NAVISION to Business Central: Bridge to Cloud 3

NAVISION Migration Guide

If your business is still running NAVISION or Dynamics NAV, you are not alone.

We still speak to companies that rely on NAV every day because it is familiar, stable, and deeply embedded in the business. But stable does not mean future-ready. For many businesses, NAVISION is now old infrastructure with rising support risk, awkward integrations, and too much reliance on workarounds.

That is why Microsoft has launched Bridge to Cloud 3.

This promotion is aimed at eligible customers moving from older Dynamics on-premises systems to Dynamics 365 online products, including Business Central Essentials, Business Central Premium, Team Member, and Device licences.

The sign-up window is 1 January 2026 until 31 December 2027.

What is Bridge to Cloud 3?

Bridge to Cloud 3 (BTC3) is a Microsoft migration promotion that gives eligible customers a 30% discount on qualifying online subscriptions for a fixed 3-year term.

The subscription is non-cancellable, and once the promotional period ends, pricing returns to normal list pricing unless the subscription is cancelled.

For NAVISION users, the main target is usually Dynamics 365 Business Central online. Microsoft is aiming to make the cloud move less painful financially, while still keeping customers on a proper migration path rather than letting them sit on legacy forever.

Why NAVISION users should care

Most NAVISION customers are not avoiding migration because they are clueless. They are avoiding it because they know it is disruptive.

A NAV to Business Central move can involve:

• customisations that have grown like weeds

reports nobody wants to touch

• old integrations held together by luck

• manual finance processes

• warehouse or operations processes tied to legacy screens

• uncertainty around licensing and cost

Bridge to Cloud 3 helps because it supports a more realistic transition. Customers who enrol can request continued Enhancement Plan benefits during the promo term at no extra charge, which means they can keep using, expanding, and upgrading their existing on-premises system while migrating. That is one of the genuinely useful parts of the offer. Real migrations are messy; this at least admits it.

The main benefits of Bridge to Cloud 3

1. 30% discount for 3 years

Eligible customers get a 30% discount on the online subscription for a 3-year term. That can improve the commercial case for moving now rather than kicking the can down the road again.

2. Continued use of the old on-prem system during migration

Customers can request EP renewal at no extra cost during the promotional term. This gives them continued dual access rights to use and upgrade their existing on-premises system while moving into Business Central online.

3. Possible £0 user support for some migrations

For customers moving from older concurrent user licensing to named-user Business Central online licensing, Microsoft may provide extra $0 users for up to two years, subject to eligibility and threshold rules. That can be useful where the cloud licensing model initially looks more expensive than the old setup.

4. 50% discount on some extra on-prem users

If the legacy system needs additional user licences during the migration period, enrolled customers may be able to buy certain extra on-prem users at 50% off, subject to caps and conditions.

The catches most people miss

This is where the sales gloss usually wears off.

Your old on-prem licence must be old enough

The qualifying Dynamics on-prem perpetual licence must have been bought before 1 September 2024. If it was bought after that, the promotion does not apply.

You need enough cloud value

To qualify, the customer must buy eligible cloud licences with an annualised CSP value at least equal to the annual Enhancement Plan renewal amount of the existing on-prem licence. In plain English: you cannot buy a token cloud subscription and expect Microsoft to clap.

Lapsed EP can become expensive

Customers generally need an active EP to enrol. If EP has lapsed by more than 30 days, backpay may be required, up to 3 years in many cases, though some older versions such as NAV 2009 have a 1-year cap.

Monthly billing can distort the maths

If the customer uses monthly billing on an annual or triennial subscription, standard NCE rules may mean a 5% higher price. The FAQ says customers using monthly billing may need cloud subscriptions valued at 105% of EP cost to meet the minimum requirement. That is exactly the sort of fine print that ambushes poorly prepared projects.

You cannot combine this with other migration offers

Customers that already used Bridge to the Cloud 1, Bridge to the Cloud 2, or another migration promotion are not eligible for BTC3.

It is not a forever-discount

At the end of the promotional term, normal pricing applies. This is a migration runway, not a lifetime subsidy.

Should NAVISION users move now?

You should move because staying on NAVISION usually gets harder over time, not easier. The real cost of delay often shows up as:

• growing support risk
• more manual process work
• fragile reporting
• legacy customisations nobody wants to touch
• integration limitations
• a bigger, uglier migration later

Bridge to Cloud 3 does not make migration painless, but it does make it easier to justify commercially for eligible customers.

Next steps for NAVISION users

Here is the route we recommend.

1. Confirm your current position

Start by identifying:

• NAV version
• licence model
• current EP status
• EP renewal date
• number of users
• modules in use
• add-ons
• customisations
• integrations

If you do not know what you have, you cannot sensibly plan what comes next.

2. Check Bridge to Cloud 3 eligibility

Confirm whether:

• your on-prem licence was bought before 1 September 2024
• your EP is active or can be reinstated
• you have not used a previous migration offer
• your target product is available in your geography on 3-year NCE partner-led terms.

3. Calculate the real licensing requirement

You need to compare your annual EP renewal cost with the minimum required cloud subscription value. If monthly billing is being considered, factor in the 5% pricing wrinkle too.

4. Review migration complexity

Look closely at:

• bespoke developments

• old reports

• third-party add-ons

• data quality

• warehouse processes

• manufacturing or service requirements

• finance controls

• document layouts

• Excel dependencies

This is where a lot of “simple” NAV upgrades reveal themselves as absolute gremlins.

5. Choose the right migration approach

Most customers fit one of these:

• Straightforward migration for simpler estates

• Phased migration where old and new need to overlap

• Restructure first, migrate second where the current NAV setup is too messy to copy forward

6. Align timing with EP renewal

The FAQ is clear: customers should enrol on or before the EP renewal date to avoid paying for another year of EP unnecessarily. If they have already renewed, they can still participate, but they get no refund for the unused portion.

7. Build a proper migration plan

That plan should include:

• discovery

• licensing review

• solution design

• data migration

• integration decisions

• testing

• training

• cutover

• post-go-live support

A migration without a plan is not bold. It will save headaches!

Final thought

If your business is still on NAVISION, Bridge to Cloud 3 is worth serious attention.

It is not magic, but for eligible customers, it offers a more workable route into Business Central online, especially where a phased migration is needed and the cost of moving has been one of the main blockers.

The smart move is to check eligibility, understand the licensing properly, and build a migration plan based on your actual system, not wishful thinking.

FAQs: Bridge to Cloud 3 for NAVISION Users

Next Step

Get in touch to check eligibility, and get 25% discount on migration services.