Custom Programming Projects for Dynamics GP via Sure Step

Sure Step doesn’t really recommend Enterprise type for GP, however in our opinion, if you clearly see modification requirements in Diagnostic or Analysis phases – simply think about either Enterprise or Standard.  The reason why you may decide on Enterprise – custom software development of the magnitude over 150 hours might mean that you are dealing with large corporation with numerous offices and locations, including international facilities (assuming that GP is localized for the countries, where foreign subsidiaries are located, or you plan to do consolidated financial reporting, where data is exported from non-Microsoft Dynamics foreign ERP applications).  We recommend you to use FRD, Fit Gap Worksheet and Solution Blueprint document creation to structure your project management.  Then see, if you can place this document as the base for to go to further details in Functional Design Document Gaps (where customization is required) and engage Dexterity programmer or technical consultant to create Technical Design Document (TDD), where you expect to see final details, including Dexterity model forms, reports and tables.  If you plan to use other customization tools, such as eConnect, MS Visual Studio Libraries, Extender, Modifier with VBA – this is your decision and we assume that you have reasonable expertise and experience handling Great Plains customization projects:

1. Test Environment.  Through our fifteen years old GP consulting practice, we realized that software development project for Corporate ERP application requires modeling and running testing scripts and procedures against the copy of your production data.  Modified logic is often data dependent, and it is not perfect idea to test and debug Dexterity Sanscript code against Lesson Company (TWO database).  And also, we recommend you to create completely independent installation, including its own GP system database Dynamics, as customized business logic often needs to include such areas as Security, Users, Currencies, etc. (these entities are defined in the system database, and if you use your production environment with just Test company added and restored from production company backup – there might be the chance to compromise system database integrity)

2. Agile Project Type.  We saw numerous projects, typically associated with large customer, where IT, Controller or CEO do not have established business processes, which could fit to typical or better say generic ERP, MRP and Accounting application.  In this situation we recommend you to select Agile as the project type.  Agile project allows you to have numerous circles with Analysis, Design and Development phases and only proven custom business logic comes into Deployment phase (where the Deployment phase doesn’t necessary happen after each of the circle, as project team might decide that the cycle produced the results, that could not be deployed, but rather used in the following cycle as lesson learned).  Please, be a bit conservative, when you are inclining to declare the project as Agile in international business environment.  Instead we recommend you to get better understanding from your international facility manager on what you are trying to accomplish and why centralized business processes design is preferred.  There might be misleading factors, where Corporate ERP localization might be treated as the reason to announce the project as Agile (in Dynamics GP is not localized in your targeted country, we recommend you to consider another ERP, such as AX, SAP Business One or whatever local ERP market suggests)

3. Customization associated with Version Upgrade.  In Sure Step you have special project type Upgrade, which could be used in version update scenarios.  You may decide to combine SS documents from both Upgrade and Agile/Standard/Enterprise projects to give you complete set of templates to run the project

4. Integration Projects.  We also would like to give you some recommendations on which tool to consider first.  Even such projects as eCommerce integration might be incorrectly recommended to deploy ‘ecommerce add-on’ versus such powerful, user and programmer friendly tool as Integration Manager.  IM should give you pretty much the same integration power as C# or VB.Net eConnect programming (as Integration Manager has eConnect connectors available), plus this tool could be scheduled to provide quasi real time integration (every specified number of minutes).  IM also could be based on Advanced ODBC query to pull data from such cross-platform databases as Oracle, FoxPro, MySQL/PHP/Linux, Text Files (CSV, Tab or custom character delimited), Excel, Pervasive SQL, Ctree, DB2, XML

5. Data Conversions and Migrations.  Here we recommend you to look at the Integration Manager prior to diving into the expensive third party tools, and doing direct SQL Insert statements

6. If you feel that your concerns are not addressed or your question is not answered, please feel free to contact our office.  Support domestically in the USA, Canada, Mexico and internationally.  This option is possible via Web Sessions, Skype or Phone conferences and direct visits onsite (in the case of the large scale project).  Our consulting team speaks English, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Filipino.  Feel free to call us 1-866-304-3265, 1-269-605-4904, or email help@efaru.com