Four reasons why Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2’s new Doc Attach is here to stay

With Dynamics GP 2013 R2, Microsoft has changed the way that they deal with attached files. Doc Attach 2.0 stores attachments in the database as a BLOB (Binary Large Object) rather than the previous method of using a pointer to a file stored on the network.  The reworked process makes it much easier to scan in documents and attach them to transactions. This is a pretty significant change for database administrators who often got away with relatively small file sizes for GP companies in SQL.

Already, some database administrators (DBAs) are going dislike this change. It pushes more of the responsibility onto them. I've used GP for the last 15 years as an end user, a consultant, and a controller. I'm excited about the change, and here is why:

1) Very few companies effectively use the file storage based attachment system in GP today. They'll attach a few things and then quit.  The current process for file attachment is clunky and it's way too easy to disconnect the location of a file on the network from the pointer in GP. Companies often screw up a new GP install and point the file store locally, orphaning files on a single computer and preventing others from seeing them. Admins move the location on the network without realizing what's in it. Also, since the attachments are tied to notes, end users delete notes without realizing they are also deleting the associated file.

2) Large DB size are not abnormal now. A complaint we're already hearing from DBAs is that the GP database is going to bloat causing increased backup and restore times and increasing the need for database management. That's almost certainly true. However, companies are going to store the data someplace so we're really just moving ...