Upgrading to Dynamics GP 2010

As I am sure you are probably aware by now Dynamics GP 2010 (Version 11) is due to begin shipping in May. You might not be planning on upgrading right away and I certainly understand that, but you should still be taking some steps to prepare for the upgrade.

The first item you should address in preparing for the upgrade is to make sure you are on the upgrade path.

Update Paths

Dynamics GP 9 - 9.00.0371 (Hotfix KB 971017) or later

Dynamics GP 10 - 10.00.1368 (Service Pack 4) or later

NOTE: There is no direct update from Microsoft Business Solutions-Great Plains 8.0 to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010. You must update to Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0 or Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 first.

 

So now is a good time to work with your Microsoft partner to make sure you have the correct service pack so you will be ready to move to Dynamics GP 2010. Also keep an eye on CustomerSource for announcements of GP 2010 as the launch approaches.

What is DCO?????

You may have heard Microsoft or your Dynamics GP partner talking about "DCO", but you have no clue what they are talking about. We all know Microsoft is known for their acronyms and "DCO" is another one of them. "DCO" is Microsoft Dynamics Client for Office. It is a light user for most employees in a customer's Dynamics implementation. It contains a right to access the Dynamics database directly, and a variety of product specific capabilities that make it useful to most employees in a customer organization.
With the recent announcement of pricing changes for Dynamics GP 2010, they also announced new capabilities for "DCO". "DCO" will include:

• Business Portal Employee and Customer Users
• Analysis Cubes
• Analysis Cubes Library
• Management Reporter Viewer
• 
  
  BI Components
  • Executive Centers & Dashboards
  • Excel Reports
  • SRS Reports
• Order Management
• Requisition Management
• Project T&E
• Field Service Suite
• Human Resources Management Self Service Suite
• Database Access License

"DCO" is available for both Business Ready Licensing Editions, Advanced Management and Business Essentials. Availability for BE is new as of Dynamics GP 2010. "DCO" is not available on Module Based Licensing, Professional or Standard Editions.
If you would like more information on "DCO" please contact your Microsoft Dynamics partner.

New Price Changes for Dynamics GP

With Dynamics GP 2010 currently in beta and due to release in May, Microsoft has also announced some upcoming pricing and packaging changes for Dynamics GP. The changes are scheduled to go into effect on May 1, 2010.

Detailed information on the changes can be found on PartnerSource and CustomerSource, but I will try to give a quick outline of the changes. Overall the goal of the changes is to simplify the pricing and increase the overall value of the solution.

• Additional modules will be included in Business Essentials
  
  • Field Level Security, Account Level Security and Electronic Banking Suite will be included in the BE Foundation Pack.
    
  • Modifier and Dynamics Client for Office will be available to BE as A La Carte modules.
    
• Management Reporter will be the replacement for FRx.
  
  • Two SKU's for Management Report Designer and Viewer
    
• Consolidate Modules – some modules will be consolidated into suite offerings. The individual modules will no longer be available. Existing customer current on their maintenance plan will receive the suite if one or more of the modules are licensed at the time of the change (May 1, 2010). The new suites are as follows:
  
  • Manufacturing Suite available via AM A La Carte (AME)
    
    • Capacity Requirements Planning
      
    • Engineering Change Management
      
    • Job Costing
      
    • Quality Assurance
      
    • Sales Configurator
      
    • Sales Forecasting
      
  • Distribution Suite available via AM A La Carte
    
    • Advanced Distribution
      
    • Advanced Picking
      
  • Risk Management Suite available via AM A La Carte and BE A La Carte
    
    • Audit Trails
      
    • Electronic Signatures
      
  • Integration Suite available via AM A La Carte and BE A La Carte
    
    • Integration Manager
      
      • Integration Manager - Financials & Distribution
        
      • Integration Manager - Financials (GL,RM,PM,FA,BR,Payroll,Project)
        
      • Integration Manager - Distribution (POP,SOP,INV)
        
    • Developer Toolkit for Microsoft Dynamics® GP
      
      • eConnect
        
      • Web Services
        
  • Customization Suite available via AM A La Carte and BE A La Carte
    
    • Developer Toolkit
      
    • Dexterity
      
• Consolidate Enterprise Reporting – There will be 3 options:
  
  • Enterprise Reporting Base Pack
    
  • Enterprise Reporting Designer User
    
  • Enterprise Reporting Viewer User
    
• Add External Connector to price list – This license allows external non-employee non-validated people access to the Dynamics database.
  
• Remove modules from price list – the following modules are being removed from the price list. Existing customers will continue to receive support and licenses to use these modules for Dynamics GP 10.0.
  
  • Crystal Reports
    
  • Electronic Document Delivery
    
  • Field Service Anywhere
    
  • Microsoft Demand Planner
    
• Improve Dynamics Client for Office (DCO) – several Business Portal and Business Intelligence modules will be rolled into the DCO license. There is a lot that will be included in this area and I will cover it in more detail in a separate article.
  

 

So in addition to the new features you receive with Dynamics GP 2010, you may actually receive access to new modules when this pricing goes into effect. It will depend on the modules you are currently licensed for at the time of the changes. Also, none of these changes will affect your protected list price for your maintenance plan. If you have any questions about the changes be sure to check with your Microsoft Partner. As additional information becomes available I will attempt to post the information here.

Initial thoughts on Dynamics GP 2010

I have had an opportunity to take a look at Dynamics GP 2010 (aka Dynamics GP 11). The actual release is scheduled for May 2010. I have only spent a few hours looking around and I have not had an opportunity to load Sharepoint 2010 yet, so I have not been able to play with the new dashboard features.

There are some nice new features; such as, consolidating multiple budgets, budget transactions and the ability to exclude inactive records from lookup lists. I would have to say the number one feature is the ability to use Microsoft Word 2007 to print and email invoices, packing slips, orders and purchase orders. There are several templates that ship with the software and you can also modify them or create new ones. I am sure this is a features many long time users will really appreciate. I know we all love Dynamics GP Report Writer, but if you can use Word and even email the forms I guess I will give up the Report Writer.

I am looking forward to getting a look at Management Reporter. This is the new financial statement report designer that will be replacing FRx. I did get an initial look at Management Reporter last year when it was part of Performance Point and I certainly liked the new interface. Also Management Reporter will be able to run 64 bit, so I am sure many IT departments will like that. Hopefully the beta of Management Reporter will be able soon.

I am going to continue working with GP 2010 and will let you know soon what other features will be coming.