Microsoft Releases Updated Dynamics GP Statement of Direction

Microsoft has released its latest Statement of Direction document for Microsoft Dynamics GP, with more details on GP "12", its cloud vision for customers, and updates to the roadmap through 2016.

Much of the information shared in this document has been communicated in other channels recently like the GPUG Summit conference in November.  It begins with a recap of the GP 2010 R2 release from May 2011, spends the bulk of the docuement focusing on the changes coming as part of the GP 12 release in late 2012, and looks out on the roadmap as far as 2016 and GP 15. 

As anyone who's been  paying attention already knows, GP "12" is scheduled for the second half of 2012 and will include a web client option, new cloud deployment options on Windows Azure, enhanced core functionality, and the introduction of RapidStart services, which are currently available only for Dynamics AX.

The Dynamics GP team positions its view of cloud beyond the deployment options.  For one thing, they intend to expand integration options with other Microsoft products including CRM Online, Office 365, and services from SQL Azure.  And while some customers already choose a partner hosted option for Dynamics GP, the document advises that "some partners will choose to run your solution from one of several very large scale Microsoft data centers around the world."

The document calls out about a dozen other functional areas of enhancement in GP 12.  There is a wide array of individual features that includes multi-tenant application support; enhanced document attachments related to transactions and master records; reason codes for stock movement; bin transfer history; named system ...