Released on = August 9, 2006, 4:13 pm

Press Release Author = Alba Spectrum Group

Industry = Computers

Press Release Summary = We want to present you new version of this article, where we
are stating old and giving you highlights on new features. This article, written in
question/answer/FAQ style to give IT Director/Controller balanced top level
information on Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains/Dynamics GP upgrade. If
you have Microsoft Great Plains as main accounting and ERP system you need to know
some technical details on Great Plains version upgrade and what is going on behind
the scenes, which options do you have in case of Dexterity, VBA, SQL customizations,
ctree/Pervasive migration to MS SQL 2005-2000/MSDE. As of right now it is
reasonable to upgrade to Microsoft Great Plains 9.0

Press Release Body = USA: +1-866-528-0577 or +1-630-961-5918, Europe:
+44-20-8123-2580 or +45-36-96-5520, México DF: +52-55-535-04027
help@albaspectrum.com skype: albaspectrum

We want to present you new version of this article, where we are stating old and
giving you highlights on new features. This article, written in question/answer/FAQ
style to give IT Director/Controller balanced top level information on Microsoft
Business Solutions Great Plains/Dynamics GP upgrade. If you have Microsoft Great
Plains as main accounting and ERP system you need to know some technical details on
Great Plains version upgrade and what is going on behind the scenes, which options
do you have in case of Dexterity, VBA, SQL customizations, ctree/Pervasive migration
to MS SQL 2005-2000/MSDE. As of right now it is reasonable to upgrade to Microsoft
Great Plains 9.0

Is upgrade required? Not actually, but you have to consider these factors
. Technical Support discontinuation - the old version may not be supported -
currently if you are on version 6.0 - support is already discontinued. You can not
have Microsoft Business Solutions help you, but obviously you have MBS partners who
can still help you. If you are on Ctree or Pervasive SQL, then your support expires
December, 31 2004.
. Tax Updates/Magnetic media expiration - if you have US Payroll module and depend
on it with W2 and other forms - you must stay with the version, which is supported
and has tax updates. If you are on Ctree or Pervasive SQL - then you will not have
tax updates for these platforms at the end of 2004 and your W2s maybe inaccurate.
If you have a lot of employees - you may have issues with government.
. Following the Technology and Microsoft rules - Microsoft wants you to be on the
newest platform and provides you the best support when you follow this rule
. If you do have heavy customization - we recommend you to skip one version, for
example if you are on version 8.0 - do not upgrade to 9.0 and wait for the next
version

What is the upgrade technology? Upgrade has server and client sides.
. Server side - upgrade converts tables from old format to the new one. In general
words - Microsoft Business Solutions developers may change table structure, append
additional fields to add new functionality, things like that. Upgrade copies the
table with changes to temporary table, then drops original table, recreates it with
new structure and copies all the data from temp table to the newly created one.
. Workstation side - workstation is written in Great Plains Dexterity and has
Dynamics.exe - engine and DYNAMICS.DIC - dictionary. These two plus all the
additional files will be replaced with the new ones. Other dictionaries, such us
REPORTS.DIC and FORMS.DIC should be also upgraded and upgrade will try to deal with
them automatically. In some cases modified reports (in REPORTS.DIC) could not be
upgraded and need to be recreated in the new version.
What is customization upgrade? You should consider different types of
customizations: Dexterity, VBA/Modifier, SQL, ReportWriter, Crystal Reports
. SQL - you may have some stored procs for data integration, EDI or the like - if
the addressed tables will be changed in the new version then you need to analyze
your SQL code. The good news is - Microsoft Business Solution doesn\'t make a lot of
changes since version 7.0, because Microsoft is now trying to merge the products it
owns: Great Plains, Solomon, Navision and Axapta - and so has different priorities
. Crystal Reports - the nice thing about Crystal Report - it doesn\'t need to be
upgraded (if the fields in the tables exist in the new version - which is usually
true statement)
. MS SQL Server Reporting Services. We assume that if you upgrade from version 8.0
to 9.0 - you don't have these new Microsoft Dynamics GP reports yet.
. Dexterity Customization - being very short - Dexterity may have so called Custom
Forms - these do not need upgrade - they should work as is. Then Dexterity may
alter existing Great Plains forms (so-called Alternate Great Plains forms) - in this
case Dexterity customization should be redone for these forms/screens. Plus
additional consideration should be given to Dexterity triggers, shadow tables, etc.

. VBA/Modifier customization - Modifier allows you to modify existing Great Plains
windows - it creates so called modified Great Plains windows, stored in FORMS.DIC.
Usually modification is placing new buttons or fields, which in turn will be given
VBA scripts (stored in DYNAMICS.VBA). VBA scripts may call something nice, like
Crystal Report, or have some data access logic. Usually the old version of
DYNAMICS.VBA workds with the new version. You may need to rearrange buttons on the
modified form.
. ReportWriter - MBS doesn\'t change tables, but it keeps changing Dexterity formulas
used in ReportWriter original reports - this is the problem in so-called Modified
Reports upgrade - usually you have these reports modified: SOP Blank Invoice form,
SOP Blank Picking ticket, etc. If report can not be upgraded - it should be redone
in the new version with some exceptions.
Third-party modules? Your Great Plains may have so-called third party modules:
Mekorma, Kampdata, Horizon light manufacturing, Wennsoft, Avalara, Truepay, Trinity,
Intellisol to name a few
Third party modules may have their own utility for upgrade. You just need to know
that your third-party is ready for the new Great Plains version - if not - you just
wait and stay on the old version.

Migration from Ctree/Pervasive.SQL 2000 to MS SQL/MSDE. We give you this
information just in case of outdated version being used. Support of Microsoft Great
Plains 7.5 and prior version on Ctree/Pervaisive was terminated in December 2004.
MBS has migration tool. You need first to install Great Plains on SQL Server with
exactly the same account/segments structure and then install migration tool (it is
Dexterity chunk) on your ctree/Pervasive workstation - then, when you integrate the
chunk - you will map it to target SQL-based Great Plains Company, select all system
and company tables, click the button and it will move all your tables one-by-one.
In the case when your Great Plains ctree/Pervasive has third parties - you need to
check if the vendor has migration tool - otherwise you have to do manual move, use
SQL Linked server to your legacy data

Do I need consultant? It is probably good idea to have consultant to do the
upgrade. We strongly recommend you to use consultant in the following cases
. You don\'t have support - in this case you have to select your Microsoft Business
Solutions Partner and pay for the annual support/enhancement plan - you will get new
registration key and will be ready for the upgrade
. Your Great Plains has more than 20 users and you have to have upgrade done over
the weekend - if it fails - you have business problems
. You are doing migration from Pervasive/Ctree to Microsoft SQL Server/MSDE,
especially when you have third-parties without migration tools
. You have Dexterity customization
. You have a lot or ReportWriter Modified Great Plains Reports
. You have old version of Great Plains: Dynamics or eEnterprise 6.0 or prior - in
this case you can not appeal to Microsoft Technical Support - it is discontinued

Alba Spectrum Group ( http://www.albaspectrum.com http://www.greatplains.com.mx
http://www.enterlogix.com.br http://www.ronix-systems.de ) Microsoft Business
Solutions: Microsoft Great Plains (Microsoft Dynamics GP), Microsoft CRM (Microsoft
Dynamics CRM), Microsoft Navision (Microsoft Dynamics NAV), Microsoft Axapta
(Microsoft Dynamics AX), SAP Business One, Oracle: Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle
Financials,. We serve US Nationwide: IL, CA, NY, WA, TX, FL, OH, CO, AZ, AL, OR, WI,
Canada nationwide, Europe, Mexico and Latina America and the rest of the world.


Web Site = http://www.albaspectrum.com

Contact Details = Alba Spectrum Group
USA: +1-866-528-0577 or +1-630-961-5918, Europe: +44-20-8123-2580 or +45-36-96-5520,
México DF: +52-55-535-04027
help@albaspectrum.com skype: albaspectrum