For small and medium businesses (SMBs) looking for a new ERP finance solution, there are two options currently available from Microsoft, Dynamics GP and Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Dynamics 365 Business Central was only released in 2018 and is a next generation business application built on the cloud and full of new features. Dynamics GP is an evolution of the original Great Plains product and is predominantly an on-premise solution. Both solutions are targeted at medium sized organisations that need more than a basic accountancy package.
In this article we provide a feature comparison of the two solutions from Microsoft.
| Dynamics GP | Dynamics 365 Business Central | |
| Price | £35 per user per month (excluding hosting) | £53 per user per month (everything included) |
| Deployment options | On-premise as standard. This can now be hosted on Azure to provide some cloud access. | Cloud, on-premise or hybrid approach. The above price is for fully hosted SaaS cloud. |
| Availability | Desktop and web client available when on-premises. Additional work required to provide access externally. | Desktop and Mobile applications, web-based interface available on any device. |
| Functionality | Dynamics GP has finance, operations, stock, CRM, projects and manufacturing capability.
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Dynamics 365 Business Central also offers finance, operations, stock, CRM, service management, manufacturing and projects.
Business Central has better operational capability providing superior purchasing, inventory and manufacturing. |
| User Interface (UI) | Dynamics GP has an aged interface now, we do expect Microsoft to improve this in later versions. | Business Central has a modern user interface, personalised dashboards, built-in reports, a clear navigation and natural language search option and is available through the web and mobile devices. |
| Artificial Intelligence (AI) | No | Built-in AI is available in cloud and hybrid deployment options. |
| Connectivity | Low – Dynamics GP is predominantly an on-premise solution with limited connectivity. | High – built on the common data service, there are 100s of out-of-the-box solutions and API connectivity available. |
| reporting | Standard reporting tools such as excel integration, queries, smartlists and management reporter. | High levels of insights and reporting capability with embedded Power BI reports, plus full Excel integration. |
| Power Platform (PowerApps, Flow and Power BI) | Not as standard but it is possible to connect Dynamics GP to the Power Platform | Embedded and included as part of the licence. |
| 3rd party apps | A large catalogue of applications are available | Less options than Dynamics GP at the moment, as it is a new solution, but more are being added every day |
In summary, Dynamics 365 Business Central is a next generation business application. It is cloud first, has a great user experience and has advanced features such as embedded AI.
Dynamics GP on the other hand is a product that is still predominantly on-premise based and part of the older range of Dynamics products. It has evolved since its first release, but it is still the same underlying product. The message from Microsoft is that there will continue to be development on Dynamics GP. The roadmap for Dynamics GP shows that they are currently developing Dynamics GP 2018 and will continue to provide new releases past 2019, with no plan to stop providing it. This does go against their move to Dynamics 365, but it is well supported by the large global customer base, even if the product wasn’t particularly popular in the UK where Dynamics NAV was more prevalent.
For us, Dynamics 365 Business Central represents a better investment and provides organisations with a better platform for growth.
Download our complete Dynamics 365 Business Central product guide or visit our Dynamics 365 Business Central hub to learn more.