| |
| |
|
|
Software Information |
|
|
|
Microsoft RMS - Great Plains Integration - Overview For IT Specialist
Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft Retail Management System (Microsoft RMS) are getting new market share due to the Microsoft strong marketing campaign. Both products: Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft RMS are coming from the same Microsoft subdivision - Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS), however due to the fact that both products were bought by Microsoft from different vendors, the integration between the two is not an easy thing. At this time MBS has RMS integration on the General Ledger and Purchase Order level into Great Plains out of the box. This integration has some advancements in comparison to old product: QuickSell, but it is still GL and PO only. We do understand the need for midsize and large retail companies, structured as clubs and selling on account to their members to have more adequate integration when you can synchronize your Sales information and have robust Great Plains reporting. There is the product on the market, which is integration on the Receivables Management level from RMS to Great Plains, written by Daniel Sionov and Andrew Karasev and maintained by the alliance between LightEdge Solutions (www.lightedge.com) and Alba Spectrum Technologies (www.albaspectrum.com). In Alba Spectrum Technologies we actually do coding and product tuning for specific client needs. If you are developer you can end up with your own custom solution, we would like to give you directions. 1. Great Plains Integration Manager - if the sales volume is very low, say 100 transactions per day - then you can do data export from RMS and import it into Great Plains via Integration Manager. This is rather end-user tool - it is very intuitive, it validates 100% of business logic, brings in/updates master records (accounts, employees, customers, vendors. etc.) brings in transactions into work tables. The limitation of Integration Manager - it does use GP windows behind the scenes without showing them - so it is relatively slow - you can bring 100 records - but when you are talking about thousands - it is not a good option. By the way you can program Integration Manager with VBA. 2. eConnect - You can create VB.Net application which will be pulling info from RMS and then uses eConnect to move it to Great Plains. eConnect is kind of Software Development Kit with samples in VB.Net. Obviously the development environment should be Visual Studio.Net. eConnect will allow you to integrate master records - such as new customers, vendors, employees, etc., plus you can bring transactions into so called Great Plains work tables (eConnect doesn't allow you to bring open or historical records - you need to post work records in Great Plains, the same limitation applies to Integration Manager above) eConnect is rather for ongoing integration. It was initially created for eCommerce application integration to Great Plains. 3. SQL Stored Procedures. The product we've mentioned above is collection of stored procs. Obviously you have unlimited control and possibilities with SQL queries. You need to know Retail Management System Headquarters and Great Plains tables structure and data flow. Launch Great Plains and go to Tools->Resource Description->Tables. Find the table in the proper series. If you are looking for the customers - it should be RM00101 - customer master file. If you need historical Sales Order Processing documents - they are in SOP30200 - Sales History Header file, etc. Do not change existing tables - do not create new fields, etc. Also you need to realize that each GP table has DEX_ROW_ID - identity column. Sometimes it is good idea to use inbound/outbound XML in the parameters - then you can deploy web service as a middle party between two systems. RMS tables structure is self explanatory. 4. Data Transformation Services (DTS) - Good tool for importing your third party data into staging tables in GP - then you can pull them in using either stored procs of Integration Manager. You can also deploy this tool for EDI export/import. 5. Great Plains Dexterity Custom Screens. You can create the window, which will have integration settings in it - RMS store ID matching GP Company database, etc. Sometimes users prefer to have seamlessly integrated into GP interface custom screens - for parameters settings and initiating integration. Dexterity is a good option, however remember - it is always better to create new custom screen versus customizing existing one - due to the future upgrade issues. Also - Dexterity is in phasing our by Microsoft Business Solutions. 6. Modifier/VBA custom buttons on the existing screens - alternative to Dexterity is you are comfortable with VBA and ADO. Happy integrating! if you want us to do the job or use our product - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com 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, San Diego, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, New York, 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.
MORE RESOURCES:
Software - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
OEComplete - A Personal Information Manager OEComplete is a utility for managing the personal information of the user. It is designed to be flexible and affordable even for the home user. Recent Studies Show that 9 out of 10 PCs Are Infected with Spyware Spyware and malware are large problems for Internet users today and can be both annoying and a real threat to you and your computer. There exist a number of different spy and malware of which some are relatively friendly and only spies on your surfing habits, while others like the Trojans can be used to corrupt your hard drive or steal your usernames and passwords. MySQL for Beginners - How to Create a MySQL Database Whether you are an experienced web programmer or a complete novice attempting to provide data interactivity with your web site, MyQSL is an easy to use and free database solution that can allow you to store and configure data to be displayed on your web site.The best way to create and manage a MySQL database is to download an open source (free) program called PhpMyAdmin. COSMIC: A Small Improvement on the Symons Method The COSMIC FP (function point) software quality metric, is no longer 'proposed' but an actual system in use and internationally recognised, whereas MarkII, like other older systems, is not recognised anywhere, and, even in the UK is in decline if not actually dormant, so this debate is already over.Historically, from my limited understanding of the situation, it seems that originally there were upwards of 35 variants of function point style metrics until the ISO developed criteria for a acceptable solution, ISO 14143: Parts 1 to 5 (1995-2002):The COSMIC group reviewed existing functional size measurement methods, namely the work done in the late 80's by Charles Symons in the UK. IT Department Skills to Support Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft CRM Microsoft Great Plains as ERP and Microsoft CRM as Client Relation Management system is very robust combination and could serve midsize to large corporation as Business System. Being VP IT or IT Director you need to foresee the positions to have in your IT department to do internal MS Great Plains and MS CRM support. SQL Administrator Skills Required to Support Microsoft Great Plains Microsoft Great Plains is becoming more and more popular and we see new purchases among midsize and large corporations, where, in our opinion, Microsoft SQL Server DB administrator position is a must. If you are database administrator and you are part of the decision making team, purchasing Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains for your corporation, we would like to set your expectation on the level of SQL knowledge, skills and experience needed to support Microsoft Great Plains in-house? Data querying. Microsoft Great Plains Upgrade - Things to Consider and FAQ If you have Microsoft Great Plains and support it for your company then you need to know some technical details about Great Plains version upgrade and what is going on behind the scenes, which options do you have in case of Dexterity, VBA, SQL customization, additional complexity comes with migration from ctree/Pervasive to MS SQL/MSDE.What is upgrade in the language of technology? Upgrade has server and client sides. How To Create A Data Capture Procedure Checklist For Your Small Business CRM Software Fortunately one of the most common reasons cited for the high failure rate of CRM systems - poor data quality - is also one of the easiest to avoid. Your CRM software is only as good as the information it contains. A Simple Computer Software Definition What is Software?Software is a set of instruction written to interface between man and machine.Who writes this instructions?Programmers writes this instructions. OSI Layers Model IntroductionDuring the early years of our modern computer era, very few standards and protocols existed between various manufacturers. However, as time went on and computer technology continued to improve and become more widespread, it became apparent that standards would be necessary to ensure compatibility. Great Plains Dexterity: Customizations & Source Code Programming Great Plains Software Dynamics, Dynamics C/S+, eEnterprise were written on GPS proprietary programming language and development environment - Great Plains Dexterity. When Microsoft bought Great Plains Software, Dynamics was renamed into Microsoft Great Plains, but Dexterity is still the architectural base, there were trends to move MS Great Plains to . Free Preventive Maintenance Software While several preventive maintenance software manufacturers offer free trials for their products before charging a fee, some companies offer their products for free. Free preventive maintenance software is rare, and is sometimes less thorough than software that must be purchased, but it can be a good solution for a new or struggling business. Crystal Reports For Microsoft RMS - Overview For Developer/Report Designer If you are software developer or database administrator - we would like to give you the clues on Crystal Report creation for Microsoft RMS Database: Microsoft SQL Server or MSDE - this means that you can deploy native SQL driver for connection or use ODBC for flexibility. Tables Structure - it is extremely self-explanatory: Customer, Transaction (invoices, returns, layaways and others), TransactionAmount, Cashier, Tender to give you examples Links - Usually master table has ID column and Transaction-related table links by [Entity]ID column: Transaction. Secure File Transfer Using SSH Plus Additional Audit & Automation - FSA Reporting In order to meet regulatory and corporate compliance requirements reporting members will require a cost effective solution that may be installed at one side of the data transfer without being tied to any proprietary protocol.Considerations include:- is it designed for use in most enterprise environments?- is it flexible & adaptable to suit an unlimited range of needs for secure file transfer internally and externally? Functionality and benefits should include:+ can easily be adapted+ Automatic transfer to single or multiple destinations of any file. Computer Based Language Development and Spell-checking Language development computer: Computer-based method for aiding language development seems like an interesting idea, the trick with this would be in getting the computer to take on part of the role of the human in the checking process.In all computer aided learning applications aimed at the very young, there is a danger that the computer may be seen as a replacement for a human instructor, however computer are notorious for not volunteering information or inability to deal with erratic behaviour. Microsoft CRM Custom Design & Development: SDK, C#, SQL, Exchange, Integration, Crystal Reports Microsoft CRM is new player on the CRM software market. The whole conception behind CRM seems to be different. Corporate ERP: Standard vs. Rich functionality - Microsoft Great Plains Traditionally we were considering functionally rich systems, such as SAP, Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft, JDEdwards as the fit for large publicly traded corporation. There might be multiple opinions for the future corporate ERP/MRP systems. Antivirus Software - Get The Bugs Before They Get You! You turn on your computer, and it doesn't look quite right. Maybe your icons have changed, or the background picture is wrong. The Secret of the Layer Styles Dialogue When you double-click a layer in the Layer Palette, you will access the Layer Style dialogue box. Here, you can set many eye-catching layer styles such as Bevel & Emboss, Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow, etc. Software Piracy SOFTWARE PIRACY We regularly hear reports about the cost to the software industry of software piracy, but are the claims to be taken at face value? Statistics are notoriously biased towards what the author is trying to say. Types of Software: There are three basic types of software, although these do have their own subsections, as will be discussed later: 1.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
