More predictable project planning
A structured assessment, documented assumptions, and defined milestones provide a stronger basis for scope, timeline, and customer commitments.
Business Central upgrade expertise for Microsoft Partners
Extend your delivery capability with a partner-focused upgrade team experienced in heavily customized Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Business Central environments. From fixed-price assessment and architecture redesign to data migration, deployment and stabilization, Xpand handles the technical complexity while you retain control of the customer relationship.
Enhanced technical upgrade in numbers
From complex NAV environments to future-ready Business Central - on time, on budget, and with zero working days lost.
15+
Upgrade expertise
30+
Delivered in two years
2
Weeks delivery warranty
6
Months fixed price
More than a version upgrade
Since 2010, Xpand has helped Microsoft partners upgrade complex NAV and Business Central environments to modern on-premises or cloud solutions. The service covers assessment, code and architecture modernization, data migration, integrations, testing, cutover, and stabilization. Legacy customizations are retained, replaced, redesigned, or removed to create a cleaner, maintainable solution with a clear scope, timeline, and fixed-price proposal.
Every opportunity begins with an assessment of the current solution, target version, customizations, database, integrations, applications and technical dependencies.
Xpand uses an in-house preliminary assessment tool that performs approximately 80% of routine analyses, allowing senior specialists to focus on architectural risks, non-standard configurations, and migration complexity.
The resulting fixed-price proposal remains valid for six months, giving the partner time to plan, position and sell the upgrade to the customer.
Xpand determines the most appropriate technical route based on the customer’s starting version, deployment model, data volume, customization structure and long-term plans.
This may include:
- Direct or multi-stage version upgrades
- On-premises Business Central modernization
- Migration to Business Central online
- C/AL-to-AL transformation
- Universal Code preparation
- Extension restructuring
- ISV and integration compatibility planning
Legacy code is not migrated blindly.
The team identifies obsolete functionality, duplicated logic, unsupported dependencies and monolithic application structures. Customizations are then refactored into maintainable modules and extensions aligned with the target Business Central architecture.
Xpand’s experience indicates that this approach can make later upgrade cycles up to 10-30% faster while reducing long-term maintenance effort.
Xpand plans, tests, and executes data migration for environments ranging from standard databases to large, highly customized operational systems.
Our experience includes:
- 1.8 TB migrated within a 48-hour deployment window
- Ten databases upgraded during one maintenance window
- Projects containing more than 3,650 custom objects
Migration planning covers rehearsal runs, validation, downtime requirements, dependencies, production execution, and post-migration verification.
The deployment plan is built around the customer’s operational requirements.
Where needed, upgrades can be executed during weekends or agreed maintenance windows to minimize interruption to finance, logistics, warehousing, order management and other critical processes.
The deployment approach includes clear responsibilities, validation steps, decision points and rollback considerations.
Xpand supports the partner during the post-go-live stabilization period and provides a two-week warranty on delivered upgrade work.
The same technical team can remain available for further optimization, development, performance improvement, data archiving or future version readiness.
What a safer Business Central upgrade delivers
The opportunity is larger than your available team
A customer needs to upgrade, but your senior developers are already committed to other projects. Recruiting a permanent specialist team would take too long and create unnecessary overhead.
The current solution is heavily customized
The environment contains years of C/AL development, custom tables, reports, interfaces, ISV products and undocumented dependencies. A standard conversion approach would carry too much uncertainty.
You need a credible estimate quickly
The customer expects a price and timeline, but internal analysis could consume weeks of senior technical effort without guaranteeing a commercially usable proposal.
The database is too large for a routine migration
Data volume, company structure and operational history make the deployment window difficult to predict. You need proven migration planning rather than assumptions.
The customer cannot tolerate significant downtime
Finance, warehouse, logistics or order-processing operations must continue with minimal disruption. Deployment requires rehearsals, controlled execution and clear validation.
You want to retain ownership of the account
You need additional upgrade expertise, but you do not want to introduce another partner that may compete for the customer relationship.
A simple code conversion would preserve too much technical debt
The customer needs a cleaner Business Central architecture, not the same legacy limitations reproduced on a newer version.
You need expertise beyond the upgrade itself
The assessment may reveal performance, data-volume, integration, licensing or cloud-readiness issues that your current project team cannot address alone.
How we work with Partners
Whether you need a team working fully behind your brand or specialists collaborating directly with your people, we adjust our involvement to your preferred delivery model.
Format
White-label delivery
Co-delivery
When it fits
You manage the client relationship and need Xpand to deliver the technical work under your brand.
You need to strengthen your team for part of the work.
How Xpand works
We work behind the scenes using your processes, templates, communication standards, and quality requirements.
Our specialists join your project routines, including stand-ups, planning sessions, reviews, and technical discussions.
What you receive
Seamless team presence, clear documentation, predictable delivery, and client-ready results presented under your brand.
Clearly defined responsibilities, aligned service expectations, shared project visibility, and direct collaboration between both teams.
Client visibility
Xpand remains invisible to the end client unless you decide otherwise.
Xpand can participate as a named technical delivery partner or remain in a supporting role.
Who we work with
Onboarding and process
A predictable, fixed-price journey with clear deliverables, partner-led acceptance, a rehearsed migration process, and continued support after the new system goes live.
Step 1
Your request
Share the upgrade opportunity and a few basic technical details, including the current version, number of objects, database size, and number of companies. This gives Xpand enough information to assess the project at an early stage, with no commitment required from you or your customer yet.
Step 2
Our proposal
Receive a fixed-price proposal valid for six months. The proposal defines the expected scope, upgrade approach, timeline, responsibilities, assumptions, and commercial conditions, giving you a clear basis for discussing the project with your customer.
Step 3
We deliver
Xpand completes the agreed technical upgrade and performs a trial data migration. You receive the upgraded solution, a reusable data migration toolkit, and an estimate of the time required for the final production migration. This gives your team the technical foundation needed to prepare testing and go-live.
Step 4
Your acceptance
You and your customer validate the upgraded solution against your own functional and technical acceptance criteria. Xpand supports the validation process and resolves upgrade-related issues covered by the agreed warranty, while you retain control over final customer acceptance.
Step 5
Customer GO-LIVE
Together, we agree on the production go-live date and confirm the final cutover plan. The migration is scheduled for a weekend, allowing the customer to finish the working week in the existing system and begin the next one in the upgraded Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central environment.
Step 6
Warranty and support
Warranty coverage continues after go-live while users begin working with the upgraded solution in daily operations. Xpand supports stabilization, investigates upgrade-related issues, and helps complete the transition into reliable day-to-day use.
Why partners choose Xpand
Add upgrade capacity without losing control of the customer
Predictable commercial planning
A structured pre-assessment reduces uncertainty before the partner commits to scope, timing, and commercial terms.
Specialist upgrade expertise
Access developers, technical leads, solution architects, data-migration specialists, DevOps, QA, and functional consultants through one delivery team.
Customer relationship protection
White-label delivery keeps the partner in control of customer communication, branding, and commercial ownership.
Flexible delivery capacity
Xpand can take responsibility for the complete technical stream or strengthen selected parts of the partner’s existing team.
Knowledge that remains available
Project information is retained at team level, reducing dependency on one developer and supporting future maintenance and upgrades.
Contact us in any way you prefer
Frequently asked questions
Find answers to common questions about our services and solutions
Still have questions? We're here to help!
How to offer NAV to Business Central upgrades without an in-house technical team?
Xpand delivers the entire upgrade end-to-end - from initial assessment to post-go-live support - as a white-label or co-delivery service. Your functional consultants stay focused on client relationships while Xpand handles all technical complexity.
How long does a NAV to Business Central upgrade take?
Xpand's average upgrade project duration is about 3.5 months, with a transparent timeline defined from day one. Over the past 2 years, Xpand has delivered 30+ upgrade projects - including environments with 3,650+ custom objects.
How to guarantee a fixed price on a NAV upgrade project for a client?
Xpand's automated pre-assessment tool covers 80% of routine analysis upfront, making the evaluation accurate enough to back a fixed-price guarantee valid for 6 months. No postponements, no scope creep, no surprises.
How to upgrade a heavily customized NAV environment without risking the client relationship?
Xpand re-architects legacy customizations into clean, modular Business Central components rather than migrating them as-is - preserving client business processes while eliminating technical debt. Weekend deployment ensures zero business disruption.
How to scale NAV to Business Central upgrade capacity without hiring more developers?
Xpand acts as a dedicated technical extension of your team - integrating into your existing workflows, communication standards, and project management tools
Can Xpand upgrade any Dynamics NAV version?
Yes. Older NAV versions can be modernized, but the route is not always direct. The required intermediate steps depend on the starting version, target platform, customizations, and localization.