Microsoft Dynamics GP vs NAV vs AX

Microsoft has three flavours of its Dynamics Accounting Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software:  GP – Great Plains, NAV – Navision and AX – Axapta.  A question that comes up regularly is which version of Dynamics to implement.   It’s a difficult question to answer in general, but here are some differences:

• AX is the premier product, meant to compete with the international ERP systems, like SAP and Peoplesoft.  It is significantly more extensive and expensive than the other two.
• GP and NAV compete head to head and were compared in this post.  They are aimed at medium sized companies, from large, owner managed organizations up to national public corporations.
• Microsoft compares the ERP systems here

My personal experience with Dynamics GP and NAV is that they can handle the financial complexities of international corporations very well.  For example, I implemented GP in the head office of a mining operation and it proved capable of handling multiple currencies and different international accounting principles (“GAAP”) with ease.  Where these packages begin to show the strain is in the complexities of inventory, distribution and manufacturing.   Still, there are many add-on products to handle specialized issues in specific industries, so if GP or NAV can be made to work with your situation, they are significantly less expensive than AX or SAP.

But features are only one part of the purchase equation.  Another important consideration is whether the software package continues to be popular.  The last thing you want to do is go to all of the trouble to implement an ERP package only to find out that it is no longer supported or, worse yet, has gone out of business.

I asked Google how the three packages are trending.

As you can see, all three continue to trend well, with GP on a slightly downward slope, NAV holding its own and AX climbing.

There you have it.  Google has spoken!