Suggested Upgrade Path

Just wait and upgrade to 5.0 directly. 5.0 Seems to be the "future" that everyone is expecting.

Jonathan2708 wrote:

Hi,

A customer is currently using Navision 3.70 with native database. They are keen to both upgrade their version of Navision and migrate to the SQL platform (they are purchasing SQL 2005).

I'm looking for suggestions for the best upgrade path since 5.0 is due very soon and 5.1 later in the year. They would rather not go through 2 user interface changes in one year (4.0 and 5.1), but I think I'm right in saying version 3.7 will not run against SQL 2005.

Any suggestions appreciated,

Jonathan

basically Jonathan, you can count 3.70, 4.00 sp2, 4.00 sp3, 5.0 and 5.1 as all viable versions. Multiply the combinations, and then allow for the vast reach of opinions, and there are a mountain of options.

The thing is that there is no one solution for everyone. Every customer is different and each will need to decide separately. Just from the replies here so far, you can see that there are many different opinions on what is best.

The key in the end will come down to sitting with each client, and seeing what is acceptable to them. You have stated that the key issue here is to minimize the number of times the User experience changes (well that's me sort of Microsofting your remarks).

Although you could hack SQL so that 3.70 will run on 2005, I would not recommend it. If you had Kamil (who seems to know the most about all this) sitting at the client site then thats what I would do, but I don't think you want to risk that something falls apart and the client is down for even an hour. As has been commented, the user experience really does not change "that much" if you went from 3.70 native to 4.00 sp3 SQL, in reality the users will notice. especially when they lose their ZUP data.

Fr that particular client, if their system is fine and they don't need anything new out of Navision, then its probably best to wait on 3.70 until a solid version of 5.0 comes out. I would not be thinking about 5.1 right now, since a client that does not want big changes probably does not need three tier.

On the other hand if they have real reasons that justify moving to SQL, e.g. the database is getting big, or they have performance issues that need a bigger server etc. Then Get them on 4.00sp3 and stay there for some time. Its a good solid version, and quite stable.

Anyway just keep in mind, every user is different, that was probably a reason they bought Navision, because it allows companies to be different.

Ps I hope this helps, rather than just adding confusion.