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[G507]Great Plains Software Accounting

by Andrew Karasev, And

In our opinion, traditional approach when you select ERP/MRP system for large or mid-size company by functionality, database and hardware platform should be revised. We are convinced that new generation of Windows servers plus the reliability of relatively inexpensive database platform, such as Microsoft SQL Server, enable large corporation to decrease the cost of hardware, database and ERM software, plus have good internal support by hiring Microsoft certified professionals, available on the market in your area. In this small article we'll give you short review of what you should expect from Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, its implementation, customization, reporting, integration as well as web publishing and eCommerce or web ordering system for your existing customers.

• Hardware. PC Hardware and Windows server were considered as a solution for small and mid-size business, this opinion was wide spread in 1990th, when you needed to have scheduled rebooting of Windows server to deal with known issues, such as memory leaks, etc. Nowadays – Windows 2003 could be counted on.

• Database. Microsoft SQL Server 6.5, if you remember old good days required a lot of maintenance and support. When Microsoft introduced MS SQL Server 7.0 and later on 2000 – the problem of maintenance in our opinion was resolved and the database maintenance is now considered as part of data workflow side: application logic data fixes SQL queries, data feeding into SQL Server tables, data archiving and restoring.

• ERP System. In our opinion you should consider ERP as a platform for light or heavy customization to address your company unique business processes. The second approach would be purchasing the application, which would be very rich in its functionality: Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft, SAP. In this second case you “overpay” for the functionality you do not use and also pay for extended implementation and user training.

• Customization. You should consider balancing internal developers and external consultants. Internal development should be done by SQL programmers, web exposure – by VB.Net or C#.Net developers – you might need eConnect. Internal developers could also do light customization of Great Plains logic via Modifier with VBA. Consultants should help you with Great Plains business logic change, which requires Great Plains Dexterity programming and specification writing skills.

• Integration. In the past we saw a lot of Great Plains Integration Manager usage, today the trend is to deploy SQL scripts and stored procedures, including eConnect and its extensions (such as automatic transaction posting)

• User Training. In the case of large publicly traded company, you should probably dedicate internal Great Plains support person, who will be trained by consultant and then will provide training for end users. In this case you will avoid having consultant train the same common interface feature multiple time to different groups of users.

We encourage you to analyze your alternatives. You can always appeal to our help, give us a call: 1-866-528-0577 or 1-630-961-5918, help@albaspectrum.com

Microsoft Dynamics GP or Great Plains eConnect is a very convenient tool for integrating various data sources to Great Plains modules. The main components and interfaces include .NET managed code assembly, BizTalk Application Integration Component (AIC), Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) services. Together they enable applications to programmatically interact with Dynamics GP.

There are many external applications like Excel, Access, text, web storefronts, web services, point-of-sale systems, or legacy applications can be integrated with Dynamics GP. The external applications can perform actions like creating, updating, retrieving, and deleting documents and transactions in Dynamics GP. Internally, eConnect uses XML documents for communications and data conversion, business rules are enforced at the same time. An XML schema specifies the data that is included in each type of XML document.

eConnect can help if you are using General Ledger, Accounts Receivables, Accounts Payables, Sales, Purchasing, Inventory, Project Accounting, Fixed Assets and many other modules. You just need to provide the correct interface, data types and format of documents, and an interface can be created with programming tools like Visual Basic and C#.

One of the important features is if it is used with Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) services, you can automate it to run without interaction. Another option is to create an executable file (exe) and schedule it with Windows or Sql Server Scheduler.

eConnect can interface more than one source of data which make it very easy to interface with. Also, with the built-in business rules to create and update data in Dynamics GP, making it very time saving for developers to create interfacing programs.

All Great Plains or Dynamics GP windows and reports are ready to customize, you can use modifiers to change the appearances or values. If more advanced modification or customization is needed then VBA, Dexterity, Visual Studio Sdk are there to help.

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Both Andrew Karasev & Tenny are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Andrew Karasev has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Latest Election News and Computers and The Internet. . Andrew Karasev's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.

Tenny has sinced written about articles on various topics from Software, Latest Election News and Software. Website: www.viccompinc.com Email: help@viccompinc.com. Tenny's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.