Top 3 Observations about Microsoft Dynamics GP from Convergence 2014

Posted on: March 11, 2014 | By: Jim Bertler | Microsoft Dynamics GP

The Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2014 event ended last week.  Here are my Top 3 Observations from our exciting week in Atlanta.

Microsoft Dynamics in the Cloud – Microsoft continues to push heavily the use of the cloud for Microsoft Dynamics GP.  We notice this during all of our sales calls with both current clients and prospects as well, but the move to the cloud is unmistakable.  Microsoft is certainly trying to prove that a robust application written many years ago can be moved to the cloud.  We do have clients today using Microsoft Dynamics GP in a private cloud, but Microsoft didn't announce any plans to host Microsoft Dynamics GP themselves.

Reporting and the Business Analyzer – Microsoft continues to produce sessions on Microsoft Dynamics GP Reporting and kudos to them for doing so.  This is certainly one of the major conversations we have with all of our clients.  The best new feature for reporting in Dynamics GP is certainly the Business Analyzer.  This is a tool that can be installed and both SSRS and Excel based reports can be surfaced in the tool.  Today it can be installed on any Windows 7 or Windows 8 device including phones and tablets and it does have touch screen capabilities.  An application for Apple and Android devices is expected in the next three to six months.  I will blog more over the coming weeks about the Business Analyzer, but it won't require a full user and will allow you to get key data to the executive team.

Mobility – Mobility continues to be a big topic for clients and one Microsoft touched on at Convergence this year.  Quite honestly, Microsoft Dynamics CRM has a nice mobility story, but the story around GP is a little more scare.  If you want Dynamics GP on a mobile device you really have to use a 3rd party or as I mentioned above the Business Analyzer will give you key metrics and dashboards on a mobile device.  This will serve the need of the mobile executive, but still require the mobile functional user to invest in 3rd party applications.  



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