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Ellucian vs Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Ellucian
Ranking in ERP
28th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Student Information System (SIS) (1st)
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Busi...
Ranking in ERP
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
67
Ranking in other categories
Activity Based Costing Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the ERP category, the mindshare of Ellucian is 1.2%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is 4.1%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ERP Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central4.1%
Ellucian1.2%
Other94.7%
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1308615 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Dean at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Presents all information in one place and automates some of our manual processes
This product is used by more than 50 colleges in our state and it is purchased by the government. The system office does the testing and pushes out the patches to us, so everything has been testing. Even if there is any customization that needs to be done, it happens before it comes to us. As such, I haven't had to contact technical support myself.
reviewer2746122 - PeerSpot reviewer
Automation Engineer
Integrations Help Bring Efficiency while Documentation Needs Improvement
When I started working with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, I was new and didn't know what ERP was or its purpose, but I was eager to learn more each day. The system can become overwhelmed because you cannot control the number of integrations, and our team struggled to manage the numerous integrations we had. More documentation is needed on how to use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and its capabilities. From a technical perspective, it was challenging because understanding the system requires familiarity with financial sectors. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central could benefit from more AI integration. Learning the application was challenging as there was much to understand about accounts payable, receivable, accounting, and general ledger.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like that all of the student information is in one place."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is the Teams application. I use Teams to share documents amongst my team members, have meetings, and talk to them."
"The solution's integration between Teams, SharePoint, and Exchange Online is really helpful."
"The selling feature is the most valuable."
"We use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as CRM."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"The product is customizable so we can tune it according to our requirements."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Dynamics NAV is its simplicity of accounting and receiving reports. The solution is similar to Microsoft Excel, and that similarity is good. All the functions of Microsoft Dynamics are user-friendly."
"The vertical covers all aspects of functionality and integrates easily with the existing Office products."
 

Cons

"The functionality for monitoring satisfactory academic progress has room for improvement."
"The reporting tool has room for improvement."
"In Thailand, the support here could be better. The process to get an answer is too long."
"The tool needs to work on reporting issues and user interface."
"The initial setup of the solution was quite complex and the troubleshooting involved with that needs to be improved."
"Microsoft Dynamics NAV will be replaced with Office 365 in the future."
"The configuration packages can be somewhat tiresome at times, and they can be slow when loading data."
"I have not experienced enhanced productivity using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central."
"For a big company like us with millions of transactions, the scalability isn't enough."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The license changes every year. Sometimes it's for fixed users, and sometimes it's for concurrent users."
"Its licensing is yearly. In addition to the licensing cost, there is the cost of hosting on Azure."
"The solution is on the cloud and they provide 50 gigabytes of free space on their Microsoft Drive. The reason for this is that Microsoft is requiring you to upgrade all of your systems to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central in order to effectively use the cloud. This means that if you are currently using a different version of Microsoft for a specific purpose that does not require this solution, it can be frustrating to have to spend money to upgrade to this solution just for the purpose of syncing with the cloud. Additionally, even if you do purchase Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, there can still be issues with syncing between the on-premise and cloud clients. This can be especially frustrating as the cloud storage is not free and can be difficult to access even after purchasing."
"We have an agreement with Microsoft and pricing is okay for us."
"The solution is a little bit expensive."
"Currently, the product offers a starting price of $70 per user per month, which provides access to the complete ERP engine. It is highly reasonable."
"In my opinion, the fees are reasonable."
"There are two types of licenses. One is the essential license in which everything is covered, and the next is the premium. If your company is a manufacturing or service management company, then you can go for the premium license because those two modules are the premium ones. You can manage your manufacturing activities and your service activities."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
40%
Educational Organization
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business40
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise19
 

Questions from the Community

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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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
I don't have specific information about the pricing of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. However, it was very costly due to the numerous integrations we had.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
A point of sale solution is still lacking in the retail industry. A basic point of sale would help a great deal because there are certain requirements where Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ...
 

Also Known As

Datatel
Dynamics NAV, MS Dynamics NAV
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Oklahoma Christian University
Harris Farm Markets, Mister Spex GmbH, Bounce Foods, Eurofin Services SA, Medica Medizintechnik, Associated Gaskets, Onduline, Sitka Surfboard Corporation, World Animal Protection
Find out what your peers are saying about Ellucian vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,757 professionals have used our research since 2012.