow Microsoft’s recommended patterns, so future release wave updates do not break your system.
- Evaluate whether a cloud SaaS deployment or on-premises BC installation suits your infrastructure and data residency needs.
- Connect BC to your existing tools via APIs rather than clunky direct database integrations.
- Set up your environment so your internal team can manage and adapt it after go-live, without calling a partner every time something needs changing.
- Know which AppSource add-ons genuinely improve BC’s capabilities and which are not worth the subscription cost.
Both skill sets are required. One without the other is not enough.
AI Tools and Your NAV-to-BC Migration
Microsoft has introduced Copilot AI across Business Central, and it changes what the system can do once you are live. This is worth factoring into your migration planning now, not after go-live.
AI in Business Central currently covers:
- Natural language queries. Users can ask questions in plain English to find records, run reports, or navigate the system without training on menu structures.
- Automated bank reconciliation. Copilot matches bank statement lines to posted ledger entries, reducing manual reconciliation time.
- Sales line suggestions. When creating orders, Copilot recommends items based on what the customer has ordered previously.
- Cash flow forecasting. AI-assisted forecasting uses your historical data to project cash positions, a significant step up from what was available in NAV.
- Document summarisation in Teams. BC records and transactions can be summarised directly inside Microsoft Teams without switching applications.
None of these capabilities exist in NAV. They are part of what you gain by moving to Business Central, but only if your migration is set up correctly to use them. A poorly configured BC environment will not take advantage of these tools.
At Tecvia, we build Copilot readiness into every migration project. That means clean data, correct configuration, and a system structure that lets AI tools work as intended from day one.
Questions to Ask Any Partner Before You Sign Anything
Do not rely on a partner’s marketing materials. Ask these questions directly and listen carefully to how specific the answers are.
- How many NAV-to-BC migrations have you completed in the past two years, and from which NAV versions?
- How do you approach the customisation audit before migration starts? What does that process involve?
- Can you show us a case study from a business of similar size and complexity to ours?
- Who specifically will work on our project? What is their Dynamics background and how long have they worked with NAV?
- How do you handle customisations that cannot be directly ported to AL?
- What does your post-go-live support look like and how long does it last?
- How do you approach Microsoft Copilot readiness as part of the migration?
Vague answers about ‘extensive experience’ tell you nothing. Specific projects, specific versions, and named individuals tell you a great deal.
The Real Cost of Getting This Wrong
A failed or poorly executed migration is expensive in ways that go beyond the original project invoice.
- Downtime during go-live that disrupts your operations and damages customer confidence.
- Months of manual reconciliation when data does not migrate cleanly.
- Rebuilding customisations that were missed or incorrectly ported.
- Staff frustration and resistance when the new system does not match how they actually work.
- A second migration project to fix the first one. This is more common than it should be.
- Delayed access to Copilot AI tools because the system configuration was not set up correctly from the start.
None of these are hypotheticals. They happen when businesses treat this as a routine software upgrade rather than the considered re-architecture project it actually is.
Microsoft’s End-of-Support Timeline for NAV
If you are still running NAV, there is a timeline you need to be aware of.
- NAV 2013 and earlier: mainstream support has ended. Extended support ended in 2023.
- NAV 2015: mainstream support ended in 2020. Extended support ended in January 2025.
- NAV 2016: mainstream support ended in 2021. Extended support ended in April 2026.
- NAV 2017: mainstream support ended in 2022. Extended support ends in April 2027.
- NAV 2018: mainstream support ended in 2023. Extended support ends in January 2028.
Running on an unsupported NAV version means you are accepting security risk with no path to a vendor fix. Migration to Business Central is not just a product preference. For many businesses, it is a compliance and security requirement.
Note: Microsoft support dates can change. Confirm current dates at microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/product-licensing/products or speak to Tecvia directly.
Why Tecvia
Tecvia works exclusively in the Microsoft Dynamics space. Our team has hands-on experience with NAV across multiple versions and industries.
We do not outsource our core project work. The people who scope your migration are the people who deliver it.
Every project starts with a structured assessment of your current NAV environment. We document what you have, categorise your customisations by complexity, and produce a migration plan you can examine before any development work begins.
We work with your internal team throughout the project. Our goal is to leave you with a system your people understand and can manage. We do not want you dependent on us for routine tasks.
If you are planning a NAV-to-BC migration, speak to the team at Tecvia. We will give you an honest assessment of what your environment requires, including a realistic timeline, budget range, and an honest view of risk.
FAQs
To help you navigate our page more effectively, we’ve complied answers to some of the most frequently asked questions. If you have any additional questions or need further clarification, please don’t hesitate to contact us!
How long does a NAV-to-BC migration take?
It depends on the complexity of your current environment. A NAV 2018 system with limited customisations can migrate in three to four months. A heavily modified NAV 2013 environment with complex integrations may take six to twelve months. The customisation audit at the start of any project produces a reliable estimate before work begins.
Do we have to move to the cloud?
No. Business Central is available as a cloud SaaS product and as an on-premises installation. Your choice depends on your infrastructure, data residency requirements, and internal IT capability. Tecvia will assess both options with you and recommend based on your situation, not on what is easiest for us to deliver.
Can we run NAV and Business Central in parallel during the transition?
Yes, and for many businesses this is the right approach. Running both systems in parallel reduces go-live risk and gives your team time to build confidence in BC before you fully cut over. The practicalities depend on your data volumes and integration points, which Tecvia reviews as part of project planning.
How do we get our team ready for Business Central?
Training is built into every Tecvia migration project. We work with your key users throughout the project so they understand Business Central before go-live, not after. We also document your specific configuration so your team has a reference they can actually use day to day.
What if something goes wrong after go-live?
Tecvia provides post-go-live support as standard. Our team remains available during the critical first weeks after cutover. For ongoing support beyond that period, we offer managed support agreements tailored to your needs.
What is the difference between Business Central SaaS and Business Central on-premises?
Business Central SaaS runs in Microsoft’s cloud. Microsoft manages updates, security, and infrastructure. You access it via a browser or the desktop app. Business Central on-premises runs on your own servers or a hosted environment. You manage updates and infrastructure yourself. SaaS is updated automatically twice a year via Microsoft’s release waves. On-premises updates are managed at your discretion. Most Tecvia clients move to SaaS, but on-premises remains the right choice for businesses with specific data residency or infrastructure requirements.
Will Copilot AI work in Business Central after we migrate?
Microsoft Copilot in Business Central is available on the SaaS version. It requires a correctly configured environment with clean data to work as intended. Tecvia builds Copilot readiness into every migration project, covering data quality, configuration, and the Microsoft 365 licensing requirements that Copilot depends on.
How much does a NAV-to-BC migration cost?
Cost varies significantly based on the NAV version you are migrating from, the number and complexity of customisations, data migration requirements, and whether you need third-party integrations rebuilt. Tecvia provides a fixed-scope estimate after the initial customisation audit, so you know what you are committing to before work begins. Projects typically range from tens of thousands for simple environments to six-figure budgets for complex, heavily modified systems.
Can Tecvia migrate us from Dynamics NAV to Business Central if we are already with another partner?
Yes. We regularly take on migration projects where a previous partner relationship has broken down or where the business wants a specialist team for the migration specifically. We request access to your NAV environment and existing documentation, assess what has been done, and produce a clear plan from that point forward.
We hope this FAQ section provides you with the information you need. For any other inquiries, please reach out to us directly. We’re here to support you and ensure your Dynamics 365 Business Central experience is smooth and successful.
