The best Corporate ERP implementation partner is the local one, right? Well, probably, yes to some extents, especially when your local Dynamics GP Reseller has profound expertise in your industry. In this small publication we would like to review Great Plains Dynamics GP life span as your Corporate ERP and MRP application, starting with sales Cycle, Implementation phase (with data conversion, user training, pilot month with parallel use of GP and your legacy accounting and then going into production), additional products and functionalities integration phases (such as Barcoding POS, Warehouse Management, SCM, eCommerce, EDI, Payroll and HR modules, Fixed Assets, Manufacturing or Bill of Materials, Project Accounting, Non-for-profit and Grant Management with Analytical Accounting to give you few examples). And then down the road, when you company will grow and possibly outgrow Dynamics GP (or whatever is the successor name), or if you downsize or sell your business, then Dynamics GP might be placed in phasing out mode with final year close, data export into XML, CSV, Excel, MS Access or directly to SQL database (whatever the future will be possibly to MySQL, Oracle, IBM DB2). Lets move on to paragraphs:

1.Dynamics GP Sales Cycle. We do not recommend passive approach to new Corporate ERP selection, especially when you see the pattern, that somebody from the telemarketing firm calls your accounting department, possibly trying to get the name of controller, and then your accounting people are forced to see new exciting Corporate MRP and Accounting system demo, with following up calls and paper mail with Starbuck gift cards ($5 value). We do not say, that the approach described above drives the US and Canadian economy and probably is dominant is selling Corporate ERP systems Worldwide, but for your own company we recommend rather proactive approach, where you identify the problem (something like your current Accounting application is in obsolescence or leaving the software market phase), then you look for the alternatives (you should really look for the leaders in current MRP and ERP market and pick from those). Next step would be to locate local, regional or nationwide Corporate ERP partner with your industry expertise and references; engage these people into Corporate ERP Sales Cycle and follow all the way through to the successful marriage. If you are taking proactive approach, then the possibility of the new Corporate ERP system implementation failure should be minimized

2.Moving on to the Dynamics GP implementation. This phase is the most important, time and budget consuming. Implementation typically has the following phases: data conversion (often including data massage in Excel or SQL queries), precise user training (position based with GP data entry and processing procedures, discussed with the user), pilot month (where you have your accounting people and other Dynamics GP users to enter data into both systems: Great Plains and legacy accounting). If you are happy with pilot month results (be sure that you have compared Dynamics GP FRx Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss reports results with analogs in the legacy accounting reporting, plus that all your Great Plains trial balances in AP, AR and General Ledger are producing similar or very close results)

3.Upgrading Dynamics GP from the old version: Great Plains on Pervasive SQL 2000/Ctree/Btrieve, Great Plains Accounting for DOS, Windows or Macintosh. Great Plains versions update is the project, where we do not recommend you to rush into it without prior discussion with your Dynamics GP Reseller. Migration and upgrade path could include more than one step (especially when you are on the Great Plains version, no longer supported by Microsoft Business Solutions: 8.0, 7.5, 7.0, 6.0,5.5, 5.0,4.0 or Great Plains Accounting 9.5, 9.2, and earlier). Upgrade process might reveal the problems, especially with your Great Plains orphan records (Check Links do wonderful job, but even this utility doesnt consider all the possible errors and failures scenarios)

4.What to do if your Dynamics GP implementation was screwed up? Well, the question might sound as open ended one. This is our two cents. You should switch yourself into proactive mode and begin searching in the Google, Yahoo, MSN on who is the leader in your industry (in Corporate ERP implementations, customizations, data migrations, reporting). Contact these people and you will have reasonable control over your Dynamics GP system recovery. To our observation, Great Plains Dynamics is relatively reliable in day-to-day use. The majority of the complaints are coming from the customers who are in Data Conversions mode, plus from the customers, who are pursuing custom programming for Dynamics GP (Dexterity, eConnect, Extender, VBA for Integration Manager or Modifier)

5.Barcoding technology in Dynamics GP. Typically you are exposed in such industries as Retail Sales, Wholesale (Warehouse Management System and Supply Chain Management), Picking and Packing, Discrete Manufacturing, Freight Forwarding (tracking your delivery trucks in real time). We recommend you Dynamics GP WMS extensions versus external standalone Warehouse Management Systems. There are pluses and minuses and we already discussed these questions in earlier publications

6.Electronic Commerce. Obviously every business should try to move to the web presence, but it has the cost of getting you there. If you have wired plan from such providers as Comcast, IT&T (including optical cable in Chicago), WOW, then you are probably are in the good hands, If you are in the rural area, where your options are limited to current cellular 3G offer (with possible expansion of such technologies as 4GWiMax Sprint or Clearwire, LTE Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile or AT&T offer of the 4G as rebranded 3G+)

7.Apple versus Android smart phones, and especially cellular broadband internet. For the business owners we believe that the most critical question is how to get unlimited plan with either 3G (obsolete old technology, no longer cool and expensive for the providers) or 4G (currently available on WiMax technology, but we believe that in 2011 it will be competing with LTE)

8.For the information please call 1-866-528-0577, [email protected] We are originally located in St. Joseph/Benton Harbor business metro with the service available to Holland, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, South Haven, Grand Haven, Saugatuck, New Buffalo, Muskegon, Ludington