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Use trial and sandbox demo environments

Beyond Microsoft 365 demo accounts, you have other options for demonstration environments: prospect trials and sandbox environments. This article covers both approaches.

Add a Business Central trial to your prospect's organization

Add a Business Central trial directly to a prospect's organization so they can evaluate the product in their own environment.

Sign up for a trial

Any organization in the supported markets can sign up for a free trial from the https://dynamics.microsoft.com/business-central/ page. Learn how to sign up at Sign up for a free Dynamics 365 Business Central trial.

Note

To explore the full capabilities in Business Central, change the user experience to Premium in the Company Information page. Learn more at Change Which Features are Displayed in the business functionality content.

Use this type of environment to show the general user interface or how apps from Marketplace add capabilities.

Important: license assignment for trial conversion

Important

Specifically for businesses who want to convert a 30-day trial company into their actual production company, the first user who signs into Business Central after the license was applied to their tenant must be a user with this license assigned. This way, the 30-day trial ends, and any trial-related notifications disappear so that users can use Business Central to do work.

If an administrator is the first person to sign in after the license was applied to the tenant and to users, then the trial will continue until it expires.

Trial duration and extension

If a prospect signs up for a free trial and uses Business Central to help run their business, they need to decide whether to subscribe within the first 60 days. If they extend their trial once and still aren't sure, they need to contact a partner.

Note

Use your own Microsoft 365 demo account to show prospects more tailored experiences. Learn more in Set up Microsoft 365 demo environments.

Note

If a Business Central viral trial is left unused for 45 days, Microsoft considers the trial as expired, and the Business Central is deleted.

If the trial is converted to a paid subscription before the trial expires, the countdown to 45 days of non-usage does not apply.

Demo in sandbox environments

Set up tailored demo environments in a sandbox environment if you already have a Business Central tenant. This approach is ideal when you want to show different implementations or isolated scenarios.

When to use sandbox demos

Use sandbox environments for demos when you:

  • Already have a Business Central tenant
  • Want to show two different implementations of a capability
  • Need to illustrate an integration point
  • Want to isolate demo changes from your production environment

Note

Sandboxes are limited in functionality, including performance. Learn more in Sandbox environments.

Partner sandboxes for demos

Starting in February 2022, partners can request dedicated licenses to set up more sandbox environments. Learn more in Partner sandboxes.

Demo environment options overview
Set up Microsoft 365 demo environments
Add enhancements: Contoso Coffee, Sales, and more
Preparing Test Environments of Dynamics 365 Business Central
Business Central admin center
Managing environments

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