Dynamics,Integration,Great,Pla computer Dynamics GP Integration: Great Plains Technology Partner Not

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In this article we will not be covering Dynamics GP ISVthird party add-ons.  It might look a bittechnical to IT director, and at the same time you, as programmer may expectmore technical details, as we are trying to keep balance: 1.      Integration Manager.  This tool is very friendly to GP User, and ifthis is your role, plus you are familiar with GP master documents andtransactions types, you should try to build simple integration, use existingsample integrations as a reference and study materials.  If you are on GP version 10.0, IM has twotypes of Connectors: traditional OLE based (require login to the GP workstationas OLE Server and launching IM from there - integration works with the currentcompany) and eConnect (they are built upon eConnect technology stack, should bea way faster, do not require GP workstation, however you will need specialprocedure to install eConnect connectors, especially Admin domain account oryour GP local server Admin account; if by whatever reason you change eConnectAccount Password, please change it in also in Administrative Tools ->Component Services -> COM+ Applications - > Properties - > Identity -this is one of the most asked questions). If you think about IM as very simple and pretty restricted tool, wewould like to give you advanced scenario. Consider the situation, when you have legacy Sales Order ManagementSystem in Oracle, and you need to move Sales Orders and New Customers to GP SOPmodule.  In this case, consider to createMS SQL Server Linked Server to Oracle, and SQL Heterogeneous View, which willpull data from Oracle and will check the Invoice existence in SOP10100 (WorkSOP Docs) or SOP30200 (Historical SOP Docs). This view should allow you to create ongoing integration of CustomerOrders to GP. You can schedule integration with Windows Scheduling customapplications, available for moderate fee on Software market, or simply have GPIM user to launch integration every day or every few hours.  Please, check with your Dynamics GP VAR on IMmodule license 2.      eConnect. This tool is open for Microsoft Visual Studio C#, VB or other .Netprogramming language software developer. Initially it was dedicated to ecommerce programmers to open Great Plainsas back office accounting.  We recommendyou to look at eConnect if your current GP version is 10.0 or 9.0.  If you are on earlier version: 8.0, 7.5, 7.0,6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.0, 3.2, Great Plains Accounting for DOS, Windows or Mac,please consider upgrade to version 10.0 or if you are on Great Plains Dynamics,consider deploying either Integration Manager, Import Utility, Dexterity ordirect SQL Insert.  eConnect is simple ininclusion into MS Visual Studio project as Library, and then you should be ableto program by examples, provided in eConnect SDK.  In fact in Integration Manager 10.0 most ofthe objects are available in eConnect connector version, so you can try IM,however eConnect allows you to have more control over integration, andespecially important feature is real time integration option, where you couldcall eConnect methods upon ecommerce invoice and payment placement event 3.      Dexterity. It is native Great Plains development environment, and it has access toall the GP Objects, including master records, work, open and historicaltransactions, plus custom Dexterity add-ons created tables, fields, forms andwindows.  You should not immediatelyconsider to drop IM and eConnect as no longer feasible integration options, asDex has some drawbacks - it is not open source programming language, itrequires relatively long programming learning curve.  You may consider to get Dynamics GP Dexteritytraining for your IT programmers, if you are facing huge Great Plainsimplementation with numerous customizations and existing logic modifications,especially when you work for large organization with challenging ecommerce,logistics, warehouse management.  For therest of us, we recommend outsourcing Dexterity integration programming toDynamics GP ISV with Dex software development factories.  One of the good examples of Dex customadd-ons is Alba Spectrum Posting Server or Autopost, allowing you to breakthrough eConnect limitations on inability to post Batches and individualtransactions 4.      Import Utility. This tool is in our opinion rather archaic and useful if you are onCtree or Pervasive SQL 2000.  SinceDynamics GP 8.0 the only supported DB Platform is Microsoft SQL Server: MS SQL2000 for 8.0, 9.0 and 10.0, MS SQL 2005 for 9.0, 10.0, MS SQL 2008 for10.0.  We recommend you direct SQL insertfor SQL Server based installations.  IUdoesn't validate GP business logic and such is similar in its potential harm tobusiness logic inconsistency as direct SQL insert statement 5.      Direct SQL Scripting.  Please, try not to be too enthusiastic aboutfeeding data into Great Plains via SQL Query Analyzer.  Consider the fact that eConnect is written inSQL Server encrypted stored procedures and likely the intended SQL feeding isalready covered in one of its Procedures. Consider to invest some time in eConnect training, as if you dointegration in eConnect libraries, versus custom SQL scripting - business logicvalidation should not be an issue, as eConnect is replicating Dexterity businesslogic.  If these advises are notapplicable to you, please go ahead with SQL scripting.  Dynamics GP Tables structure could be foundin GP SDK (install from CD#2), plus here: Dynamics GP -> Setup-> ResourceDescription -> Tables.  We stronglyrecommend to be very conservative and try your integration first in the testcompany or in Fabrikam Lesson Company - here try to enter similar transactionsin GP user interface and then review how records were recorded in the tablesand finally then begin your coding 6.      Dynamics GP Integration in Internationalenvironment.  Please note that GP isgenerally localized and supported in English speaking countries: USA, Canada (includingFrench Quebec version), UK, Australia, South Africa, Oceania, New Zealand,India, Pakistan or English Business Specking South East Asia, plus it istranslated and partially localized for Spanish specking Latin America.  GP has potential to be translated tonon-Unicode compliant languages: Russian, Lithuanian, German, Polish, Czech,Serbian, Turkish, etc.  However werecommend you to consider ERP tax code compliance question.  In some international situations SAP BusinessOne with GL or transactions integrations to Dynamics GP might be better option,especially if SB1 is localized for your country 7.      Alternatives to Dynamics GP Great Plains.  If you feel that GP is too expensive,consider Microsoft Small Business Accounting or if this is too simple, considerSAP Business One.  If you believe that GPis too poor in its functionality, consider switching to next level in MicrosoftDynamics ERP products hierarchy - AX, formerly known as Axapta 8.      If you need additional help, please call us:1-866-528-0577, internationally 1-630-961-5918, [email protected] or skype:albaspectrum.  We would be happy to giveyou your industry case from Great Plains customization and integrationperspective, as well as to give you second opinion, if you are not happy withyour current Dynamics GP Partner support level