What did Microsoft announce on 25 August?
At the end of August, Microsoft ended the release wave model for Dynamics 365, Power Platform and Dataverse. Since September 2026, no new release plans are published. New features are instead published continuously on the so-called AI at Work roadmap. The existing release plans remain available for reference, and the Release Planner will be switched off on 15 November 2026. That is what the Dynamics 365 blog of 25 August and the release plan pages on Microsoft Learn say.
At first glance this is a change in communication. For many Business Central customers it is more than that, for a reason that appears in no announcement.
What stays the same: do the updates keep coming as before?
Yes. Business Central still receives two major updates a year, in April and in October, usually on the first working day of the month. In every other month there is a smaller update with improvements and regulatory changes. After a major update, administrators have five months to choose the date for their environment, followed by a one-month grace period. Microsoft Learn describes this cadence unchanged. Update 29.0 has been in public preview since September and arrives in October.
So the technology does not change. Anyone who still speaks of two release waves a year means these two major updates, and they stay. What changes is how you learn what is coming: no longer bundled in one plan per half-year, but spread across an overview that is updated continuously.
What goes away, and why is it more than a formality?
In many companies, the release wave was the hidden steering rhythm. Twice a year someone read the plan, the partner presented the new features, and a decision was made about what to introduce. Nobody ever decided on this rhythm. It was simply there because Microsoft set it.
This pacemaker is now gone. And it meets a property of the updates that is often overlooked: part of the new functionality is switched on for users automatically. Microsoft marks these features in the plans as “Users, automatically” and explicitly recommends that administrators review them. Without a fixed date, nobody reviews them in one go any more. New features then sit in the system without anyone having introduced them deliberately, explained them or aligned them with the processes.
Microsoft maintains the version. Nobody but you maintains the state of your business in the system.
Who now decides which feature gets switched on?
The honest answer in many companies: it is not defined. The partner provides information, IT applies the updates, the business departments notice the change in daily work. But who decides whether a new feature fits the process, whether it needs training or whether it makes a custom extension unnecessary is often written down nowhere.
Exactly this role is needed now, on the customer side. An owner who invests one hour a month and answers three questions: what has become new or automatically active since last time? Which processes does it touch? Which of it do we switch on deliberately, train, or leave out? The result is a short list of decisions, not a presentation. Anyone working with their own extensions checks at the same time whether the customisations keep up with the cloud updates .
Why is being on the latest version not the same as an evergreen ERP?
Business Central in the cloud is always technically up to date. That is evergreen IT, and Microsoft takes care of it. An evergreen ERP means something else: that the system grows with the business, that processes, data foundation and ownership keep pace. The end of the release waves has made the difference between evergreen IT and evergreen ERP even clearer. The version now arrives even more quietly and in smaller steps. Whether your business stays current in the system is decided somewhere else.
What should be settled by 15 November?
Three things can be clarified in a few weeks. First: who is your owner for changes in the system, by name and with time for it? Second: which features from the October update become active automatically, and which of them touch your core processes? Third: where will your team look up what is coming, and who summarises it every month? While the Release Planner is still running, it is worth recording the status for the current half-year once in full.
How we support companies with this
We have worked with Microsoft ERP for more than 25 years, today with Business Central as our home. In our projects, the question of who steers changes in the system is not a side issue but part of the governance we set up with our clients. The rhythm sits on your side; we help build it lean enough that it actually happens in daily work. If you would like to know what that could look like for you, we are happy to talk, without a presentation and without an offer as the first step.
Frequently asked questions
Does Business Central still get updates?
Yes. Two major updates in April and October, smaller ones in the other months. The announcement has changed, not the delivery.
Where will I see what is coming?
On Microsoft's AI at Work roadmap and in the article for each version on Microsoft Learn. The old release plans remain for reference, the Release Planner ends on 15 November 2026.
Do we need a new role for this?
Not a new position, but clear responsibility. One person on your side who reviews, decides and documents every month is enough in most companies.
