One of the core benefits of migrating from Microsoft Dynamics GP to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central in the Cloud is automatic updates to the platform.
Throughout the year, Microsoft rolls out automatic updates to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
- Major updates, released twice a year, usually in April and October, are designed, developed and validated by the Microsoft Dynamics 365 team before release. These updates typically provide new capabilities, features and functionalities, Microsoft 365 integrations, adding new countries to the solution or service-to-service authentication.
- Minor updates, released monthly, are called hotfixes, and they are quick solutions to problems that users have submitted and regulatory updates. Minor updates include resolving issues like messages popping up and saying the wrong time zone was applied or that the user is inactive while in use. These critical fixes for the platform and applications are released once they’ve passed Microsoft’s battery of tests and are verified by the company.
Both types of updates are continuous and automatic. Administrators merely need to set an update window in the Business Central administration center, preferably during non-working hours, not to cause any downtime or disruption to the workday.
Administrators can manually apply minor updates as they become available, but Microsoft will auto-apply the updates at the scheduled time.
Benefits of Automatic Updates in Dynamics 365 Business Central
- Customizable Scheduling – Business Central’s updates occur during your customizable time window. Users receive notifications via email about impending updates. Whereas Dynamics GP would roll out unpredictable updates that resulted in companies losing time and money as they couldn’t work, you can set up Business Central updates during non-working hours to minimize any disruptions.
- Latest and Greatest Features and Functionality – The most significant benefit of the annual updates is unveiling new features and functionalities. Business Central users will always have the latest features thanks to the automatic nature of the solution’s updates. Under GP, users must manually update to take advantage of new features in their solution — often at unexpected times.
- Performance – Automatic updates improve your solution’s speed, stability, and usability.
- Affordable – Updates to Business Central don’t cost users extra— they’re included in the subscription cost. Microsoft GP requires a fee for updates every few years, in addition to downtime for your business during the update process.
- Stay Connected to Third-Party Applications – Routine upgrades allow for more seamless integration and use of third-party applications from independent software vendors. Leveraging a third-party app with your solution often requires using the newest versions of both.
- Up to Date with Compliance Regulations – Microsoft’s inclusion of regulatory updates can be a lifesaver for businesses, in both time and stress. For example, when the government adjusts federal forms, those features are automatically updated in Business Central, either during the monthly minor updates or during major ones. However, companies using on-premises software have to receive service packs to conduct updates, which are costly, time-consuming and need to be scheduled with a technology provider.
- Better Security – Monthly hotfixes and twice-yearly major updates keep your data secure. Any needed patches for security measures are automatically applied.
Want to know more about upgrading or migrating to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central? Reach out to one of our Enavate experts to better understand your Cloud and ERP options to get the most from your technology investment.
