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This
is short article, written in question/answer/FAQ style to give IT
Director/Controller balanced top level information on Microsoft Business
Solutions Great Plains upgrade. If you have Microsoft Great Plains as
main accounting and ERP system you need to know some technical details
on Great Plains version upgrade and what is going on behind the scenes,
which options do you have in case of Dexterity, VBA, SQL customizations,
ctree/Pervasive migration to MS SQL/MSDE. As of right now it is
reasonable to upgrade to Microsoft Great Plains 10.0
Is upgrade required?
Not actually, but you have to consider these factors
-
Technical Support discontinuation
- the old version may not be supported - currently if you are on
version 6.0 - support is already discontinued. You can not have
Microsoft Business Solutions help you, but obviously you have MBS
partners who can still help you. If you are on Ctree or Pervasive
SQL, then your support expires December, 31 2004.
-
Tax Updates/Magnetic media expiration
- if you have US Payroll module and depend on it with W2 and other
forms - you must stay with the version, which is supported and has
tax updates. If you are on Ctree or Pervasive SQL - then you will
not have tax updates for these platforms at the end of 2004 and your
W2s maybe inaccurate. If you have a lot of employees - you may have
issues with government.
-
Following the Technology and Microsoft
rules - Microsoft wants
you to be on the newest platform and provides you the best support
when you follow this rule
-
If you do have heavy customization
- we recommend you to skip
one version, for example if you are on version 7.5 - do not upgrade
to 8.0 and wait for the next version
What is upgrade in the language of
technology? Upgrade has server
and client sides.
-
Server side
- upgrade converts tables from old format to the new one. In
general words - Microsoft Business Solutions developers may change
table structure, append additional fields to add new functionality,
things like that. Upgrade copies the table with changes to
temporary table, then drops original table, recreates it with new
structure and copies all the data from temp table to the newly
created one.
-
Workstation side
- workstation is written in Great Plains Dexterity and has
Dynamics.exe - engine and DYNAMICS.DIC - dictionary. These two plus
all the additional files will be replaced with the new ones. Other
dictionaries, such us REPORTS.DIC and FORMS.DIC should be also
upgraded and upgrade will try to deal with them automatically. In
some cases modified reports (in REPORTS.DIC) could not be upgraded
and need to be recreated in the new version.
What is customization upgrade?
You should consider different types of customizations: Dexterity,
VBA/Modifier, SQL, ReportWriter, Crystal Reports
-
Dexterity Customization
- being very short - Dexterity may have so called Custom Forms -
these do not need upgrade - they should work as is. Then Dexterity
may alter existing Great Plains forms (so-called Alternate Great
Plains forms) - in this case Dexterity customization should be
redone for these forms/screens. Plus additional consideration
should be given to Dexterity triggers, shadow tables, etc.
-
VBA/Modifier customization
- Modifier allows you to modify existing Great Plains windows - it
creates so called modified Great Plains windows, stored in FORMS.DIC.
Usually modification is placing new buttons or fields, which in turn
will be given VBA scripts (stored in DYNAMICS.VBA). VBA scripts may
call something nice, like Crystal Report, or have some data access
logic. Usually the old version of DYNAMICS.VBA workds with the new
version. You may need to rearrange buttons on the modified form.
-
SQL
- you may have some stored procs for data integration, EDI or the
like - if the addressed tables will be changed in the new version
then you need to analyze your SQL code. The good news is -
Microsoft Business Solution doesn't make a lot of changes since
version 7.0, because Microsoft is now trying to merge the products
it owns: Great Plains, Solomon, Navision and Axapta - and so has
different priorities
-
ReportWriter
- MBS doesn't change tables, but it keeps changing Dexterity
formulas used in ReportWriter original reports - this is the problem
in so-called Modified Reports upgrade - usually you have these
reports modified: SOP Blank Invoice form, SOP Blank Picking ticket,
etc. If report can not be upgraded - it should be redone in the
new version with some exceptions.
-
Crystal Reports
- the nice thing about Crystal Report - id doesn't need to be
upgraded (if the fields in the tables exist in the new version -
which is usually true statement)
What is upgrade for third-party modules?
Your Great Plains may have so-called third party modules: Mekorma,
Kampdata, Horyzon, Wennsoft, Avalara, Truepay, Trinity, Intellisol to
name a few
Third
party modules may have their own utility for upgrade. You just need to
know that your third-party is ready for the new Great Plains version -
if not - you just wait and stay on the old version.
What is migration from Ctree/Pervasive.SQL
2000 to MS SQL/MSDE? MBS has
migration tool. You need first to install Great Plains on SQL Server
with exactly the same account/segments structure and then install
migration tool (it is Dexterity chunk) on your ctree/Pervasive
workstation - then, when you integrate the chunk - you will map it to
target SQL-based Great Plains Company, select all system and company
tables, click the button and it will move all your tables one-by-one.
In the case when your Great Plains ctree/Pervasive has third parties -
you need to check if the vendor has migration tool - otherwise you have
to do manual move, use SQL Linked server to your legacy data
Do I need consultant?
It is probably good idea to have consultant to do the upgrade. We
strongly recommend you to use consultant in the following cases
-
You have Dexterity customization
-
You are doing migration from Pervasive/Ctree to Microsoft SQL
Server/MSDE, especially when you have third-parties without
migration tools
-
You have a lot or ReportWriter Modified Great Plains Reports
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You have old version of Great Plains: Dynamics or eEnterprise 6.0 or
prior - in this case you can not appeal to Microsoft Technical
Support - it is discontinued
-
Your Great Plains has more than 20 users and you have to have
upgrade done over the weekend - if it fails - you have business
problems
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You don't have support - in this case you have to select your
Microsoft Business Solutions Partner and pay for the annual
support/enhancement plan - you will get new registration key and
will be ready for the upgrade
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ALBA Partners:
GP Business Portal
Great Plains Accounting
for DOS & Windows
Microsoft CRM
SAP Business One
ALBA Products:
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Posting Server
-
RMS-GP Integration
-
SOP Connector
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More...
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