Article

Builder vs Designer: Dynamics GP community questions Microsoft's alternative SmartList creation tool

by Jason Gumpert
Editor, MSDynamicsWorld.com

Microsoft Dynamics GP SmartList DesignerSmartList Designer | source: http://bit.ly/15UwXyh

Microsoft has been releasing Dynamics GP ISV solutions from their OEM agreements for well over a year now.  But the recent announcement that it is returning SmartList Builder, one of its biggest licensed add-on solutions, back to eOne Solutions, at the same time that it is introducing a curiously similar tool in SmartList Designer, seems to be getting more people in the GP community talking about whether it means something more than what Microsoft and eOne are letting on.

Let's follow the conversation that's been moving throughout the online community for the last few days and see whether it can shed light on what's going on...

Following Microsoft's announcement last week, eOne got its own messaging revved up with an explanation that SmartList Builder (SLB) is "coming home" and that the company was excited about the opportunity to take full ownership of the product once again.  eOne founder Martin Olsen laid out eight reasons why ending the OEM relationship with Microsoft, after 7 years, was a good thing.  And it's a good list, with some hard-nosed points that capture some of the difficulties one might imagine in doing a licensing deal with a company the size of Microsoft.

Among the reasons Olsen notes for wanting to take back control of SLB:

  • eOne wants to enhance SLB to access non-GP data in SmartLists
  • They want to develop without ...

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Accounting BI and Reporting Dynamics GP SmartList
About Jason Gumpert

As the editor of MSDynamicsWorld.com, Jason oversees all editorial content on the site and at our events, as well as providing site management and strategy. He can be reached at jgumpert@msdynamicsworld.com.

Prior to co-founding MSDynamicsWorld.com, Jason was a Principal Software Consultant at Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC), where he implemented solutions, trained customers, managed software development, and spent some time in the pre-sales engineering organization. He has also held consulting positions at CSC Consulting and Monitor Group.

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