Released on: November 18, 2007, 2:07 pm

Press Release Author: Alba Spectrum Group

Industry: Computers

Press Release Summary: Microsoft Great Plains as mid-size ERP requires professional
approach to be implemented in mid-size organization. In this small article we would
like to orient you, assuming that you are controller, IT director, or even
programmer responsible for GP project. Servicing relatively complex MRP system,
including its installation, implementation, data migration & conversion, integration
with legacy and peripheral systems, reporting, system customization and business
logic alteration, require GP professional consultant involvement, similar to when
you purchase new car, you expect professional technician to do service and repair
job, at least first three years.

Press Release Body: Microsoft Great Plains as mid-size ERP requires professional
approach to be implemented in mid-size organization. In this small article we would
like to orient you, assuming that you are controller, IT director, or even
programmer responsible for GP project. Servicing relatively complex MRP system,
including its installation, implementation, data migration & conversion, integration
with legacy and peripheral systems, reporting, system customization and business
logic alteration, require GP professional consultant involvement, similar to when
you purchase new car, you expect professional technician to do service and repair
job, at least first three years. Let's review Great Plains implementation steps and
process overall, trying to cover reasonable details:
1. Hardware Requirements. Microsoft publishes hardware requirements on Partner and
Customer source for its Dynamics product line. You should think about hardware
requirements from the number of simultaneous users, the role of GP server - if it is
dedicate for Great Plains or you plan it to serve additional tasks, such as be
Active Directory server or Domain controller for example. We saw public companies,
who utilized Microsoft Small Business Server to serve all company systems in one
box, to give you amazing example
2. OS Software requirements. Latest Windows server is recommended. You can try 64
bit Windows 2003 server R2 or if at the time of reading Microsoft releases newest
server - more likely it is supported and recommended
3. Microsoft Great Plains Implementation Steps. You begin with Microsoft Dynamics
GP reseller selection, where you should be comfortable with functional and technical
expertise, user training capability, data conversion expertise, and probably overall
number of installations to verify the background. When you are done with MBS
partner selection, you should concentrate on Great Plains modules selection:
majority of GP modules, such as General Ledger, Inventory Control, Manufacturing,
Accounts Receivables, Bank Reconciliation, Accounts Payable, Sales Order Processing,
Purchase Order Processing, Payroll and HR are Microsoft Dexterity applications. The
other set of modules are coming from Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Portal and
Sharepoint: Requisition Management former eRequisition, Order Management former
eOrder, employee selfservice, Electronic Document Delivery, Key Performance
Indicators, here we are talking about Microsoft Great Plains Business Portal 10.0 or
3.0. When you are done with modules selection you can move on to GP installation
and test environment with potential user training
4. Data conversion dilemma. Ideally you would like all your historical ERP data to
be converted and imported to GP. However this might not be practical, due to high
cost and time consumption. We recommend you to consider masters record conversion:
customers, vendors, employees, GL chart of accounts and then do GL initial balances
transaction entry to close old period in legacy accounting and begin new fiscal
period in Microsoft Great Plains. Try to consider the idea of having your legacy
accounting system to be available in transition period for data inquiry and lookup
5. Users Training. Future GP users should be involved in Great Plains Chart of
account design, especially in its segmentation - GP allows you to sort accounting
records by account segment in FRx financial reporting. Then users should
participate in modules setup: SOP, POP, RM, PM, Project Accounting, Service
Management Suite.
6. Custom Business Logic and Reporting needs covering. If you have specific EDI,
data integration needs, industry compliance reports, please check with your MBS
partner on the best way to cover these needs. In GP wide range of customization and
programming tools is available: Great Plains Dexterity, ReportWriter, MS SQL Server
Reporting Services or SRS, GP SDK for Visual Studio Developer (C# and VB.Net are the
most popular programming languages), eConnect, Integration Manager, VBA with
Modifier, Extender, SQL Views and Stored Procedures to name some
7. GP Version Upgrade. Version update is handled by GP Utilities, however you
should know some facts about upgrade to GP 10.0. At this time, December 2007, GP
10.0 Service Pack 1 is available, you should apply it prior to launching upgrade
process. Prior to SP 1 upgrade path was available from 9.0 SP2 or GP 8.0 SP5.
Upgrade process from technical side replaces GP workstation: Dynamics.dic, Dex.ini,
Dex.exe and then it launches utilities. Utilities copy the table, which got new
structure in the new version to temp database, then it drops and recreates the table
and moves data back from temporary database. In certain situation, this version
upgrade process has vulnerability to bugs, typically fixed in Service Packs
8. Other FAQ. What is DEX_ROW_ID? - it is used by Microsoft Dexterity engine and
you typically should not include it into data conversion scripts. How do I backup
and transfer specific GP table? You use select * into statement, then you drop
DEX_ROW_ID and to restore you use insert into select * from construction

Andrew Karasev, Alba Spectrum Group, http://www.albaspectrum.com -
help@albaspectrum.com 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, serving customers USA/Canada
nationwide: Illinois, California, New York, Quebec, Ontario, Colorado, Utah,
Wisconsin, Florida, Texas. Local service is available in Houston & Dallas: Richmond,
Sugar Land, Katy, Rosenberg, Missouri City, Pearland, Friendswood, Meadows, Mission
Bend, Jersey Village, Fort Worth; serving GP customers in Chicago, IL: Naperville,
Aurora, Joliet, Wheaton, Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Lyons, Niles, Downers Grove,
Lisle, West Chicago, Barrington, Schaumburg, Elk Grove Village, Lombard, Morris,
Ottawa, Marseilles, Seneca, Oswego, Plainfield, Darien, Winchester, Hinsdale.



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

Contact Details: Alba Spectrum Group, http://www.albaspectrum.com -
help@albaspectrum.com 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, serving customers USA/Canada
nationwide: Illinois, California, New York, Quebec, Ontario, Colorado, Utah,
Wisconsin, Florida, Texas