Microsoft Great Plains - Payroll & HR Inexpensive Solution? Not Any More

Microsoft Great Plains is main Microsoft Business Solutions accounting package for the US market. You should probably expect some issues when you have software development company to be bought by big player - in this case Great Plains Software was bought by Microsoft (Bill Gates was a friend to Doug Burgum - owner and leader of Great Plains Software - Great Plains Dynamics/eEnterprise). We certainly have some influence level in Microsoft Business Solutions, but what happened is out of our decision level and this is really sad story.

OK. Let's go to the story itself. Imagine - you are small company who serves to your clients as payroll/Humane Resources outsourcer. Old-days Great Plains Dynamics on Ctree or Pervasive SQL/Btrieve was excellent and inexpensive solution. You could have all your clients need installed on your home computer somewhere in Southern States, enjoying the sun and the niceties of California for k$2 per year with Great Plains software list price of around k$10 with unlimited number of Payroll/HR employees

Now - you have sudden hurricane - over Florida - somebody who is in charge in Microsoft - but really without clear understanding on what is in stake - this person needs to retune the cheap Great Plains version. Good - now you have Small Business Manager with restriction on employee count, then you have so-called Great Plains Standard which is available on MSDE and MS SQL Server 2000 - it caps you at 500 employees and ... - as a result of this decision - you can't conduct your business with Microsoft Business Solutions any more.

We have multiple examples of our customers who had to switch to Accpac, Adapta Soft and other cheap vendors of Payroll HR versions without limitation on the number of employees. We do certainly respect the right of Microsoft to compete with Oracle, SAP and PeopleSoft - but what is going on is probably non-planned and side effect of the solution which was made too soon. Of course the need to finish the contract with Pervasive software was a good idea - but cutting your small loyal customers - we actually doubt this

Happy implementing! if you want us to do the job - give us a call!

About The Author

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, Seattle, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and Miami and having locations in multiple states and internationally (www.albaspectrum.com), he is Dexterity, SQL, VB/C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer.

Happy implementing! if you want us to do the job - give us a call! 1-866-528-0577

akarasev@albaspectrum.com

In The News:

pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Integrating Microsoft Great Plains Accounting/ERP: RMS, CRM, eCommerce, Lotus Domino ? overview

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has substantial market share among... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains in Construction & Building ? Implementation & Customization Highlights

Microsoft Great Plains could be tuned and setup to fit... Read More

6 Easy Steps for a Smoother CD/DVD Order

It's all about turn times in the eMedia industry! The... Read More

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

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

Protect Your Most Vital Business Asset with Security Software

Homeland security, airport security, Internet security â?" these days weâ??re... Read More

Is Your Family Protected?

When you think... Read More

Internet Security Threats: Who Can Read Your Email?

Before being able to choose a secure Internet communication system,... Read More

Microsoft CRM Data Conversion FAQ

Microsoft Business Solutions CRM data conversion deserves FAQ type of... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Installation ? Overview for IT Director/Controller

Microsoft Great Plains is main mid-market application from Microsoft Business... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation & Customization: Computer Parts Retailer Example

Microsoft Great Plains fits to majority of horizontals and retail... Read More

Crystal Reports - Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server is the leader for inexpensive and middle... Read More

Linux Dual Boot-How To Format

Just the thought of a duel-boot scares many people away,... Read More

Call Alert Notifications - Free Answering Machine Software for PCs

If you're online using a dialup Internet connection, you'll probably... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains IV: Inventory Management

Great Plains Inventory Management (IV) module gives your business a... Read More

Great Plains Dexterity Programming ? Overview For Developer

Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular,... Read More

C++ Tutorials: 3, Program Flow (If, Else, While, For)

Program Flow is what you think it is. How the... Read More

Linux ? Keyboard Or Mouse

Just stress testing one of the latest Linux distributions. Been... Read More

MCP Market News: Microsoft SQL Server & SQL Reporting Services

Are you ready? SQL Server 2005, the next-generation data management... Read More

Software Piracy

SOFTWARE PIRACY We regularly hear reports... Read More

Will Adobe Manage to Replace Industry Work Horse Quark Express by Giving Adobe InDesign for Free?

And kill the best layout software in the process of... Read More

Create A Flash Presentation For Free With Open Office

The intentions of this short tutorial are not to teach... Read More

How To Identify, Cure and Prevent Spyware/Adware Infections

Just when you thought you were Web savvy, one more... Read More

Data Quality Best Practices for Salesforce.com

Executive SummaryAn effective plan for entering, cleaning and updating the... Read More

EDI: Electronic Document Interchange for Microsoft Great Plains ? Overview for Software Developer/Pr

Microsoft Great Plains - Microsoft Business Solutions accounting and ERP... Read More

RSS: Get Notified When Your Favorite Websites Are Updated

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

Software Development in 2005 - Back to the Future

2005 ? Back to the Future.What does the future hold?... Read More

Know-how in Microsoft Publisher

For those who still don't know, Microsoft Publisher helps computer... Read More

25 Things Mapping Software Can Do For You

1. With mapping software you can create a report that... Read More

10 Programming Tips

(1) Avoid using the same variable again and again for... Read More

Spyware: What It Is and How to Combat It

Spyware is software or hardware installed on a computer without... Read More

How to Choose the BEST Charting Software

I suggest that you do not spend a lot of... Read More

Microsoft Update - 5 Reasons to Update Service Pack 2

Microsoft released Service Pack 2 (SP2) for the Windows XP... Read More

5 Time-Saving Tips in Microsoft Word

Whether you have used Microsoft Word for years, have just... Read More