Microsoft Great Plains version 8.5: Upgrade, Customization, VBA, Crystal Reports - Highlights

Microsoft Great Plains is one of the Microsoft Business Solutions family ERP products: Great Plains, Navision, Axapta, Solomon, Small Business Manager. MBS also has Microsoft CRM - Client Relation Management software and Microsoft Retail Management System (Microsoft RMS)

Microsoft Great Plains 8.5 is scheduled to be released in the second quarter of 2005. It is usual practice when you here announcements and then you are notified about software release delays. Expect first the version to be released for US market and then you can expect Spanish and Canadian French version. Satellites or third parties are usually released in the following six month period.

From our Microsoft Business Solutions insiders we could give you the rumors we have heard

? Version 8.5 seems to be rather a big service pack to version 8.0. Let me give you some historical review. Microsoft Great Plains Dynamics of version 7.0 was merged with Microsoft Great Plains Dynamics and this was basically a foundation of Microsoft Great Plains version 7.5

? Microsoft Great Plains version 7.5 was the last version for legacy database platforms: Pervasive SQL 2000 and Ctree. Version 8.0 and higher are available on MS SQL Server and MSDE only

? Microsoft bought a product from eOne Solutions (in Australia) called SmartList Builder. This new feature allows users to create their own SmartList without being limited to the available "folders" on the standard SmartList's left panel. We have yet to know more about this but the consultants in Australia are really enthusiastic about this.

Upgrade expectations.

? As our experience indicates - Microsoft is working on the ERP application migration (Project Green). This means that MBS is rather concerned on it's ERP applications modules interoperability - consider the strong point of Navision - Manufacturing module should somehow communicate and seamlessly work with GL platform - more likely Great Plains financials - Great Plains systems manager and general ledger. So, and again this is our personal opinion - MBS is not bringing a lot of new ERP functionality into Great plains version 8.5, but rather standardizes it's interface.

? Great Plains and Microsoft Windows. Some of the former bugs were related to Pervasive SQL and Ctree platform and plus Windows 2000 Pro bugs, especially from FRx side. Now Microsoft stakes on Microsoft SQL Server/MSDE only, so you should have more trust in released 8.5 CD. Customization Upgrade and Expectations

? Microsoft Great Plains 8.5 is Microsoft Great Plains Dexterity based application, so your customization should be upgradeable, feel free to call us if you have concerns.

? Microsoft VBA/Modifier - should be available for 8.5 - so if you deploy VBA and have modifications to your GP forms (FORMS.DIC) - you should be OK with version 8.5

? Crystal Reports - these are usually based on company DB SQL views or stored proc - so assuming that DB side will have minor changes only - Crystal Report upgrade should be easy.

Good luck in upgrading and if you have issues or concerns ? we are here to help! 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 Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving clients in Chicago, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Georgia, Arizona, Minnesota, UK, Australia and having locations in multiple states and internationally ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), he is CMA, Great Plains Certified Master, Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer. You can contact Andrew: andrewk@albaspectrum.com

---

Microsoft Great Plains RW: Report Writer

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Partner Selection: Overview

Microsoft Great Plains, Navision, Solomon and Axapta are Microsoft Business... Read More

Groove Network. Are you in it?

If you are in a business that passes documents around... Read More

A Simple Guide To Wikis

A wiki is an editable text-based website. But you don't... Read More

Fast Car Knoppix

Small can be beautiful! Working with Knoppix for the past... Read More

Spyware Definitions List

The adware and spyware definitions list is very long. But... Read More

Dreamweaver vs FrontPage

There are two major WYSIWYG(What You See Is What You... Read More

Software Upgrades Arent Always the Best Move

When my daughter was getting into AOL instant messaging (AIM)... Read More

ERP Remote Support: Microsoft Great Plains Analysis ? Pluses & Minuses

Former Great Plains Software Dynamics/eEnterprise and currently Microsoft Business Solutions... Read More

Free PDF Publishing Software

In a previous article, I wrote about OpenOffice... Read More

Who Is Minding Your Sensitive Data?

Stealing company information used to be the specialty of spies... Read More

Spyware Protection: A Must for Any Home Computer

Now that spyware is the single most dangerous threat to... Read More

Microsoft Navision Customization Upgrade ? Tips For Programmer/IT Specialist

Currently Microsoft Business Solutions is on the way of creating... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation for Large Corporation ? Overview for VP IT

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was historically designed to serve... Read More

Free Software for Newbies and Web Developers

Here is some free software tools to help you build... Read More

What is Groupware?

Vince Lombardi once said that, "The achievements of an organization... Read More

Razzle Dazzle Them

Once upon a time not so long ago, there was... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains version 8.5: Upgrade, Customization, VBA, Crystal Reports - Highlights

Microsoft Great Plains is one of the Microsoft Business Solutions... Read More

An Easy Way to Deal with Email Viruses and Worms

If you feel intimidated when someone tries to teach you... Read More

Microsoft Business Solutions VAR/Partner Selection ? Overview for IT Director/Manager/Controller

Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft CRM become more and more... Read More

Beware of The Pirated Software E-Mail Scams!

You have gotten those E_Mails buy software at deep discounts.... Read More

Is Your Small Business Ready For A CRM Software Solution?

I have yet to see a business that, sometimes in... Read More

IT Department Skills to Support Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft CRM

Microsoft Great Plains as ERP and Microsoft CRM as... Read More

RSS: Get Notified When Your Favorite Websites Are Updated

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way for a site... Read More

Managing Stress in the Computer Industry - Five Steps to a Stress-free Life

It would be easy to think, like most people apparently... Read More

Popular Fleet Maintenance Programs

Some companies that are in need of fleet management may... Read More

CROOK: A Methodology for the Refinement of Forward-Error Correction

Table of Contents1) Introduction 2) Related Work 3) Framework 4)... Read More

Screenplay and Script Writing Software

When it comes to screenplay software each screenwriter needs to... Read More

The Death of Windows

I have always regretted how Microsoft price gouges and rips... Read More

How to Tell You Have Spyware, Ad-ware or Viruses

Usually, the easiest way to tell you have spyware is... Read More

Microsoft CRM Integration & Customization: SharePoint Document Gateway

MS CRM is very close to document workflow automation, including... Read More

Understanding XML Server

XML Server can be a Web Server that stores the... Read More

Microsoft CRM: Implementation, Customization, Support ? Consultant Overview

Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is present several years on the... Read More