Microsoft Great Plains Implementation & Customization: Computer Parts Retailer Example
January 23, 2008
Microsoft Great Plains fits to majority of horizontals and retail business is good fit as well. We’ll consider the system, consisting from Microsoft Great Plains as Accounting, Inventory Pricing and Microsoft Retail Management System (RMS) Headquarters and Store Operations Manager. In this case you can base web commerce off Great Plains databases and POS automates walk-in retail store. Inventory count might be done from both sides: Great Plains or RMS, depending on the main line ? if it is eCommerce ? consider Great Plains inventory cycle counting, otherwise in the case of POS ? it should be done in MS RMS
? eCommerce. If the business is small/mid-size, instead of using eConnect ? consider working with direct sql custom stored procedures. You will avoid license fee for eConnect and you could use rather simplified logic. You need to know Great Plains Tables structure and data flow: Tools->Resource Description->Tables. More likely you will need Sales Order Processing (SOP) and Inventory Control (IV) tables: SOP10100, SOP10200, IV00101, etc. You should consider purchasing standard internet basket and integrate it with your e-commerce web application. It should work with Great Plains Inventory catalogue
Microsoft Great Plains: Data Conversion & Migration Scenarios ? Overview for Consultant
January 22, 2008
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains serves multiple industries in the US, plus it has strong presence in Latin America, U.K., Australia, Canada, Middle East, South Africa. Great Plains is natural solution for growing company, when small business accounting application, such as QuickBooks, M.Y.O.B, Peachtree, Quicken or others should be replaced with ERP, better positioned to serve mid-size business. With the switch to Microsoft Great Plains you need to decide on data migration and conversion. Let us give you highlights on your options:
? Beginning Balances approach. This is the simplest way. What you do is ? enter beginning balances in Great Plains General Ledger (GL) and begin using your new system. When you need to enter invoice for existing customer ? you create customer record in Great Plains and go ahead with Invoice in Accounts Receivables or Sales Order Processing (SOP). The same symmetric procedure is for vendor invoices in Purchase Order Processing (POP)
Microsoft CRM Integration with Microsoft Retail Management System (RMS) ? Overview
January 21, 2008
Microsoft Client Relation Management system (Microsoft CRM) and Microsoft RMS are both Microsoft SQL Server based applications, however historically Microsoft was purchasing industry leading software applications, such as QuickSell which is now Microsoft RMS. So, RMS design fundamentals were minted a long time before Microsoft CRM. But, still integration between the two is straightforward and what you need is consultant, who is familiar with both systems structures and customization scenarios. Microsoft CRM is currently integrated with Microsoft Great Plains and will be integrated with Microsoft Navision in the close future, RMS integration is not planned to our knowledge, so you should seek third party solutions or create your own integration. We see the need for such the integration when you sell on account in RMS and have customer support call center automated with Microsoft CRM. Let us give you highlights:
? Microsoft CRM custom lookup. More likely you will nee lookup to your RMS headquarters or store records for the customer transactions from Account screen. Microsoft CRM allows you to have custom navigation bar on Account screen by clicking on this bar you could call your custom web .Net application, which will call Microsoft RMS database and return you the grid of customer transactions
Microsoft Great Plains Implementation for Large Corporation ? Overview for VP IT
January 20, 2008
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was historically designed to serve mid-market first and then with addition and acquisition of new modules ? Great Plains Dynamics architects planned to enter into corporate market. When Microsoft SQL Server took its place as relatively reliable and stable database platform, Great Plains gained scalability. Let’s consider the questions, you need to be placed and answered for your IT department in ERP selection, implementation, modification and customization.
? Business System value. For large publicly traded enterprise ERM application needs to be tailored to serve unique business processes. In the case of traditional ERP system for big businesses, such as Oracle, SAP, PeopleSoft, the modules have very rich functionality and you can expect that majority of the required functionality is already present. In the case when the system is coming the way up from mid-size to large clientele ? you expect more customization to be done. There are pluses and minuses of both approaches: in the case of traditional system you overpay for the functionality you do not need and probably consulting rates will be higher, in the case of Great Plains ? you might need more customization hours with lower rates
Microsoft Retail Management System (RMS) SQL Customization ? Overview for Programmer
January 20, 2008
Microsoft Retail Management System serves retail single store as well as retail chains clientele. The customization scenarios, described in this article deal with the chains, when Microsoft RMS has multiple stores databases and Headquarters. Microsoft RMS is SQL Server-based application, so we will consider SQL programming ? SQL queries, views and stored procedures. Also Microsoft RMS could be integrated on the SQL level with other applications, such as Microsoft Great Plains, Microsoft CRM and non-Microsoft applications, such as Lotus Notes/Domino
? Microsoft RMS Architecture and data flow. As it is POS automation application, it assumes that all the POS transactions are originated at the store. The mechanism used is worksheets. When store is closed ? Headquarters pulls its transactions via worksheet. There are some exceptions ? global data, such as global customers are updated on the headquarters level and updates propagated to the stores.
? Data Update. If you need custom logic work with the POS transaction ? you have to update store database data. If you try to update Headquarters database ? the chances are that it will be rolled back by the next worksheet, because original data sits on the store level and is different from your altered data in the HQ
Call Alert Notifications - Free Answering Machine Software for PCs
January 19, 2008
If you’re online using a dialup Internet connection, you’ll probably want to download one of the free call alert software applications like Callwave or AOL Call Alert that can answer, record, and forward incoming calls to your home, office or cell phone. In fact, if you run a small business, Call Wave also offers a dedicated business fax service too. These software offerings are fully reviewed online at http://www.callalertreviews.com.
Call alerts are important if you live in rural area or simply can’t afford access to faster online connection speeds. In that case, you may want to consider using these alert services to avoid the cost of a second phone line while having the power to decide when and how to answer incoming phone messages.
Stay Online and Stop Missing Calls
The real benefit of an alert service is you don’t miss important calls ? especially if you have kids who are constantly online.
Another benefit is that you hear who’s calling while you’re online without having to pick up the phone.
Spyware Statistics — Whats New in May 2005?
January 18, 2008
Although statistics often is blamed for various deadly sins — from being biased to being inaccurate — there is nothing left to those who are anyhow connected with IT but to keep up with fresh data. Since spyware is literally ubiquitous, nobody who owns or uses a PC can say that it is none of his business. So general public also has to keep an eye on the news about spyware.
On May 3 Webroot Software, a privately held anti-spyware company based in Boulder, Colorado, released a comprehensive report on spyware, The State of Spyware Report, — an in-depth review and analysis of the impact of spyware, adware and other types of unwanted software on consumers and enterprises.
The results of Spy Audit survey made by ISP Earthlink and Webroot Software are still fresh in memory of IT security experts. The study lasted for the whole last year; more than 4.6 million system scans were made in 2004. What’s new in 2005?
“Industry experts suggest that these types of programs [i.e. spyware in general] may reside on up to 90 percent of all Internet-connected computers” that’s the quote from the last year’s Spy Audit survey. The first quarter of 2005, alas, confirmed these suggestions.
Start Developing Your Own Software
January 17, 2008
Learning how to program software seems like a daunting task fit only for the geeks and nerds who lock themselves away in dark rooms staring at their monitors for days on end as they pour over thick manuals written largely in zeros and ones. Fortunately the reality is that it’s not as complicated to make basic applications as people may think. If it were, the majority of nerds wouldn’t be doing it because the defining factor of our kind is an inherent laziness. Why do you think we like computers? The heaviest thing we have to lift is a monitor and that’s done fairly irregularly and for a very short period of time.
There are many different opinions on how you should start programming. Some advocate the method of throwing yourself firmly into the deep end and if you don’t drown then you’re set for life. These people usually recommend getting stuck straight into C or C++. Others recommend a slightly easier starting point such as Java or C#, still quite involved but with a few more safety nets built in. Then there is the ‘kiddy pool’ school of thought that advocates such languages as Visual Basic. These languages are really easy to get started in. You drag a few elements onto a blank form and then write some code that reads largely like Standard English. All methods have their advantages, but I’m a fan of starting somewhere in the middle with Java. My reasons for this are that Java enforces a certain amount of design and forethought as well as correct programming procedures that are somewhat absent from Visual Basic.
Microsoft Great Plains Implementation: Verticals - Wholesale Order Entry center ? overview
January 16, 2008
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has substantial market share and strong support by Microsoft on the US market. Currently we see the trend in the vertical markets when companies with custom-built accounting application, usually written on legacy platform are switching to standard and proven ERP solution and customize or tailor it to fit their vertical market requirements. We’ll be publishing series of vertical articles: Logistics, Distribution Centers, Warehouse Management, Barcoding, Shipping/Receiving, eCommerce, EDI, Wholesale. Today we’ll give you Wholesale tailoring scenario
Sales Order Processing improvements to work with large number of wholesale order takers:
1. Sales Order Processing stand alone Great Plains Dexterity application, which works with Microsoft Great Plains SQL databases to feed in orders. This application, written as from scratch Dexterity application doesn’t requires hundreds of Great Plains user licenses and will work with SOP tables with improved functionality
2. Online Sales History by Customer. If you are order taker and this is wholesale business ? each customer has certain level of negotiated price, which it is comfortable to pay. Also this customer is ordering known set of products from you. It is nice to have list of historical items he ordered in the past several months and their negotiated prices
Microsoft Great Plains Distribution, Barcoding, Consignment ? overview for consultant
January 15, 2008
Microsoft Great Plains ? ERM from Microsoft Business Solutions and formerly Great Plains Software is pretty generic with its standard set of modules: GL, BR, AR, AP, IV, SOP, POP and US Payroll. However, having about twelve years of implementation and customization history ? Great Plains Dynamics, Dynamics C/S+, eEnterprise being Great Plains Dexterity written application has been and still is attractive core platform for third party software development companies to write vertical and horizontal modules, written as well in Great Plains Dexterity. If you have Microsoft Great Plains implemented or under the implementation should have your options in making in-house or outsourced customizations to fit your vertical industry needs. Let’s consider consignment, barcoding and distribution/warehouse management
1. Consignment Sales & Recurring Sales. If your business is bakery, sandwiches or ice cream making ? you probably send recurring daily shipments / trucks to your customers on consignment. You need accurate system with daily predictions and recommendation on the lot size, based on historical data: day of the week, season, holiday, etc. This is very popular Dexterity customization, dealing with SOP (Sales Order Processing) and IV (Inventory Control) modules
