The eOne Dynamics GP and CRM Blog

Rude Email non Responders

2012-01-30T16:56:00.000+11:00

If you were talking face to face with a client or a colleague and they asked you a question - which you completely ignored - I think we all agree this would be considered extremely rude.

So - Can you honestly look me in the eye and say that you have never 'forgotten' to respond to an email that deserved or required a response? If this can happen to you then you are a 'rude' email manager.

Now I am not talking about spam or unsolicited emails. They can and should be ignored. I am talking about emails from the people that work in your office, your colleagues, people from your interstate office, about a client, about a problem client, about emails from friends and even family.
Do you have an email management process in place? Do you have a plan on how you manage email communication? You need one, and they can be extremely simple.
A couple of questions/facts that identify an email offender:

1. More than say 2 days emails in your inbox at any one time. If you have 1000 emails there is absolutely no way you know what is in your inbox. You can no longer be sure if you have dealt with each email.

2. Do you read an email and then think I will deal with that later? How can you be 100% sure you get back to responding?

3. Do you use Auto assign functions that move emails to specific folders? e.g. all emails coming to 'support' go into a special folder? I would bet a weeks salary that you rarely look in these folders. What if you were copied on an email that went to support and required direct action from you? You only look in this folder once a week and can not possibly read them all at that point - so this never gets actioned.

4. Do you read your email while you are deeply involved in other tasks? You will forget to respond to an email later on.

I rely very heavily on email to do my job - so getting this right is critical. Living on the bottom side of the world and being 12 hrs removed from most of the people I work with - email management is critical. I am a long way form perfect and if I have ever ignored an email from you I apologize right now - unreservedly! Here are a couple of things than can move you from the Rude to the Polite email category.

1. Your inbox is not a filing cabinet. Treat your inbox as an old fashioned in tray for things that need to be done. If it is in your in tray then it has not been actioned and is a job waiting to be done. Does anyone still have an in tray? I remember in my first job as an accountant this is where all the paperwork requiring processing was placed. Most of that internal paperwork and those incoming letters through regular post have been replaced by email.
2. Use just a few folders to file away useful emails you may need to reference later. I have a file called "Microsoft", another called "Clients", one called Personal and another called "eOne Team". When I read an email there are only a few possible actions available to me.

Read it and Respond Immediately. Then move the original to a folder for reference/or delete it.
If it does not require a response but will be useful later - move it to a folder
Delete it (Junk, unsolicited emails, jokes, any other email that I do not need to reference later.)

3. Close Outlook. Open it only when you want to read email. When you open it:

Sort by Subject first. This lets you see all emails in a chain so you can action only the last message. Then move or delete them as a group.
Quickly delete obvious junk, and unsubscribe to anything you do not need coming to your inbox.
Aim for an empty inbox. You can achieve it and it gives you a great feeling when you fall asleep at night.
Sometimes you can not respond just yet and need to seek info or input from others. This remains in your inbox as an outstanding thing to be done. Like a to do list.

4. Send yourself emails. I do this all the time. I do not keep a 'to do' list but when I think of something that needs to be done - I send myself an email. It is then in my tray so remains as something that needs doing. Emails from myself are no less or more important than things tasks that come in externally. I prioritise in the normal way.

5. Never ignore. It is better to respond saying "I am really busy, and will get to this in 3 weeks" than to ignore it. or "I need some help in answering this - it may take a few weeks".

That's it. Do not over complicate it. Email is a brilliant and an essential tool that must work for you and not against you.

In addition to the above - turn off email on your Smart Phone. No one needs to read email all of the time. You just don't. If it is urgent they will call you - a novel idea! I have a friend who is a CEO of a reasonably sized firm you recently gave his Blackberry away and intentionally purchased a phone with NO email capability. Brilliant. Does he need to read emails when he is at his daughters birthday party, or out for a few drinks with friends after work? No. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who starts reading emails on their phone while you are speaking? Save your emails for those times of the day you set aside for reading emails.

For those of you who work at eOne - there will be some email management audits coming shortly.

Back with an itch

2012-01-18T17:30:00.000+11:00

Camping by a beach for 18 days straight in perfect weather with extended family all around. Does it get any better than that? I was so relaxed I am surprised my heart did not stop! So no apologies for the blogging void - I was having too much fun.

But 2012 is going to be a big year for eOne and I am now burning to get going with big plans. I thought I'd outline a couple of things going on here at eOne.

1. eOne goes CRM 2011: The first thing is that I am now officially a heavy SmartConnect user. We have moved internally to Microsoft CRM and I took on the job of converting all our data, and ongoing integrations using SmartConnect. Firstly I am loving CRM, and I have proven that SmartConnect is as easy to use as I have been telling everyone in my demos. Which is great.

What I have learnt through this process is a bunch of little things I think should change in SC. The dev team were not so excited by all the little feature requests I have logged. I will blog more about the conversion process, the things I learnt and things to watch out for with CRM integrations.

2. New User Interface Coming: SmartConnect is getting a makeover, face lift and transformation. Last year we moved to an entirely standalone version of SmartConnect and decoupled from the GP user interface. This has allowed us to rework the look and feel and how all the components hang together. I am excited about how the user experience will improve with this release. Target date is March. You can imagine that these changes are also leading us be able to expand into other CRM and ERP markets.

3. SmartView Goes Standalone: We had so much fun moving SmartConnect outside of GP, that we are now doing the same thing with SmartView. This is really exciting as it allows you to give all the power of SmartList's to everyone in your organisation - even if they are not GP users. This leads to some really fun stuff like SmartView on other devices like Ipads, Android Pads and windows pads.

4. First SmartConnect User Group Meeting: During convergence 2012 in Houston (March 18th) we will be holding a 2hr user group session. This is a great chance for all our customers (and their partners) to gather together, learn what is new, understand our roadmap, learn form eachother, ask questions of a customer panel, ask questions of our development and consulting teams. The success of this event will lead on to a bigger user group even the following year. You invites will be coming shortly so please be sure to come along and join us.

5. Web client: We are working with Microsoft on the GP12 web client for SLB and eXtender. There is a way to go but this is exciting stuff for us and you as customer/partners. There is a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes. If you ever hear it said that Microsoft are not investing in Dynamics GP you are sorely mislead.

6. New Website/Customer portals/Forums. I am really excited about this. We are changing the way we do business, and becomingng much more open to our customers and partners. All support calls will soon be logged online, and you can get updates from our support crew via the same portal. We are also opening up some interactive forums which we hope will foster more information sharing between our customers/ partners and our development team.

7. Partner Program. We will be releasing information soon aobut changes to our partner programme. Do not get scared these are all positive. We are looking at options to ensure customers and consultants have the best, easiest and fastest ways to get support when they need it.

So that is just a snapshot of what is coming. I am excited about 2012 and we hope to make the lives of our partners and customers easier by continuing to lead the way with great software solutions.

Troubleshooting SmartConnect Data Issues

2011-12-23T11:50:00.000+11:00

Basic Techniques of Troubleshooting SmartConnect Map errors

Today is Tech Christmasand we are going to review couple of ways to troubleshoot a SmartConnect map that is generating errors when it is run. I will start with simple errors and simple troubleshooting techniques.

In this example I have a sample map with sample data which will import vendors into Dynamics GP 2010. After mapping all the fields that I need to populate, I ran the map.

In the progress screen we can see that only 8 out of 10 records were successfully integrated into GP. So what is wrong with 2 other records?

Lets click on the error message and see what is the reason for this issue.

Ok, we can see a standard eConnect error message. Description of the error states that vendor name is empty. I don’t remember having blank vendor name fields in my sample data. I clicked on Fix button at bottom right corner of progress window to have a closer look at the records that failed.

Oh! SmartConnect was right! As usual! I can see that 2 records do have blank fields in VENDNAME column. I can fix this issue “on fly” by manually typing in Vendor names into these empty fields:

Once I finished correcting the vendor names - I want these 2 records to join their mates in the GP company database. I click on the Run button. This will rerun the original map for just these records displayed in the SmartConnect process Errors window – but for the updated data. Now all my vendors were successfully integrated in to GP.

Let’s throw in a twist. What if I don’t want to import them? I just want SmartConnect to skip records with blank vendor names as they are invalid, without throwing errors. My favorite Integration tool can do it easily! Let me show you how.

I open SmartConnect Mapping window and click on Restrictions button. In restrictions window I expand Source Column section to display all my source columns as I’m going to use one of them as a variable in my script. I want to restrict SmartConnect from trying to import records that do not match my criteria.

In this example the restriction will be in English as follows:

If Vendor Name field is empty
skip the record
Otherwise
Try to import the record.

I use VB.NET to write my scripts, but SmartConnect knows C#.NET as well.

On the screenshot in my script I used VendName with _ prefix as it is required by SmartConnect in order to recognize it as a variable. The next time you’ll run the map, SmartConnect will automatically skip these records.

To demonstrate another way of troubleshooting errors I will use a simple map that imports customers into GP. When I try to run the map I get the following error:

The error message gives me a direction in which I should start troubleshooting the map.

My dates that I’m trying to import are in incorrect format. It would be very useful to see the data(xml document) that SmartConnect generates and sends to GP through eConnect. SmartConnect can help us troubleshooting this issue and show the content of xml document.

On the Map Setup screen, I will change the destination to Microsoft Dynamics GP – File and enter a file path for files that SmartConnect will generate in the future.

I ran the map and opened a directory that I specified. Don’t be surprised to find heaps of xml files as the amount of documents will match the amount of records of your data source. When I opened one of xml files, I discovered that CREDIT CARD EXIRATION DATE (CCRDXPDT) has an invalid date format.

Exactly what I thought! This xml file was extremely helpful. Now I know which field is problematic (remember that you can have multiple date fields mapped and it will make troubleshooting more difficult that’s why it is important to see which one is wrong one), I also can see the actual (invalid) format so it will be easy to write a script that will convert the date to a proper one.

But don’t forget it is SmartConnect we are working with. It does all the work for you and you don’t need to write a script to convert the dates. SmartConnect still can’t read your thoughts, but believe me, we are working on it.

To fix this issue we need to open a Mapping window.

Go to Additional columns and click on Date Calculation and add a column.
Enter Name of the field.
Select a Source column that contains the date, you need to convert.
Select the Source Format, the format of your source date. In my case it was day/month/short year.
In the last drop down box select predefined date format called “GP Date Format” this is the format GP can understand.

* You can also define your own date formats, by clicking on Manage Formats button.

6. Now click on OK and map the Date Calculation column (I called it DATECALC) to Credit Card Expiration Date in the destination.

All done! Run the map. SmartConnect will convert the date to the correct format.

In this article I reviewed basic troubleshooting techniques which will make it easier to make integrations to GP. In my future articles will review advanced troubleshooting techniques which are required when you work with complex integrations.

Please, leave your feedback. Let me know if it was useful and what would you like to see in my next Tech Tuesday articles. Remember, SmartConnect makes life easier!

Alex Sugak

QA Team Leader

SmartConnect SP

2011-12-22T10:56:00.000+11:00

SmartConnect keeps getting better and stronger.

On the 20th Dec we released SP2 of SmartConnect 2011. This is a significant release with a mixture of fixes and features that make SmartConnect even more robust and functional. SP 2 rolls up previous hot fixes as well as additional features and bug fixes into this one build. We recommend all our clients upgrade to SmartConnect SP2 at their next opportunity.

SmartConnect 2011 SP 2 Release Information and Upgrade Instructions

Release Information

Features
1. Dynamics GP
Ability to define a single user with which to connect to Microsoft Dynamics GP. This means that a single AD user may be used for connections to GP rather than requiring each SmartConnect user to be set up individually within MSSQL security.

2. Dynamics CRM 2011
Added support for the update of entity record owners.

3. MSSQL Change Data Sources
Added support for schemas other than the default schema.

Bug Fixes
1. Extender
Fixed the bug where SmartConnect was truncating key fields for Extender windows and detail windows.

2. Importing Templates
Imports that use eOne Excel templates will now work if no TWO database is present on the Dynamics install.

3. Email SMTP ports
Now allows selection of any port number.

4. MSSQL Change Data Source
Now handles column and table names where the name is a reserved word correctly.

5. SmartConnect does not detect eConnect
SmartConnect will now detect eConnect correctly where eConnect is installed after SmartConnect.

6. Dashes are no longer allowed in default connection names
This was causing issues in some calculation and scripting fields and has been disabled.

7. SQL Command tasks and SQL Command Templates
Insert variable now works correctly.

8. Scheduler
Fixed issue where a schedule recreated itself if it was running when it was deleted.

Tech Tuesday: SmartView and SQL

2011-12-15T12:14:00.000+11:00

The built in Visual filter is really powerful with many more options that you would have in traditional SmartList. But there will be times that even with these filter options you can not get the exact data filters you need.

If you have a complex query that you can't enter with the built-in visual filter editor in SmartView, you can enter a SQL script to construct complex queries. Simply select Text as the Filter Editor Mode in the Options menu.

Now when you open the Filter Editor, the SQL entry interface is displayed. This interface has intellisense enabled to suggest field names and operators. For all those familiar with SQL you can construct whatever filter criteria you require. If you are not familiar with SQL syntax than go and knock on the door of the IT department and ask for a guru OR contact the eOne consulting team who will be able to assist (at a small charge).

Tech Tuesday: Copying Extender Nodes

2011-12-13T08:38:00.003+11:00

Hey guys, I'm back in the Tech Tuesday mix and I'm starting off our video articles for this series on how to copy extender nodes into your needed maps in SmartConnect.

I've got the video below, make sure you flip it over to 720p for the best viewing - I promise that it will be full 1080p quality in the future.

GP resellers. Stand and make Revenue.

2011-12-12T13:10:00.001+11:00

GP resellers do not go into business for fun. Microsoft is not in the ERP business for fun. ISV do not write software for fun. Customers do not buy ERP software for fun.  All of the above mentioned organizations do what they do to provide a return on investment for their owners. Fact.

Now that does not mean we do not enjoy what we do, that we do not go out of our way to look after our customers who also become our friends. We build relationships, pay salaries, design solutions, travel the world and make businesses run better - but underlying all that is a goal to generate income for business owners (and an income for all of those involved). We all want to run and be involved in successful businesses that generate revenue and return.

Recently, Microsoft made significant changes to its partner program. The reason they did so is that they were of the opinion that these changes would align with their strategy to run a good business that generates revenue. You may or may not agree with their decisions and changes. Each of the businesses involved within their model need to make decisions regarding how they will react to the changes in a way that is in their own best interest of running a good and successful organisation (which in turn makes revenue) .

I had feedback from one reselling partner that went like this "With the increased targets we have to hit with Microsoft - we will no longer be able to sell your ISV solutions (even though they are much better for our customers). We will be forced to sell only what is on the Microsoft price list or our revenue will not hit the targets."

I believe there to be a fatal flaw in this thought process. A reseller who is not hitting the required targets right now needs to change something - I agree with that.  They need to change something that will align with their business goals - which deep down is to 'run a successful business to generate a return' - as we discussed above. So is a decision to knowingly sell an inferior or mediocre solutions going to help you reach your goals?

I have long been of the opinion that resellers must 'amaze' their customers. A reseller that does anything less is opening the door for a competitor who does 'amaze' their customers.   If you are not Amazing with GP - then rest assured that over time somebody will 'amaze' with NetSuite, or Sage, or .... (I think you get the picture).

I would like to see all GP resellers go out there and smash the Microsoft targets - as would Microsoft!  No reseller will do that by repeating the things they do right now? You do not get different results form repeating the same thing. Resellers must change something - they must try and grow and better. 10,15 and 20 years ago there was nothing more dynamic and exciting than a growing GP practice. These startups had amazing energy, tried new marketing activity, tested new technology daily and took risks to grow their business.

The reseller channel needs this energy again - and if Microsoft changing reseller targets helps achieve this then I applaud Microsoft. Back in those early days there was little or no recurring revenue in annual maintenance - you had to make new business. Now - it seems the same people 15 years on are only interested in protecting their recurring revenue rather than being hungry for new revenue. To all business owners - if you are not hungry for new revenue then go out and employ people who are - and empower them.

Microsoft owe resellers nothing - and we are not victims of change or being squeezed out. Microsoft want an active and energetic reseller channel - lets give them one by doing our very best. Lets do it by selling only the very best solutions and selling more than the opposition.

Microsoft is not a company that will invest in a stagnant market - that is not what they will do. So if you are seeking great innovation and investment in GP from Microsoft then the only way to get that is to sell more and more GP. That is what they are looking for in changing the partner programs. They are looking to motivate the channel and deal with growing organisations that want to get on board for the ride. If Microsoft see you as a hanger on that is milking a revenue stream then your days a numbered. Get active, get creative, and sell only world class solutions that amaze. Funnily enough through this process I suspect you will also generate more revenue and greater returns to investors.

Cut and Paste to save Waste

2011-12-07T14:04:00.000+11:00

SmartView Tip fo the Day

The very best and fastest way to get data out of SmartView is to cut and paste. That good old fashioned method of using CTRL C and CTRL V (or right click - copy and right click - paste for those that prefer).

There are a bunch of advantages to the cut and paste method.
1. It is instant. You can cut and paste 100,000 rows of data in just 2 seconds.
2. Column headings are pasted automatically
3. You can select only highlighted rows for export
4. The rows you select need not be consecutive

You will find that once you start the cut and paste method this will soon become the only way you push data out to Excel. Another limitation overcome bu cut and paste is that the regular Excel export is limited to 1,000,000 cells. If you wish to export more than this number ot excel in a single run then there are two options for you.
1. Export to CSV and open in Excel
2. Cut and Paste as per above.

As they say in the classics "Cut and Paste to save time that others waste".

Tech Tuesday is back and not just on Tuesdays.

2011-12-05T14:00:00.001+11:00

Scripting and database connections.

The ability to create and run scripts within SmartConnect when processing maps is a great asset to the SmartConnect community. However it can raise issues about password security.

When a script requires connection to a database, and other users have access to the map setup screen, it is a simple exercise to open the map, open the script and read the database login details from the script window.

An additional issue is what happens if the database credentials change, and I need to update the script? You would need to remember everywhere you used those credentials in a script, then find and update the script. You have probably thought that surely there is a better way to both manage connection credentials, and hide restricted information?

Well now there is.

As of SmartConnect 20.11.11.50 (20.11.10.50 for those connecting to GP 10) all default connections are available for use as variables within the scripting windows. What does that mean for those users maintaining and creating scripts? Well firstly it means setting up and maintaining database connection details in a single place. If the database connection required is to a MSSQL or GP database, or to an ODBC or OLEDB compliant database the connection can be setup up under default connections. (Setup / Generic Defaults / then MSSQL, ODBC or OLEDB data source defaults, or Setup / Dynamics GP Defaults / Dynamics GP Query for GP connections). These connections can then not only be used in the relevant data source windows, but can also be used in scripting.

When opening the scripting task on a SmartConnect map, there is now a Default Connections node in the tree on the left. Expanding the node will give you the different types of connections that have been defined, and expanding the type will give a list of each connection of the selected type. The connection can then be dragged into the script window and used in scripting. How is it used? Let’s look at an example.

Originally your script would look something like this:
Dim conString as String = “DataSource=MYSERVER;Initial Catalog=MYDATABASE;User=UserName;Password=UserPassword;”

The new script would look something like this:
Dim conString as String = _SQLDEF_MYDATABASE

You will have noticed that using the default connection also removes all credential information from the script. It can no longer be read directly from the scripting window. You can also use the same default connection in other scripts, but only update the single default connection if something changes. With SmartConnect, Yes you can have easy script access, with easy database connection maintenance, while still maintaining security around connection credentials.

Kevin

GPUG in Vegas

2011-11-28T15:31:00.001+11:00

If you use Microsoft Dynamics GP then you should be a member of GPUG. (www.gpug.com) GPUG stands for GP user group, and is a run by GP users for GP users, providing all the things users are asking for.

In a world where customers are tired of being sold to, and do not trust fancy demonstrations and brochures - peer to peer groups are the place hang out. People trust like minded and want to hear form people that face the same challenges and experiences as you. That makes a world of sense.

Lets say you are planning a family holiday to Fiji:

in 1995: I would have seen a travel agent, read a fancy brochure containing pictures of clear water, people swimming and colorful fish. I would have asked a few of my close friends if they had been to Fiji - and based on perhaps 1 recommendation made a decision.

in 2011: I skip the travel Agent. The first thing I do is read the reviews of what other like minded people though of their visit to Fiji. The reviews are online and there are hundreds and thousands of reviews to peruse. If you are taking small children you want a know what people with small children though of a particular resort, or activity - so you read those reviews. If you want a quiet romantic getaway then you read reviews form people taking a quiet romantic getaway.

I guess my point is that people trust other people who have similar needs and challenges. GPUG is just perfect for place to meet such people. The GPUG summit event in Las Vegas a few weeks ago was perhaps the best GP conference I have attended (and I have been to a few). This event was all about the customer and what they needed. As end users run the organisation they get to drive the content and it was all about learning this year. I was invited to run a number of sessions about SmartList Builder, Extender and Using Excel as a data entry tool - and for each we took a very strong training approach to help improve the way customers use GP.

A good feature of this event is if you wanted to avoid 'being sold to', you could - but at the same time if you were in the market to speak with some of the ISV's selling addon products - then they were all congregated in one place. The ISV'v also had time to speak with you at length and truly help to determine whether their solutions would fit your business need. There is nothing more important than a face to face discussion to build confidence that you as a customer are making the right purchasing decision.

I encourage all customers to get involved with your local GPUG chapters, contribute to and learn from other businesses that do what you do. GPUG provides great networking and collaboration events, training opportunities, online discussions and forums and much more. One of my favorite things about GPUG is the 'share my code' initiative which allows customers to share code, smartlists, reports and extender objects that they have build. Simply brilliant and something only a customer driven group would come up with (I will discuss this further in coming posts). I also encourage GP partners to get their customers involved - as the stronger the GP community gets the more prospects will be attracted to Dynamics GP.

I had one partner comment that they were nervous that their customer would meet another partner and may switch! To that I say get your relationship right, look after you customers properly and losing them is no longer an issue. If you are scared for your customer to mix and meet others - then there are much more fundamental issues at hand that need addressing.

eOne is Hiring

2011-11-25T15:02:00.001+11:00

eOne is Hiring

It is time to grow our business exponentially. If you know eOne and thing you would fit into our successful culture then we want to hear from you.

We are looking for a mixture of:

Gun Telephone Sales people
AX Developer
Technical AX Consultant
Top GP integration Consultant
Sales Force Guru's
Microsoft CRM integration consultant
X Scribe developers, consultant and salespeople
Data Integration Guns

We have multiple projects on the go and big plans. Ideally you want to enjoy the great climate of Fargo, ND but that is not essential. If you would like to join a rapidly growing and successful organisation then please send me you details.

We only want the best, and if you want a job where you have a manger looking over your shoulder - then you need not apply.

martin.olsen@eonesolutions.com

Thank You!

2011-11-23T16:10:00.002+11:00

It’s that time of year again: the hustle and bustle of the holiday season has begun and preparations are wrapping up as we approach the US Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday. With that in mind, please note our Thanksgiving holiday schedule:

November 24th & November 25th – the US office is CLOSED. Please send any support request via email to support@eonesolutions.com.

Beyond taking time away from the office to fill up on more food than we can imagine, Thanksgiving reminds us of the many reasons we have to be thankful. Here are just a few things we’re thankful for this year:

1. Amazing partners and customers. Need we say more?
2. Reaching 1000 SmartConnect customers by October. We’re now well over 1070!
3. Providing our new products SmartPost (for auto-posting) & Node Builder (for creating custom integration points), as well as releasing our stand-alone build of SmartConnect, which helps serve the needs of our partners and customers.
4. Having talented new team members join us to assist with support and consulting activities.
5. The opportunity to participate in numerous partner events and connect with some of the most talented people in the channel.

Our success is largely due to our dedicated partners and creative customers, like you, who support and promote eOne products and services. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Getting Old

2011-10-28T17:06:00.001+11:00

Last week I turned 40! I know its hard to believe that someone so young, energetic and handsome can be so old. Strangely I discovered that partying on until 4am is much more difficult to recover from than it used to be.

So to top off a big year - a trip to Vegas is on order to attend GPUG. If you are a GP customer and have not booked your trip to Vegas then I suggest you do so in a hurry. This will be a fantastic week, where you will learn allot from some Gurus when it comes to GP + you get to party on with all the cool folk from Microsoft! Does the word folk - go with the word cool. If they let you down then be sure to look up the eOne crew who will no doubt show you a good time.

We are running some great sessions on all the builders, as well as taking the eXtender challenge. This challenge is a bit like theatre sports where we will build an application on the fly, based on audience participation. This could be a great session, particularly if you want to see Chris Dew put on the spot and see if he can hold up under the pressure!

Before GPUG is the Partner Connections event (just so I can have a few extra days in Vegas) but for all partners that are attending this will be an awesome few days. If you want to see a cracking intro to any GP demo you ever do - get along to the session titled "demo the eOne way". I challenge you to watch this session and then go back to your office and sell more GP than ever before! I'll show you why GP is simply the very best ERP in the market- bar NONE.

Do you turn your marketing on its head

2011-10-19T09:37:00.000+11:00

It's not often I blog about beer advertising - but I thought this was brilliant. Many beer adds aim at suggesting real tough men drink beer - which really does not hit the spot with the average modern office working beer drinker.

Here is an add where they really understood their market. They still used the 'he who has amazing courage deserves a beer' message but delivered it very cleverly that hits the spot with Women and Men equally.

http://www.simplyzesty.com/advertising-and-marketing/carlsberg-pull-brilliant-guerrilla-marketing-stunt-in-cinema/

So here is a challenge in your next marketing efforts - stop saying "get better reports", "save time for your staff", "be more efficient" and see if you can turn it on its head and take a fresh approach to telling an old story.

2011-10-14T16:41:00.000+11:00

This week we released a Service Pack for SmartConnect 2011. This has turned out to be a little more than a service pack and has included one big change to the User Interface. The User Interface for SmartConnect is now entirely external to Microsoft Dynamics GP.

WHY:

To support CRM 2011 we had to use .net 4 controls. Dexterity did not allow this on GP 2011 - so we have moved outside of dex completely to provide the functionality out partner require.
To better leverage all of the destinations and data sources available in SmartConnect. It makes little sense to build an Excel to SalesForce integration inside of GP!
To simplify security by not having to deal with multiple layers.
The depth of SmartConnect now means that many partners are using SmartConnect for projects that may not have anything to do with GP. Here are a few examples:

Exporting data to XML from Microsoft CRM: (Uses a CRM datasource and File destination)
Pushing data from a GP SQL table to a custom SQL table. (ODBC data source and SQL destination)
Reading an XML and turning it into an Excel file. (XML data source and File destination)
Moving data from CRM on premise to SalesForce.com
Exporting CRM online data to a local SQL table for reporting. (Other integrations call this amazing cloud technology - it is standard with SmartConnect).
Integration from a POS system into BI SQL tables.
This list goes on for ever.

FAQ QUESTION 1: Does this mean we are moving away from GP as a core product?

Absolutely not. We are still a GP centric integration and automation tool. That said we have heard our partners and understand the need for a single tool for all your integration needs. Technology changes meant we had to move outside of GP and this is entirely a good thing for all our existing customers and all our future customers. So when you upgrade SmartConnect next time around - you can still launch SmartConnect from the GP menus (if you want) - but doing so will launch SmartConnect external to GP.

FAQ QUESTION 2: Do we lose any functionality?

Absolutely not. All the current functionality remains inside of SmartConnect - but this move has opened us up to add more functionality that was not available inside the GP dev limitations.

FAQ QUESTION 3: So what is next in the plans with SmartConnect?

Sex. Yes now that we are outside of GP we get to go sexy. SmartConnect will be getting a new and friendly user interface to make it more fun to work with. We are excited about this and think all of you who use it will be equally inspired.
We are of course always looking for feedback and development ideas - so if you have dreamt up a feature or discovered a gaping hole that needs filling during one of your projects, now is the time to tell us about it.

Support

2011-10-14T15:16:00.001+11:00

A quick reminder to all our partners - to contact our support desk please email support@eonesolutions.com or call on 888 3193663 (2 for support).

We have had one of our engineers off for surgery recently and emails send directly to them do not reach the support team. Please ensure all support messages go to support@eonesolutions.com and they are then addressed by any member of our team.

SmartConnect just as good with CRM as it is GP

2011-10-04T15:10:00.002+11:00

I have long preached the story that with SmartConnect you can connect any data from anywhere into GP. The exact same message goes for Microsoft Dynamics CRM - SmartConnect allows you to push nay data form anywhere back into GP.

When people thing SmartConnect they think integration! That's wrong. They legacy applications in this market are just that - only integration tools. SmartConnect gets lumped into the same group because it does integration as well as any of those tools - but it also does so much more. The 'so much more' often requires a little creative thinking.

Take a look at this video 'Managing Opportunities in Excel' to see what I mean by the so much more. This is SmartConnect solving an every day problem - but is a long way from traditional integration.

Back at it

2011-09-27T14:36:00.004+10:00

I have been quiet for a while on the blog - but this was for very good reason in that I was taking the holiday of a lifetime.

With 11 of my good friends we rode 400cc Suzuki DR dirt bikes over 1500km's from Cairns to Cape York. If you do not know where those locations are here is the Google Map view What that google link shows is that there are no available directions for those two locations which indicates the type of terrain we encountered.

For 8 days we had NO email access and No phone access. Life was so good in the olden days!! Amazingly all of us survived with absolutely no withdrawal symptoms. Next time you take a holiday make sure there is no way you can be contacted - it is liberating.

There is nothing like riding a powerful machine down a single lane track at 80km/hr with trees slapping the side of your helmet, then have a Kangaroo bounce across your path and then the track turn instantly to foot deep sand - to keep you mentally focused. For 6-7 hours a day we focused our minds 100% on riding hard and survival. There was no time to think about anything else. No time to think about work or family or any other thought. Riding that bike required 100% concentration like I have never given any task before. Strangely it turns out there is nothing more relaxing for mind and body than putting that much effort into a single task. I ended each day being totally physically and mentally exhausted.

A few beers and a camp fire dinner later there was nothing better than curling up for the deepest of sleeps directly under the stars - only to be woken by the birds and morning rays through gum trees. We then did it all again for 8 days straight. Gone are my dreams on a resort holiday by a pool. There is something amazingly calming about clearing the brain to focus on something completely out of the ordinary.

Despite many a lay down, collision with a tree, missed corner and cartwheel over the handlebars we all arrived at our destination without major injury. So here is the challenge - on your next break - truly take a break. Take a holiday where everything is different. No Email. No Phone. Even no Family. No Work. Learn Something. Focus on Something. Get better at Something. Risk you Life. As long as you make it home you will never regret it.

SC v IM Comparison

2011-09-05T17:46:00.002+10:00

My last post talked about the speed difference between SmartConnect and Integration Manager - take a look at the results for yourself here.

Watch SC v IM Video

Time to Upgrade to SmartConnect

2011-09-01T16:05:00.002+10:00

It's time we cut the chase - the time has come to throw away Integration Manager and move up to SmartConnect.

'Extraordinary user experiences should be the goal of every interaction you deliver to your users at any level.' (www.Uxmag.com). The five key principles we, at eOne, follow to improve your customers experience is to: Make it Faster, Remove Stuff, Do My Thinking For Me, Delight the End User, and First Impressions Matter. The time has come to move your customers across from Microsoft Dynamics GP Integration Manager to eOne's SmartConnect.

If you leave your customers with software solutions that fall short in any of these 5areas then you are doing them a disservice and over time they will go elsewhere and switch software. If you have clients that still use Microsoft Dynamics GP Integration Manager then apply these five tests to determine if you are offering them the best solution: (see the full discussion in this list here: http://uxmag.com/design/five-low-hanging-ux-tips)

1. Speed: The worst thing about Integration Manager is that it is too slow. The best thing about SmartConnect is that it is so fast.
2. Remove Stuff: While SmartConnect has a mass of functionality, 90% of things are driven from the single main mapping screen. The end user should know nothing about SmartConnect other than they hit a button and the data ends up in the right place in Dynamics GP.
3. Do My Thinking For Me: SmartConnect's auto email templates, after hours schedule, real-time triggers, and change data sources do the hard work for you. In fact, once configured, no user should ever touch SmartConnect at all - all the integrations just happen when they should.
4. Delight the End User: This is easy as with SmartConnect the users get to spend more time at home, rather than waiting for integrations to complete. Show me an accountant that does not smile when they can do fully validated data entry into Excel.
5. First Impressions Matter: End users of SmartConnect get a configured solution that works. You should never have to explain away the fact that Integration Manager really just types all the data in the front end in a big macro. End users should never be confronted with or bothered with the technical layers underneath.

I know it costs money to change software and we want to make that easy as well. From September 1st we are running the Integration Manager trade-in promotion. This means if your customer already owns Integration Manager they are able to take advantage of the following:

1. $1000 off the price. This means fully functioning SmartConnect for just $3,500 + maintenance.
2. Free attendance at 2 hours of online IM trade-in Training. (Run twice per month)
3. Access to our out of the box Excel General Ledger Journal Entry for Dynamics GP.
4. Option to buy SmartView for just $1,000. (If you have not seen SmartView, then check this out: (http://www.eonesolutions.com/download.aspx?filename=SmartView_3_minute.wmv)

To make things easy for our partners to keep your customers happy, you are able to take advantage of:
1. Template email you can use for email campaigns.
2. One Scheduled demo dedicated just to your customers.
3. Access to eOne's demo servers with everything configured and ready to go.
4. Ability to use eOne's implementation team to assist with the roll outs.

Take a look at this document linkFAQ document which will help answer any questions you may have and those questions of your customers. We look forward to helping you delight your customers and keep them loving Microsoft Dynamics GP for a long time to come.

Update on IFD and CRM Online

2011-08-25T14:28:00.002+10:00

With the release of CRM 2011 Microsoft built the IFD components (Internet Facing Deployment) using .net4 components which in itself is great. What is tough for the GP developers is that GP is still firmly rooted in .net 3.5 - and you can not call the CRM 2011 IFD components from within a .net 3.5 environment.

What this has meant is that we either need to write a middle ware solution that we can talk to from within GP that will in turn talk to the CRM components OR we had to move our interface outside of Dynamics GP completely.

We had investigated both options and determined the best solution was to move entirely to a non GP/non Dex based interface for SmartConnect. Now this is not a big leap as we had released a distinct external SmartConnect interface earlier this year. We are very excited about this development as it provides more flexibility in regards to look and feel and removes our reliance on the GP development path. For our customers and partners there is no loss in functionality at all, and the experience will be the same as you have now. You will be able to launch SmartConnect from the GP menus (which will effectively launch and external application). Everything you can do now, you will be able to do in the new release.

So while we were originally frustrated by the way this played out, we are now full of energy about what the new solution will look like. We plan to have a release available to cater for CRM 2011 IFD and Online in the next 3 weeks (limited release to those in immediate need). We will then follow this up with a general release containing a much sexier look and feel given our partners and customers a better experience.

If you are using IFD and considering an upgrade I ask you to hold on for 3 weeks, and for everyone else hold on for a bigger and better SmartConnect. I would like to say that at eOne we remain 100% committed to supporting integration with and between all deployment types of CRM, GP and SalesForce.com

Reason's to Upgrade from Integration Manger

2011-08-24T15:29:00.000+10:00

I have a whole bunch of reasons I will share in the next few weeks but lets start with a really simple one.

Challenge: Import 10,000 customer records into GP.

Results:
SmartConnect: 1 minute 30 seconds
Integration Manager: 4 hours 40 minutes

Those numbers just look crazy so we simplified the test and tried again.

Challenge: Import 100 customer records into GP.

Results:
SmartConnect: 2 seconds
Integration Manager: 2 minutes 51 seconds

SmartConnect WINS!

Our Customers stopped spending

2011-08-22T16:19:00.004+10:00

When the share market goes down 5% in the morning, and then goes back up 5% in the afternoon - what does that mean? Firstly it means high blood pressure for all those needing to draw on their 401K anytime soon!

What it means for the world of software is that companies stop spending. Customers cancel consulting engagements, buying decisions are put on indefinite hold and work becomes significantly more difficult to find. All 'nice to have' projects stop. I was reading recently an interview with the CIO of Qantas, David Hall, who was discussing hte impact of the GFC and ongoing uncertainty : "Our main effort would be around simplification and automation of the business. Historically large enterprises have big, complex legacy systems. We're spending probably the lowest we've spent in a long time in Qantas. Yet we've got projects happening in all parts of our business to transform, (improve) speed, efficiency, greater customer analytics, and improving the customer experience has been very critical to us."

So if the largest of business is spending less than ever then let me guess this is exactly the same with mid market business. If the largest companies are focused on simplification and automation - then let me guess this is the biggest challenge for mid market companies. At no point does David suggest they have stopped spending, but he is being much more careful about the projects he spends his money on. He is very careful to ensure that what he spends money on will not have large ongoing maintenance costs.

So as software providers to the mid market - our job is pretty simple. Deliver high quality software and services, that automate and simplify business process while reducing ongoing cost of ownership. This means that there are no longer any free rides and cushy consulting jobs. There is no place for burying a consultant on a fixed assets project for 6 months - those project do not exist in more. Mid Market customers want you to get in, make things better and get out, leaving then with autonomy and reduced costs.

So is squeezing everyone into cloud computing the answer? I believe yes and no. When a business says keep it simple they mean that - but do not mean make me the same as every other company. Software must support the companies unique business model. It is a companies uniqueness that makes them profitable. Many of today's cloud apps are very simplistic and do not go any where near providing the breadth of functionality required in the mid market. The cloud pricing model is very attractive and the simplicity of the software reduces implementation costs - which also fits inside tight budgets.

The wonder of CRM and GP is the flexibility. It fits different businesses and can be configured, constructed, squeezed, customised, added to etc until it gives a perfect fit. This is what companies need. Can this be delivered in the cloud? Yes - it has to be and it will be. Is it delivered in the cloud right now - I do not think so and certainly not in regards to ERP - and it is going to take time. GP is working hard on the web client and we are hearing very positive noises from inside Fargo as to their success.

In the mean time - do not dream of asking your clients to spend money on 'silly' projects. Only offer them project that have a clear ROI, and clear improvements for their business. Software resellers need to get clever and clearly demonstrate how their solutions will make or save money for the mid market. No customer will integrate their CRM or Salesforce.com with GP because it seems like the thing to do. They will do it because you show how it makes their business more efficient and they can do more with less.

SmartConnect Consultant

2011-08-05T16:09:00.000+10:00

eOne needs a new SmartConnect guru to join our consulting team. You do not have to be a SmartConnect guru yet, but you have to be able to become one very quickly.

If you think you have what it takes to become an 'eOne guy' then I really want to hear form you. (eOne gal's are equally welcome).

The role we have is for a gun consultant to join our services and delivery team. The things we would like you to have in order of importance:
1. An eOne attitude
2. Passion for working with customers
3. Solid understanding of GP or CRM and how the data hangs together
4. Ability to be a Gun Trainer
5. Knowlegde of SmartConnect
6. Technical/Dev skills in SQL
7. Integration experience
8. A love of entering timesheets!

We would prefer the candidate to be based out of Fargo, but this is not essential for the right person. There would be travel involved as much of our work is best done on site and face to face with our clients.

The benefits:
1. Competitive Salary
2. Fun and vibrant team to work with
3. No need to wear a suit and tie
4. Wide range of tasks including scoping, training, development, configuration and documentation.
5. Opportunity to be creative and push new products through our extensive channel.

If this sounds like you then please send me a message so we can talk. martin.olsen@eonesolutions.com.au.

NetSuite V GP

2011-08-04T14:39:00.002+10:00

I had not seen this before today but had a good laugh when I did. NetSuite V GP video

Firstly I thought is was funny because having spent plenty of time in North Dakota I swear I met that guy! The second thing that is funny is that to carry off an add like this you need some serious credibility which I do not yet believe NetSuite has attained.

Omitted from the add is anything factual about Netsuite? Any company that takes to marketing on perceived negatives of their competitor is losing the battle. It is just like politics, do you complain about the opposition or do you actually have plans and policies that are better and worth talking about. Being in the cloud can be important but only if you receive the same powerful functionality with which to run your business. There is no point in having a cloud based solution that provides inferior function. A well implemented ERP is used to manage a business day in and day out. There is no upside to leaping onto a cloud if it will not support the weight of your business.

The idea of access to your business system form anywhere, mobility of data entry and data retrieval and the integration between systems is very important - but not something that makes 'NetSuite' or any other cloud solution better.

1. I use GP across two locations in the USA and 3 distinct location in Australia. It works great. Microsoft are building a Web based interface which we will adopt in 2012 which will be nice - but having a web interface will certainly not change my world. In fact even with a web interface I suspect more often than not I will continue to terminal serve into my GP application.

2. I get access to my data primarily via Excel now which is real time. I have a series of email alerts that contain my reports all of which I can read and access on my mobile device.

3. I push data into my GP system from two CRM's sales Logix and Microsoft CRM. My website integrates directly with GP many times each day and royalty reports form Microsoft are imported directly into GP. There is no easier system with which to integrate.

GP has way more customers and way more experience. GP has an awesome partner channel and well established customers. GP has significantly more functionality, is totally customisable (with eXtender)and is the best integration platform. GP will soon have a web based user interface for those few companies that see this as important (I don't). Go can be hosted offsite to reduce in house maintenance and yet give you all the scale required without limitations.

If I was picking a system on which to run my business it would be GP every time. In fact I did pick a system and use GP everyday and it works brilliantly. In fact I would choose a straight up, straight talking, friendly North Dakota local over a smart talking, remote, floating in the cloud schmoozer with nothing positive to say -Any day.

I Hate Posting

2011-08-04T14:20:00.003+10:00

Have you ever heard the question 'why do we have to post everything, it takes so long'?

SmartPost for GP 10 was released today together with an updated SmartPost for GP2010. We were a little delayed on this release as we took the time to include support for the AA module which impacts just about every posting routine.

You are now able to configure SmartPost to post transactions containing AA codes and have the correct AA posting reports delivered. There a few tricks to configuring SP for use with AA so be sure to read the setup information in the manual very carefully.

So if you wish GP would work without the posting step - get on board with SmartPost which will do all your posting for you.

SmartView Wins 1.5million deal

2011-07-29T14:13:00.002+10:00

I will flesh this story out a little further in coming weeks - but I loved the story highlights I heard today.

In a very large, highly competitive GP bid SmartView become the differentiator that pushed GP into a winning position. This partner is self taught on SmartView and took the time to configure SmartView as the central component of their demonstration. How did they do it?

The sale was based around the ability to make correct project based financial decisions throughout the life of complex building projects. Combining SmartList Builder and Smartview meant that all the data required on a project by Project basis was displayed within SmartView. SmartView become the starting point for all decision making navigation. Using the SV Goto's the users were able to start within GP and drill to the specific information required.

The comments from the prospect were 'GP seems to have everything we need in one place, and gives users all the information they need in real time. The fact that the data enquiry tool is also the system navigation tool make it all so simple'.

GP really is the best ERP in the market.

SmartPost on the Shelf

2011-07-18T16:14:00.002+10:00

SmartPost for GP 2010 is now available.

Have you ever wondered why after you import you still have to post batches? Well not any longer. SmartPost will automate that posting process to ensure you do not lock up GP during peak processing time, and that you batches are posted after-hours when you want them posted.

SmartPost fits perfectly with SmartConnect and completes the integration process. A transaction is not really an accounting transaction until it is posted within GP, so importing is only half of the process. SmartConnect lets you bring in all your transactions, and now SmartPost can be configured to run on its own schedule to post all those records. For example - set SmartConnect to bring in all your web invoices at 8pm, and then smartPost kicks off at 10pm to post them all. This means that no users are interrupted and when you arrive in the office next morning all your transactions are posted and reporting is up to date.

You do not need SmartConnect or an integration tool to benefit from SmartPost. If you are simply tired of managing the complex batches in GP - then SmartPost can be the answer. Set SmartPost to pick up batches by name or partial name, post them and email the reports to the designated people. Posting is one task you can cross off your daily to do list.

Read more here

SmartView - Gets Simpler

2011-07-05T15:50:00.002+10:00

A new release of SmartView 2010 and 10 was posted on our website today. This is a release based entirely upon our customer feedback, and fixes a number of little issues that had been identified.

The biggest change in this build is the removal of the cache list functions, and SmartView now treats all lists as large lists. I still believe cache lists were a great idea, but they did create large amount of confusion for end users. With a cached lists the filters applied only apply to the initial list returned to screen, rather than re querying the database after the filter was applied. The outcome of this was that the list would filter and refresh rocket fast, but the downside was used got confused as to what they were looking at and could not match up the data they were seeing from Smartlist (which was requerying the database) with what they saw in SmartView.

The upshot is that SmartView is still fast, and up to 30 times faster than SmartList. In this build you can also export 100,000 records to excel in just 5-10 seconds. SmartView also now works a little more like SmartList, so that end users will easily be able to verify the data they are seeing in SV matches what they were familiar with in SmartList.

July 4th

2011-07-02T03:59:00.002+10:00

On Monday, July 4th, the Fargo team members will be celebrating the US Independence Day holiday with family and friends. Chris Dew plans to get his “grill on” and I may be found hanging on for dear life while attempting to wake board. Please wish us luck (we’re going to need it!) and join us in celebrating one of our favorite summer holidays.

Also, please keep in mind that due to the festivities, our office will be closed on Monday. If you have an immediate support need, please email support@eonesolutions.com.

Inflation for SmartView

2011-06-21T15:35:00.003+10:00

The introductory price of SmartView is coming to an end. We have done our best to hold the price as low as possible for as long as possible but a price jump was inevitable. We simply could not continue to pack all that value into a $1,500 product.

Abbey has fought hard on behalf of all our partners and customers to keep the price down, and so we have limited this to just a small increase. Form August the 1st SmartView will be available for $1,850 rather than $1,500. This gives everyone a full 41 days to take advantage of the current bargain price. There has never been a better time to go back to your customers with a tool and price that will make you look really good.

If you want help with marketing material or online demonstrations we will bend over backwards to assist.

SmartConnect and CRM 2011 online

2011-06-21T15:31:00.004+10:00

SmartConnect 2011 was a great build with heaps of new functioanlity we have discussed before.

This release supported connectors for Microsoft Dynamics 2011 on premise but was not designed to support 2011 CRM online and IFD (Internet Facing Deployment). There were a number of changes Microsoft made in regards to these deployments types that SmartConnet needed to accomodate. It appears our communication around this limitation should have been clearer for our partners and customers and I apologise for that.

Our Development team are working on our 2011 connector for CRM 2011 online and IFD currently and we anticipate having this release available in 3-4 weeks from now. Again I apologize if this has caused any issue or delays your upgrade, but we will be resolving this issue shortly.

Export to Excel like a rocket

2011-06-15T15:53:00.002+10:00

SmartView export to Excel is geting faster and Faster. Tests on the new build show 50,000 fully formated records to Excel in about 30 seconds. That is game changing.

The Demo

2011-06-10T16:39:00.002+10:00

GP is an average tool that needs all sorts of addons to make it work? Do you believe it? This statement can be true to a prospect if you demonstrate Dynamics GP poorly. This statement can be true to a prospect if you let a regular consultant do a GP demo.

Dynamics GP is a term that covers a huge amount of functionality. For an implementer GP is made up of General ledger, Business Portal, SRS, Business Analyzer, eCommerce, Extender, Excel Report builder, Audit Trails, SOP, POP, SmartConnect, MFP, Dashboards, AM, BE and on and on and on. As implementers and developers of GP we divide it up into all of these categories, modules and components of a manageable size.

When it comes to sales it has to be different. Prospects and end users need not be exposed to our internal jargon about GP. Dynamics GP is Dynamics GP - and contains all of the above components. In presales we should speak of the power of GP and show how awesome GP is. We should never use any of the jargon we use when communicating with our experienced implementers. In presales our job is to show all of the required components of GP in one seamless and streamlined flow.

Here are some presales questions and how they should be answered"
Q. How do I add additional fields in GP?
A. What sort of data would you need? Look how easy it is with GP.

Q. Can see my data live in Excel?
A. absolutely, look at this report and if I add a new record in GP like this, there it is in Excel immediately.

I think you get the point. I would never use the word eXtender or Excel Report Builder. This is what GP does and it is awesome is the message we need to get across. Just because in our heads we break it all up into bit size pieces does not mean we should baffle the prospect with our wealth of knowledge.

Sometimes I get the feeling that beacuase we all know GP so well and have seen it develop and expand over 10 or 15 years - we speak about it in terms of components and modules. If we were to start out today to learn how to demo GP for the first time - having never seen GP before - we would accept that all the moving parts that make up GP really are GP. Do not let your deep knowledge of GP confuse our prospects and customers. Our job is to take all this great functionality, package it into a solutions and amaze our prospects with how sexy this thing called GP is. If we do not represent the true power of GP, our competitors will present inferior products in way that make them appear more streamlined and connected than Dynamis GP.

Do not let it happen.

Final Scoreline 43 to 6

2011-06-03T07:36:00.003+10:00

NewsFlash
Solutions to Go of Canada reported the following to me today.

In Smartlist:
Sales Transactions – All customers beginning with 'ALL' – I’m getting 7929 records, in 43 seconds.

In Smartview:
Setting up the same Sales report as a large list in SmartView I’m getting 7929 lines in 4 seconds.

Build your own node

2011-06-02T18:24:00.002+10:00

Node Builder is available for download for those partners and customers that have been patiently waiting on backorders.

This is an exciting first release of a product that really takes one more step in making Dyanamics GP the most powerful, flexible and integrateable mid market ERP solution available. Bar None.

SmartList

2011-05-30T15:07:00.003+10:00

Imagine waking up one morning to find that there was no SmartList. That’s right - every instance of Microsoft Dynamics GP SmartList across the world had been removed overnight. I would like to propose that the North American mid-market business world would suffer a meltdown much larger than the GFC.

SmartList is one of those parts of Dynamics GP that is taken for granted and mostly ignored, until it stops working, and then all hell can break loose. Working with a wide range of GP clients across the globe I have discovered that most users of GP would use SmartList every day. Many of these would use it in excess of 20 times per day. Most companies have 50+ favourites with many having hundreds and hundreds of specialised lists.

If SmartList did not work then the business would stop. Users would not know what to do. Smartlist has become such a fundamental part of daily business activity users could never imagine a world without SmartList.

It is amazing how simple things make the biggest impact. Google, for instance, provides one of the simplest web pages available on the entire internet and yet it is also the most used page on the internet. It is simple and yet most of us cannot live or work without it.

SmartList is the Google of Microsoft Dynamics GP. SmartList is simple. The user interface is simple and uncomplicated. Everyone uses it. People trust SmartList and know how to make it work.

SmartView is the new SmartList. Knowing how much our customers are reliant upon SmartList I decided to personally take all the initial support calls relating to SmartView (a bit odd for the owner of a company to promote himself to the support desk). I did this for two reasons - firstly I quite enjoy providing support and secondly so I could monitor the impact SmartView was having on our customers.

What I have found has even surprised me. Companies have hundreds of SmartList Favourites. GP Customers have hundreds of SmartList Builder SmartList. These Companies are truly 100% reliant on SmartList and SmartList Builder. When something goes wrong with one of their lists it is a major catastrophe. Dynamics GP is SmartList. SmartList like Google is simple, it works and everyone knows it.

So the challenge for SmartView is immense. How do you make Google better? How do you make SmartList better? I am completely confident that we have managed to take the best thing about GP and make it even better.

We have kept all the great things about SmartList and then added in features that customers have been wanting - without making it harder to use:

1. We kept SmartView really simple
2. The user interface is clean and easy to navigate
3. All the lists from SmartList are available in SmartView
4. All your SmartList Builder lists are available in SmartView
5. All your SmartList favorites are available in SmartView
6. SmartView is much, much faster
7. SmartView has optional functionality that you only use if you need it. (Grouping/Subtotalling)
8. SmartView has unlimited filters
9. You can cut and paste records from SmartView to Excel.

If you have not seen SmartView yet I recommend you get on board and take a look at the online videos and learn why people that absolutely LOVE SmartList are falling in LOVE again with SmartView.

Technology creates unemployment

2011-05-20T16:27:00.002+10:00

"Today there is a renewed concern that technological advancement may displace much of the software programming (and other) work force, creating widespread unemployment, social disruption, and human hardship"

I have slightly modified a quote I read referring to the early introduction of manufacturing robots in the 1980's. This is an attitude that still prevails. I recently demonstrated SmartConnect and Node Builder to a small group of software developers and the overwhelming reaction was and I quote "That is what we do already - why would we need those tools". Now I can imagine someone saying that exact same thing when the first weaving machine was created during the industrial revolution. I can imagine a horse saying it when they first saw a car. I can imagine it being said by the typing pool when the first word processor was created. The world seems to have progressed through all of those events without global unemployment catastrophe.

I worked in a third world country many years ago and was helping run the accounting team of an aid agency. I asked an accountant why he had not yet finished the bank reconciliation and he answered "if I finished it today - what would I do tomorrow?"

There is no point creating jobs for jobs sake? There is no point spending 7 days writing an econnect integration when you could do the entire process with SmartConnect in 1 day. There is no upside to writing a custom HR node from scratch that takes 3 days when you can achieve the same in 1 hr with Node Builder.

The only thing the above proves is that we all think in a self centred way. So do I. Not that long ago I played on a mediocre sporting team and was not a great player - but one of the best on that side. We did OK but did not win all that often. We had an opportunity to recruit a really good player for our team. I actively dissuaded the addition to our team. Why? Because I new it would mean less game time for me? I knew I would not be the goto guy anymore? The new star would show me up. Funnily when we did recruit the new player - the team did better, we all slotted into new positions and the change worked out really well.

But - was my decision to not attract a new player good for the team? NO. Is a developers decision to not use smartconnect as it might make them less 'needed' a correct one? NO. Should a developer be able to decide that it is better to lump a company with a pile of custom code rather than use a configurable solution? NO.

Developers should be doing way more exciting things than writing 'xml' code. Developers should be doing way more exciting things writing custom stored procedures. Don't let your staff spend time weaving by hand - when a machine can do it and your staff can do much more value adding activity.

"It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory” (Edward Deming) has long been a mantra we have had at eOne. I encourage you to questions the status quo, and make positive change for all the right reasons.

Everyone loves a special price

2011-05-16T12:50:00.002+10:00

I have never really undestood why, but everyone loves to buy things at special discount price. Something you wanted to buy, but resisted, that was $100 on the shelf is suddenly very attractive when you can buy it for $80. I have also been victim to the case of buying somethign at a 50% discount that I had no interest in the day before. I walked past a store today that I have walked past 1000 times and never stepped inside - but today everything was 50% off so I walked in. I did show restraint and left empty handed.

If your customers love a special price then there are two great options from Microsoft right now valid until June 24th:
Smartlist Builder 20% off: If you have customers that do not use Smartlist Builder then what are they doing? How do you use GP with out it? With the addition of Navigation List Builder and most importantly Excel Report Builder - there is so much value in this pack. If you are not showing your customers how their GP system cna be better with SLB then you are leaving money on the table.

Extender 20% off: Extender does so much more than anyone realises. I am yet to meet a GP customer that can store ALL of their business specific data within standard GP. They all need eXtender, so why not get it at a discount. If you are not showing your customers how their GP system can be expanded with eXtender then you are leaving money on the table.

For all the details

Understanding SmartView

2011-05-06T12:42:00.005+10:00

SmartView is really very good, even if I say so myself!

I want to dig a little deeper into how SmartView works so you can understand the back end rather than the sex and sizzle on the front end. I think the best way to present this is in a Q&A format:

Does SmartView shows all my standard SmartLists? What about SmartList Builder? How does it do this?
All the standard lists from SmartList are available inside SmartView. All lists built within SLB are also available within SmartView.

SmartView builds all of its standard lists based upon either GP Tables or specific views built for SmartView. SmartView reads the SmartList tables and rebuilds the SQL views/queries based upon the columns, tables and links used for the original list. Therefore SmartView returns data based on its own dataset that is built as a replica of the original SmartList. In regards to SmartList Builder lists we use the same SQL scripts that generate the SLB lists to give exact replicas of each SLB list in SmartView.

There seems to be a couple of differences between some of the lists in SmartList and SmartView?
This can happen as we are using SmartList data to rebuild the lists in SmartView. There should be very few of these and we are correcting any identified as soon as we find them. The reason for some minor discrepancies is that at times we need to interpret what is in the SmartList tables, identify the tables links and determine exactly which table a field is pulled from. In many cases a single field could come from one of 5 different tables and if we picked the wrong one you may find a data difference. We have done our best to make them exact matches - but if you find something not quite right - please let us know. We have also found some fields in standard lists that are out of place and make no sense - so we have removed these fields from the SmartView lists.

How does Security work?
There are two levels of Security. Firstly you need access to the SmartView screen itself. This needs to be granted through the normal GP task/Role security. Power users will automatically have security access.

The second part of security is access to the data lists. SmartView relies on SmartList Security. If a user has access to a list in SmartList - then they also have access to that list in SmartView.

Another point on security is that if your lists are built from views then these views must be assigned to the DYNGRP role in SQL to appear in SmartView.

What about all my favorites from SmartList ?
SmartView has a utility to convert your SmartList favorites to SmartView favorites. My recommendation is NOT to convert all your companies favorites. Only convert the favorites you need to move across to SmartView - and do not bring across redundant lists. Another word of warning is that some filters on favorites may not convert perfectly - given the different filters available in SL as opposed to SV. An example is that in SmartView you need to have the column displayed to filter on it. In Smartlist you can filter on a non display column.

Why is there a SmartView User in SQL?
This is for a coming build of SmartView that will allow you access SmartView without logging into Dynamics GP. When we go that way we will need a user that can connect to the SQL server and we will use the SmartView user. You must make sure that at all time the SmartView user has the same password defined both in SmartView Setup and in SQL.

Some of my old SmartList Builder SmartLists are not returning any data?
SmartView relies on a field in Smartlist Builder called Physical name to build the scripts in the background. In an old version of SmartList Builder this column was not being populated. In the new build of SmartView there is a routine you can run that will populate the physical name field for all SLB lists - so you will no longer have any issues with old lists.

SmartView sometimes takes a while to return any data - where SmartList starts filling the screen right away?
That is a fundamental difference between the products. SmartView goes and gets all the data requested and returns it to screen at once. SmartList goes and gets the first record and displays it, then the second record and displays it and so forth. This is one of the reasons why SmartView works so much faster. There may be a slight delay up front - but what takes minutes to display in SmartList will be returned in seconds by SmartView.

SmartList Mondays

2011-05-04T16:08:00.000+10:00

During Convergence I hosted two SmartList/ SmartList Builder interactive customer sessions. These were great sessions run by customers for customers - and a sample of the feedback comments we received are here:

"My Favourite Session all week. Great to learn from other users"
"Most tips I have ever gotten! Wonderful Audience participation"
"Great Session"
. . . and then my favourite comment
"I love the eOne guys, great products, great session and very very funny guy!"

I have been trying to convince my wife of the last part of this for a long time, now I have proof. I carry around a copy of the session evaluation in my wallet and produce it regularly just to prove how funny I really can be!

The interactive sessions at Convergence were hosted by GPUG. I know a silly name that sounds like a messed up dog - but stands for the Dynamics GP user Group. For some time I have been sceptical about the GPUG model but with new leadership headed by Kim Peterson I have significantly more confidence in the organisation.

One thing that came out of the interactive sessions during convergence is the need for an online version of what we did in those sessions. GPUG has stepped up and started 'SmartList Mondays'.

If you or your customers use SmartList, or SmartList Builder then I strongly recommend you get involved in these discussions as I guarantee you will learn some things you did not know before. (As well as sharing things you have learnt about SmartList that others can benefit from). The initial sessions will be moderated by Nicole Albertson (Microsoft SmartList Support Guru) and the eOne crew will also be in attendance to help out.

I hope to speak with you on the First SmartList Monday.

Dog Food and SmartView

2011-05-03T15:25:00.003+10:00

I have blogged about the need to practice what you preach previously - and last year I did and we upgraded eOne from GP9 to GP2010 and all went well.

I have also recently talked about my transition to Excel Report Builder to replace my regular export from SmartList. I used this report to review the April sales number just today - and it worked perfectly. I really love Excel Report builder and the 30 minutes it saved me today.

Beyond that I am now a regular user of SmartView - and am loving that too. I had a call yesterday from a reseller saying "My customer believes that they have purchased SmartConnect twice from different resellers and a few years apart". So how in GP would I research this - when I am unsure of the reseller (customer name) and I have no dates to go from?

I jumped right into SmartView and selected the sales line items, for all time. (I know we are not a massive volume company but I got over 10,000 records back in 7.4 seconds). I did a CTRL F to search all fields and typed in the first part of the customer name. It took an extra 6.1 seconds to return for me two invoice numbers both selling SmartConnect to the same customer one in 2007 and again in 2010! The trick was that the customer name was stored in the customer PO number on one invoice and in the item line description on the other invoice.

Now I have an issue to deal with for client and Reseller - but the beauty is that SmartView helped me do something in a minute what could have taken 20 minutes if I waited for SmartList to do the same job. (Or I may be still looking as I would never have thought to search on the item description field to find what I was looking for).

If it Aint broke, still fix it.

2011-05-01T10:50:00.000+10:00

Just because something does not cause you problems right now, does not mean you can ignore it. I learnt this the hard way yesterday. For some time I knew there was something funny going on with one of my back teeth - but it really did not cause me any trouble or discomfort. So i ignored it. Then all of a sudden it started to cause a bunch of issues - and yesterday as I stared up the hairy nose of my dentist - a whole world of pain came crashing down on me. The craziest part is that it was self entirely self-inflicted and had I done something earlier there would have been some much more pleasant options available.

So if there is something that you know you should have done recently and have put off - go and do it. This might be personal, health or work related.

Another example I shared at convergence related to my internal reporting. For 4 years I have taken a SmartList once a month, exported it to excel, cut and paste it onto a master worksheet, done a find and replace to take out currency symbols. Then I viewed this report in a really nice pivot table.

There was nothing broken with this process at all. Nothing caused me pain or issues except that it took me roughly 30 minutes each month. (4 years * 12 months * 1/2 and hour). But what if I discovered that back in March 20010 that I had accidentally deleted some rows from the spread sheet? What if I realised that our new order clerk had been voiding documents for 12 months that were now part of my report?

I then took an extra 1/2 hour to a few months back to turn this report into an Excel Report Builder report. Literally 30 minutes. Not my report is always live and always up to date. I can review it at any point in a month and not wait until month end. I can share it with the sales team all month to review progress. I have eliminated my half hour each month on this report and now spend it taking a longer lunch (I know I could be more productive - but sometimes you have to treat yourself).

In this case nothing was broken - but making a change has made a major improvement. The benefit is not just in time saving but in how we can manage our business.

So if you have something that is not broken - go and fix it anyway.

"All In" the cloud

2011-04-27T15:57:00.004+10:00

Those of us that attended Convergence a few weeks back will have heard Steve Ballmer state one more time that "when it comes to the cloud, we are all in. We are all in across every product line we have and across every dimension of the cloud."

It is interesting that he chooses Poker Terminology to emphasize the cloud strategy. When you are playing a game of Texas Holdem you only go "All In" in 3 different scenarios:
1. You are very confident (odds stacked in your favour) you will win the hand
2. You are chipped up and Bluffing and trying to push your opponents out of the hand
3. You are out of chips, have been pushed into a corner and are desperate for a win at all costs.

I know Microsoft are not 'out of cash' and 'bluffing' achieves no purpose - so I can only conclude that Microsoft are 99% sure that the cloud is the 'right bet'.

What is the cloud anyway? It is a big white fluffy overused term - that has lost much of its meaning. What I understand cloud software to mean is that the software can "diversify to any market and device ... you could use it on whichever corporate server, from behind any desktop or mobile devices, the overall experience wont affect the use of a service provided with a cloud that is on the net. So your software and services get more agile to what or whichever location or device your using - its a small world after all"

Many people in the ERP world see the cloud as 'hosting', 'a web interface', 'monthly pricing'. 'no install software' etc. These may all be components of a cloud offering - but I think the key word in the above is agility. To get the service you need, where you need it and when you need it. Microsoft have been talking, planning and working on this for 10 years - and might remember some of the old marketing videos where a guy gets hit by a car while talking on his mobile phone, and rushed off to emergency, and all his medical records pop up etc. That is the early cloud vision!

So what is Dynamics GP going to look like when it is in the cloud? What about CRM - or is it in the cloud already? The cloud is going to take many forms and be delivered in many ways. I think a big part of the software 'cloud' will be that all the hard things about software will be removed from the software experience. Installs, configuration, backups, connections, integrations etc will all get easier in the cloud!

Once upon a time you bought a smartphone, and had to configure it to connect to the service provider you wanted. On my SmartPhone today it pops up and says 'found a wireless network, would you like to use it?' and when I click yes it connects to this free wireless network. So this makes using my phone much easier to use and at the same time saves me a bunch of money from my wireless data plan. That's what I expect from the ERP cloud. GP will become easier to use, easier to access and it will save me money.

So if Microsoft are 'all in' the cloud then it has to be a winner for everyone. Software will get easier to use, easier to access and much more flexible in the way it is delivered. That can only be a good thing. Could Dynamics GP benefit from not having a clunky install? YES. Could GP provide more flexible user interface Options? YES. IS a web interface handy? YES. Would it be useful to have easy access to SmartList on your mobile device? YES. What about having an easy way to push updates from your iPad, Android phone or Windows device into GP? YES. What about SmartView on your SmartPhone? YES.

I guess my point is that if Microsoft are 'All In' that this is not a Gamble - it is a Given. The cloud will be good for ERP and we had all best get on board in one way or another.

Tech Tuesday: Global Variables

2011-04-26T23:50:00.000+10:00

For this week, I want to cover one of the new features in SmartConnect 2010: Global Variables. Now, if you have done scripting in SmartConnect before, you may have noticed that global variables have been in SmartConnect for a while now. However, now we can actually create new global variables and assign default values to them as needed.

To create new variables we need to go through Tools -> SmartConnect -> Setup. On that window hit the Variables button to bring up the window where we can create new variables, remove existing ones, or set default values.

If you set a default value for a variable, it will assign this value to the variable as soon as it is initialized in a map rather than leaving it as a null value. This can be useful if you are storing something that you won’t normally change (like an email address) or if your scripts have issues with null values.

You can set variable defaults per map that override the overall defaults if you want for the specific map. This can be done from the Map Setup screen by going to the Options -> Tasks button. On the Maintain Tasks window, Global Variable Defaults should be selected on the left, and then any of the variable defaults can be changed.

If you override the default value on the map, the variable name will change its font color to show that the variable has a different default value from the overall setup.

These global variables can be used in any scripts (calculated fields, restrictions, tasks scripts, etc) to store and pass data between different scripts on the same map. They can be used in other tasks as well; for example, using global variables as the email addresses and the body of the email in the email task.

Tech Tuesday: Text Data Source

2011-04-19T10:54:00.003+10:00

Welcome to the start of Tech Tuesday posts on our blog! Each Tuesday I will be adding a new article to this collection that can be used in your own projects and implementations. I’ll try to keep them brief and to the point as the idea behind them is to be more technically focused to balance out Martin’s dominance of the blog up to this point.

One question that we commonly receive in support is whether or not SmartConnect can read in data from text files that may not have a header or files that may use a delimiter other than a comma. We can actually use SmartConnect to configure all the connection details to your needed text file.

When you are setting up the data source you should choose ODBC as the connection type and then select the text driver from the connection string lookup button.

In the ODBC Text driver setup window you will want to uncheck the Use Current Directory option and then hit the Select Directory button and choose the folder that contains the text file you want to use as the data source.

Next, hit the Options button to expand the setup window and then hit the Define Format button. From this window you can choose your file, determine whether it has headers or not with the option box, and also choose the delimiter. If you choose the Custom Delimited option you can enter the pipe character in the field below it.

Once you have selected your file and determined the header and delimiter options, you can hit the Guess button at the top right to have the driver determine what columns are in your source file and their data types. Once you have everything configured properly from these windows, you can close out of them and continue with your map setup as normal.

FeedBack Fantastic

2011-04-18T16:37:00.004+10:00

There are plenty of blog articles out there about what a great time everyone had in Atlanta last week. I will not write another - but rest assured it was both the busiest and best event I have attended. If you have never attended Convergence - then you simply must book in for next year. It is not optional, block out your calendar and start planning for next year now.

What I love most about Convergence is learning. For me that does not result from attending a bunch of presentations or listening to Steve Ballmer. In fact I can never be sure when the learning actually happens but it comes to me on the long flight home.

Somewhere in my subconscious, and usually one very bad meal and an action movie later, roughly above Hawaii - things seem to synthesize in my mind. I have never been to Hawaii but I have always been thankful for its airspace!

So out of Convergence, and based on what I heard from partners and customers - here is a snapshot of Action items eOne is going to be executing in the next few months:

1. Adding 2-3 people to our team. (Support and Consulting services)
2. Improving our collaboration tools to allow our team, our customers and resellers to communicate better, share experiences, post code samples, distribute solutions.
3. Take a long hard look at the style, format and content of our documentation
4. Improve ability to self learn SmartConnect
5. Helping GPUG to distribute SLB solution and run SLB Tuesdays.
6. Spend time reviewing and correcting 'all the little things' that can cause frustration in our tools.

What I find most amazing at Convergence is the passion of Microsoft Dynamics GP customers. This is a seriously clever, and very energetic group of people.

eOne had our largest showing ever with 10 people present in Atlanta with 5 of our team from Fargo and 5 from Sydney. People often ask me why we bring people from our development team and help desk team to convergence. The answer is very simple:

1. Only at Convergence do they realise how many people use eOne software.
2. Only at Convergence do they see how our solutions impact the working lives of individuals
3. Only at Convergence do we get face to face feedback from so many customers
4. Only at Convergence do you fall over at the amazing things customers have done with our tools - things we never imagined!

Thanks to everyone that gave us feedback last week, and thanks to all our customers that took time to share their amazing stories with us. As a team we have come home energized, excited and ready to deliver another year of software that makes Dynamics GP a whole lot better.

New Feature: Sales Force.com as a source and destination

2011-04-07T15:58:00.001+10:00

Oh My - now this is getting wild!

You speak - we listen. We have always positioned SmartConnect as the one stop integration and automation tool for Microsoft Dynamics GP. We always have been and remain 100% focused on GP. To achieve this goal we listened to our partners who said 'not all our customers use Microsoft CRM - but they still want their CRM and GP integrated. We want to use SmartConnect for this integration but there is no way with SC to read and write from the hosted Sales Force application'.

SmartConnect is now your solution to integration with Sales Force.com. If you are a GP reseller then you have no need to look for an alternate tool for these clients - you already have it and your consultants know how to use it.

We leveraged all our Microsoft CRM online experience to build the easy to use SalesForce.com components. Whether you want one way, two way, real time, batch based or change tracked integrations between SalesForce and GP - SmartConnect is the answer. So when your customer says we need to integrate GP and SalesForce you can smile with confidence and offer a fantastic solution. There is no longer any need to scare you clients with the costs, or frighten your consultants with the complexity of a tool like Scribe.

eOne is more than ever your one stop GP integration and automation shop! Most exciting is that there is no extra charge for the Sales Force destination - it is all bundled into the single price of SmartConnect.

Convergence Schedule/ Support

2011-04-07T13:39:00.003+10:00

It has been great to see so many of our partners and customers pre-booking meetings with our team at Convergence, in Atlanta next week. My schedule seems to be booked out from 7am to 10pm every day.

We have a couple of spots left, so if you want to book us up now then please let me know. We will also be manning our booth in the expo hall - so if you are unsure of your schedule right now, just come by the booth and we can answer all your questions there.

If you are not attending Convergence this year, then watch out for our webinar sessions in Early May that will step through all the new functionality we presented in Atlanta.

We are taking our entire Fargo based team to this event - which means our support team will be on the road. We will still be on email (support@eonesolutions.com and phone as per normal but please note that response times may be a little stretched. We will endeavour to respond promptly as always. If you are attending convergence and have a support question then please come by the booth and we can respond on the spot.

File Destination

2011-04-06T15:46:00.000+10:00

SmartConnect has always been an import and automation tool. The new build of SmartConnect provides functionality to make it an export tool as well. This functionality is essential in closing the integration loop in a complex multi application environment.

The 'old' SmartConnect gave you just 2 main destinations of GP or CRM - but now you have the destination of a txt, csv, excel or xml file. The building of a SmartConnect map does not change - but rather than pushing an output file to CRM or eConnect (GP) this option will turn your source of data into the file specified.

So when you are working on a multi application project you can not only accept but now you can produce all the desired file formats to pass to an external application. All this without any code and via the simple SmartConnect interface. This feature of SmartConnect takes away one of the great mysteries of working with GP - 'How to generate export files in a predefined format, on a scheduled basis - without talking to a developer'.

The export process is very simple and uses the base functionality of SmartConnect. In the same way you always have done - you select a data source, and then map this data to a destination. The only difference is that the destination is a list of columns you would like in your export file. When the map runs - instead of importing it exports.

New Feature: SQL Destination

2011-04-05T15:26:00.000+10:00

You ask, we listen. This is the theme of our new releases in 2011.

The upcoming release of SC contains a brand new destination called SQL and Stored Procedures. Have you ever wanted to do a the equivalent of a table import using SmartConnect? Have you ever wanted to pass source data into a complex stored procedure through an easy to use mapping interface?

SQL
The SQL destination means that you can update any SQL table you choose, with SmartConnect. This function is extremely powerful in that you can do direct inserts into the table of your choosing via the same SmartConnect interface you are familiar with.

I must have been asked 100 times "Can I use SmartConnet to update my custom table in SQL? Can we push data from GP to Sales Logix? I know the table name and eConnect does not support it, can we just write to it directly? After an import to GP how can we update the source tables with an update flag?"

These sorts of questions always came with work around answers involving writing code or custom nodes. Those days are over. If you are game - you are now able to write data directly to any table anywhere.

The power is great with this feature, but comes with a 'user be ware' notice. Obviously the power of eConnect is all the data validation that occurs during integration. The SQL destination by passes the rules - and updates tables exactly how you have mapped it.

Stored Procedure
This is a super cool feature. (Note super cool is not a term I would usually use but I am getting into convergence mode). Safer and more secure than the SQL option above, a stored procedure destination knows no limits. All you need is a stored procedure that inserts data into a table. This Can be a GP table or any other update you can do with a stored procedure.

When you build a map you select a data source as per normal, and then select a destination of Stored Procedure. You can then map your source data direct to the destination fields of the stored procedure within SmartConnect. When you bundle this feature with the stand alone interface we discussed in the last blog entry - you can use SmartConnect to integrate from anywhere to anywhere!

Come and talk to me in Atlanta to learn more.

SmartConnect Goes it Alone

2011-04-01T16:16:00.005+11:00

Convergence 2011 is going to be a great event. The eOne development team have been heads down for some time and we will be presenting a whole bunch of new functionality and products. I will highlight all of the NEW things in the next few days via this blog.

Whatch out for:
1. SmartPost
2. New SC Destination: SQL script and Stored Procedure
3. New SC Destination and Source: Sales Force
4. New SC Destination: File (Excel, txt and csv)
5. New SmartView
6. SC stand alone interface.

What I think is most exciting is that SmartConnect goes it alone with its own standalone user interface. That's right you get to install SmartConnect on any environment, even if there is no Microsoft Dynamics GP. The functionality is maintained 100% from the current release and the look and feel remains familiar to existing users. The great thing is that you no longer need to log into Dynamics GP to build a map.

Why is that so cool?

1. Much Better for CRM consultants: If you want to integrate GP and CRM together then you can do it all without ever logging into Microsoft Dynamics GP or Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The Smartconnect application acts as an independent integration application.

2. Neutral Territory: It was often an issue for Non GP consultants or IT prrofessionals to log in to a GP look and feel environment for building maps. While SmartConnect still looks the same -it is neutral territory for all consultants.

3. No Longer use up a GP license to build you integrations.

4. Build you maps on any workstation you choose, including machines without GP installed.

5. The SmartConnect market just got a whole lot bigger. You can import data to CRM or any other applications for clients that do not have GP.

6. The new UI fits perfectly with the new data destinations in SmartConnect including: Direct SQL, Stored Procedure, Sales Force, export File. All of this allows you to use SmartConnect for almost all your integration needs.

For all our existing customers and implementers - nothing changes. You are still able to run the GP interface both now and in future builds of SmartConnnect. The independent interface is an option during install and you can determine when and if you need to use it. If you would like more information about the Stand Alone user interface for SmartConnect please let me know.

Have you heard about Node Builder

2011-03-31T15:14:00.000+11:00

eOne has spent the last 10 years writing tools that turn development activities into consulting and end user activities.

In April we will release yet another great tool that reduces development time significantly, a new product called Node Builder. There are two questions we have been asked hundreds of times over the last few years
1. "How do we integrate into modules and objects in GP that are not supported by eConnect?".
2. "We love SmartConnect but need to be able to map to our own destination tables that have nothing to do with GP or CRM. Can I do that with SmartConnect?"

Up until now the answer has been "... can certainly be done with custom development. You need to write a custom node (which is really a fancy stored procedure) and then you can sit this behind SmartConnect. Contact your dev team or engage eOne to help". By the end of April the answer will be "just use node Builder".

Node Builder provides you with a very simple interface that lets you do a couple of keys things:
1. Choose the tables/fields you need to populate (may be within GP or outside of GP)
2. Identify the business rules that must be followed
3. Define your own error messages

When you are done Node Builder will produce a Stored Procedure or eConnect node (your choice) and link this up with SmartConnect for you. You can then build a map to your new destination just like it had always been a standard destination within SmartConnect. All of this without a single line of code.

What this means is that there is nothing inside GP that SmartConnnect is unable to integrate with. It also means that SmartConnect can integrate to any external SQL table with all the business rules and validation you require.

It is perhaps best summed up by a message I received this week from one of our top resellers TGO up in Cananda.

Node Builder is fantastic. It will change the way Microsoft Dynamics GP partners and customers use Dynamics GP. The combination of Node Builder, SmartConnect and Dynamics GP give customers and partners the long awaited feature of integrating transactions into any field or window in GP. Node Builder and SmartConnect together drive up the business value of Microsoft Dynamics GP, by allowing you to integrate into any field while driving down the cost building new integration point into Dynamics GP.
Blair Hicken
CIO TGO Consulting

I will update the blog shortly with specific release dates, introduction pricing and more details about Node Builder. If you would liek to join the beta program for node Builder please contact me directly.

Thanks for the feedback

2011-03-29T14:40:00.002+11:00

I just wanted to share a message I recived this today that made me smile for the whole afternoon. Thanks to the guys at AccessTek for taking the time to send us a positive message - it really does lift the entire team.

Hey Martin!
How are things “down under”?

Kristi and I wanted to send a quick email thanking you and your team for all your support over the past several months.
As you know, we’ve been using eOne products for at least 10 years – we love eXtender!

About 18 months ago we started implementing SmartConnect for our customers – with great results.
Once again eOne has delivered a great product that has changed the way we sell and implement GP.
We have so many more options for our clients when SmartConnect is part of the solution.

And, we have to thank your consulting team.
David, Chris and yourself have been instrumental in helping us deliver some of our more complex solutions.
The initial training was very thorough and we seldom meet trainers that know so much about their product and are so passionate about it.
There is so much to know about SmartConnect and it can be used in so many situations. Good training is essential.
If we hadn’t been trained and didn’t have ongoing assistance from your Support folks then we wouldn’t be able to realize the power of SmartConnect with our clients.

It is so great to be able to rely on your “gurus” when we need them. Your Support team is always responsive and patient and friendly.
On occasion we have run into complex issues with client environments that involve web services, Active Directory, Domain Admin’s, Excel Addins or massive volumes of data and the eOne team is always ready to help us troubleshoot any issue.
Best of all, they always provide a resolution.

Please thank your team for us as they are really an integral extension of our consulting team.
They help us deliver creative solutions that work for our clients.

Thank you, again, to you and your team!
And, thanks for the awesome products!!

Cheers,
Shaun and Kristi
AccessTek, Inc.

Ever Forgotten you wrote something?

2011-03-29T11:00:00.002+11:00

I was searching on Partnersource today for some GP fact sheets - and could not find what I was after. But I did stumble across an eXtender whitepaper that grabbed my attention. I read it for a while thinking how good it was and I hoped every consultant had read it. I mentioned it to one of my team who then pointed out that I had been the author!

While written in 2009 this is a great start for anyone wanting to build an Extender solution with Microsoft Dynamics GP Extender.

Extender White paper

GPUG Day 1 convergence

2011-03-22T15:54:00.000+11:00

Over the past few years I have always been surprised to find that there is a sneaky partner Day at convergence - the day before everything officially starts. I have been caught out arriving too late and missing some of the best bits of Convergence.

This year the best bits are going to be on Day 1. The GPUG group are hosting the Convergence 2011 PreGame Show. This is a great event for all those partners and ISV's who are trekking to Atlanta for Dynamics GP. This is a dedicated GP morning that gives you the chance to listen to and then ask the hard questions of the Microsoft executive team. I have a few questions to ask them myself! (Like when are they ging to OEM SmartView and SmartConnect).

•8:00 am – 9:00 am Registration and networking amongst the community
•9:00 am – 9:30 am Keynote kick-off with Doug Kennedy and Anders Spatzek
•9:45 am – 11:00 am ISV & VAR Speed Dating
•11:00 am – 12:00 pm Town Hall Meeting with Key Microsoft Team Executives

The afternoon then continues with a customer focus with a number of fantastic break out sessions that will dig under the cover of some important topics. I will be there with the eOne team to cover two important topics:

1. Which Builder should I use: A great session exploring how to decide which of the builders fits each specific reporting need.

2. eConnect why it is so good: This session looks at why eConnect sets GP apart from all other ERP solutions, where the gaps are and how to fill them.

Check out the agenda here for the details on all the great sessions you can get to on day one. Also don't forget that the Expo hall is open on Day 1 (Sunday) so if you want to spend some quality time before the crowds with our team or any other exhibitor - then get along to the expo Hall 2-5pm.

You will find eOne at booth #1442.

GP for $195 per month

2011-03-20T12:02:00.002+11:00

It is amazing how industries change, and change quickly. I have always held a view that this change is good, and business impacted by this change have to evolve, find new ways of doing things and get creative to fit with the new business environment.

Recently in Australia many of our large bulky goods and electronic retailers have been complaining about online retailers taking large chunks of their market share. I was the first to say "stop complaining, deal with the issues and change your business model!"

It is one thing to have a passionate theory for other businesses, but it is a little different when it happens to me. Software is changing. You can now buy Microsoft Dynamics GP for as little as $135 per user per month. What happened to the $100K, $200K and $300K software and services deals I used to be able to sell?

So what does the SAAS and Hosting models mean for traditional implementers and ISV's? One thing I have always praised about the mature GP reseller community is that we had a good business model. Resellers knew how to make money in this business. There was software with good margins. There was consulting revenue with new deals. There was ongoing consulting and upgrade revenue. There was annual maintenance to collect. There we good chunky ISV products to sell.

The bad news is that right now this business model is changing and will likely disappear over the next few years. There will be no more big chunky software sale margins. Implementations time frames will be significantly reduced. Upgrades will be handled centrally. Aunnual maintenance will disappear as a concept. The relationship between reseller and customer may change dramatically.

For an ISV like eOne the change is also significant. If a customer is paying $30 per month for CRM - how can I justify $4,500 up front for SmartConnect? Are they going to pay $200 per month for integration? How much time can I put into presales if the return is a small monthly payment? How do I pay salaries for the next few years without upfront software revenue?

Lets look at how things may look (hypothetically) in the next 2-5 years. As a customer I go to www.microsoft.com/erpgp and sign up for a 5 user GP subscription for $150 per user per month. I run through the rapid deployment wizard and have a new database to log into within 15 minutes. I click on a box called the GP marketplace and see some 500+ ISV solutions that I really do not understand - so I just move on. The next box is a list of services vendors who will help me 'get the most out of my new purchase'. They all profess to provide online config and support, with technicians I see and talk to online - so they need not be in the same geographical location as me. In fact there is a real good deal $65p/hr listed by a Canadian company or $70p/hr from companies in Bermuda, Mexico and New Zealand. We are based in Detroit and the partner there wants $130p/hr so we choose Bermuda.
The sales manager feels left out and says he wants a system too - so we go back online and add MSCRM to our subscription. Back in marketplace we tick the SmartConnect box to integrate these two apps which adds another $50 per month. While in the marketplace we also get the SmartView iPhone app for $4 for the CEO.

There are many variations of the above scenario - but the one thing we know for sure is that a customers relationship with software and partners are changing. Software is changing.

There is only one answer and that is we are all going to have to evolve. Resellers and ISV's will hold onto the best parts of the old ways for as long as we can - but we also need to evolve at the same time and rework our business models. Over the next few weeks I will revisit this topic and talk about some of the things that we can all do to start the change, and how we hold onto the best bits of what we have.

SmartView and Large Lists

2011-03-17T11:19:00.005+11:00

On of the new features i nsmartview really helps with large volumes of data. I want to dig deep into this really important aspect of SmartView and discuss how it used to work and how it now works in the latest release of SmartView.

SmartView is built for speed. Speed in returning data, speed in filtering data, speed in searching for data, speed in sorting and speed in exporting data. By default SmartView loads the data into a local cache so that when you place a filter or sort on the data the processing happens locally and runs really quickly. This is a great feature. The problem that this causes, in the first release of SmartView, is that when you have the maximum records returned set to say 10,000 - but your list contains 900,000 records only the first 10,000 are returned to screen and into the cache. This means that when you filter the list it is only filtering or searching the 10,000 records that are on the screen.

I am the first person to admit this was a limitation that confused a number of users who were looking for data. The initial workaround was to change the max records to a big number like 10 million - but this then slowed things down by returning all records before allowing you to apply a filter.

With The current release 11.0.9 and 10.0.4 we have introduced the concept of a large list. You are able to flag any given list as a Large List which will change the behaviour of this list. A large list will always re query the database to return records that match your filter criteria. Large Lists ensure that you always get the right data while at the same time ensuring smaller lists run at maximum speed.

FAQ's on this topic: Which lists should be marked as large lists? Any list that is likely to contain more records than your maximum record setting should be flagged as a large list.

Can I mark all my lists as Large Lists? Absolutely you can do this. I would only recommend doing this for lists that will grow rapidly such as transaction lists. The more fixed length lists such as accounts ,customers, items etc will perform better if left as a regular list. Lists such as GL Account Transactions, Sales Transaction, vouchers etc may be best set to be large lists.

How should I use SmartView differently to SmartLists? Something we have found is that many end users select a SmartList list and as soon as it starts returning data they press stop. They then apply their criteria and allow it to run again. This does not work so well with SmartView. One of the big differences between SV and SL is that SV goes and gets all requested records and then displays them at once. SL goes and get record one and displays it, then record 2 and displays and so forth. So if you are asking for 1,000,000 records to be returned SL will return the first record quickly but take a very long time to return all records. SmartView will take a little longer initially but will return all records much faster than SL.

SmartView 10

2011-03-15T21:50:00.003+11:00

A quick message to let everyone know that the updated SmartView build for GP 10 was released earlier today. There are a number of fixes/features in this build that customers have been waiting on. Download from the eOne website today.

These include:
1. SmartView is now even faster. Really Fast.
2. SmartView now has a Large List optional setting. Large lists with a maximum record setting will re query the database to apply filter settings, to return all relevant records. Small lists are loaded into local cache so all filtering happens locally on the workstation for extra speed.
3. Fix for the Account Transaction list.
4. Auto Filter Rule providing an individual column by column free text search.
5. Advanced Quick Search - Google (Bing) like searches (only more like Google)

In addition to the above there are a bunch of little fixes that end users will appreciate. If you have not got on board with SmartView yet - there has never been a better time.

SmartConnect and AD

2011-03-09T09:16:00.005+11:00

I had posted on this topic, Security and Active Directory, recently - but wanted to raise it again.

The important concept here is that who you log into GP as - no longer matters. Security is driven by who you log into windows as. I saw a support call today that was based on the following error :

" Could not read the DYNAMICS database. The server may not be accessible or you may not have access". The customer of couse was adamant that they were logged in as 'sa' so should have access. Unfortunately 'sa' is irrelevant in this situation. It is all about the user you have logged into Windows as - having access to the SQL server and database describes.

The full answer to the support call was:

It means that the user you are logged into Windows as does not have rights to the Dynamics database.

Do this in management studio.

Select * from [SmartConnect]..[User]

The user you are logged into windows as - must be one of the people marked as an administrator in the SmartConnect security window.

SmartView worth the wait

2011-02-22T10:45:00.003+11:00

The updated SmartView release will contain a number of great new funationality additions together with a number of corrections to get rid of some annoying little bugs. Our development team was hoping for release last week, but we are still working on a couple of functions we really want included in this build. When we are done the QA team gets a chance to try and break the new build.

This results in the new and improved SmartView release date having been moved out to 4th March 2011. I appreciate the patience of all those waiting on the new build.

Free Consulting 1/2 Hour

2011-02-17T16:26:00.006+11:00

Convergence 2011 will be held in Atlanta, and is the gathering place for so many of our reselling partners and customers. Many software developers use Convergence as a prospecting opportunity to find new customers (and that is important) but we have decided convergence in 2011 is a time for giving back to our customers.

Any eOne Reseller or any customer that owns an eOne product (SmartConnect, SmartView or Extender Enterprise) can request 1/2 hr of face to face time with our presales consultants, technical and support consultants or developers. eOne will be bringing an extended team to the event this year that includes the famous Dave Youngquist of eOne support desk fame as well as 3 developers, 2 product Guru's and 4 members of the sales and marketing team. So let us know what you want to discus and we will lock in a location and a time. The topics are completely open for you to name but some things you may wish to discus could be:

Resellers:
1. How to access the eOne demo server from anywhere?
2. What really is the difference between GP eXtender and Extender Enterprise?
3. How do Extender and SmartConnect really work together?
4. Learn about our Stand Alone Interface or our SQL destination connector?
5. How can we make implementations run more smoothly?
6. Questions/Comments about our support services.
7. I keep hearing SmartView rocks - please show me why?

Customers
1. Highlight product suggestions for our team
2. On the spot training on an area you have found challenging
3. How can I ...?
4. How to use Node Builder to fill the gaps in eConnect?
5. What are the training opportunities available?
6. How do we build our own Excel Templates?
7. We have some specific difficulties with an implementation - can you help me?
8. We use SC like IM - show me how to do so much more?
9. I heard there is a big promotion on SmartView for existing eOne customers? How much can I save?

So please take advantage of this great opportunity to sit down one on one with our team. We will be available from Saturday 9th at 9am through to Thursday 14th at midday. The only fine print on this offer is that for any meeting requested after 6pm, we reserve the right to hold this session over a beer (our shout).

We hold strongly to the belief that we are only as good as our last software release, only as good as our last implementation and only as good as our last support call. Please come and share your experiences, and ask the tough questions. To book in your hour please email me directly at martin.olsen@eonesolutions.com.

Note: This offer is only open to eOne customers and partners (or you can come together) attending convergence in Atlanta. Times will be allocated on a first in first served basis.

To lock in a time please contact me directly martin.olsen@eonesolutions.com.

Release of SC SP2 (46)

2011-02-17T14:48:00.002+11:00

Available from this week is the newest SmartConnect 2010 build which we are calling Service Pack 2 or build 46 for those following our build numbers.

This is a great build that adds some feature functionality but also consolidates previous builds with a big emphasis on correcting those little annoyances, and things that were not quite right. Many of these were minor issues that only impacted a small number of customers but have all be corrected in this new release.

While this was primarily a fix up release, as always we can not resist including a few features into a service pack release and added the following functionality improvements:

1. Excel 2010 - Excel 2010 data source added to SmartConnect
2. Script Task Window- Allow the user to resize the scripting window
3. Folder Data Source- You can now append the date-time to the file and allow overwrites
4. Global Connection Variable - Allows you to specify one connection and use it in all SQL validation, SQL commands, SQL change data source and SQL Lookups.
6. Copy Security - You can now copy user security to a new user

You can download the new build from our downloads page.

We have already moved our attention forward to the next release - which is going to be very exciting. The biggest thing coming will be the much anticipated stand alone interface for SmartConnect - which means you will no longer require Dynamics GP to be installed to access SmartConnect. There are a number of exciting changes also to the destinations and sources for this new build which will be a great leap for SmartConnect.

SLB - Tip of the Month

2011-02-14T16:48:00.006+11:00

Today's tip is to remind everyone that Excel Report Builder (ERB) from Microsoft is awesome. I mean really really cool.

For the uninitiated, ERB is one of the tools wrapped up inside Smartlist Builder. If you own SmartList Builder you own Excel Report Builder. ERB lets you build data connections for Excel into GP data and publish the data connection along with the creation of an Excel Report. The result is an Excel Report that is updated with live data every time you open it.

Today I was working on some internal reporting requirements and as always there are a massive number of tools I could turn to. (SmartView, SRS, Crystal, SmartLists, Cubes etc). My Requirements were pretty simple and included:
1. To see sales Volume by month
2. To see Sales Volume by Quarter
3. To be able to share this report between the USA and Australian Office.
4. Have a single report so Abbey and I are always looking at the same numbers.
5. I had to be able to build it - everyone else was busy. (For those that do not know me I could be described as a mildly technical GP user, who is really not too clever).

I won't run you through the detail steps in creating a report but I will highlight a couple of the tricks:

1. I had to first select the tables I wanted to use in the report, which was focused around SOP. The first time I ran the report I fell for the trap of not seeing both the SOP History and SOP Work tables together. (I needed work tables for my current month sales/forecast version of the report). So I used the MATCH TABLE function in ERB to join the two sets of tables together. If you have never used Match tables it is perfect for this scenario and let me join two tables at the click of a button.
2. I placed restrictions on the report right there in ERB to limit the data. For example I only wanted invoices, and had to exclude all quote documents. I also restricted out all $0 lines to keep things clean as I only needed things we sold for real $'s. It was better to keep this data out of the report altogether rather than trying to filter it in Excel later.

3. I then published this report to a shared network location that is accessible to both the US and Australian offices.
4. I needed more than just a list of data, so built a pivot table on the spreadsheet based upon this data and added some color etc.
5. Then I remembered that there was some data missing. Now here was a problem - I did not want to lose all my formatting of the spreadsheet but I need to publish the excel report again from ERB. So my biggest tip is - when publishing there are two options: Firstly to create the data connection and secondly to create a spreadsheet. Given I already had a spreadsheet and just needed a few columns added to the data connection - I simply chose to rebuild the data connection.

The result is I have a 'Live' pivot table in excel that is build of roughly 9,000 lines of data. I can share it with others in the office, it is rocket quick and completely flexible as all pivot tables are. ERB solved all my problems and literally from start to finish took about 25 minutes to build, format and publish. Go ahead and find me an ERP system that is better than Microsoft Dynamics GP.

2011 Ready

2011-02-08T22:25:00.000+11:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that SmartConnect is now CRM 2011 ready to go.

You are going to hear much more about SmartConnect for CRM, CRM live and our out of the box, fixed fee installations over the next few weeks. It is exciting times in the world of CRM and GP.

Partner Access

2011-02-08T03:03:00.001+11:00

Instructions on how to navigate the eOne website.

How to Access Customer Reg Keys

How to Pay for a Customer’s Annual Enhancement Plan Renewal

How to Order a Product for a Customer

How to Add and Pay for Additional Users

How to Generate a Renewal Quote for a Customer

If you have any questions on the videos, please don't hesitate to call or email sales@eonesolutions.net.

Have a company New Year’s Resolution you’d like to share? Or, do you have one you’d like us to make? Email me: abbey.heesch@eonesolutions.net.

Evolution

2011-02-04T14:05:00.000+11:00

Thanks go to Les Wright for putting this together - I only whish I had been this creative.

Feedback

2011-02-02T12:44:00.000+11:00

I wanted to share a recent email response from an experienced GP consultant:

"Martin first of all great demo of a great product(s). I have been doing GP consulting for 25 years(I go back to GPA 1.2) and if I have done 100 implementations I could have sold this product suite(SC and SV) in 75 of them." Tom.

Let's see what this would mean for a partner in terms of revenue based on very conservative numbers.
Average Margin: $2585
Average Services: (4 days) $5,600
Total at 75 clients in yr one: $613,875

If you add to this annual maintenance, Happy Customers, Better solutions and more GP sales - there are some good reasons to get deep with eOne products this year.

Upgrading to 2010

2011-01-31T11:18:00.002+11:00

Before you upgrade your SmartConnect clients to GP 2010 please read the attached KB article.

Things to note at a high level:
1. You must upgrade to V51 of SmartConnect 9 or SmartConnect 10 (depedning on your current GP version) before upgrading GP to 2010.
2. You can not simply export your maps from a previous version and import than into the 2010 build of smartConnect -you must run the SmartConnect upgrade process.
3. You can not upgrade to 51 after you have upgraded GP to V2010. You must upgrade to SmartConnect 51 before you begin your GP upgrade.
4. If you have gone ahead with an upgrade without upgrading SmartConnect first you will need to: Restore the backup you took before the upgrade began onto a test system. Upgrade to 51. Upgrade GP and SmartConnect to 2010. Export the Maps and import them into production.

This is not always going to be the case with SmartConnect upgrades, and has not been the case with previous upgrades. This has been a major release with many table and coding changes - which is why following the correct steps are essential. Rest assured your next upgrade will be significantly simpler.

Folder Feedback

2011-01-28T15:00:00.002+11:00

I received this message today from a partner and thought I would highlight the folder data source feature below.

"Thank you so much for all your help. It is up and running and working like a charm. That Folder Data Source is such a cool feature built right into Smart Connect…. I’m going to let the rest of my co-workers know about it and our salespeople and I’m going to try and get everyone looking at where we could use this at other clients!"

Folder data source's are a great function inside SmartConnect that makes peoples lives easier. When Building a SmartConnect map there are many sources of data you can choose from (SQL, XML, Excel, CRM, Real time, GP, Change etc) - and one of those is simply to point at a network folder.

What is a folder data source: Defining a Folder as the data source for a map simply says that the system should look into this folder and if it finds new files, then run the map to import these into the maps destination. The map will run based on the defined time schedule within SmartConnect.

Why is that good: Perhaps the best thing is that there is no manual intervention to execute a folder sources map - it happens automatically. Another feature is that SmartConnect does not look for a specific file name, but imports whatever files are placed in this folder. The folder datasource allows for multiple files to be copied to this folder at any given time and it will import each sequentially.

Why use a Folder Datasource:

Client Scenario 1: One customer created a windows folder into which anyone from the accounting team could copy a month end journal that was written in Excel. There were 5 accountants that each prepared month end adjustment journals, so each could copy them into the same location and be sure that they would all end up in GP.

Client Scenario 2: Another customer received bank import files each evening which were always named something different. Rather than manually having to rename files for import - they were simply dropped into the import folder and imported automatically overnight via a folder datasource.

Tricks: It is important to have a consistent file format, even though the file name can change. When you first set up the mapping you will need a master format to enable the fields to be mapped to the destination. This file can be just a the column headings, but will enable you to build the original map.

What does Maintenance include

2011-01-27T11:27:00.003+11:00

We have had a number of questions recently about what is and is not included in maintenance. I wanted to clarify this below.

Software maintenance on eOne modules (SmartConnect, Extender Enterprise and SmartView) are paid annually at 17.5% of the current retail software price. So if you purchase SmartView for $1,500 your annual maintenance costs will be $262 which is shared between eOne and Resellers. This provides the following services:

1. Access to our knowledge base: http://www.eonesolutions.net/KnowledgeBase.aspx
2. All software service packs – a service pack is a minor update. Like from 10.0 to 10.0 service pack 1
3. All Software upgrades – an update is a major update. Like from GP 9 to GP 10, or GP 10 to GP2010
4. All Software hot fixes – a hot fix is a bug fix that is deemed urgent and cannot wait for a quarterly service pack.

There are no direct support hours included in the maintenance fee for end user customers. Most reseller companies include a phone support component within their general GP support programs and we rely on our resellers to provide support directly to their customers. As you can see from the SmartView example above eOne receives a portion of the $262 per customer to ensure we maintain and upgrade our products for all our customers. There is no room in this for us to take direct and free support calls for each of our customers.

If you choose to engage directly with eOne you are certainly able to do so through the purchase of direct support packs and consulting packs. All our services are sold on a per hour basis and you are able to purchase blocks of 4, 8, 12 and 16 hours. Once you have purchased services you are able to use these for a mixture of support, consulting, design or development purposes. The eOne support and consulting team are based in Fargo ND. When is comes to all eOne products there is no one that knows more about the products and how to get the most out of them than the eOne Services team.

If you would like to engage directly with our consulting/Support teams please contact us at sales@eonesolutions.com

Repellant

2011-01-21T12:29:00.008+11:00

Our last blog talked about innovation and creativity. My search led me to some interesting inventions in 2010 - one of which was the 'teenager repellent'.

Howard Stapleton (Merthyr Tydfil, Wales) invented an electromechanical teenager repellent - a device that makes annoying high-pitched noise designed to be audible to teenagers but not to adults. The "Mosquito" ultrasonic teenage deterrent aims to solve the problem of unwanted gatherings of youths and teenagers in shopping malls, around shops and anywhere else they are causing problems, claiming to be "the most effective tool in our fight against anti social behaviour". He later used that same technology to make telephone ring tones that are audible to teenagers but probably not to their teachers.

This has gotten me to thinking about what 'customer repellent' we all carry around with us in the software business. I am currently in the process of having some building work done on my home - and the similarities between building a room and implementing software are significant. Lets think briefly about the things that act as a 'customer repellent' between a builder and a customer and see if the links are the same between a software implementer and a customer.

1. Quote $: Take time to provide a well thought out, easily readable and accurate quote. Don't guess, don't make stuff up. No one will get upset down the track if you have a justifiable basis or documented assumption to back up your quote. e.g. When my builder says "we quoted on 3 sky lights but now you want 4 to brighten things up - there is no argument about paying a bit more".
2. Jargon: Make sure you explain what is happening in terms your customer understands. Don't use the term SQL when your customer refers to it as a 'database'. The builder explains exactly what he has done so I understand which is very different to how he speaks with his trades people. "we have build the box gutter by bending a large piece of flat metal to fit, and made sure there is 900mm on each side. This means that if there is a massive storm there is no chance of it ever leaking."
3. Be the expert: This means do not pretend to the be expert - but actually be one. When the builder says "there are two ways of doing that - but I strongly recommend you go with option 2 because it is foolproof" - I always agree with him even it it costs a little more. Also he will always defer to an expert if need be. If there is a questions about electrics he talks to the electrician.
4. Never lie: Sounds simple but get caught once and the trust is over. Never lie also means never be over confident if you could be wrong. I recently had someone say that they guaranteed that this XXXX had never been the case - when it was the case. All credibility is lost.
5. Give advice and make suggestions: You are the expert. If you are not making suggestions about new tools, new ideas or how you have seen other customers do something - you lose credibility. When I asked "the new room seems to have made the kitchen darker" the builder gets a new job by saying "I did a house recently where they put in a small skylight with a big opening at the bottom to diffuse the light right across the room, and by putting down lights around the edge it became a great feature".

I think you are starting to get the point. Unless you are doing these things you are actually putting up a customer repellent. You will lose customers. You should lose customers. In the last few months I have seen a tradesman whose pants are falling down - deliver much better customer service than what I often see in the software marketplace. Think about what you do everyday and how you are inadvertently pushing customers away like mosquito's.

Happy New Creativity

2011-01-14T15:48:00.003+11:00

It is time to get creative in 2011 and do things differently. As a wise man once said "If you do things like everyone else - you will be just like everyone else".

I was inspired by this image which surfaced during the recent floods in Queensland.

2011 is year to think differently, act differently and do some things you have never done before.

No more email Christmas Cards

2010-12-23T11:49:00.005+11:00

Let me start by saying I love Christmas. I love food, beer, family, sun, beaches, presents, carols and everything that comes with an Aussie Christmas.

BUT - please do not send me any more email Christmas Cards. You know the ones I mean - the email with a pretty picture of snow falling on a house in the woods and an inane message like 'seasons greetings from XXXXXXX Inc'. Take some time to think about this - and then give me one positive outcome, one thing on the upside that may occur from sending out a message like this? Just One. Give me one reason why an organisation would decide this type of bulk email is a good idea?

What are you saying to your customers or suppliers with such a message? The only thing I can see it says is that there is someone in marketing that has the computer know how to upload a list of emails to a website and spam them!! What reaction are you hoping for?
1. The recipient thinks "oh how lovely that XXXXXX company is thinking of me at this time"!
2. The recipient thinks 'oh I forgot about this company - I will give them all my business because they sent me an email Christmas Card'
3. The recipient thinks 'what a kind and caring company'

No. No. No. Stop it. They are annoying. They fill my inbox. Email cards interrupt my busy day. Email cards tell me you don't know me well enough to call. Email Cards tell me you actually had nothing to say. Email cards tell me you believe in spam. Email cards drive me insane. Email cards fill up my deleted items folder .

So I have decided this year to take action. Instead of just deleting these emails instantly - I have decided to keep them. I have made a register of all the companies that truly think email cards are a good idea. I know who you are. I will find a way to seek revenge. I initially was going to publish my list, but I will give everyone a second chance at the same time next year - and then the list goes on this blog.

So we had better discuss the things I would prefer from my customers and suppliers at this time of year.
1. A phone call
2. A physical Christmas card. (but only if it has a personal handwritten message of more than 3 sentences. And that personal message is such that it could not have been written in anyone else's card.)
3. A personal email from the people I deal with every day (not the marketing person).
4. A discount and a special offer just for me?
5. Anything else creative that comes from people - not a company.

So you can call me Scrooge or Grinch but I do feel much better for having got this off my chest.

Have a wonderful Christmas, and take time to put work away and enjoy the important things in life.

SmartView Fact Sheet

2010-12-21T13:57:00.002+11:00

I had a theory that with the release of SmartView I would be able to avoid putting together a fact sheet - and I could simply direct customers to our web site and the online videos. I built a short 3 minute intro video together with a full 20 minute video that shows all features. Despite all this information I keep receiving requests for Demos and Fact Sheets. I have clearly been partly right as many customers have already jumped on board and sales have smashed expectations and budgets in the first month.

On the other hand for some Customers/Partners old habits die hard. So I have succumbed to peer pressure and we now have the SmartView fact sheet available for our partners and customers. Partners are able to take this pdf file and save it locally for distribution to all their customers as part of their marketing exercise.

You can download it here if you too need something physical to print and share. SmartView Fact Sheet

Have Fun at Christmas.

2010-12-20T16:43:00.003+11:00

I hate being outdone. I have strung a few Christmas lights on our house this year, but I continually hear 'nice try ... but your neighbor's lights are better'. The fact is it is true they have way more and way better Christmas lights - but I cling to an argument about quality not quantity.

That said I always look for ways to compete, with out competing directly and head on. I have a plan for next year that I have borrowed from this gentleman's story below.

"Well, there is good news and bad news about my Christmas decorations.

The good news is that I truly outdid myself this year. The bad news is that I had to take them down after only two days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever.

But two things made me take it down. First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost crashed when they drove by. Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the ladder and almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). She was one of many people who attempted to do that.

My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard.

I think I made him too real this time . But it was fun while it lasted."

CRM: Why integrate into Extender

2010-12-17T10:54:00.004+11:00

What do you do when there is no where in GP to store the data you are capturing in CRM? What about all those contacts in CRM - where do you put them in GP? What about all those custom entities in CRM - where do you store that data in GP

This is where eXtender is the answer. Customise CRM all you like, capture all the data your business needs and then create matching screens in GP with Extender. Why not create an eXtender contacts screen in GP to store all your contacts? This means you do not need to buy licences for both GP and CRM as users can remain in the application of their choice.

Mapping between CRM and eXtender is as easy as mapping to any other field. Take a look at this example here. This is a simple contacts screen built within GP.

This is the map setup where we have mapped to to an eXtender form. The data source is simply the contacts entity in CRM and maps neatly to eXtender. Extender forms appear as an available node which can be mapped like any other.

Cash For Clunker - why trade in a Clunker

2010-12-15T08:04:00.003+11:00

The eOne Cash for Clunkers program gives Dynamics GP customers the opportunity to trade in the old, slow and clunky way of doing things, and adopt the SmartConnect way of working in Dynamics GP. $1,500 dollars off the price is a massive saving, and this promotion expires on the 31st of December 2010.

There are a number of generic integration solutions that are usually expensive to maintain and that do not provide even half of the functionality that SmartConnect delivers. This includes the solutions provided via Integration manager, Scribe, Pervasive, eBridge, DTS, custom eConnect or the free Microsoft connector for CRM. When it comes to Microsoft Dynamics GP and CRM integration and automation there is only one product that does it all. If you have invested in one or more of these tools (not limited to just those listed) and need a low cost switch to a single stop solution – then the SmartConnect Cash for Clunkers will give you the answer.

By far the majority of SmartConnect customers that have made the switch have traded in integration manager. Partners are always asking for a list or reasons to upgrade and we will take a look here at the main reasons why they made the move from IM to SmartConnect:

Things SmartConnect does better, faster and more easily:
1. Speed: First and foremost SmartConnect is much, much faster. Integration manger types the data in the front end via a macro, while SmartConnect applies all the Business rules of GP in the background and runs up to 50 times faster.

2. Scheduling: Set the SmartConnect schedule to run, close GP and go home. The schedule service will run in the background, will not break if GP is closed and will run every 5 minutes, 10 minutes, every hour, every day or just once a month. Once it is set it will run.

3. Breadth of Modules: SmartConnect provides a wider range of integration points.

4. Scripting: SmartConnect allows for pre and post integration Tasks to be written in c# and VB.net as opposed to VB script

5. Pre Map SQL validation: SmartConnect allows you to check that your source data is correct before running. SmartConnect will go and lookup to GP and ensure the data you are passing in is valid, before it attempts the integration.

6. Data Sources: SmartConnect allow you to connect to any data source you need without coding. SmartConnect can use data in Excel or CSV files, but also connect to SQL ,Oracle, SmartList, Extender, GP tables, XML, InfoPath.

Things SmartConnect does that Integration Manager just does not do:
1. Extender: Import data into Extender windows, forms, detail forms all during the same runs as importing to core GP.

2. Web Service: Developers can call the SmartConnect Web Service from to trigger a map to run from a website, another application or any custom code.

3. Integrate Dynamics GP with Dynamics CRM: Completely flexible, two way, real time integration of data between GP and CRM.

4. Integrate to CRM: Import data from Excel or any other application direct into Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

5. Real Time Automation: Automate almost any task within Dynamics GP as you move around the screens in GP. Real time triggers will kick in when your criteria are met, to create records in GP based upon data you enter into GP. If you have any rule based processes in your business, where if one thing happens you always enter a follow up transaction these can be automated. For Example: Whenever you add a new employee within Payroll and they are a manager SmartConnect will create a vendor record to allow you to accept expense claims.

6. Use Extender better: Build screens to capture unique business specific data in GP, then use this data to generate transactions in GP via SmartConnect.

7. Enter data in Excel: Do your data entry right into an Excel template, hit a button in Excel and SmartConnect writes that data straight to GP.

8. Use SmartList as a data source: let your end users filter data to be integrated through the easy interface of SmartList. Set restrictions, choose your data and then run a map against this data. It does not matter where this data originated from.

9. Custom Nodes and Connectors: Ability to write and include completely custom integration points within the SmartConnect framework. Ability for ISV’s to build a custom connector to provide a flexible integration point for their application.

CRM: CRM Query Datasource

2010-12-09T15:42:00.000+11:00

What is so cool about a CRM query data source? The query Data source is one of the things that make SmartConnect stand up above other tools when it comes to integrations between GP and CRM. SmartConnect does not require you to do all the hard work - much of that has been done by the eOne dev team. With many generic integration tools you will be directed to go and select the tables you want in your data source - but not with SmartConnect.

If you want to move data from CRM to GP - you first need to tell the system where the data is coming from. You could (like most integration tools) go direct to the SQl tables to find the data. As we all know this fraught with danger. The CRM query data source instead shows you graphically all the entities inside CRM, allows you to link them together and select the required fields for the data source.

The beauty here is that you only deal with friendly names, and without writing any code you generate all the code to pull this data together from the CRM web services. The query builder handles all the GUID's automatically so you need not battle these as you would if you went direct to the tables.

To build a CRM Query Data source you:
1. Select the Data source type

2. Then use the query interface to select the entities and fields you need. On the bottom part of the screen you are also able to define restrictions on your data source so only records that meet your criteria are selected.

3. All the hard work is done by SmartConnect by generating the code to collect all the data you need in your data source.

Upgrade Season

2010-12-07T14:01:00.002+11:00

Upgrade Season

We are about to enter what I refer to as Upgrade Season. There are a number of events that are all lining up. Firstly SP1 for GP2010 has been released for a while, we are entering the Christmas Holiday period where many businesses slow down, resellers have been talking about planning upgrades for roughly 6 months and businesses are looking to start the New Year with some efficiency improvements.

As an eOne-SmartConnect customer or reseller and you are about to begin an upgrade to SmartConnect 2010 there are a couple of things you need to be aware of before you begin. We wanted to bring these steps to your attention to ensure your upgrades of SmartConnect are smooth and trouble free.

1. You must, Upgrade to SmartConnect v51 before you begin your upgrade of Dynamics GP to GP 2010. This is an essential step. Whether you are upgrading from V9 or V10 of GP you must first upgrade to either 9.0.51 or 10.0.51 for SmartConnect before upgrading to SmartConnect 2010. Please note - Once you have started the upgrade of GP to 2010 it is too late - you need to get to SmartConnect v51 before you start the GP upgrade.

2. You must, take note of the Active directory user you are logged in as during the install. (NB: This is not the GP user, but the Windows user you are logged in as). This is the only user that will have security access to SmartConnect after the upgrade. (NB: the sa user will have no special powers as it is only the AD user that has rights in SC 2010).

3. You must, run the SmartConnect maintenance routine after each SmartConnect upgrade.

4. You Must, Complete the additional setup screens for each connector. See the full description of this in the detailed upgrade instructions.

While here we have highlighted some of the big things to watch for I strongly recommend you follow this link to review the full upgrade instructions. http://www.eonesolutions.com/download/Release%20Info%20and%20Upgrade%20Instructions%20for%20SmartConnect%202010.pdf

Microsoft CRM Custom Entities

2010-12-05T12:48:00.000+11:00

If you use Microsoft CRM then you almost definitely have custom entities. The ease with which customers are able to customise/configure Microsoft CRM is what makes it such a powerful application. It is easy to configure Microsoft CRM to truly fit your specific business process by developing an changing the screens to suit.

The trick is that if you are developing custom entities, how easy is it to integrate this data with external applications such as Dynamics GP. eOne provides a very simple answer.

Firstly, SmartConnect integrates automatically with all custom attributes and entities in CRM - out of the box. When you build a map in SmartConnect it will check real time for a list of all entities and attributes - and you can map to and from these fields just like any other standard entity in CRM.

Secondly, the next question often raised is 'where in GP can I store this extra data we are capturing in CRM?'. There are a couple of options here:
1. Do not move the data at all but just display it to GP users via Smartlist Builder, Navigation List Builder or SmartView.
2. Use the existing GP user defined fields and push the dato into those.
3. Create matching entities/fields within eXtender and use SmartConnect to write data into Extender. SmartConnect natively contains eConnect nodes to write data into Extender windows, forms or detail forms.

The great part about this story is that you never need speak to a developer. Building an entity in CRM is easy configuration, integrating data into it is through a simple map and writing that data back to GP is as simple as an additional map. All taks that a regular GP or CRM consultant can complete.

Do you understand how SmartConnect works?

2010-12-02T16:08:00.000+11:00

I have for a long time wrestled with the best way to explain SmartConnect to end users of an ERP. The best I can come up with is a simple graphical representation which I am linking to here. I hope this helps you understand how SmartConnect hangs together and why it can be so powerful to make GP the best mid market ERP in the world.

SmartConnect Explained

SmartView - Listen to Customers

2010-11-29T16:11:00.000+11:00

Is there anything more important that listening to customers for all of us in software implementation and development. SmartView was written because our customers kept asking for it. I have to admit that initially while I thought it was a good idea - I was not convinced it was going set our sales on fire.

I have been extraordinarily lucky in the past few years to look after presales for some great products in Extender and SmartConnect. There is nothing better than doing demos that literally 'knock the socks off' the audience. When I started showing off SmartView I was a little nervous - I had a good demo but not what I thought was an amazing demo.

As it turns out I should have been listening to customers and not worrying about my demo. Customers were amazed and falling off their chair to get hold of SmartView. SmartView is just what customers were looking for - and each one loved it for a different reason. Some desperately needed the speed. Others simply wanted to move the divider line on the screen. Another customer really wanted the unlimited filters.

None of these features are amazing in their own right, but to a GP customer they were just the tonic. In fact customers did not want amazing - they wanted something that helped them do their day to day job a whole lot easier.

As a result I have been amazed at the sales of SmartView in just its first few weeks. Customers just can not get it quick enough. I really should not be surprised as this is exactly what customers were asking for.

Upgrade to 2010

2010-11-29T12:27:00.003+11:00

Before upgrading to SmartConnect to V2010 you must take time out to read the upgrade instructions. The upgrade steps are available for download in the same place as the SmartConnect Download, and will also open during the SmartConnect install (but at that point it is often too late).

There are 2 key steps that this document disusses:
1. Before upgrading SmartConnect you MUST have upgraded to either v9.51 or v10.51 of SmartConnect. Before upgrading the current install must end in 51. The SmartConnect 2010 upgrade path is only supported from v51. This is not optional. You will almost definitely lose maps and have maps that will not upgrade if you do not ensure you are upgrading from 51.

The 2010 upgrade is a significant upgrade step, with the big change being that the SmartConnect database is standalone and no longer tied to a specific GP database. The architectural changes are important for SmartConnect and enable us to execute our product road map for SmartConnect over the next few years.

2. Security: We have changed SmartConnect security in SmartConnect 2010 to be entirely active directory driven. The install documents step through the changes that need to occur and how the security process works in 2010. This means that loggin in as 'sa' is of little meaning as all SmartConnect cares about is the AD user security. This is an important step as more often than not the users executing SmartConnect maps (through excel, websites and push integrations) are not GP users. So please take the time to read the instructions prior to the upgrade to ensure a smooth and easy transition.

Why the eOne CRM to GP templates include custom Entities

2010-11-27T10:49:00.000+11:00

Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Dynamics GP are very different applications and exist for very different purposes. What this means is that moving data between them is not necessarily all that simple, and concepts in one application may not exist in the other.

With SmartConnect and the eOne templates we have set out to smooth over as many of these instances as possible to make the integration process easier. I will look at a couple of those scenarios here:

Class ID: You will find that with the eOne templates we have added a field and entity called Class ID onto the account Entity. The Class ID is an important field in GP and needs to be populated when creating a customer in Dynamics GP. So there are a couple of options when building an integration:
1. Use another field in CRM to store a value for Class ID. This could accept free form data entry or be a fixed drop down list.
2. Use a complex calculated field to determine what the class ID should be, based upon other information on the account. e.g. Country, city, type etc
3. Use the templates to have a dedicated field for Class ID.

This class ID has been created as an entity in its own right in CRM. We have a map that keeps this entity in Sync with GP so that any new classes added in GP will automatically be added in CRM. This makes integration mapping easy as you are able to map the Class ID in CRM directly to a validated class ID in GP. This is an example of the flexibility SmartConenct provides. You can use the custom entity provided in the templates or map the Class ID in any other way that is appropriate to a particular implementation.

Payment Terms: This is another field in CRM that acts very differently to the payment terms field in GP. In GP this field drives due dates on invoices - and will impact on cash flow for a business. In CRM this is an informational field that 'does nothing'. In CRM the payment terms field is a pick list. This causes an issue as there is no way to automate new the addition of new values into this pick list in CRM. So when a new payment term is added in GP it would need to be manually added into CRM.

In the eOne templates we have removed the standard payment term from CRM and replaced it with a new entity and field for Payment terms. This entity is kept in Sync with GP so any new payment terms added to GP will automatically end up in the CRM list. this also ensures that only valid payments can be selected in CRM and passed to GP.

Aging Buckets: On thing that every body within an organization can use is the ageing buckets for a customer. For this reason the templates add a new series of fields to store this information within CRM. The standard maps take this information from GP and moves it across to CRM on a regular basis.

Cash For Clunker - only 35 days to go

2010-11-26T13:24:00.001+11:00

Give you clients a Christmas present - with only 35 days to go on the cash for Clunker program. Trade in your old systems for a new one that goes better, faster and does way more stuff - at a great price.

GUID's and CRM,

2010-11-25T10:17:00.002+11:00

If you are a CRM consultant you already understand all about GUIDS. If you are a GP consultant then GUID's may be a mystery.

In Dynamics CRM all entity records are tracked by a unique identifier called a GUID. For GP folk this is very similar to the concept of a GL account number and an account index. To reference an account number in the GP tables you often need to know the index. This concept is fundamental to CRM, and pervasive across the product.

What this menas is that if you were to try and write data directly into the CRM tables you need to pass in the GUID's into the table. The problem with this is that no source data file will contain GUID's as they not something end users will know about or understand.

SmartConnect resolves this issue by providing the concept of an entity lookup. The entity lookup is defined during the building of a map and says "for each value in this field, go and lookup CRM to find the GUID, then pass the GUID value into the integration rather than the actual entity record. So whether you are dealing with a standard entity or a custom entity you can always use the entity lookup.

This is another way in which SmartConnect makes integrating CRM and GP easy for all consultants.

SmartConnect Hotfix

2010-11-15T13:40:00.003+11:00

Today eOne has released a hotfix for SmartConnect 2010 for GP 2010. There are two main issue addressed in this hotfix:
1. Random 'Write Failure Error' when running SmartConnect maps after upgrading to eConnect 2010. This issue is reportedly resolved with SP1 eConnect but in our testing this issue still arises - albeit less often. This build of SmartConnect will track for this specific error message and reprocess failed document containing this error. In our testing this has resolved the issue in all cases.
2. Dates passed to the CRM webservice will be of a standard CRM acceptable format rather than the format defined on inidvidual servers. This issue impacted customers with a non USA date format server, and a USA based CRM install.

CRM and GP: What should you Integrate

2010-11-14T15:13:00.000+11:00

In the last post we talked about getting the right team together for the project. The next step is to scope the integration points. To do this both your GP Guru and your CRM Guru needs to be familiar with the key functionality within SmartConenct.

I must have had 50 people say to me - send me your templates and we will use that as the starting point for the scope. If you do that you have missed the point of integrating CRM and GP. Lets go back to some simple definitions:

CRM: this is where you manage the relationships your company maintains with the people your company deals with. This usually has a sales/prospecting focus.
ERP: The is where your business transacts and manages the day to day activities of running the business including billing, accounting, stock management etc.

So the question is - what data can you expose between Dynamics GP and Dynamics CRM to help the business run better as whole. In regards to the eOne templates it is important that they exist and will reduce your time to deliver certain functionality but they do not form the basis for your scope. The starting point is the knowledge that SmartConnect can create any data in GP based on any data in CRM. In Reverse SmartConnect can create any data in CRM based upon any data in GP.

That sounds simple enough. If you have a customer in one system, you can create it in another. If you have an order in one system you can create it in the other. This is the old case of 'integration' - I have one record here and I would like to create a matching record over there. Boring.

So lets get creative - can I create an activity, appointment or phone call in CRM with SmartConnect. Yes - we said you could create any CRM record. But we don't have any Activities in GP - so how can we create them in CRM. Activities in CRM require very little information, so why not just use a trigger in GP, based upon a predefined rule, to create an activity in CRM. Now we are starting to talk about clever integration.

What about this scenario described by a client. "We put all our invoices in GP, and use CRM for prospecting both existing and new customers. When we get a customer they are recurring customers, so usually make a similar spend with us every month. We really need to know if a customer has not made a purchase in a given month as we need to act quickly to ensure we retain that customers business. "

The solution is provided by SmartConnect. Build a SmartConnect map based upon monthly sales totals. If a customer has a $zero monthly spend, and a greater than $1000 spend the previous month - create an activity in CRM for that customers sales person. So what does that map look like and what data are you passing:

Destination: CRM Activity
Datasource: Anyone with $0 monthly sales. This can come from a SmartList, a GP query or a SQL query whichever you are familiar with.
Mapped Fields: You in fact would not pass any values to CRM other than to create an activity, assigned to the salesperson with a description that said "please contact Aaron Fitz - they had a zero spend last month"

So while not trying to teach you to suck eggs, it is important here to find out what type of integration/automation this business needs. I am assuming all the normal stuff Customers, items, payment terms, orders, class IDs etc are handled by the templates or simple maps. The idea I want people to consider is that you do not needing matching records in both systems - but you can use SmartConnect to create new records based upon any data that comes from anywhere.

Another thing to consider is 'does the data actually need to be moved, or just viewed in the other system'. For example, it cna be useful for the back office team to see outstanding quotes from CRM, inside GP. htis does not necessarily mean any data integration. What about simply using SmartList builder or Navigation list Builder to look directly into the CRM data? Cna SmartList Builder look at external SQl tables - YES. So an important consideration is, do we need to move the data or just display it.

Integrating Microsoft CRM and GP

2010-11-11T17:02:00.000+11:00

This is a topic that I have been quiet on for a while, but over the next few weeks I will be returning to it many times with a series of tips and tricks specific to CRM and GP.

Despite being around for a number of years there still appears to be a great deal of trepidation when a partner sets out on a CRM to GP integration. I want to set out to prove that there is no need for trepidation and a CRM to GP integration can be and should be a standard activity for any GP/CRM reseller. There are a number of reasons why I think this trepidation has developed:
1. Partners being burnt by launching into the complexities of Scribe, unprepared.
2. The original GP/CRM connections in SmartConnect were not yet fully functional
3. More recently the inflexibility and simplicity of the standard connector from Microsoft
4. Underestimating the complexity of the line 'we just want a simple and standard integration'
5. Choosing the wrong team to implement the integration
6. Fear of the unknown
7. Lack of useful specification

To resolve point 1, 2 and 3 - SmartConnect has come to the rescue. After a recent SmartConnect (for CRM) training session the attendee was quoted to say "Holy crap, I can not believe how far SmartConnect has come in the last few versions. This means that any clown that can double click can integrate CRM and GP. I will dig deeper into the reasons why SmartConnect has blown away any competition over the next few weeks.

Today I want to focus on the team that should implement an integration. Traditionally the CRM team has either put up their hand, or been nominated to lead the integration process. GP consultants got to hide their head, and hope it all worked out for the good. This is a dreadful model. The reason for this is that more often than not the CRM team were already familiar with Scribe and had used it in conjunction with Sales Logix or the initial releases of Microsoft CRM. The use of Scribe was for initial data load to CRM, conversions from ACT etc and duplicate checking on these data loads. This meant a file of data (usually a spreadsheet) that needed to end up in CRM. There is almost no similarity between that type of project and a two way ERP to CRM integration project.

The fundamental difference between ERP software and CRM software is 'unique records'. Now this sounds fundamental to any database but in CRM it is perfectly legitimate to have the same customer or contact in your database multiple times. (for example John Smith can be a vendor, a customer, a prospect, an ex employee, have worked for multiple customers previously etc etc). Where in an ERP each record must have a unique identifier.

Secondly, most CRM implementers have no idea what an ERP does and often times why you would even have one. (a wild generalization I accept). CRM's are a place to store large volumes of data - but are not really transactional. CRM's have many less transaction rules for things like Tax, Double Entry accounting, Serial Number Processing, Inventory tracking etc. An ERP is a whole bunch of Business Rules through which all data is funneled/processed before and after hitting the database. Once that data hits it moves to history as processed, unchangeable data. Compared to a CRM system and ERP is an extremely complex beast.

The above said, do not underestimate the free form flexibility and associated complexity of CRM. ERP's are to an extent governed by the rules of accounting, rules of tax and governments and the standard process of doing business. CRM's are governed by the creativity of a sales manager and sales team. Now that can get complex.

Terminology and concepts are different with CRM and GP. In CRM you have to understand GUID's and in GP you have to understand the impact of the payment terms field on all Receivables transactions. What about a class ID? How do you integrate form CRM to GP without passing through a class ID for customers? There is no Class ID in CRM so too bad? A GP consultant understand the importance of this field in GP but a CRM consultant sees it as just another classification.

In CRM the workflow is everything - what happens next and who should be reminded to act after this step. When you create an order what happens next, when does it become committed and when can users stop editing the record. These are questions that are usually givens in an ERP but are all open to change in a CRM.

So in short you need both a CRM guru and a GP Guru on your implementation team - particularly for the scope and design exercise. YES - the scope and design exercise for the integration. I will come back to this topic as it is the most important step in any integration, and is essential no matter how simple the initial requirements.

With SmartConnect you are able to configure an entire integration form within GP. You never even have to log into CRM (other than testing). So in theory all you need is a good GP consultant? (it has been done but not recommended). You must have both a CRM Guru and a GP Guru involved in each and every implementation project. I tend to recommend that the GP Guru take the lead as the GP side is usually the more complex as far as transaction complexity. The CRM guru is essential for the work flow of what happens in CRM and how things are displayed to the sales team. The mapping and pushing of data is the easy bit and tends to be best handled and mapped by the GP consultant, with the CRM team working on the display and who gets to do what when within CRM.

Lastly, involve the customer in every step. They need to own it, feel part of the process and truly understand it.

No Project should commence without sign off on the scope by all parties.

Promotional Pricing

2010-11-09T12:25:00.005+11:00

I wanted to tell everyone about our $US promotions that run through until Dec 31st 2010. These deals will end at the end of the year so if you want to take advantage of the lower pricing now is the time ot act.

Cash for Clunkers is Back and Bigger until Dec 31st 2010
The Australian version of Cash for Clunkers, Bucks for Bombs, Razoo's for Rust Buckets, Dollars for Dumps looks like it may be scrapped before it even gets started. With the Government needing to make budget cuts, it looks like the policy itself will end up on the scrap heap rather than the cars.

So to balance things out, we are bringing back our Cash for Clunker program that allows you to trade in your legacy integration and automation tools and receive a cash break on the purchase price. All you have to do is tell us what product you are trading in, and you will qualify for the SmartConnect Cash for Clunker Program. The big advantage to your 'Business Environment' is that you will save time and be able to build many more efficient automations and integrations than you could with your Clunker.

eOne's Cash for Clunkers will run from 15th November 2010 through to December 31st 2010. SmartConnect normally retails for US$4,500 but with a Clunker Trade In you receive $1,500 off, making the total price just $3,000.

SmartView Launch Promotion
SmartView is brand new and so we are offering a great opening price of just $1,500 through to Dec 31st. Get in now before the price moves upward.

SmartView and SmartConnect Bundle
Now this promotion is a cracker. When you purchase SmartConnect you are entitled to upgrade the package to include SmartView for just an extra $1,000. This applies to both the regular SmartConnect price as well as the clunker promotion. This means that under the clunker promotion you can get both SmartConnect and SmartView for just $4,500 - which is the normal price for SmartConnect on its own. That is effectively SmartView for free!

SmartView Available from Today.

2010-11-08T14:33:00.003+11:00

One of the primary things that mid market companies look for in an ERP system is better and faster access to data. One of the most loved features of Microsoft Dynamics GP is SmartList and SmartList Builder - and that is because it provides an extremely simple interface to access all the data captured within your ERP system.

SmartView is a tool that takes the best thing in Dynamics GP and makes it a whole lot better. I am very excited to announce that SmartView is now available for download and sale. To learn all about SmartView you can watch a demonstration here or review the features here.

I can hear you asking - how do you make SmartList better? The primary way is to make it faster. Smartview makes all your Smartlists and SmartList Builder lists much faster. The second way to make SmartList better is to modify the user interface to elimiate the little things that frustrate users, and make leaps in functionality with unlimited filters and the ability to Group and Subtotal records.

Before beginning work on SmartView we spoke to a number of Dynamics GP customers to understand their needs, "There is nothing better than the list view for accessing and reviewing transactions. We love SmartList because it is so simple and everyone can use it without training." Based on this feedback we set out to make SmartView as easy to use as we could. To fit with all eOne products it had to be fast, it had to be flexible and configurable to specifically met the needs of any business.

"On a day to day basis we need data and we need it fast. We do not have time for pretty graphs and pie charts, but we need to find transactions really quickly so we can move on with our next task. For us it is about finding and processing Purchase Orders, Fullfilling sales and getting goods out the door." Based on this comment we decided that SmartView must be a tool for the everyday GP user. It was not a tool that the CEO will use to analyze sexy graphs and make presentation to the board but rather SmartView is a tool for the user who spends much of their day working inside Dynamics GP.

If you would like to find out more about SmartView please contact me at martin.olsen@eonesolutions.com

SmartView

2010-11-05T11:21:00.002+11:00

Thanks for the feedback that the Flash version of the SmartView demos were taking too long to download and watch. Today we posted a WMV (Windows Media) version of those same demos. If you struggled with the Flash file, please take a new look at the WMV's.

Watch the demos now.

We have also been overwhelmed by the positive and passionate feedback on SmartView. If you need any assistance in taking SmartView to your customers please contact me directly martin.olsen@eonesolutions.com

We Love good Feedback

2010-11-02T10:59:00.000+11:00

Support can be one of the most rewarding jobs, but also one where you get bogged down in the most troublesome of software issues and human frustration. We at eOne are very proud of our help desk and believe the combination of our teams total customer focus and deep product knowledge mean our team are second to none. It is always great to recognize positive feedback - and here is a great message and reccomendation given recently about David's work.

Hi David,

I want to personally thank you for your assistance on this. I know you put a lot of time and effort into resolving with us and glad to see we have such a great partner like eOne working with us. You will definitely see more business from us simply from this support case alone. Feel free to use this as a testimonial.

Regards,

==========================================
David J. Smooha, CPA
Chief Executive Officer
Business Solution Partners

SmartConnect and Active Directory

2010-11-01T10:15:00.003+11:00

SmartConnect 2010 uses Active Directory-based security instead of SQL security. This has caused some confusion among partners who are used to the 'sa' user being able to access everything. We have received calls from partners who are frustrated because the 'sa' user cannot get into SmartConnect Setup or SmartConnect security.

During the initial installation of SmartConnect, one of the last steps after launching Great Plains should be to go into Tools – SmartConnect – Security. If there are no users configured, a window will pop open informing the user that there are no users setup, and asks if you would like to setup the current user as an administrator. When the user clicks OK, it adds the users Windows login as an administrator and not their SQL or Great Plains login.

This user will then be able to access SmartConnect security setup, and should add the additional domain users to SmartConnect security. The user lookup is actually looking for Active Directory domain users and not SQL users.

If no users are unable to access SmartConnect setup or security, you need to find out who the SmartConnect administrator is by: logging into SQL Server Management Studio and running a select query on Users table in the SmartConnect database. Any domain user listed there that has the “IsAdmin” checkbox marked is an Administrator in SmartConnect. If you log out of Windows, and log back in as that user, you then will be able to access SmartConnect security and add additional users.

There are a number of reasons why SmartConnect is configured to work with AD. The primary reason being that many of the users that will execute a map (especially via Excel or other remote applications) may not have any login access to GP. In order to control access for these users the security needs to be based on something other than traditional GP security.

SmartView is just Days Away

2010-10-29T10:00:00.004+11:00

I have decided that if you read this blog then you are familiar with Dynamics GP and know a great enhancement when you see one. So rather than writing a marketing blurb about SmartView I thought I would let you make up your own mind. Below are links to two videos demonstrations. The first is for those with short attentions spans and limited time (will only take 3 minutes) and the second is for the more thoughtful individual with 17 minutes to spare.

SmartView 3 Minute Overview.

17 Minute Full Feature Demonstration

New Hiring

2010-10-27T14:25:00.003+11:00

We recently saw the need to expand our support desk and went for a global search for the best support people. We handed our exhaustive list of requirements to a recruitment consultant, and blindly accepted their candidate. While we will persist with little Tobes for a few more weeks I am not sure he will work out long term. If you have any comments about the quality of the support provided from our newest team member then please address it to him personally as he does not take instruction well. On more than one occasion he has burst into tears for no apparent reason.

Little Tobes takes the first call of the day - note the casual office attire at eOne. This looks like a seriously tough call.

It looks like this could be a tough call to crack - Tobes is going to have to do some research. "Could you please hold the line a moment".

"Too easy. This guy had not even read the new SmartConnect manual. I pointed him to page 68 and he was golden. This support stuff is a piece of pie - what's next." .

Back to Business

2010-10-18T16:24:00.005+11:00

Apologies for going missing in action over the past few weeks. I was fortunate to have a holiday during which I got to completely 'switch off', and then spent a week travelling for work - during which time I did not really 'switch on' beyond the sessions I was presenting.

I spent last week with our UK partners in London and had a great time - thanks to all for their hospitality. On the 22hr flight home, with a little time to reflect in between the beef or chicken preheated meals - there was a single thought that kept coming to me. "The future of GP is entirely in the hands of GP Partners". Let me explore this thought below.

You all know that I firmly believe that Microsoft Dynamics GP is the most powerful, most flexible, most configurable and best value for money mid market ERP available. If you want to challenge this statement then please let me know which product you think is better.

What I have found this year on my visits to both the USA and UK is that GP resellers are getting lazy (and I include myself in this category also). Yes - there I have said it. Before you take offense please hear me out.

A couple of questions to ask yourself:
1. Do you demo Dynamics GP in much the same way you did 2, 3, or 5 years ago?
2. Do you really understand the Business Portal Dashboards and Home Page Metrics?
3. Are you as familiar with SRS reports as you were with Report Writer and Crystal?
4. Do you show your customers Excel Reports, and Excel Report builder? For how many customers have you implemented Navigation Lists?
5. Did you ever get beyond that fact that eXtender simply adds a few extra fields?
6. Can you clearly explain what a web service is, and where and when they are used in GP. Can you give three great customer examples of why web services change the ERP world?
7. Do you go to market with a web store for GP?
8. Do you know all about the new features that are available in V10 and V2010 GP?
9. Can you demo power pivot?
10. Do you still take advice from the back room dex guy who is still living in the 90's.

GP has been top of the pile for a long time, and over 15 years we saw the growth of best reseller channel in mid market ERP which is the envy of all our competitors. My question is are we making sure we stay ahead of the pack.

Our competitors have had plenty of time to aim up, work hard and come to compete hard with us. Take a product such as NetSuite which has come a huge way in the last few years. They get the chance to take GP, pull it apart and copy all the best bits into their product - and they are doing it. If we sit still they will catch up, copy our product features and pass us by, leaving us wondering what happened.

Alternately, we can keep moving forward, improving our offering and making sure that they never get to catch up. From where I sit, Microsoft are continuing to improve and enhance GP with every new release. Now I am sure we all have wish lists for features and changes, and we will never get all the things we want but I believe we have more than enough to work with.

There are a few things that I believe we as partners can do to ensure we stay well ahead of any competitor.

1. Voice your high demands on Microsoft: Keep talking and telling Microsoft what your customers needs. Get passionate and demanding when it comes to ensuring what GP looks like next year and the year after. If you do not ask, if you do not hit up executives, if you do not swamp the help desk then you will not get the things you need. I sense there is a feeling that we are now dealing with Microsoft and individual partners do not have the swing and power they once had - which is simply not true. There are great people in Fargo who will listen and learn from everything you have to share.
2. Sell up a bomb: there is no better activity than selling lots of GP. Take advantage of the 3 for a $1 and 3 for a £1 and all other promotions. If you want Microsoft to listen to you than knock on their door with really big sales number and a full pipeline.
3. Get creative with your solutions and embrace the Microsoft story. Do not show GP the same way you did 5 years ago. Learn all the new features that have been added into GP in the last 3-4 years. Leverage the Microsoft Office story with Office, ERB, Communicator, SRS and all the other good links to all things Microsoft. Get deeply familiar with CRM and stop talking about it like it is all a little scary. Tell customers that CRM is the integrated CRM solution for GP - and show it as one product. Use the term Dynamics and get on board with the 'Dynamics' marketing. Use Extender, build what your customer needs - but call it GP. Never mention the word eXtender - but say this is what GP does for you.
4. Pitch GP as the best integration product on the market (as with SmartConnect/eConnect it is). Embrace your prospects existing point software solutions and show how easy it is to make all their systems one single 'system' through the power of integration and reporting.
5. Love your existing customers. Love them by taking them the best solutions, and advising them on the best way to do business. Do not let a few slip away to the competitors just because they never called in, or never spent money. If you let a few customers go, then expect a case study to appear from NetSuite on the problems you get with GP. Bring your customers to convergence and support all the Microsoft customer event initiatives. There is nothing better to create that warm and fuzzy feeling for a customer than having them feel part of the 50-60,000 customers that use GP everyday to run their business.

We are the users and implementers of the best mid market ERP product in the market. FACT. But unless we want this to remain the case 2 years form now, we had better get excited, get active, get passionate and sell up a storm.

Window Groups

2010-09-21T17:07:00.000+10:00

Possibly the best kept secret in Microsoft Dynamics GP eXtender is Window Groups. I saw a forum discussion last week that went like this:

Question: Can I auto open different eXtender windows from the same screen based upon the data entered into the GP screen?
Answer: Only by purchasing eXtender enterprise from eOne and using the scripting functionality.

Unfortunately this is sometimes the problem with forums as the information given is not always completely accurate. The real answer should have been:

Real Answer: Use the eXtender window groups functionality which lets you prescribe the conditions when a particular eXtender window should open. The way you do this is:
1. Create all the eXtender windows you need independently. For Example if you need 3 different windows to open, depending on the type of product sold on an order then you need to create the three eXtender windows. i.e. You sell golf clubs, golf bags and electric golf buggies. On any given order you need to capture a different set of data for each sale line, depending on the item number used.
2. Create a window group and determine the trigger point for all of the windows that will be assigned (Auto open, hot key or extra menu)
3. Add the first window required.
4. Define the condition upon when this window should open.
5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 for each window you want in the group.

It is that simple. If you wanted just a single window to only pop open based upon a condition (e.g. the customer class is equal to government) then you need only add the single window to the group. Apply the condition to this window and it will only auto open when you need it.

If this functionality is new to you, please leave me a comment in this blog and we will continue to post more 'tips' to help share the information.

SmartView first Viewing

2010-09-20T17:05:00.002+10:00

A sneak preview of SmartView - only at the Partner event this week in Fargo.