“All About Dynamics NAV” Resources List

Dear NAV enthusiast,

The list you are about to see is by no means final. Think of it as a starting point that you can add on. Enough from us, here’s the list…

• MS DYNAMICS NAV FORUM

A great place to ask a question. You can also find information in discussions that are already existing. You can choose Categories (cash management, sales, purchasing, warehousing, etc.) and Versions (NAV 2013/2009/7.0/5.1 etc.).

https://community.dynamics.com/nav/f/34.aspx      

• MS DYNAMICS NAV TEAM (blog)

The topics seem advanced so we do not think a beginner would find them easy to grasp but who knows, you may like it.

https://community.dynamics.com/nav/b/navteam/default.aspx                        

• Connector (Integrating MS Dynamics NAV with Dynamics CRM) (blog)

Connector for Microsoft Dynamics is an integration solution which is targeted specifically at the Microsoft Dynamics product family. Connector provides an out of the box integration between Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

https://community.dynamics.com/nav/b/dynamicsnavconnector/default.aspx

• MS DYNAMICS WORLD

Ok, this one is not dedicated solely to Dynamics NAV but you can search by product (NAV, CRM, AX, etc.) and you can view articles, white papers and case studies.

http://msdynamicsworld.com/                                             

• ERP Software Blog – NAV

This one is suitable for people who want to get to know what Dynamics NAV offers. It explores different topics and provides a solid view on what you can get from MS Dynamics NAV.

https://community.dynamics.com/nav/b/erpsoftwareblog/default.aspx             

• NAVUG Events & News (blog)

Dynamics NAV User Group (NAVUG) is an independent association of companies who use Microsoft Dynamics NAV. NAVUG is driven by users for users. NAVUG offers various membership levels, each level grants you different benefits.

https://community.dynamics.com/nav/b/navug/default.aspx          

• Waldo’s Blog MS Dynamics NAV

This guy offers some nice tips and tricks for more advanced users but the informality of the language makes the texts suitable for beginners, too. He’s also a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) so you can’t go wrong with following him.

http://www.waldo.be/       

• ArcherPoint Blog

This is a sort of step-by-step guide on different NAV-related topics. We had a look on a few articles and it looks appropriate for users of all levels.

https://community.dynamics.com/nav/b/archerpointblog/default.aspx     

• Dynamics NAV Financials (blog)

Account schedules, financial reporting, dimensions, budgets and all the rest of the fun, fun world of Microsoft Dynamics NAV from a Controller who uses the software every day.

https://community.dynamics.com/nav/b/dynamicsnavfinancials/default.aspx

• MS Dynamics NAV Videos

Most of the videos are available in English but you have a choice between other languages, as well. Most of the English-language videos are “How do I…” so it should be suitable for beginners.

https://community.dynamics.com/nav/b/navvideos/default.aspx?pi50342=1     

• Dynamics NAV Training

This one requires a FREE registration. It is a Clients First Business Solutions (CFBS) project that offers free Microsoft Dynamics NAV training online, making their video training library available to all. This library includes training videos, generally 30-60 minutes long. What you get is 2 new NAV training videos per month plus access to archive of dozens of 720p training videos.

http://www.dynamics-nav-training.com/               

• MS Developer Network

A bit of technical language but we found great resources on the new NAV version, R2. It won’t hurt if you check it out.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa496089.aspx                                                                                              

• ABC Computers video demonstration

ABC organized a webinar with a topic “Turning Your Business Vision Into a Reality with Microsoft Dynamics NAV”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw3_gfrVLo4                

 

• MS Dynamics Youtube channel

You can find loads of video demos on Dynamics NAV (2009, 2013, 2013 R2).

https://www.youtube.com/user/msdyncomm/search?query=nav

• Confessions of a Dynamics NAV Consultant – Alex Chow

Alex Chow is the founder of AP Commerce – a Dynamics NAV solution provider, based in LA, California, USA. He’s been awarded Microsoft Most Valued Professional six times in a row so we think he has some interesting things to share with us.

http://www.dynamicsnavconsultant.com/         

• Navisionary – Dynamics NAV

A Dynamics NAV enthusiast with in depth experience in solving business issues by customizing and supporting Dynamics NAV implementations.

http://navisionary.com/       

• Navision Girl

Well, a great-looking blog full of step-by-step instructions, accompanied with photos. The blogger calls it her learning journal.

http://www.navision-girl.com/                                

• Let’s Talk NAV blog

Brought to you by the NAV product team at InterDyn BMI. Through this blog the creators hope to start a dialog about Microsoft Dynamics® NAV and discuss tips, tricks and trends.

http://letstalknav.com/                                     

• NAV – The Fun Starts Here

You just can’t walk by heartlessly when you see “NAV” and “fun” right next to each other. Mr. Snehanshu Mandal is basically a technologist having more than 13+ years of experience in experimenting and building commercially viable usage of different technology solutions. This blog is more of a NAV developer’s haven.

http://www.navisioncanbefun.com/             

• Dynamics 101

This one is full with news, tips & tricks, and more. It’s not limiting itself to Dynamics NAV, though, as it includes the entire Dynamics solutions family. One of the best we’ve seen during our research.

http://www.dynamics101.com/microsoft-dynamics-nav/                      

Thank you for taking the time to look at this list! We hope you enjoyed it and that it will be useful on your NAV exploration 🙂 

When our developers don’t type, they talk…

We had a nice chat with one of our senior developers about the past and present DIY projects of NavTech Group. As a side note, you need to know that we are not only selling MS Dynamics products but we are also developing our own add-ons that meet the particular needs of our customers.

MS Dynamics is a standard solution, based on a platform that allows customization and the development of add-ons. We can tinker with the original product so that it responds to the needs of our particular customer. It allows our developers to expand the functionality of the already existing MS Dynamics products.

Our developers design add-ons that facilitate the integration with other environments, for example. They develop web applications that allow our customers to access their systems via different web-browsers. They also develop different mobile solutions that provide our customers with access to their system through their mobile devices (very handy for sales reps, for example).

For instance, they developed an application for a Swedish customer of ours that facilitated the receiving of payments by just using mobiles.

Another project they worked on was a so-called Partners’ Portal. One of our clients has developed a strong network of distributors that sell and implement our client’s products. The application we developed allows those distributors to connect to the system of our client. This way, for example, they can indicate how much products they managed to sell, order more products to distribute, and so on. It also allows field engineers (the ones who come to your house to install the software) to check-in how long it took them to perform a given task – basically, they create a timesheet, which can be easily accessed by their managers who, in return, can follow performance levels.

This year we were approved for an EU grant to develop a product that we believe would enhance the profitability and efficiency of every business, regardless of industry. Our senior developer gave us more information about that project. The product represents a “strategic planning” solution. Or, rather, strategic planning tool, as our developer says we would only provide our customers with the tool they need to execute their own strategic planning.

Here’s a summary of what he told us:

Managing an enterprise nowadays is still based on the old Venetian accounting system of double-entry. And, even though Luca Pacioli – the father of book keeping – is responsible for one of the greatest advances in the history of business and commerce, the double-entry system is only useful as far as material assets go. For example, a material asset would be the chairs you produce in your furniture studio. Despite the fact that double-entry accounting is still the main tool of modern business, it is a reactionary tool. It can only work with data that happened in the past. If you sold 5 chairs, you type in “5 chairs sold”, at what price and what profit. In other words, it works with things that already happened. As we know, a successful business is based on more than solely reacting to what happened.

Assets are no longer exclusively material. You have to deal with human resources and, for instance, how each one of your employees is doing in their respected field. Your company has development goals – where you want to be in 5 years’ time, how much you want to sell in the next quarter, how much investment your company needs in the next 12 months, and so forth. Strategic planning is the tool that allows businesses to make informed decisions that would give them the opportunity to better position themselves on the market.

Imagine you want to go to Japan. You need to choose a route, decide on a budget, choose mode of transport, find tickets, etc. By managing all these tasks you perform strategic planning. Once you start your journey, you follow your map to see that everything goes as planned. Taking photos of places you visited, writing in your blog, describing what you saw and so on is more of a reactionary activity, since you describe what has already happened.

Strategic planning is useful for those businesses that want to see how they would position themselves in the market in the future. This allows them to set up clear goals and find the best possible solution to going about and realizing them. Strategic planning is the tool that helps you apply a scientific approach to managing your business rather than a hope-for-the-best, gambling approach.

We are going to follow closely how the project is going and keep you updated! Thank you for reading!

All the best,

NavTech Group