Microsoft Business Central 365 is based on Dynamics NAV which was originally developed in the 90s as an on-premise solution, before being acquired by Microsoft in 2002. It was rearchitected for SaaS (on Azure), then rebadged to Business Central 365 in 2018.

BizAutomation offers single all-inclusive edition, for a single target (horizontal) market (smaller SMBs) at a single price with single rate add-on pricing. Sticking to our pledge of transparency, we publish everything on our web-site eliminating the possibility of “edition traps” (see below). This approach is analogous to a bumper to bumper warrantee that covers everything without exception (including what you don’t realize you might need at a later point).

How big software leverages an upsell: Up-sell strategies can affect any customer using sofware that’s intentionally held back by product planners, in order to upsell more profitable add-ons, modules, versions/editions, platforms, and the lucrative billable partner hours that such upgrades produce. This happens in a couple of scenarios. When an ERP system is sold on a single platform but offered both horizontally (e.g. small, medium, large editions) and vertically (industry specific editions) or when it’s sold in multiple platforms, usually separated horizontally which in theory makes sense because systems should be designed for a target horizontal markets, but when design decisions are influenced by upsell pressures, it’s the end customer that picks up the tab.

Example: In this example we’ll assume the use of a single platform multi-edition offering but the same example can be made with multi-platform offerings. Say you commit to what we’ll call a “Small Business” (Horizontal) “Standard Distributor” (Vertical) edition. Six months into a three year agreement your business grows and adds another warehouse, and only then realize your small business version only supports a single warehouse. Your software vendor will happily sell you an “Advanced Inventory” add-on, but to get it you have to upgrade to the “Mid-Market” edition + the add-on price. Because this is most likely to happen in the middle of a contract, all your negotiation leverage is gone, and you’re forced to pay whatever they ask or face leaving the system - not an enviable position to be in.

This happens when the customer doesn’t know what they don’t know before committing, but even an ERP expert would be hard pressed to negotiate a fool proof contract because in order to make a truly informed decision, one needs all the facts, and often vendors will cherry pick information on proposals, burying details in opaque licensing agreements so difficult to understand, that even regulators and “fair trade” laws have no impact on the outcome.

BizAutomation’s single all-inclusive version, is completely immune to vendor upsell leveraging, as there’s no version, edition, or platform to up-sell.

Dynamics 365 Business Central: Offers extreme customizability. So much so, that some reviews said it was on par with the enterprise systems designed for mid to large sized business. And this makes sense considering it was originally designed for larger horizontal markets. Customizations require coding in the AL language via the Visual Studio Editor, well beyond the capability of the average SMB, which means hiring a Microsoft Partner for $150 to $300 per hour.

BizAutomation: Almost all customization tools are designed around click not code wizards intended for business users, not engineers (including our workflow automation module which is part of the suite). The only area of the BizAutomation suite designed for non-business users includes the HTML and CSS editing tools provided for customizing partner forms (invoices, purchase orders, multi-entity branding, etc..), and entire websites designed on the BizCommerce platform (which also supports scripting such as Java script and J Query ), but not the core suite itself. But even these tools comply with standards based technologies (there will never be a “BizScript”) so you’ll never need a specialized partner with sky high billing rates to do anything.

With no dependency on partner networks to feed or upsell incentives from multiple versions and editions, we also offer a source code enhancement under certain conditions, which are written in-house to prevent breaking the suite with build updates (any bugs are supported by us, the original authors of source code). Source code customization is invaluable when you don’t know what you don’t know 3 months into a 6 month implementation (happens more often than you’d think), finding yourself dependent on the good graces of your software vendor, and tens of thousands into a project. This is precisely why we advise you prioritize the technology vendor first (take customer references seriously), and the features and software system last. Most customers seem to do the opposite.

How Microsoft’s partner centric integration strategy compares to BizAutomation’s customer centric strategy

Both companies are similar when it comes to internal integrations, built directly into the suite itself. For example, connecting to credit card processors, shipping carriers, address look ups, tax rates, currency exchange rates, and more..

3rd Party Solution Partner Integrations & App Extensions: These are integrations to 3rd party systems, networks, and marketplaces by 3rd party software companies, which also become value added reseller(VAR) partners. These integrations are usually specific to a vertical market or seek to improve on a feature. To integrate the partner has to either have access to the source code, or the scripting layer that talks to source code, using a tool commonly referred to as a software development kit (SDK).

Microsoft’s app strategy: Attract as many 3rd party software developers so they become solution partners. Becoming a certified solution partner can cost several thousands per year, and months to qualify for approval, which also pays for support and certification (there are also yearly selling quotas).

The Pros of Microsoft’s strategy: Customers get an app marketplace where they can shop for integrations and extensions. All those partners attract customers to Microsoft, and Google search results are filled with pro-Microsoft messaging. Microsoft and their partners benefit from increased dependency (a con from the customer’s perspective).

The Cons of Microsoft’s strategy:

1. While seen as a pro for Microsoft and their partners - with deep dependencies come increased vendor lock in, where customer’s find it impossible to port to a competing 3rd party apps without significant expense and down time. Solution partners know this, and take full advantage. This is why BizAutomation vertically integrates all business logic internally (i.e. we don’t offer 3rd party SDKs), and only connects to 3rd party apps via data APIs.

2. The partner, not Microsoft is responsible if integration breaks as a result of a Microsoft build update (we found many reviews mentioning this). BizAutomation ALWAYS takes responsibility for connectivity issues to 3rd party apps. Our responsibility ends only where the 3rd party app begins. We also only connect to a single best of breed, but only where the 3rd party app performs something we determine wouldn’t make sense putting into our own suite thereby preventing the con mentioned in point #3.

3. The sales and marketing benefits as well as the increased dependencies generated by solution partners create a powerful special interest lobby group, that creates a natural incentive to allow solution partner systems to take over functions that in all likelihood should be built into Microsoft’s source code. This is why we justify our allegations that “BigTech” ERP software serves the needs of their partners first, then customers.

4. 3rd party solutions aren’t free. Also, partner fees which will likely be embedded in app prices.

Refers to how efficient and thus competitive a software system is at helping its intended customer automate. So for example, a system designed to be efficient for a 10 person company would be completely inefficient at running Ford, and visa versa.

Microsoft Business Central 365: The customer reviews speak for themselves. Re-purposing a product designed in the 90s for the midmarket, then marketing it to SMBs with a different badge is a bit like squeezing a large ball in a small opening. Because Microsoft is one of the largest companies in the world, and wields an army of partners, and unlimited marketing spend able to make all the top 10 lists out there (appear independent, but they’re paid listings).

Not all Dynamics 365 modules are on the same codebase. The CRM module, for instance, was built primarily by Microsoft itself rather than leaning heavily on acquired technology, so it’s on a different codebase than the Dynamics 365 Finance platform. This means it functions as a separate application and has a different user interface. Customers must purchase Microsoft’s DataVerse middleware to pass data and perform workflows between the finance and CRM applications.

BizAutomation: With BizAutomation, the entire suite is built on a single codebase, simplifying customizations and removing the need for middleware. This also makes the upgrade process much smoother because customers don’t need to test those customizations every time there’s a new release.

Because we’re hyper focused on efficiency for smaller SMBs only, we often ask our customers (all under 100 employees) to tell us where we can save them clicks, time doing stuff, etc... we’re obsessed with it, but we can afford to be, because we only need to serve a single master - smaller SMBs.

Microsoft: The 3.4 “Ease of Use” average is by far the lowest of any BigTech ERP we consider a competitor. When taking into account that MS Dynamics is a 100% partner driven, incentivized to leave reviews, it’s natural to assume the 3.4 average is artificially high, making this low water mark even more concerning.

The most common areas of criticism had to do with how needlessly complex the user interface is, and how long (clicks, screens, etc..) it took to do something. This is understandable considering Navision designed this package for the mid-market in the 90s, before being acquired by Microsoft in 2002. It was rebadged to MS BC 365 in 2018.

BizAutomation: 4.9 average on Capterra, with over 95% of our reviews coming from customers in the U.S. and Canada, so all those 5 star reviews are legit.