Microsoft Great Plains is becoming more and more popular and we see new purchases among midsize and large corporations, where, in our opinion, Microsoft SQL Server DB administrator position is a must. If you are database administrator and you are part of the decision making team, purchasing Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains for your corporation, we would like to set your expectation on the level of SQL knowledge, skills and experience needed to support Microsoft Great Plains in-house
? Data querying. Microsoft Great Plains has decent ReportWriter, which allows users to create and modify existing reports, however the recommended tool, and you will soon understand that if you need really challenging reports (Sales Commissions, Bill of Lading, Sales Order Status with Purchasing info, Regional Sales, etc.) ? you need to deploy Crystal Reports or Crystal Enterprise. Crystal Report itself is usually based on the view or stored procedure. So ? you should expect to be familiar with Great Plains tables architecture and be capable to create select statement with multiple joins and unions
? Data Repair. You should be ready to save GP table prior to data repair: select * into SOP10100_Copy from SOP10100 and then use update statement to fix incorrect values. If you need to load SOP10100 back from the backup table ? first drop DEX_ROW_ID column and then use: insert into SOP10100 select * from SOP10100_Copy.
? Backup and Restore. Great Plains has DYNAMICS database which stores system info, such as users, security, companies, etc. and each company has its own database. You should be able to restore mostly company databases from the backup. This seems to be trivial routine.
? Technical Support. When you have issues with posting or need help from Microsoft Business Solutions Technical Support, you place case through customer source and you should expect the technician provide you with SQL scripts to fix your data.
? Some Useful Scripts. You need to be able to delete locked user: delete activity where userid='TOM', also very popular is batch recovery script, you need to unlock the batch in SY00500 table: Posting Definition Master
? Do not expect. Replications (except probably snapshot) ? it adds GUID column and then Great Plains Dexterity runtime can not upgrade the modified tables. Referential Integrity is not used, Varchar or NVarchar are not used ? the reason is ? Dexterity architecture, which was initially designed with database independence in mind. Logins and access management ? Great Plains uses its own security, which is translated into SQL logins with encrypted password.
? Moving Great Plains on the new SQL Server. It is often confusing for the DB Admin. Besides physical move through backups or detach/attach DB you need special scripts to transfer GP security and users logins, these scripts are available through MBS tech support or feel free to call you MBS partner.
? Advanced Techniques. If you need to notify your GP users on the specific event in GP ? such as invoice was paid, you can deploy SQL emailing: xp_send_mail. This procedure could be called in the trigger for the apply payments table.
? Data Integration. XML inbound and outbound streams for the integration stored procedures is becoming defacto standard. Also you should be familiar with heterogeneous SQL queries: OPENROWSET and linked server conceptions.
Happy implementing! You can always appeal to us to help you with your system. Give as a call 1-630-961-5918 or 1-866-528-0577, help@albaspectrum.com
Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Microsoft CRM, Navision, Microsoft RMS, Microsoft Business Portal customization company, serving clients in Chicago, Boston, New York, Miami, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Toronto, Montreal, Brazil, Mexico, UK, Australia, Canada, UK, Europe, Russia an having small offices in multiple states and internationally.
Chicago limo Skokie ..Three highly respected names in Human Resources have joined forces... Read More
I have always had a tendency to focus on the... Read More
When Great Plains Software was designing and developing Great Plains... Read More
After almost two decades of existence, Quark has become the... Read More
One of the main reasons business owners and entrepreneurs use... Read More
Each Industry and market niche has business specific and unique... Read More
Just when you thought you were Web savvy, one more... Read More
Microsoft CRM was designed to be easily customizable. Microsoft CRM... Read More
Here is some free software tools to help you build... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains is now targeting large and midsize businesses... Read More
Passwords protect your most sensitive personal, financial and business information.... Read More
Former Great Plains Software Dynamics/eEnterprise, and currently Microsoft Business Solutions... Read More
Spyware is software or hardware installed on a computer without... Read More
It is now common thing when large corporation selects mid-market... Read More
Several software companies design programs for preventive maintenance. Most of... Read More
1. With mapping software you can create a report that... Read More
Many reasons made GBM a unanimous choice for experts, one... Read More
When it comes to running an office, the SOHO entrepreneur... Read More
We would like to give you pluses and minuses of... Read More
Are you lost in the mess of documents that get... Read More
Although statistics often is blamed for various deadly sins --... Read More
Not all of us have the luxury of working both... Read More
Microsoft CRM is winning market share step-by-step from such the... Read More
TikiWiki is open source software - it is written in... Read More
Lotus Domino/Notes ? Microsoft Great Plains tandem as ERP with... Read More
limo O'Hare Bonfield ..Professional services firm cuts costs and improves productivity with integrated... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was purchased from Great Plains... Read More
Google Inc. has launched a new software package that allows... Read More
While paper labeling CDs and DVDs may appear to be... Read More
The COSMIC FP (function point) software quality metric, is no... Read More
Are you ready? SQL Server 2005, the next-generation data management... Read More
Let us give you - developer some hints in the... Read More
With this small article we are continuing Microsoft Business Solutions... Read More
DBxtra goes ASPGetting to the information hidden within corporate databases... Read More
Ad-Aware and Spybot are probably the two most well known... Read More
SyncUp, a file synchronizer is designed to assist the home... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very popular ERP/MRP applications... Read More
Do you want to get quality software at a reasonable... Read More
Should one use Windows Update?This topic has good and valid... Read More
If you use Microsoft Outlook (or similar applications) for e-mailing,... Read More
Microsoft CRM ? Client Relationship Management package from Microsoft Business... Read More
Bar charts, bar graphs, and any other chart or graph... Read More
Microsoft has never released a service pack for Windows98 SE,... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains is now targeting large and midsize businesses... Read More
Need software to record your voice, streaming audio or musical... Read More
Whether you need to close a sale, gather end-user feedback,... Read More
The first topic we are going to discuss... Read More
Great Plains Fixed Assets Management module is a robust tool... Read More
This article is the first of a series of articles... Read More
Not every software testing project can or should be automated.... Read More
Software |