| |
| |
|
softwarecatch.com
|
|
|
|
IT Strategy for Midsize Business: Microsoft vs. Java, Great Plains & CRM
Midsize business or non-profit organization should decide if one-vendor solution would be appropriate and the associated risk acceptable. In our opinion, balancing the risk of one-vendor-approach is not economically feasible and should be avoided. This means that you need to decide if you plan to be Microsoft-oriented or Java/Unix/Linux/Oracle oriented. In the case of Java direction - you again have to further consider your options and if possible do not deploy too many systems from different vendors. Even if you host your systems with somebody else - we think that in the future you might have a risk of complex data conversion from one system to another. In this small article we'll show you typical way if you follow Microsoft direction: Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains and Microsoft CRM ? Sales Automation. It was actual at all the times, however now it is becoming critical to have decent Client Relation Management (CRM) system implemented. You order takers or sales people should be working exclusively in CRM, where you should have sales workflow, approvals, pipeline of pending deals, reporting with future cash flow prediction. Use Microsoft CRM Sales module. ? Servicing. If you would like to avoid tame wasting when your service and sales people are talking to each other and have long meetings to fulfill customer order, you have to organize them around CRM Service module: Contract, Case, Activity, workflow and assignments to service technicians, plus email to/from your customers should be captured in MS CRM ? ERP. Currently, Microsoft Business Solutions has MS CRM integrated with Microsoft Great Plains. Great Plains is good ERP solution for majority midsize business and fits to variety of business niches. Great Plains is integrated with MS CRM on the level of Sales Order Processing module (SOP). ? Customization. Usually each midsize business has unique procedures which should be mapped into their CRM and ERP. So, be ready to have minor or major customization implemented. In the case of MS CRM - majority of the customizations are done in C# or VB.Net - so called Microsoft CRM SDK programming and development. It is open technology - you can download MS CRM SDK and have anyone with C#/VB.Net skills do the job. In the case of Microsoft Great Plains he technology is not that open and you might need somebody with Great Plains Dexterity, VBA/Modifier, Integration Manager, eConnect, SQL coding - this combination of skills is usually available from one of the Microsoft Business Solutions Customization Partners ? Integration. If you have something else, besides Microsoft CRM and Great Plains, then you might need the integration. Assuming that your major systems are on the Microsoft platform - integrations should be done via heterogeneous queries from the side of Microsoft SQL server - through linked servers ? Reporting. In our opinion - the best tool for non-financial reports (financial - use FRx) is Crystal Reports. Base your Crystal report on heterogeneous view or stored procedure to pull the data from multiple systems. You can deploy Crystal reports in your web application, if needed Good luck with implementation, customization and integration and if you have issues or concerns - we are here to help! If you want us to do the job - give us a call 866-528-0577 or 630-961-5918! help@albaspectrum.com Andrew is Great Plains specialist in Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ) - Microsoft Great Plains, Navision, Microsoft CRM Partner, serving clients in California, Minnesota, Illinois, Washington, Florida, Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Canada, UK, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Russia
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Who Is Minding Your Sensitive Data? Stealing company information used to be the specialty of spies and conspirators. It was something that only happened to the most powerful of corporations and branches of government. Microsoft CRM Implementation - Fundamental CRM Principles Revision Microsoft CRM is relatively new player on the now becoming traditional CRM software applications market. We would like just to mention shift in the technical conception - Microsoft CRM is committed to Windows and Microsoft components: Exchange, Active Directory, SQL Server, etc (while traditional CRM applications, such as Siebel were biased toward multiplatform compatibility: Unix, Oracle, Windows, SQL Server) and move up to business logic paradigm shift. Professional XP Style Icons in Software and Website Development Using professional icons in your application or website can bring a modern and aesthetically pleasing appearance to your product or service. This will not only help you to attract potential customers but also give you that "edge" you need to stand out from your competitors. Microsoft CRM Integration with IBM Lotus Notes Domino - Machinery Dealership Example IBM Lotus Notes with Domino email server is traditional document workflow management solution for large corporate business, where you need audit trail on approval cycle and decision making. Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is very cost efficient solution to automate sales process. Microsoft CRM and Great Plains Implementation: Freight Forwarding Business Automation Example Microsoft Business Solutions offers several ERP applications: Great Plains, Navision, Solomon and its own CRM solution - Microsoft CRM. Targeting to automate all business operations, Microsoft CRM is now integrated with Microsoft Great Plains and in the close future it should have integration with Microsoft Navision. Database Guru James F. Koopmann Reviews DBxtra Reporting and Query Tool DBxtra is a powerful query and reporting tool that hides many of the complexity and technical expertise required for creating connections to disperse data sources, building queries, designing reports, and delivery information throughout an enterprise or to your customer base.With the ability to connect to multiple databases or data sources at the same time, DBxtra allows for cross platform data aggregation and the ability to answer questions that would typically take IT time to migrate data into a single reporting database. Adware and Spyware What is 'adware'?Adware is basically software or scripts that are hidden on your computer, that make advertising show up all over the place. It may be an extra menu in your web browser, icons appearing on your desktop, bookmarks or favourites appearing out of no where, and pop up ads that seem to come from no where!What is 'spyware'?Spyware is similar in nature to adware, however I feel its purpose is slightly more sinister. Screenplay and Script Writing Software When it comes to screenplay software each screenwriter needs to determine what they need from the program they purchase and pick one that fits their specific needs. Screenwriting software doesn't write the screenplay for you. 10 Things You Can Do With Photoshop CS2 That You Couldnt Do Before Now Is Photoshop CS2 worth the upgrade? You bet it is! Here are just 10 things you can do with this fantastic new version of Photoshop that were impossible (or difficult) to do with previous versions:1. Manipulate objects in the Adobe BridgeThis new generation of file browser enables you to look at photographs and artwork in detail before you open the file, process multiple Camera Raw images, flip through pages in PDF documents, size, rate and organise your work in a convenient and highly user-friendly way. 7 Things to Consider Before Buying Small Business Accounting Software The world of small business accounting software can be a minefield for any business owner. However choosing the right package is one of the most critical business decisions you will make. MultiNational Corporation ERP Implementation - Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains If you look back to the history, you will see that ERP for large publicly traded company had to be built upon very reliable hardware (more likely non-Intel hardware: mainframe, Sun sparc, etc.), powerful database platform: Oracle, DB2, Ingress, Sybase and reliable OS: UNIX. It's Back!! WordPerfect's Amazing Comeback Have you noticed WordPerfect is gearing up for a comeback in a big way? And fortunately, they are succeeding. If you're like me, an ole' diehard WordPerfect 5 user, this is music to my ears. Microsoft and Webmasters Does Microsoft care for WebmastersIt's always been a problem with websites appearing exactly the same on different platforms. As a web developer / webmaster it is extremely difficult to make user experiences rich by having the site look the same in any OS / Browser. Groupware: What Works the Way Businesses Do? GroupwareThe internet is full of 1.5 million to 7 million indexed pages of groupware packages available on the market today. Tools for Customizing Great Plains Microsoft Business Solutions - Great Plains has captured the US market with its integrated business applications for small and mid-size organizations. Its comprehensive accounting and business management capabilities provide businesses with tools to customize various modules of the Great Plains software. Microsoft Great Plains Food Processing - Implementation & Customization Highlights Microsoft Great Plains might be considered as ERP platform to build your own custom solution upon or as the assembly place for the existing modules. Microsoft Great Plains has Inventory Control (IV), Bill of Materials (BM), Manufacturing modules, coming from Microsoft Business Solutions directly, plus it has third party solutions, such as Horizon Light Manufacturing. Anti-Virus Software Anti-virus software is used to find, remove or fix files that are infected with computer viruses. Most anti-virus companies release weekly updates of their databases to help keep you safe. QuarkXpress Tips: How to Move Content Between Print and Web Layouts Since its release in 1987, QuarkXpress had made an immediate impact to computer enthusiasts. QuarkXPress introduced precision typography, layout and color control to the desktop computer, and delivered those features to designers at a fraction of the cost of proprietary typesetting systems. You Can Write Microsoft Office Program in About 60 Minutes Microsoft Office program is a programming tool called Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) that comes with Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook, Power Point, and Publisher. VBA can make your repeating jobs automatic. IT Strategy for Large Corporation: ERP/MRP/CRM, Unix/Linux/Windows, Microsoft/Java Combining Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains ERP with non-Microsoft Business System or CRM: Lotus Notes Domino, Oracle, DB2There are multiple opinions on building your established large business IT system. Some companies prefer to be "Microsoft shop", others prefer to stick to Java world.
|
|
Powered By: Free Work At Home Business Opportunity! |
| © 2006 |
