Migrate Dynamics NAV or Business Central on-premises to online

Move to Business Central online with a clear view of your data, customizations and business priorities. Based in Laval, Synergia365 helps Quebec businesses assess their Dynamics NAV or on-premises Business Central environment, choose an approach and prepare the transition in English and French.

Choose the migration approach before planning the move.

A technical upgrade brings the application and data to a supported version. A cloud migration moves the agreed solution and data to Business Central online. A reimplementation revisits processes and configuration, with an agreed selection of data to carry forward. These activities can form part of the same project; the right sequence depends on your starting point.

What we assess together

  • Version and upgrade path: current NAV or Business Central version, infrastructure and supported intermediate steps. Not every version can move directly to online.
  • Customizations, apps and reports: what to retain, replace with standard functionality or redesign, and which vendors must be involved.
  • Integrations: connected systems, data exchanges, authentication and testing responsibilities.
  • Data and history: quality, volumes, required records, retention and reconciliation of balances and business documents.
  • People and operating calendar: internal process owners, availability for validation, training needs and an agreed cutover window.

Agree on readiness before cutover

Plan trial migrations, reconcile key data and balances, and validate representative business processes with your users. Record unresolved issues, the go-live decision and contingency arrangements, including how operations will continue if the cutover must be deferred. The assessment informs scope, responsibilities, budget and schedule.

For a fresh implementation or a broader redesign, see our Business Central implementation approach. Discuss your migration with Synergia365.

Why Business Central online

Considering a Business Central SaaS upgrade?

The value comes from a more current platform, connected work and a clearer operating model. It does not come from moving the same complexity to a different environment.

A managed update cycle

Microsoft manages platform and application updates through two major cycles each year and minor updates in other months. Your team still plans timing, validates extensions and prepares users.

Connected work across Microsoft tools

Business Central can connect with Outlook, Excel, Teams, OneDrive and Power Platform, subject to configuration and licensing requirements.

Less infrastructure, clearer ownership

Reduce server and patch administration while retaining responsibility for access, data quality, governance, vendors and business continuity.

Modernize the solution

Review every customisation instead of rebuilding the same system.

A cloud transition is an opportunity to simplify the solution. Each customisation should be assessed against current standard capability, suitable marketplace apps and the real value it creates.

Four practical choices

Use the least complex option that supports the process and preserves a maintainable core.

  1. KeepRetain functionality that remains necessary and supportable.
  2. Replace with standardUse current Business Central capability where it now meets the requirement.
  3. Adopt an appSelect a suitable Microsoft Marketplace app after functional, technical and vendor due diligence.
  4. Rebuild as an extensionUse AL extensions for requirements that genuinely differentiate the business.

Compatibility still requires governance. Marketplace and tenant extensions must remain compatible with Business Central updates. Vendor maintenance, validation and regression testing remain part of the operating model.

You’ve been running on NAV or Business Central for years. You want to talk about what a move to Business Central SaaS really means for your data, your customizations, and your day-to-day operations.

Business Central ships two major release waves every year. See what has changed since the version you are running.

View version changes
Preview of the Business Central version comparison: filters and a table of 399 features, including BC29.

The audit is the right place to start.

After years of using Dynamics NAV or Business Central, your business is no longer the same. Your team has changed, new employees have joined, processes have evolved, and new needs have emerged. The system has evolved too, and newer versions offer capabilities your current ways of working may not use. An audit is the right time to compare how the system is used today with what your business needs now, then decide what to improve next.

Explore the Dynamics NAV | Business Central Audit

Move to Business Central SaaS in five controlled stages.

A structured migration turns the current-state assessment into a tested cloud environment, a controlled cutover and supported adoption.

  1. Assessment and Discovery

    • Audit current on-premises NAV or Business Central environment.
    • Review existing customizations, reports, and third-party add-ons.
    • Identify obsolete code and data cleanup needs.
    • Map features to standard Business Central SaaS capabilities.

  2. Planning and Scope

    • Define project timeline, milestones, and resource allocation.
    • Formulate a data migration and historical data strategy.
    • Choose app extensions to replace legacy custom code.
    • Establish budget and licensing requirements for the cloud.

  3. Execution and Migration

    • Set up the secure cloud environment and configure tenants.
    • Refactor customizations into modern AL extensions.
    • Execute test data migrations and schema upgrades.
    • Integrate cloud services and connected third-party apps.

  4. Testing and Validation

    • Conduct end-to-end business process testing.
    • Perform user acceptance testing (UAT) with key staff.
    • Validate financial reports, data accuracy, and workflows.
    • Train users on new features and cloud navigation.

  5. Go-Live and Support

    • Execute final data cutover during an agreed window that reflects your operating calendar.
    • Perform final system checks and user access sign-offs.
    • Provide hypercare support during the first weeks of use.
    • Transition to ongoing cloud maintenance and updates.

Decisions to prepare together

Which data and history need to move, and which can remain available separately? Which business processes and financial reports must your team validate before go-live? Who will take part in that validation, and when can your operations accommodate the cutover? Bring these questions to the assessment so the plan reflects your business, your data and your team’s availability.

Planning your NAV or Business Central migration

Where should we start?

Start with an assessment of your current version, customizations, integrations, data and business processes. Our Dynamics NAV and Business Central audit helps establish the decisions and priorities for your migration.

What determines the cost and timeline?

The scope depends on your starting version, the changes needed to customizations and integrations, data quality, reporting requirements and your team’s availability for testing. We define the scope and migration approach with you before establishing a project schedule and budget.

Do we need to move all our historical data?

That decision belongs in the assessment. Identify which records your teams need for daily work, reporting and retention, then decide what to migrate and what can remain accessible separately. Validate the proposed approach with the people responsible for finance and operations.

How should we prepare for go-live?

Assign people to validate key business processes and financial reports, rehearse the data transition, and agree on a cutover window that suits your operating calendar. Prepare users and confirm the support arrangements for the transition and ongoing use.