It is time to head to Atlanta

Convergence 2010 is upon us. This should be a great year in Atlanta, especially for Dynamics GP customers. This will be the official launch of Dynamics GP 2010. I hope that you will be there. I will try to post some blogs during the conference with news and updates. Everything kicks off Saturday with the Welcome Reception and then keynotes on Sunday morning.

Stayed tuned for updates directly from Atlanta.

Lookup Windows in GP 2010

As I have been going through the beta release of GP 2010 I have been trying to come up with business examples for the new features. One of the features I looked at was the addition of a default view in the lookup windows. The following explanation if from the What's New documentation.
Lookups
You can define and save a default lookup view for your master records by selecting the Set as Default View option from the View menu or using the right-click menu in the lookup window. The default view you select will be the view displayed when you open the lookup window the next time.
So how can I use this?
I am a salesperson and I enter orders for my customers in Sales Order Entry. I would be easier if the customer lookup only displayed my customers. In the past, I used VBA to set this type of view, but with the release of GP 2010, I will be able to set a default view.

First, I create a favorite in Smartlist.

Second, you select the favorite in the Customer Lookup window.

Finally, you set the favorite as the Default View.

This setting is by user and it will remain as the default until you select another default view.

This new feature works with all master record lookups. Users will now be able to advantage of their Smartlist favorites in their lookup windows.

Gaps in Management Reporter

As you are probably aware of by now, Management Reporter is replacing FRx Reporter with the release of Dynamics GP 2010. Many users have looked forward to this release for a while, but unfortunately not everyone is going to be able to immediately move to Management Reporter. There are some features of FRx Reporter that have not yet made it into this release of Management Reporter. Here are some of the gaps that have been identified.

• Currency Translation (this will be available for Management Reporter in the GP 2010 Feature Pack, but that will probably not be available for about a year)
• Forecaster Integration (this might also be in the Feature Pack, but in the short term you could use the transfer tool to move Forecaster data into the GL)
• 
  
  Row Linking
  • You can use dimension sets to handle exceptions that cannot be accommodated by using ranges and wildcards.
  • You can also create multiple dimension links in a single row format. This method works for consolidations and situations in which row definitions are similar and dimension codes are different.
• 
  
  WebPort
  • You must have a Management Report client to view the reports. The option would be to print the report to Excel
• 
  
  Email
  • Again you would need to run reports to Excel and attach files to email.
• Report Manager – the Report Library of Management Reporter will allow external files, but it is a manual process.

If these are areas you are currently using in FRx Reporting you need to consider your alternatives before moving to Management Reporter. Overall Management Reporter looks to be very strong and easy to use. FRx users will be able to quickly create reports and they will certainly see an improvement in performance.

Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade to Dynamics GP 2010

10 – Upgrades are Easy: Proven by beta customers going live

9 – Leverage Other Technologies: 64 Bit (especially Management Reporter) Workflow on Windows Sharepoint Foundation (the free version)

8 – Integrate Systems Better: Improved Web Services

7 – Connect Easier with People: Using Office Communicator

6 – Create mini applications: Using the new features of Extender

5 – Tailor Your List Pages: Navigation List Builder (extended feature of SmartList Builder)

4 – Create Professional External Documents: Using the new Word forms

3 – Work with over 90 Build in SRS Reports:

2 – Get More Out of Excel: Using new features of Excel Report Builder

1 – Better Insight: Dashboards and KPI's with Drill Back

A first look at Management Reporter

As you probably know by now, Management Reporter is replacing FRx Reporting with the upcoming release of Dynamics GP 2010. I have heard concern from a lot of customers and consultants, because they know FRx and are worried about having to learn a new product.

I have finally had a chance to look at a beta copy of Management Reporter and it looks like it will be a great solution. Needless to say I cannot cover all of the features and benefits of Management Reporting in this short article, but I do want to cover a few of them.

First, it still uses the building blocks we have grown used to using in FRx. Rows, Columns and Trees.


You may also notice from the screen shot that the interface is very different from FRx.  The interface is very similar to Outlook and Dynamics GP.


The new interface includes both navigation panes and toolbars.


One item that is nice to see is "Undo/redo". 




The row definition window looks very familar and includes the same information we are used to entering in FRx.

Here is an example of the Column Definition window.

The Report Catalog from FRx has been replaced by the Report Definition.  It is simply a change in the name as the information and fields are very similar to the Report Catalog.


Some of the other new features with Management Reporter are:

• Column Page Breaks
• Ability to insert graphics into headers and footers
• Report Libary - a centralized storage facilityor your published reports

The first thing our consultants wanted to know was, "Will Management Reporter run on a 64 bit system?"  The answer is YES!!!!  Management Reporter is developed using the Microsoft .NET Framework and C# for native 64-bit support.

Management Reporter also is designed around a multi-tiered architecture with server-side processing.  This will allow the users to generate and process reports using server resources to dramatically improve performance and free up workstation resources while reports are processing.

I have only spent a short time looking at Management Reporter, but I am impressed by what I have seen.  I believe customers and consultants are going to be happy with the new solution.

Sales Order Entry Solution for Dynamics GP

You use Dynamics GP and it is your job to enter Quotes, Order and Invoices, but after using Sales Order Processing you are sure there must be a better way. The search features for finding customers and items are limited. You have to open up several windows to see historical orders and invoices. You need additional software if you accept credits cards or have matrix inventory. It just seems the SOP is not as user friendly as it could be.

Well there is a solution available to answer your concerns with SOP and it even helps with POP, Inventory and Reporting. The solution is SalesPad. It is available from SalesPad Solutions, LLC.

There are too many features in SalesPad to discuss them all here, but I wanted to discuss a few.
First is the Customer Card. This is a one stop solution for your customer service department. They can see all information about the customer, including addresses, notes, A/R, item history, sales documents and open sales documents. They can also create and see user defined fields, special pricing and recurring sales information.

Second is the Order Entry window. You can access the Order Entry window directly from the Customer Card. The Order Entry window shows all of the header information as well as all of the line items. You can even lookup items and bring multiple items onto the order with one click of the mouse. You also have a visual cue (red line) is the line item is out of stock. You can generate a purchase order directly from the sales order.

These are just a few of the many features in SalesPad. Other features include Workflow, Credit Card Processing, Special Pricing, Matrix Inventory, Sales Analysis Reporting, User Defined Fields, Counter Sales and many, many more.
If you would like to see a demo of SalesPad or would like additional information just drop me an email.
In the near future I will post online demos of SalesPad.

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