Microsoft Great Plains: Offshore Customization & Development ? Overview for Consultant

When you visit department stores and see that majority of the apparels are produced in other countries, not US ? you probably do not worry about this fact. About 10 years ago, when Clinton's high tech era was at the inception ? we saw the signs of high tech professionals inflow in the USA from overseas. Nowadays the trend is reversed ? instead of importing high tech people, we are at the beginning of outsourcing to them in their overseas countries the programming workload. In this small article we'll concentrate on the Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains customization specifics: Great Plains Dexterity (IDE and programming language), SQL programming with XML in/out bound, VBA/Modifier/Continuum, Crystal Reports, Web publishing/eCommerce

? Closed/Protected technology. Great Plains Dexterity serious development requires months of formal training and it also requires access to so-called source code (DYNAMICS.DIC with scripts in it ? normally scripts are stripped). This fact imposes restrictions on offshore facility selection. This facility should be located in the country, where Great Plains Software had former development force. To give you more clue ? these are Australia and Philippines. If you are considering India ? we do not know if anyone there has access to source code, at least officially they do not have access, because source code partner program was closed many years ago.

? Coded table names: RM00101, SOP30200 ? to give you example. The reason was ? Dexterity design was based on the multi-database-platform principle. From the development standpoint ? it means that developer should have data fixing experience ? serving real clients either remotely to US or in their local countries

? Customization Upgrade Experience. Great Plains Dexterity allows you to create either custom forms or place modifications to the existing forms (SOP Entry, for example). Placing code to the existing forms requires customization upgrade experience ? these forms should be re-customized when you do upgrade to the newer GP version ? currently version 8.0

? Project Management. Considering the fact that majority of Great Plains users have rather accounting background ? to spec out customization or integration ? project manager should have combination of functional/application and technical consulting experience. This means that project manager should be US-based consultant. In the case when you plan to have project managers offshore ? they should be in the close time zone (Sao Paulo, Brazil ? is good candidate for the place, considering large pool of educated programmers on the market)

Good luck with implementation, customization and integration and if you have issues or concerns ? we are here to help! If you want us to do the job - give us a call 866-528-0577 or 630-961-5918! help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew is Great Plains specialist in Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ) ? Microsoft Great Plains, Navision, Microsoft CRM Partner, serving clients in California, Minnesota, Illinois, Washington, Florida, Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Canada, UK, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Russia

---

Protect Your Computer...and Your Business!

We all take the computer for granted. I mean, all... Read More

Two Reasons to Use Timesheet Software

This short paper will expand on two key reasons to... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Integration with Microsoft Access ? Overview for Developer

... Read More

Configure Windows Indexing Service for Performance

The Windows Indexing Service provides you with the ability to... Read More

SSH (SCP) Send Files from Windows to Your Linux Box

Not all of us have the luxury of working both... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains international implementation ? USA / Mexico ? overview for consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was purchased from Great Plains... Read More

Great Plains Dexterity Programming ? Overview For Developer

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

Microsoft Great Plains: Data Conversion & Migration Scenarios ? Overview for Consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains serves multiple industries in the... Read More

Selecting Corporate ERP: Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains ? Estimation Parameters

As we could imagine, if you are reading this article... Read More

What Stands Behind The Software Description?

With thousands of web pages added to the Net every... Read More

Open Source Concepts: Dual Licensing Explained

We were recently faced with a decision: either to let... Read More

Is Your Computer Sick?

Viruses and spyware usually show up on your computer one... Read More

Microsoft RMS Customization ? PO Items Receiving in Great Plains

Microsoft Retail Management (RMS) and Microsoft Great Plains are retail... Read More

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

Microsoft Great Plains is main Microsoft Business Solutions accounting package... Read More

International Support - Microsoft Great Plains VAR/Partner Selection ? Overview for V.P. IT

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

Corel WordPerfect 7 Macro Programming Example

Case study: A secretary using Corel WordPerfect 7 is often... Read More

Software: What Suits Me?

Almost all new and major brand of PCs come with... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation & Customization: Computer Parts Retailer Example

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

Create A Flash Presentation For Free With Open Office

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

Adware, What Is It?

Adware is a type of Spyware program that displays some... Read More

Microsoft CRM Custom Design & Development: SDK, C#, SQL, Exchange, Integration, Crystal Reports

Microsoft CRM is new player on the CRM software... Read More

Microsoft Blues

With the advent of 'Service Pack 2' for Windows XP... Read More

Did You Ever Want to Completely Erase Everything on Your Computer?

Did you ever want to erase everything on your computer?... Read More

OSI Layers Model

IntroductionDuring the early years of our modern computer era, very... Read More

Choose your Java Wisely

Java has come along a long way. Many would agree... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: Customization Upgrade & Recovery ? Visual Studio VB 6.0

Microsoft Great Plains, former Great Plains Software Dynamics, eEnterprise has... Read More

Rapid Application Development - Is it Really a Need of Today?

Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a software development methodology. In... Read More

Groupware as a Document Manager: Collaboration Series #3

This article is the third of a series of articles... Read More

How To Make Good Use of Spreadsheets

Most computer users use spreadsheets software such as Microsoft Excel... Read More

Programming Language Migration Path

While I was preparing some personal background information for a... Read More

Anti-Spyware Protection ? Holes in the Shining Armor

Looking at all the ads which promise to get rid... Read More

Groupware and Online Collaboration: Collaboration Series #4

This article is the fourth of a series of articles... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: Manufacturing or Bill of Materials - Overview for IT Specialist

Microsoft Great Plains is main Microsoft Business Solutions product, targeted... Read More