GP Next: 3 Big Areas I Want Microsoft Dynamics GP to Emphasize

April 17 2015

Boulders 

The Microsoft Dynamics GP team has been hard at work adding features to address user requests. GP 2015 is a nice looking release, and the upcoming R2 addresses a number of things were just...well...annoyances. The next big update, due in early 2016, will move the web client from Silverlight to HTML5. And GP 2015's service based architecture provides a great framework for future opportunities.

About Mark Polino

Mark Polino is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a former Microsoft MVP (2007-2018) for Business Solutions. He is the author or coauthor of 5 books related to Microsoft Dynamics GP.  Mark also maintains the Dynamics GP focused website DynamicAccounting.net. He speaks and writes regularly about ERP related topics. Mark has been a controller and CFO for a division of a publicly traded company and he has  worked as a consultant implementing ERP solutions. Mark holds additional certifications including Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP), Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) , Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA). Dynamics Credentialed Professional for Dynamics GP 2015 (Core Install and Core Financials), Xero Certified. He holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Central Florida and an MBA from Rollins College. Mark lives with his family in Florida.

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Comments

gtho's picture

Personally I would like to see mobile allowing for SOP quotes/Inventory lookups. At the end of the day the sales people are the ones bringing in the revenue, something as simple as that would be massive for them.

MSPartnership's picture

(Already posted these as suggestions) I would like to see the Field Service modules' appeal broadened to more than just servicing widgets. For example, we've demoed scenarios where the Preventative Maintenance module works great for scheduled services such as replacing consumables or scheduling pickups/exchanges on a regular schedule. I suggested simply changing the name on the windows to "Scheduled Maintenance" rather than "Preventative Maintenance", but MSFT shot that simple fix to broadening appeal down...boggles the mind as to why... I'd also like to see the ability to schedule services or maintenance by day of week (every Monday, third Wednesday, etc.). That idea seems to be under consideration and I hope it makes it into GP 2015 H2. Building in an optimal driving route tool would also be huge. The (former) MapPoint functionality to pinpoint an address on a map has been around for ages. Microsoft's code for sequencing addresses has been posted for quite some time for anyone to use; and it seems like the GP team would have already merged it into the product. Currently, customers have to pay big just for that functionality from an ISV.

bbucher's picture

Another place where Microsoft should put some work, especially as they intend to move towards HTML5 content, is to consider the reality that nowadays most users are working on a broad range of devices, not just regular 15-17" screens... but everything that goes from a 10" tablet to 27" (or bigger) screen... and the product just doesn't play well with the DPI screen resolution issue, which makes it look like pretty outdated and from another decade..

kdraper's picture

I would love to see GP better integrate modules such as HR and Project Accounting. Setting up new employees and maintaining them is too complex and very easy to get out of sync. The most apparent example is the integration between HR Benefits and Payroll Deductions and Benefits. With the addition of ACA I believe GP will now have many more customers using HR. These customers will struggle bringing up HR and keeping it in sync with Payroll. Project Accounting has its integration issues as well. Syncing pay rates between Payroll and Project Accounting rate tables must be done in SQL. I would just like to see GP give more attention to these integrated applications.

bbeauchamp's picture

Mark, your top 3 are mine as well. Thanks for being our voice to microsoft.

raheelok's picture

In my opinion Microsoft should not focus only on GP functionality as a financial application rather they should enhance Dexterity capabilities, like Multidictionary development, 3 Tier Architecture. I think Microsoft should keep the GP logic themselves but make Dexterity IDE Open soucrce. By this we will see a huge development coming from lots of people and ultimately the IDE will enhance. (Given the example of Android). If Microsoft donot do this, they not only trouble themselves but also partners and community.