Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular, partly because of Microsoft muscles behind it. Now it is targeted to the whole spectrum of horizontal and vertical market clientele. Small companies use Small Business Manager (which is based on the same technology ? Great Plains Dexterity dictionary and runtime), Great Plains Standard on MSDE is for small to midsize clients, and then Great Plains serves the rest of the market up to big corporations.
If you are developer who is asked: how do we implement Great Plains integration/interface with your legacy or other system ? read this and you will have the clues on where to look further.
1. Great Plains Integration Manager - this is rather end-user tool - it is very intuitive, it validates 100% of business logic, brings in/updates master records (accounts, employees, customers, vendors. etc.) brings in transactions into work tables. The limitation of Integration Manager - it does use GP windows behind the scenes without showing them - so it is relatively slow - you can bring 100 records - but when you are talking about thousands - it is not a good option. By the way you can program Integration Manager with VBA.
2. eConnect ? it is type of Software Development Kit with samples in VB.Net. Obviously the development environment should be Visual Studio.Net. eConnect will allow you to integrate master records - such as new customers, vendors, employees, etc., plus you can bring transactions into so called Great Plains work tables (eConnect doesn't allow you to bring open or historical records - you need to post work records in Great Plains, the same limitation applies to Integration Manager above) eConnect is rather for ongoing integration. It was initially created for eCommerce application integration to Great Plains.
3. SQL Stored Procedures. Obviously you have unlimited control and possibilities with SQL queries. You need to know Great Plains tables structure and data flow. Launch Great Plains and go to Tools->Resource Description->Tables. Find the table in the proper series. If you are looking for the customers ? it should be RM00101 ? customer master file. If you need historical Sales Order Processing documents ? they are in SOP30200 ? Sales History Header file, etc. Do not change existing tables - do not create new fields, etc. Also you need to realize that each GP table has DEX_ROW_ID - identity column. Sometimes it is good idea to use inbound/outbound XML in the parameters - then you can deploy web service as a middle party between two systems.
4. Data Transformation Services (DTS) ? Good tool for importing your third party data into staging tables in GP - then you can pull them in using either stored procs of Integration Manager. You can also deploy this tool for EDI export/import.
5. Great Plains Dexterity Custom Screens. Sometimes users prefer to have seamlessly integrated into GP interface custom screens - for parameters settings and initiating integration. Dexterity is a good option, however remember - it is always better to create new custom screen versus customizing existing one - due to the future upgrade issues. Also - Dexterity is in phasing our by Microsoft Business Solutions.
6. Modifier/VBA custom buttons on the existing screens - alternative to Dexterity is you are comfortable with VBA and ADO.
7. MS Access ? if you are doing one time conversion and your legacy has old ODBC compliant platform - you can use MS Access to create linked tables there - or import into MS Access.
8. SQL Linked Servers ? you can do direct SQL queries to other ODBC compliant platform via SQL Linked Server (including ORACLE, UNIDATA, Pervasive SQL, Ctree, etc) - you may need to familiarize yourself with OPENROWSET command in Transact SQL. This is also good option if you need cross-platform Crystal Report - pulling data from SQL Server and third party databases on the same report.
9. Warning - do not place existing GP tables into Replication! - you will have upgrade issues.
Happy integrating! if you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com
Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies ? USA nationwide Microsoft CRM, Microsoft Great Plains customization company, based in Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, New York, and Miami and having locations in multiple states and internationally (help@albaspectrum.com ), he is Dexterity, SQL, VB/C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer.
Sales are all about leverage, because there is only so... Read More
Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular,... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, former Great Plains Software eEnterprise,... Read More
MSN messenger is a pretty cool invention. I mean I'm... Read More
SyncUp, a file synchronizer is designed to assist the home... Read More
In order to meet regulatory and corporate compliance requirements reporting... Read More
Best Software Act! is very popular CRM for small and... Read More
Need help making sense of algebra? Have algebra lectures in... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions is emerging as very attractive vendor for... Read More
Every day millions of new web documents emerge on the... Read More
If you feel intimidated when someone tries to teach you... Read More
We all already got used to computer monitoring both at... Read More
Collaboration SoftwareCollaboration Software, also known as group collaboration software or... Read More
Bar charts, bar graphs, and any other chart or graph... Read More
I started using PIP (Picture It Publishing) Platinum 2002 right... Read More
Imagine something that follows you home and sets itself up... Read More
You would like to protect your documents, wouldn't you? Reasons... Read More
Corporate ERP/MRP selection might be tough one, especially considering very... Read More
Bill of Lading is required report for Logistics and Freight... Read More
Trying to figure out a stream in banning one email... Read More
Domino server is a buffer between the operation system and... Read More
Are Spreadsheets Robbing your Enterprise of Competitive Advantage?'90% of "average"... Read More
Remember back in the days where screensavers were the coolest... Read More
Microsoft Word is one of the most popular office applications... Read More
GroupwareThe internet is full of 1.5 million to 7 million... Read More
While several preventive maintenance software manufacturers offer free trials for... Read More
Most people understand that the "hardware" part of their computer... Read More
Whether you are a small consultancy firm, a medium sized... Read More
Microsoft CRM is winning market share step-by-step from such the... Read More
SyncUp, a file synchronizer is designed to assist the home... Read More
Combining Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains ERP with non-Microsoft Business... 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
Having from five to ten and more favorite screensavers is... Read More
In today's business world it's all but impossible to escape... Read More
Microsoft bought Navision, Denmark based software development company, along with... Read More
Today's business world is fast-paced. No matter what it is... Read More
What is installation in the language of technology? Installation... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very popular ERP platform... Read More
While paper labeling CDs and DVDs may appear to be... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains has substantial mid-market share in the USA... Read More
If your company has regional and worldwide operations, you might... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, former Great Plains Software Dynamics... Read More
One of the main reasons business owners and entrepreneurs use... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is Dexterity-written application and currently... Read More
Bill of Lading is required report for Logistics and Freight... Read More
The first thing that you will notice about Linux Red... Read More
Lotus Notes Domino is very efficient in electronic document workflow... Read More
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Hawaii (HMSA) found itself... Read More
Research bears that less than 70 percent of development projects... Read More
Software |