Opt-In all your Customers

The Great eXtender Transition

To ensure a smooth transition for your customers as eXtender transitions form Microsoft to eOne there are a couple things you need to do. 

Step 1: OPT-IN for your Customers

What does this mean: 

Microsoft have some strange privacy laws that precludes them tell eOne who our own eXtender customers are. To get around this and ensure you customers are current on maintenance and have access to eXtender releases, patches and service packs - you need to tell us who your customers are.

When you OPT-IN you are simply asking Microsoft to tell eOne which of your customers currently use eXtender. Microsoft will tell us who they are, when they purchased and when their annual maintenance plan is due. We will honor the current paid up maintenance period, and issue renewal notices when your customers annual enhancement is coming due.

There are three different ways you can opt in for your customers.

OPT-IN Method 1:  Partners

Send an email to mbsgp@microsoft.com  requesting that you would like to OPT-IN for all your customers.  This will be all you need to do and your transition will be complete.  Below is an example of the email you need to send.

Dear GP Operations team at Microsoft

On behalf of (insert reseller name) with a partner number of (insert partner number) we would like OPT-IN on behalf of all our customers that own the module Microsoft Dynamics GP eXtender.

Please share all the relevant information with eOne to ensure a seamless transition for our customers to eOne.

Best Regards

GP VAR  

OPT-IN Method 2: Partners and Customer

Use this link http://gpoptin.azurewebsites.net/ to opt in for a specific customer. This method is a good option if you only have a few customers  - but I would use Option Number 1 if you have more customers than that.

OPT-IN Method 3:

Pass the details of OPT-IN method 2 on to your customers for them to complete. The better idea is for VAR's to look after this on behalf of their customers.

Step 2: Sign up as an eOne Partner (Save $2000)

The second step in the process is to ensure you are signed up as an eOne reseller. Most active Dynamics GP partners are already resellers of eOne - but if you are one of those that arenot yet signed up then follow this link to complete your resellerdocumentation.

To Learn More about the Process.

eOne is holding a number of Webinars where we will discuss the plans and process around the eXtender transition. In this session we will cover:

1. Why the decision was made?  
2. The Transition Process Step by Step.
3. What it means for customers and Partners.
4. New Features for eXtender 2013.
5. Promotions available during the transition.
6. Pricing and Ordering
7. Paying AEP for eXtender Customers
8. and heaps of time for Q & A.

To sign up for this session please check out the details here.

Job Description

Job Description - eXtender Guru

This role requires someone who knows everything there is to know about Microsoft Dynamics GP eXtender, including instant recall of the names of all the tables eXtender uses. A deep and well rounded knowledge of SmartList Builder, Excel Reports, Excel Report Builder and drill down builder is also a prerequisite.

The right person must also be an experienced trainer, be able to provide top class phone support, be comfortable presenting in front of large audiences, have a will to learn, a can do attitude and attention to detail.  A minimum of 10 years working with Dynamics GP is non negotiable.

Recruiters always tell me that you can never get all the things you want in a single person – you have to find a best fit.  Well I proved them wrong.

I am delighted and excited to welcome Nicole Albertson to the eOne team. 

Tech Tuesday: eXtender 2013 – What’s Coming?

There are a number of new and exciting changes to announce at eOne and you get a two for one in this Tech Tuesday article! First of all, please join us in welcoming Nicole Albertson to the eOne team. Nicole comes to us after 13 ½ years at Microsoft. She is a SmartList Builder and Extender guru as she has been focusing on those products since they were available on the Microsoft price list. Nicole brings with her a wealth of knowledge and we are excited to have her on our team. She will focus on all things Extender and run some of our new training offerings.

Here’s Nicole’s first of many Tech Tuesday articles, which shares the awesome new features in Extender 2013:

 

All features marked with an asterisk are only available in eXtender Enterprise.

1. Solutions

eXtender Resources are now organized into Solutions.

To preserve the integrity of the solution and try to prevent issues when transferring the setups between companies, you will only be able to import and export an entire solution.

You will be able to share resources between solutions using the Add To Solution window.  This link the resources together so that any setup change you make on the resource in one solution, will be reflected in the other solution as well.

You will also be able to copy resources from one solution to another and then customize them in each solution individually.

2. Improved User Interface

The processes involved in setting up a window or form is now a lot simpler.

To add a field to a window or form, select the position that you want to add a field (which is indicated by a red border) and click Add Field or Add Calc.

All of the field options that you need to set up the field are displayed on the dialog window. There is no longer a need to go to separate options windows for each field.

Moving fields is now done directly on the main window with Move Up and Move Down buttons for Windows and Move Up, Down, Left and Right buttons for Forms.

Fields can be made required by selecting the field and selecting the Required button. When a field is required, it is displayed in Bold. Fields can similarly be made hidden with the Hide button. Hidden fields are displayed in grey.

3. Default keys

The Key fields will now default on eXtender Windows for some of the common Microsoft Dynamics GP windows.

Keys default for the following windows:

·         Customer Maintenance

·         Customer Inquiry

·         Customer Address

·         SOP Entry (header and lines)

·         SOP Inquiry (header and lines)

·         Vendor Maintenance

·         Vendor Summary

·         Vendor Address

·         Item Maintenance

·         Item Inquiry

·         Employee Maintenance

·         Employee Summary

·         Employee Inquiry

·         Position Maintenance

·         Department Maintenance

·         Batch Entry

·         Checkbook Maintenance

·         Account Maintenance

·         Unit Account Maintenance

·         Variable Allocation Account Maintenance

·         Account Summary

·         GL Transaction Entry

·         Budget Maintenance

·         Salesperson Maintenance

·         Sales Territory Maintenance

·         Inventory Transaction Entry (header and lines)

·         Inventory Transaction Inquiry (header and lines)

·         Inventory Transfer Entry (header and lines)

·         Sales Transaction Entry

·         Sales Transaction Inquiry

·         Payables Transaction Entry

·         Payables Transaction Inquiry

·         PO Entry (header and lines)

More defaults and other dictionaries (Field Service, Project Accounting, Manufacturing, Fixed Assets) will be added in later versions.

4. Adding lists and note types

This feature allows users to add list items and note types by entering a comma or carriage return delimited list.

When you click on the Add button to add a list item or note type, you will get the following screen:

You can enter the values directly or cut and paste lists from other applications such as Excel. The values are parsed into a list of items.

5. Detail grids are now options on Windows and Forms

There is no longer a separate concept for Detail Forms and Detail Windows. There is now just an option to add a detail grid to a form or window.

During the upgrade process, all existing detail windows and forms will be recreated as windows and forms and will then use the scrolling grid option.

6. New actions*

To reduce the amount of code that is required, new actions have been created to replace common coding scenarios:

·         Open eXtender Form – opens any eXtender form

·         Close eXtender Form – closes the current form or window

·         Open Dynamics GP Form – opens any Dynamics GP form

·         Open SmartList – opens any SmartList

·         Set Field Values – sets multiple field values on a form

·         Display dialog – displays a prompt and up to 3 buttons, clicking on any of the buttons can trigger another action.

·         Run macro – runs a Dynamics GP macro

More action types will be added in later versions, including Run SmartConnect map.

 

7. More trigger points for actions*

Actions can now be triggered from:

·         Field change

·         Field entry

·         Field exit

·         Open form

·         Open window

·         Print

·         Save record

·         Delete record

·         Window menus

·         Right-click menu

·         New buttons on form toolbars (web-client only)

All of these options are available on eXtender and Dynamics GP forms and field values can be read from eXtender or Dynamics GP windows to pass as parameters to the actions.

8. Improved scripting*

The enter script windows (Enter Dynamics GP script and Enter SQL script) have been simplified to work the same way that the Enter Calculated Field window works. A list of fields can be double-clicked to add to the script. In the background, parameters are automatically created and at runtime, those parameters are read and replaced in the script.

 

Have questions or comments on the new features? Want to share your excitement? Feel like welcoming Nicole to the team? Email extender@eonesolutions.com

 

 

Tech Tuesday - SmartList and SmartConnect

In this article we are going to take a look at a unique data source for SmartConnect, SmartList. Using SmartConnect a user can pull open a list or favorite and run a map right from the SmartList window.

There are a couple things that need to be setup in order for this to run. First, the SmartConnect web service needs to be installed in the environment and its URL needs to be entered in the SmartConnect setup window. Second, the SmartConnect GP components (the dictionary) needs to be installed on the GP client machine the user will want to run the SmartList map from.

Once that setup is done and configured we can setup any maps that are needed and run any maps that are already setup directly from the SmartList window. To set up a map you will want to pull up the list or favorite we want to use as a data source and hit the Additional -> Create/Update List option. This will add the list to SmartConnect to be used as a data source. When you go into SmartConnect you can set up the Bulk Data Source -> SmartList data source type and you should see any lists in there you added and create a map based off of it.

Once the map setup is complete users can run the map using the Additional -> SmartConnect Run menu item when they have the correct list open. Now, SmartList based maps can only be run from the SmartList window when the user opens the list and it populates with data. It cannot be run from inside the SmartConnect interface as we haven't pulled the actual data out of the list and into SmartConnect, we just use the data that SmartList pulls back on the screen when we run it from inside of GP.

The great thing about this data source is we can do all the filtering needed through their favorites or restrictions (or lists built with SmartList Builder) and then just run the map to complete the action required. A good example of this is using a list to pull back customers over their credit limit and then running the map right from there to set all their statuses to hold. There are many other examples similar to this one that can simplify tasks trigger off workflow type processes in this manner.