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Ellucian vs Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Ellucian
Ranking in ERP
28th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Student Information System (SIS) (1st)
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Busi...
Ranking in ERP
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Activity Based Costing Software (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the ERP category, the mindshare of Ellucian is 1.2%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is 2.8%, down from 5.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central2.8%
Ellucian1.2%
Other96.0%
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1308615 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Dean at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Presents all information in one place and automates some of our manual processes
This product is used by more than 50 colleges in our state and it is purchased by the government. The system office does the testing and pushes out the patches to us, so everything has been testing. Even if there is any customization that needs to be done, it happens before it comes to us. As such, I haven't had to contact technical support myself.
Jacinta Chanda - PeerSpot reviewer
Examinations Manager at Northrise University
Integrated academic workflows have transformed how our institution manages courses and results
For Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, every time we need to make an adjustment, we must make a payment, which is slightly expensive for us as an organization. There are certain modifications we'd like to make, and those come with a cost. The licensing is also very expensive, so if the prices could be revisited, especially for educational institutions, that would be really helpful. Otherwise, it has proven to be a very good tool for us as an organization. I chose a rating of nine for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central because it has been very useful for us as an organization, but there are still a few improvements that need to be made. Sometimes we experience glitches when generating certain reports, and every time we need to make a modification, we have to pay for that. Thus, I will not give it a ten because there are a few areas needing improvement.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I like that all of the student information is in one place."
"Decent support, large installed base, adequate plus training."
"Using Ellucian means that we have more automated processes, and don't have to do everything manually."
"The tool covers most of the business requirements that most companies have, especially financial institutions."
"We are very dependent on this solution, we manage almost all of our business processes, and it has helped us a lot."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is its ease of use, data customization, and smooth integration."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The customer support is good. The first level of support agent in every case was able to solve the problem very quickly."
"The value for money is very high as it fits the business well."
"Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is extremely stable as it does not rely on our in-house servers."
"It is a scalable solution. There are more than 5,000 end users in my organization."
 

Cons

"The functionality for monitoring satisfactory academic progress has room for improvement."
"It is expensive and uses an antiquated database (Unidata) that requires a specialized set of technical skills in staff."
"In sales and marketing, we want improvement in workflow with more automation in the sales and marketing process."
"There is a lot of improvement needed in the top model, such as better integration with logistics, quality management, and data modeling for all revenue types."
"It could be more stable."
"Some of the control aspects such as auditing can definitely be improved. For example, auditing is not very easy, and the user permissions are complicated."
"I would like a more modular and user-friendly interface."
"The solution could include the retail tool in the native version. Currently, it is sold as a separate product."
"There is room for improvement in terms of compatibility."
"The system can become overwhelmed because you cannot control the number of integrations, and our team struggled to manage the numerous integrations we had."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The price of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is reasonable. We pay monthly for the use of the solution."
"The price of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central could improve. It is costly. We are paying for the solution on a monthly basis."
"The solution's license is costly compared to other CRM tools."
"I have some subscription-based customer and a few customers who have perpetual licenses that hosted the application on the cloud."
"You have to pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution."
"The solution's cost is reasonable."
"The cost is one of the benefits. If you don't want to go for the full-blown finance and operations, the pricing model is a lot cheaper and has now switched to being based on a per-user subscription. So, if it's on cloud, you now have an expense instead of a large CapEx. If it's on-prem, you obviously still have to continue with the licensing model that they have, but if you compare the features and functionality, in terms of the price that you pay, I find it's better than other products. My answer on the pricing would be slightly different, depending on the country you're in and the return on investment, based on the size of the company. It's well-priced internationally. I think the new model is priced even better because it's now subscription-based and, if you go for cloud, the return on investment is a lot quicker and if it's expense, you can cap it. If you do take the on-prem version, the licensing is still priced as what it used to be, so that would depend on what country you are in."
"We have a perpetual license to use Microsoft Dynamics NAV."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
30%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Construction Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise19
 

Questions from the Community

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Is it advisable to purchase Dynamics CRM in addition to NAV 2016?
Short answer: depends on your sales needs. NAV 2016’s built-in CRM is very basic. It’s fine for simple contact management and basic sales tracking, but it lacks: Proper pipeline management Adva...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
Microsoft Dynamics NAV pricing can vary significantly depending on the number of users, deployment model, customizations, and implementation scope. In my experience, the software license is only pa...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
For Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, every time we need to make an adjustment, we must make a payment, which is slightly expensive for us as an organization. There are certain modifications...
 

Also Known As

Datatel
Dynamics NAV, MS Dynamics NAV
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Oklahoma Christian University
Harris Farm Markets, Mister Spex GmbH, Bounce Foods, Eurofin Services SA, Medica Medizintechnik, Associated Gaskets, Onduline, Sitka Surfboard Corporation, World Animal Protection
Find out what your peers are saying about Ellucian vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.