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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs Microsoft Dynamics CRM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Busi...
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
63
Ranking in other categories
ERP (3rd), Activity Based Costing Software (2nd)
Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
CRM Customer Engagement Centers (1st), CRM (1st), Local Government CRM (1st), Marketing Management (2nd), Sales Force Automation (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Microsoft Dynamics CRM aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is designed for ERP and holds a mindshare of 6.3%, down 7.0% compared to last year.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM, on the other hand, focuses on CRM Customer Engagement Centers, holds 25.7% mindshare, up 24.2% since last year.
ERP
CRM Customer Engagement Centers
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user514128 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 15, 2017
 

Featured Reviews

StefaanVandesompele - PeerSpot reviewer
Aug 9, 2024
Provides end-to-end accounting and finance module at reasonable pricing
365 Business Central integrates with Office 365 to streamline the invoice approval process. This allows businesses to manage and approve invoices efficiently within a unified system. Our organization plans to transition to the Dynamics 365 environment, where various functions will be centralized. We will consolidate everything into one system instead of maintaining multiple databases for each country with local data. Dynamics 365 is fully integrated, which should address many of our challenges when we migrate to this new environment. We look forward to seeing how it performs in practice. The project is progressing well overall, though integrating it with other tools and ensuring Dynamics 365 operates smoothly can be challenging. Dynamics 365 is user-friendly and effective. However, a deeper understanding of its technical capabilities and architecture might be necessary to optimize its use fully. The software landscape is evolving, and achieving the best reporting and functionality with just a click can be complex. A clear vision of what you want to achieve with Dynamics 365 is essential. Proper preparation and configuration are crucial to achieving the desired outcomes. This principle applies not only to Dynamics 365 but to all software packages. Understanding the system's flexibility and adaptability based on your specific business needs is key to its successful implementation. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Arun Srivastav - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 19, 2024
Easy to use and integrates well with emails, WhatsApp, and SMS gateways
The most valuable feature of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is the campaign feature. The solution's campaign feature allows you to collate a group of customers and the frequency of email notifications sent to them. You can put an advertising budget for a series of customers, whereby high net-worth individuals will be marketed for high-end products. Low-end customers will be in a different campaign. So, we run campaigns on different sectors of customers. One of the solution's good features is integration because it directly integrates with Microsoft tools. Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Teams are built into it. The solution gives a varied network of text and email gateways, which are already integrated and come with the package.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is easy to use, flexible, and customizable."
"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 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."
"It's quite reliable, and there's a good local provider who can adapt the solution for tax issues."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"Microsoft Dynamics NAV is brilliant and it's a different segment when comparing it with Dynamics AX. Dynamics AX is a larger product with much more features and it's aimed at a different segment of the market."
"I have found the flexibility to be very valuable. It's highly flexible, and at least for us, it has been effective. It is also highly functional."
"We use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as CRM."
"The solution is stable."
"My access to Microsoft Dynamics CRM is limited, so I can only access the feature of registering the pipeline and activities. That feature is enough for me to do the job, and is what I find most valuable in the solution."
"I like the fact that I can keep track of everything I do in relation to my own job."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM are the accessibility of the service because we can access it either in the office or when we're out in the field."
"The product is user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature is that it's easy to use and can work with any Microsoft solution without problems."
"We are able to effectively follow up on requests, ensuring all customer issues are resolved in a timely manner. This solution provides a platform where there is visibility of all customer interactions, with efficient follow-up."
"It ensures that there's continuity, and you don't have to start asking the customer about what happened. From CRM, you can easily see all the interactions and events in the record and take it from there."
 

Cons

"It would be nice, in Microsoft Teams, if we were able to type more information into the chat."
"I work in Pakistan, and many people want desktop solutions. They don't want to work on the cloud. They want a strictly on-premises solution."
"Customization and costs could be improved."
"The performance and virtual machine backup is not good with this solution and need improvements."
"I would like to have more frequent updates."
"They need to improve their processes."
"There is room for improvement in terms of compatibility."
"The solution's event management can be improved."
"The solution could have better dashboards and the Microsoft operating system could be more intuitive."
"Microsoft Dynamics CRM could improve the built-in reports. The ones that are included are pretty generic unless you subscribe to Microsoft BI, which is an extra fee. They should offer the reports without having to purchase a separate subscription for Microsoft BI. However, the reports in Microsoft BI are fantastic."
"This solution would be easier to use if everything was displayed on one page, to avoid moving from one tab to another tab to add documents or add comments."
"Microsoft Dynamics CRM can improve the integration with the other system. If they have more flexibility to connect with another system it will be more effective."
"The performance could be improved."
"The manufacturing module could be improved. I would like to see customization in the next release."
"It would be better if it were more secure."
"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is operational enough, in terms of frequency, but an area for improvement would be its dashboard. Currently, it's widget-like, so hopefully, it could be improved, particularly to allow you to create a custom dashboard using a query. A custom dashboard would make the solution better and is an additional feature I'd like to see in the next release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM because right now, it only has a default dashboard, but maybe my account has limited access, so I can only see the default version of the dashboard."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The deployment cost us $70,000 and we pay around $18,000 annually for support, which we find to be expensive."
"We have an agreement with Microsoft and pricing is okay for us."
"The price of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central could improve. It is costly. We are paying for the solution on a monthly basis."
"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."
"The solution's cost is reasonable."
"NAV might be a little pricey for a small or medium-sized company, but all the solutions out there are."
"The price of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is reasonable."
"The solution's license is costly compared to other CRM tools."
"The cost could be cheaper. I would rate them 3 out of 5."
"Licensing fees are paid on a monthly basis."
"I am not the person who pays for Microsoft Dynamics CRM but it is expensive. I have been using Microsoft Azure, which Microsoft Dynamics CRM is built on, and I know we prepaid for the services. For me as a consumer, I do not think I can afford it, mainly because I am only learning how to use the AI and the rate which they charge is high. In general, Microsoft solutions are expensive and this is most likely due to the brand, this is something you expect. However, the price might be high but you receive a highly secure solution."
"Pricing for this software could be cheaper."
"The solution is expensive."
"On a scale from one to ten with one being expensive and ten being of great value, I would rate Microsoft Dynamics CRM at six on pricing."
"Microsoft often encourages customers to commit to multi-year enterprise-level agreements, such as three or five-year deals with a minimum commitment of, for example, $200,000 dollars. However, in order to acquire more customers, I believe Microsoft should offer this same rate for one-year commitments for customers who want to experience it."
"Microsoft Dynamics CRM is very affordable if you use the yearly subscription."
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Answers from the Community

it_user514128 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 16, 2017
Mar 16, 2017
Dynamic CRM is “workflow” and base on email integration. CRP in Default Micrososoft Dynamic Nav only simple CRP Please see the comment below in web Key factor is where data is held The key factor in determining whether to deploy Dynamics NAV or Dynamics CRM to meet your needs will depend on where the data is held that your CRM processes need to access. If your marketing is based o...
2 out of 10 answers
it_user392145 - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 14, 2017
Looking into Dynamics CRM is advisable. CRM as part of Dynamics NAV is limited, can be fine for B2B companies having little CRM requirements. For B2C Dynamics NAV CRM will often be to limited. Integration with social media is not available in CRM of Dynamics NAV. In CRM standard NAV you will find: segmentation, campagnes, tasks, interactions / contact moments, opportunities. But limited functionallity to create workflows within your sales proces (like follow up).
Mar 14, 2017
Hi,  there are certainly limitations with NAV CRM in comparison to Dynamics CRM. To understand whether your specific business requirements needs the additional features or not would require more information. In essence Dynamics CRM is about relationship management and has superb functionality for sales, marketing and customer service. NAV CRM is more an internal focussed operational tool. From the information below, I would be more concerned that you are bespoking your system to the extent indicated. This is not a recommended solution.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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 needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
Implementing localizations when we use the system for multiple countries can be quite complex. There isn't a single solution available for all countries, and managing these localizations can be cha...
What do you like most about Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
The most valuable features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM are all the filters and possible reports.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
Microsoft Dynamics CRM needs to improve its integrations.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Dynamics CRM?
We use the solution for sales productivity and marketing.
 

Also Known As

Dynamics NAV, MS Dynamics NAV
Dynamics CRM, MS Dynamics CRM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Harris Farm Markets, Mister Spex GmbH, Bounce Foods, Eurofin Services SA, Medica Medizintechnik, Associated Gaskets, Onduline, Sitka Surfboard Corporation, World Animal Protection
Metro Bank, Nissan, Pandora, Delta, Haynes International, City of London, Trek and many more market leaders.
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