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Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 Improvements and Innovations: Optimism and Some Pessimism

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If you are existing Microsoft Dynamics GP customer, who is on version 10.0 or 9.0 and you are planning to upgrade to Dynamics GP 2010 (also referred as version 11.0), we would like to share with your some opinions and feelings about this new version, which we have collected from our field Dynamics GP consultants and also on Convergence 2010 in Atlanta.  We are really excited as Dynamics GP consultants that new version is finally available, but we would not like to be expressing just euphoria and be rather sticking to the principles of journalism and be neutral:

1. Integration with Sharepoint, RSS, Web Applications (here we have some doubts, as it might be resembling potential advertising plugin) Role Center, Workflow, Microsoft Word and other such cool features, where you have Microsoft Office stack of applications work in Collaboration with Dynamics – these are absolutely cool features, however as field consultants we have moderate interest from end customers, as they also like to use Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft CRM, MS Word as they were trained on Microsoft seminars.  Interest grows, but the process is not to say slow, but not as fast as we initially expected

2. Walking away from FRx Financial reporting.  Here we think that FRx is so popular and has very large number of installations in USA and internationally.  The success of this move in our opinion will depend on the FRx migration tool to SSRS or Excel reports for Dynamics GP.  Technically FRx is pretty primitive application as it deploys password protected Microsoft Access Database for its Catalog and this DB has just few tables for Catalog/Report, Row Format, Column Layout, Accounts Set and few others – and migration tool design should not be a rocket science, but again we have concerns over the volume of possible future migrations to new financial reporting tool for Dynamics GP

3. Gradual Improvements in Distribution set of modules.  It is definitely a great news that Microsoft Business Solutions decided to contribute and advance Dynamics GP Sales Order Processing business logic directly in Native GP Dynamics.Dic, adding such screens as Transfer Multiple Orders, Automatic Order Allocation, Bulk Print, Bulk Order Confirmation (however there are not really much offered on the Purchase Order Processing and with some additions to the Inventory Control module).  In any case we respect Microsoft Dynamics to be in evolution mode, this is OK as new version is a step forward (not ten steps)

4. Excel reports templates.  If you are long time Great Plains Dynamics customer, you probably don’t like Report Writer printing and exporting to Excel (this is known complain, as Great Plains Dexterity is too abstracted from Windows platform, being coded in C programming language).  We are favoring this move to Excel, as MS Excel seems to be familiar to virtually all the accounting department white collars.  It is not clear for us if RW reports, such as SOP Blank Invoice form modified with Customer logo will be in the future migrated to Excel or SSRS reports and what would be the cost in consulting hours

5. Questions from our customers (please, note that we are writing these lines in the end of July of 2010, if you are reading them in different historical time, please make your judgment accordingly).  Should we rush into version update to Dynamics GP 2010/11.0?  The answer is it depends, if you like the role of pilot new version adopter with such benefits as getting publicity and rewards for being pioneer – we can move you to Dynamics GP 2010.  For more conservative customers we recommend to wait the release of Dynamics GP 2010 Service Pack 1 or even 2.  For new purchases of Dynamics GP we recommend you to install 2010/11.0 for initial implementation, as you don’t have to face version upgrade challenge, where most of the bugs where found historically.  Is Great Plains Dexterity now retired and GP is completely rewritten in C# .Net – not really – Microsoft Dexterity is still the source code of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010, your Dexterity customization should be upgraded to be compatible with version 11/2010.  Is Dynamics GP 2010 compatible with Windows 7 64 bit user computer and MS SQL Server 2008 – the answer is Yes, Microsoft deemphasized 64 bit computer version dependency for its Dynamics ERP applications

6. Please, call us 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, or email us help@albaspectrum.com  We are serving customers USA and Canada nationwide, plus internationally, especially larger retail stores, wholesale trade and manufacturing mills.  Local service is available in Houston, TX, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, CA, Benton Harbor, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, MI, Chicago, IL