A quick look back
In 2016, Microsoft unified several business applications under the Dynamics 365 brand and renamed key products. As part of that shift, Microsoft Dynamics AX was rebranded as Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, and Microsoft Dynamics NAV became Dynamics 365 Business Central.
What’s changed
More recently, Microsoft introduced another major change to how dynamics 365 finance and operations is packaged. The goal is to make it easier for organisations to buy the capabilities they need, without paying for unnecessary functionality. The split aligns with the modular direction of the dynamics 365 platform, letting organisations buy finance and supply chain capabilities independently. This gives businesses more flexibility to adopt finance and supply chain capabilities on their own timelines.
A closer look at what each app covers
- Dynamics 365 Finance focuses on automating and modernising core finance operations while helping reduce cost, complexity, and financial risk across global entities. It also includes AI-driven insights to support forecasting, cash-flow visibility, and anomaly detection in finance processes. If you’d like, we can walk you through what’s included in the Finance app and how it maps to your finance operating model here: Dynamics 365 Finance.
- Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management focuses on improving manufacturing and end-to-end supply chain execution. With AI- and IoT-enabled insights, it helps teams improve throughput, quality, and decision-making across planning and execution. It typically covers planning, production, inventory, warehouse management, and transportation capabilities. If you’d like, we can clarify which supply chain capabilities you need now versus later—and what that means for licensing and rollout sequencing here: Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management.
Licensing note
This change also affects licensing. The two applications are licensed and priced separately.
If you’re unsure how the split affects your current licensing, costs, or implementation roadmap, contact us and we’ll help you assess your options.
