Microsoft Dynamics GP is new name for Microsoft Great Plains and first wave of former Microsoft Project Green. You probably have the impression that Microsoft is leveraging all the set of its technologies: .Net, MS SQL Server, Sharepoint, Visual Studio, Active Directory, MS Exchange, XML Web Services. The fact that Microsoft has several ERPs: Microsoft Great Plains / Dynamics GP, Microsoft Navision / Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Axapta / Dynamics AX, Microsoft Solomon / Dynamics SL, Microsoft CRM / Dynamics CRM makes the Project Green realization direction to turn to the thin client interface as the bridge between database structures of ERP solutions. Business Portal realizes this strategy. Microsoft idea goes deeper, but the format of small article dictates the rules of genre.

• From Reporting & Analysis to Transactions Entry. Microsoft has wisdom and ability to launch technical solution not as a technical solution itself, but also as a probe to be the future market guide. Look at eConnect, primarily created for eCommerce developers to connect to Great Plains objects – Customer, Sales Order, Invoice. Now eConnect is the middle connection level for Dynamics GP, Integration Manager and Business Portal. Initial idea of classical (non Microsoft) Business Portal of 1990th was primarily reporting and analytics. When Microsoft released MS CRM as Web Interface – the idea to move transactions to the web became popular

• From Analysis to Workflow. The idea of Microsoft as we see it is to make it invisible for the user to judge – where is say, Microsoft CRM, Business Portal or where is Sharepoint. Sharepoint is the platform for workflow and document management, and being integrated into Business Portal it can compete with traditional workflow management tools, such as IBM Lotus Notes Domino.

• Human Resources. Probably, if you are customer – you don’t want to pay full price for concurrent user license – if the user is your manufacturing or service employee, in this case you should purchase relatively inexpensive Business Portal user license and utilize employee self service.

• eOrder fate. eOrder was legacy IIS product and it will be rewritten in .Net web services platform.

• Screenshots. If you read this article at albaspectrum website you should see screenshots, otherwise please contact us for details

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