Move your customized NAV system to Business Central — without breaking the business.
Large databases, years of history, third-party add-ons, multiple companies. Cateran has worked with NAV since the Navision days and plans upgrades around the complexity real NAV systems carry.
NAV's runway is ending
NAV 2018 — the final NAV release — reaches the end of Microsoft extended support in January 2028, and earlier versions are already unsupported. Every year you wait, the upgrade gets harder: more customizations to carry, fewer people who know the old code, and more pressure on the timeline.
Planning now means you choose the timing, not your support contract.
What changes in Business Central
- Cloud (SaaS) with automatic Microsoft updates
- Customizations become clean, upgradable extensions
- Native Microsoft 365, Power BI and Copilot integration
- Access to Copilot and AI agents, which NAV and on-premises versions don't get
- Access from anywhere, no servers to maintain
- Subscription licensing instead of upgrade projects every few years
An upgrade planned around your real system
Readiness assessment
Inventory customizations, add-ons, integrations, reports, data volume and companies. Identify what's still needed.
Upgrade strategy
Decide what to replace with standard features, what to rebuild as extensions, and how much history to bring.
Build & test
Convert code to AL, run test migrations, reconcile balances and history, and test with your users.
Cutover & support
A rehearsed go-live plan, a short cutover window, and senior support through your first closes.
Heavily customized NAV
Decades of C/AL changes are reviewed line by line. Cateran has written C/AL since 1999 and develops Business Central extensions in AL today, so nothing is a black box.
Large databases & history
Choose to upgrade full history, summarize it, or archive it — based on reporting, audit and performance needs, not on what's easiest for the partner.
Multi-company environments
Intercompany, consolidations, multi-currency and dimensions are redesigned where needed, not just copied — a chance to fix what's been painful for years.
NAV upgrade questions
Is Microsoft Dynamics NAV still supported?
NAV 2018, the final NAV release, reaches the end of Microsoft extended support in January 2028. Earlier versions are already out of support. No new NAV versions will be released; Business Central is the successor.
What happens to our NAV customizations?
Each customization is reviewed. Many can be replaced by standard Business Central features or AppSource apps; the rest are rebuilt as AL extensions so future upgrades stay simple.
Can we keep our historical data?
Yes. Depending on your needs, history can be fully upgraded, summarized, or kept in an accessible archive. The right choice depends on database size, reporting and audit requirements.
Do we have to move to the cloud?
Business Central SaaS is the recommended path for most companies, and it's where Microsoft is investing. If you have specific reasons to stay on-premises, the assessment will cover the tradeoffs.
Our NAV partner is gone. Can you still help?
Yes. Many NAV customers have lost their original partner to retirement or acquisition. Cateran regularly picks up undocumented NAV systems.
Know what your upgrade really involves.
A readiness assessment gives you a clear inventory, a recommended path and a realistic estimate — before you commit to a project.