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I think that will be true in some cases, but not all. Maybe it's just the types of customers that I deal with, but the vast majority of them don't need these combination C/AL and .NET solutions for 99%+ of their issues. You'll see the occasional web front, or the occasional integration with another piece of software. A lot of it depends on how much the customer wants to invest in a solution that works now, and how much they want to invest in a solution for the future.

I also think it's interesting to look at the contradictions between how NAV services, or any service industry really, work generally and the profitability goals of most businesses. That being make the most money for the least amount of effort / investment (i.e. add-ons). Whereas NAV prides itself on being customizable specifically for the customer, which is a direct return on work performed. Of course people only want to do work once, then sell it over and over again.

At the end of the day, the details are changing, the big picture isn't. We provide solutions for customers, based on the available technology, what we know about their business, and the budget they have available. Whether that's C/AL code, .NET, add-ins, add-ons, project management services, whatever, I don't see that changing. If you're a customer, you generally don't care what the solution is written in (assuming development), you just want it done correctly for the least amount of investment. All of the work in between conception and delivery isn't changing that much. In my opinion anyway.

Of course, this "high-level" view doesn't change, and yes, .NET is not needed in NAV to be able to develop what customer wants. But partner with knowledge of .NET could have "bonuses" for the customer when customer is choosing partner (like nice eyes catching addins, web portals etc.). And this is what sells the product, not the basic functionality and customizations. It is the way, in which partner could be "different" than rest of partners.

I couldn't agree more with that statement.

The word you are looking for is "fluff"

Sadly though you are right, too many customers chose the eye candy instead of what is best for their business.

Sure, but I'll keep driving home the point. How is this different than today? Bonuses may sell the product, but they don't keep customers. How many companies are certified for add-ons they haven't sold or used in years? Or know the buzzwords that customers want to hear? I mean, it's like saying your company has combined 100 years experience implementing NAV when two people have 15 years each and the other 30 have 2 years each. A company will market itself the best way it can that will allow it to make the most money.

I would say now it's more eye candy instead of ear candy. NAV was pretty simple before in terms of look and feel. There wasn't much to brag about. Partners relied on their experience, certifications, and add-ons to distinguish themselves. Now every partner will be demoing the RTC, no difference there. They can pull out the demo add-ins from Microsoft, same as everyone else.

Maybe it's because I have only been doing this for six years, because I do 90% development, or because I'm still pretty fresh out of college (same time, six years). I know most of the senior people here are well over ten with NAV and have experience in other industries as well. I just don't see all of this as that big of a deal. Going back to the title, where I do see the future of NAV developers? With opportunities to do more, learn more, and work with new and exciting technologies. I'm excited for all of the things that have happened and are coming down the pipe, but I see a lot of people stuck in their ways of "It ain't broke so don't fix it."

Yeah, that's maybe true. But the question is if they don't need it because it was just not available. I mean, I don't know what future solutions could look like. Maybe while possibilities will grow, desire for something completely different, integrative or more user-friendly will also grow. And you also have to keep in mind that most of the customers don't even know what their problem is. So, most of them will follow your advise which for sure is related to the NAV world and considers all its limitations.

If you agree to that statement then I see some slight contradiction to that statement:

I mean both of them are true from a certain point of view. But I think the problem is, many customers are blinded by some nice visual features and don't care about the real issues why they are searching for another solution in that point in time. Once they decide for one solution (which means in NAV world they decide for one partner) they are or become angry about the costs. Not so much about the cost of the solution itself, that's even in some cases a fixed price, but about all the small things and consultancy around the solution. They simply don't understand in which case they're going off-topic of the solution. I'm sure that's also up to bad explanation and unclear statements of the solution provider, but that's another topic.

In the future that will change. You'll be able to buy 30 small, visual impressive eye-catcher solutions from 30 different "solution" providers. I mean for a real solution provider, it'll be like Matt said, all of the work in between conception and delivery won't change that much. But maybe there'll be also many providers of those small eye-catcher solution that just
In my opinion a company shouldn't decide for NAV because of its customizations, its visual look-and-feel or its out-of-the-box possibilities. For sure you have to consider those aspects in your decision as well. But the main reason should be the quality of the consultancy around the solution. If someone don't know about business processes then he can't help you in optimizing them. And that is in my opinion the main reason to search for another solution. Otherwise you could stay at your old one.

All of you know about the problems of the last few years in finding proper solution providers with good consultants. And I really can't think of what will happen if solution providers of the .NET world realize how to make money in the NAV world. It'll become even more complicated to find a proper partner.

a/ you misquoted me, b/ there is no contradiction.

I don't think all the uncertainty is related to no one wants to change the good old stuff. I'm totally with you, I'm excited and the developer in me is looking foreward to all the opportunities. But in terms of making decisions for a company I have some doubts about the future. But I'm glad I'm at least able to discuss it with all those educated people around here.

I'm not sure, maybe I missunderstood you. Could you please explain?

That's why you choose a partner, not why you choose a solution. If the SAP partner was better at implementing, but SAP cost $1 million and NAV costs $100,000 (not an understatement), you'd have to determine if it was 10x better or not. They should make their decision based on all appropriate factors. There are around 200 NAV partners in the US last I checked. Just because you talk to a bad one during the sales cycle doesn't mean you can't like the product but go with another solution center.

Of course, your given budget is another knock-out criterion.

I'm not talking about a product, I'm talking about a solution. That's a difference. And for sure your decision for a partner should be based on the same reasons. Software/Tools/Products are exchangeable. Sometimes it's not easy, but they are. That's what I said, if you have an appropriate partner moving to NAV 7 and all its possibilities won't be a problem. If you do not have or you are searching for AddOn solution that your partner could not provide then you have to look for another appropriate partner (for that part). And that will become more and more difficult in future, I'm afraid.
Maybe my post is a little bit mistakable. I guess it's more clear if I had said:

The problem is Einstein that you started a thread about the future of NAV developers, but that is not the question you are asking, and not the topic you are discussing. You are discussing development teams.

Big difference.

Yeah, I know we moved a little bit to another topic.

There is nothing wrong with the subject moving through a thread. But I was referring to your original post.



I see the question you ask as a general one of how partners need to evolve and how they need to address the new requirements.

But in terms of "The future of NAV developers" (the topic), I can't see that the future has ever looked as good.

I don't see that NAV developers need to move in the .NET direction, I see that NAV developers need to head more into the business analysis direction. One good business analyst will feed 3-5 developers, whether they be .NET or T-SQL or C/AL programmers. So the smart person that has 5 years NAV programming, now has a huge opportunity to leverage those skills and move up the chain.