Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs SAP ERP comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Busi...
Ranking in ERP
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
Activity Based Costing Software (2nd)
SAP ERP
Ranking in ERP
1st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
104
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the ERP category, the mindshare of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is 6.4%, down from 6.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP ERP is 21.5%, down from 22.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

StefaanVandesompele - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides end-to-end accounting and finance module at reasonable pricing
365 Business Central integrates with Office 365 to streamline the invoice approval process. This allows businesses to manage and approve invoices efficiently within a unified system. Our organization plans to transition to the Dynamics 365 environment, where various functions will be centralized. We will consolidate everything into one system instead of maintaining multiple databases for each country with local data. Dynamics 365 is fully integrated, which should address many of our challenges when we migrate to this new environment. We look forward to seeing how it performs in practice. The project is progressing well overall, though integrating it with other tools and ensuring Dynamics 365 operates smoothly can be challenging. Dynamics 365 is user-friendly and effective. However, a deeper understanding of its technical capabilities and architecture might be necessary to optimize its use fully. The software landscape is evolving, and achieving the best reporting and functionality with just a click can be complex. A clear vision of what you want to achieve with Dynamics 365 is essential. Proper preparation and configuration are crucial to achieving the desired outcomes. This principle applies not only to Dynamics 365 but to all software packages. Understanding the system's flexibility and adaptability based on your specific business needs is key to its successful implementation. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Srinivasan Kuppuswamy - PeerSpot reviewer
The amazing, robust framework with unlimited scalability earns its #1 status
The solution is not ready for the current e-commerce environment. Its was built for large enterprises who need to predictably optimize their human, material, and financial resources. ERP has evolved and businesses are changing. There are not many large corporations. Most are small enterprises with the capabilities of large enterprises through networking and platform integration. Some companies promote products but get things done with other enterprises as a network. Companies do not want to create new capacity but want to leverage existing capacity with innovative products. They do not want to spend resources on duplicating capacity or facilities. I do not think any ERP product is ready to support this environment so ERPs as a whole might end up being used for back-office functions only. It is not easy to evolve an ERP product because its intent is to integrate functions and processes within an organization. Whereas, in the new business model, processes are not limited to one's own enterprise but cut across different enterprises. There is no enterprise solution as this point in time for the current e-commerce environment so companies must integrate with many solutions.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is extremely stable as it does not rely on our in-house servers."
"NAV covers everything from purchasing and selling items to invoicing. Everything is within NAV, so it's all very neat."
"We use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as CRM."
"The vertical covers all aspects of functionality and integrates easily with the existing Office products."
"All of the features are valuable, depending on where you implement them. I've done implementations in 60 countries, across 86 different companies and groups, and each company has a different reason for why they want to use it. Every single feature that I've implemented has been successful, and for some companies, where they didn't use the functionality, they have moved to external products or they've integrated into other applications."
"It is a stable solution."
"This is readily available and affordable, as well as user-friendly and simple to use in my opinion."
"Microsoft Dynamics NAV is good for smaller-sized companies."
"I like SAP's premade workflows for various areas, such as supply chain, procurement, or finance."
"The product’s most valuable feature is a centralized system integrating different departments within the organization."
"Control and governance are the best features."
"The solution is quite scalable."
"The most valuable feature is the robust workflows that SAP provides to us in our organization. Overall, I find it the best ERP solution compared to other similar solutions."
"I have found all the modules related to finance valuable, such as account management and HR. The entire suite is very useful."
"Finance view across functions is valuable."
"We like that we have real-time dashboard views."
 

Cons

"The solution is stable, but it could improve."
"The solution is not best suited for larger-scale businesses."
"Microsoft Dynamics NAV could be improved in terms of exporting income statements and balance sheets. Currently, there is a feature, but you can only have the last three years. I spent some time trying to improve the KPI portion that exports the data, that already calculates the sub forms or subtotals, but they weren't able to break that up into different dimensions. They've now managed to crowd the separate table and you can export that, but it's only for the last three years. So, they could improve this solution by getting the chart of accounts or the account schedules to be exported, where you can go further than just three years with it."
"The solution could include the retail tool in the native version."
"If Microsoft made some of the security setups a little easier to work with, that would be a significant improvement. The warehouse management features could also use some work. We had to buy third-party software to make NAV's warehouse management and security more usable and functional."
"There are some aspects of the solution that is complex."
"Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has been buggy in my experience and they should improve in this area. Additionally, there are too many updates. The updates involve a whole bunch of applications as part of the package, such as the Edge browser. The updates are too broad across the whole package of applications."
"In Thailand, the support here could be better. The process to get an answer is too long."
"Although you can use SAP as a Warehouse Management System, and you don’t need any other program for that purpose, it is not enough as a Transportation Management System. You need another program which is integrated with SAP."
"It's very difficult to find people who are well versed in it."
"In previous generations, SAP was stable and the roadmap was very predictable, but currently it's very difficult."
"They need to improve a few processes, including transformation, intelligence, governance, modeling, etc."
"Pricing could be improved for preferred customers."
"The problem for us, we are one company that has seven home markets. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. When we need to configure, modify rules, change policies, or taxes rules, when we move currencies around based on our other financial results, it can get very complicated. When we try to join everything together we have some problems. However, the process good, all of our material and procurement processes are going well. The problem is trying to consolidate the financial reports and this is where I have problems."
"The user interface could be improved. For example, sometimes you're missing some data and can't complete a task. There should be some built-in support and suggestions on how to solve your problem. I would also like the interface to be optimized to work better with mobile devices like tablets and smartphones."
"The UI could use improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"NAV might be a little pricey for a small or medium-sized company, but all the solutions out there are."
"I give the solution a seven out of ten for pricing."
"You have to pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution."
"Its licensing is yearly. In addition to the licensing cost, there is the cost of hosting on Azure."
"The price of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central could improve. It is costly. We are paying for the solution on a monthly basis."
"$80-$100 per license, per month."
"We have an agreement with Microsoft and pricing is okay for us."
"The solution can cost approximately $1 million a year for maintenance for a small-size company and can grow from there. Approximately $1 million is needed for a good-size company."
"I don't know the price, but I know its licensing is on a yearly basis."
"We pay annually for the use of this solution."
"The product has high pricing."
"SAP is a bit on the costly side, but they also provide support and other things. We are paying for licenses and the use of the cloud."
"The solution is expensive so I rate cost a five out of ten."
"SAP ERP is an expensive tool."
"It could always be cheaper. They don't have a very easy model of licensing, but large entities would get the upper hand in negotiating the license."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which ERP solutions are best for your needs.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Government
6%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Retailer
6%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
The platform offers a robust and comprehensive cycle for supply chain and inventory management, with features like minimum and maximum settings, dynamic monitoring of inventory levels, and integrat...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
Implementing localizations when we use the system for multiple countries can be quite complex. There isn't a single solution available for all countries, and managing these localizations can be cha...
Is Anaplan better than SAP ERP?
There are different aspects of both Anaplan and SAP ERP that I like and dislike. Anaplan improves forecast accuracy and drives up the quality of analytics. Rather than spending all of their time co...
What do you like most about SAP ERP?
The solution has made the most significant impact on our human resources function, specifically in HR operations and HR analytics. One feature of SAP ERP that I found most valuable is its use of co...
What needs improvement with SAP ERP?
There is a need for improvement in the business analytics aspect in financial reporting and also in sales and marketing analytics.
 

Also Known As

Dynamics NAV, MS Dynamics NAV
No data available
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Harris Farm Markets, Mister Spex GmbH, Bounce Foods, Eurofin Services SA, Medica Medizintechnik, Associated Gaskets, Onduline, Sitka Surfboard Corporation, World Animal Protection
B&G Manufacturing, Unilever, Life is good Inc., Joy Global Inc., City of Cape Town, Bhopal Municipal, Corporation (BMC), adidas Group, Butcher & Packer Supply Company, Franklin Valve L.P., Evoshield, Prime Meats, a Norsan Group company, EMC Corporation, Varian Medical Systems Inc., FC Bayern Mªnchen AG, AkzoNobel Chemicals B.V., T¾V Rheinland, Pacific Drilling S.A., Fire & Rescue New South Wales, University of Amsterdam, Pa_alon S.A.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs. SAP ERP and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.