Dynamics NAV, CRM Live Slip

A new user interface (UI) and architecture originally planned for Dynamics NAV 5.0 has slipped for a second time, to late 2008, further delaying major updates intended to modernize the product’s technical foundation. In addition, general availability of the Microsoft-hosted CRM Live customer relationship management (CRM) service in the first half of 2008 could give other Dynamics CRM hosting partners a head start on Microsoft, since those partners will build their services on the packaged CRM 4.0 product, which will ship in the fourth quarter of 2007.

NAV 5.1 Becomes 6.0

Dynamics NAV (formerly Navision), which Microsoft acquired in July 2002, is an accounting and business management package for midsize businesses. It is perhaps the most widely deployed of Microsoft’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) products, which include Dynamics AX, GP, and SL. As of early 2007, the product has more than 60,000 customers, many of which are manufacturing or distribution companies. The product’s most recent revision, NAV 5.0, was released in Apr. 2007.