Article

Embrace Testing on the Road to A Successful Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Upgrade

by Linda Rosencrance
Contributing Writer, MSDW

Now that Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 is here, companies are trying to figure out how to successfully upgrade to the new release.

Companies planning a GP 2013 upgrade need to prepare for a range of technical and functional considerations like building the right team, calculating hardware investments, and developing an education and adoption plan to make sense of it all.  But in addition to those important factors, building out a proper test environment is key for any upgrade, said Howard Swerdloff, Dynamics Liaison at Global Tower Partners, at a recent online meeting of GPUG.

Swerdloff said companies should start by looking at their current environments, i.e., virtual servers vs. physical servers; web servers; reporting servers. In addition, firms need to determine what's stored locally as opposed to across a network; what kinds of workstations they have; and the status of ISV products that must be upgraded (or jettisoned) at the time of the upgrade. As for customizations, you should remove any that your company doesn't need so there will be less to maintain and upgrade.

"You also need to ask your users what they use," he said. "There are a lot of things in terms of macros, Excel reports different things that they may use on a repetitive basis that will be important as part of your test environment."

Firms also need to analyze how closely they can replicate their current environments, Swerdloff said. Companies should ask these questions:

  • Do you have a separate subnet you can use?
  • Do you have extra servers (if physical)?
  • Can your host support additional virtual machines (if virtual)
  • Can you ...

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Dynamics GP GP 2013 GPUG Upgrades
About Linda Rosencrance

Linda Rosencrance is a freelance writer/editor in the Boston area. Rosencrance has over 25 years experience as an reporter/investigative reporter, writing for many newspapers in the metropolitan Boston area. Rosencrance has been writing about information technology for the past 16 years.

She has covered a variety of IT subjects, including Microsoft Dynamics, mobile security issues such as data loss prevention, network management, secure mobile app development, privacy, cloud computing, BI, big data, analytics, HR, CRM, ERP, and enterprise IT.

Rosencrance is the author of six true crime books for Kensington Publishing Corp.

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