The Importance of Audit Tracking in Microsoft Dynamics GP - And Why Customers Resist It

When it comes to an ERP solution like Microsoft Dynamics GP, there is one certainty beyond the old adage about death and taxes - change. GP users should be prepared for their system to continuously be changing, both through manual and automated updates - and to have some way to track them all. But that doesn't always happen.

In fact, after a recent meeting of a local chapter of GPUG, one member was shocked to learn that he was the only one of the 15 attendees using an auditing tool to track the changes in their systems.

One of the agenda topics at the meeting was "Best Practices for Setting Up Audit Trails in GP," presented by Andy Snook, president of FastPath.

"The reason people don't do risk management inside of GP - as well as Dynamics AX and Dynamics NAV - is because they may not understand that they should be doing it, which is kind of scary," Snook says. "And a lot of people don't have formalized controls because they're unaware of the risks that are present within the system. If you've never heard the story about the monster under your bed, you're not going to be afraid of it. So you're blissfully unaware."

Snook says because companies aren't aware of the risks, they don't put the controls in place. He draws an analogy to the thinking of people with lax home security - they don't lock the door to their house because they think there are no bad guys around right now.

Mark Rockwell, founder and President of Rockton Software