Microsoft Great Plains on Ctree or Pervasive SQL ? What to Do ? Tips for IT Manager

As you probably know, when Microsoft purchased Great Plains Software ? the whole strategy for Great Plains Dynamics/eEnterprise line was changed. Initial GPS strategy was to maintain DB platform independence ? via it's C-written engine Dexterity, based on the believe that C programming language is platform independent. So ? Great Plains was running on MS SQL Server, Ctree (Faircom ? if you remember 1995-96 Macintosh era), Pervasive SQL (Btrieve). Microsoft obviously had no plan to keep this multiplatform capability and Great Plains was optimized to MS SQL Server and with the introduction of MSDE ? the need to keep entry level Dynamics on Ctree/Btrieve disappeared.

Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions, later renamed to Microsoft Business Solutions was sending multiple signals to Dynamics customers to migrate to SQL Server, later on to upgrade to Great Plains Standard on MSDE. Recently it promoted all the clients who own Great Plains on Ctree/Pervasive ? so now they technically own so called Great Plains Standard. All they need to do is pay for Migration (around k$3 + consulting fee to whoever your MBS VAR is).

Unfortunately MBS did several rough turns in the process of this migration from ctree/Pervasive to SQL/MSDE.

Until early 2004 you could see support expiration date for Great Plains 7.5 on Ctree/Pervasive was July, 31, 2005. In about April, 2004 ? Microsoft roughly changed it to December 31, 2004. This actually exposed all the clients with regulation-related modules (such as US Payroll ? where you rather do not risk with printing W2s without support) to serious problems

Clients who migrated to Great Plains standard are now in the feeling that they paid for something that is free now. See above ? all the low price GP clientele now technically owns GP Standard

Ctree/Pervasive clients with high volume of employees count in GP Payroll/HR now have to cut it to 500 employees due to the cap for GP Standard. You can imagine frustration, especially due to the fact that a lot of mid-size and big companies were running very cheap Dynamics on Ctree for just Payroll/W2 filing. This was a very nice alternative to products like Abra HR ? not any more.

What to do. Well, if you plan to stay with GP ? the only alternative is to migrate to MSDE. Contact your MBS VAR (or call us directly: 1-866-528-0577). You will be given Migration Tool quote ? then install MSDE and Great Plains with exactly the same accounts structure that you have on Pervasive/Ctree. Tune Migration Tool, select all the tables in all the modules, click the button and wait a few hour ? and you are in the SQL World!

About The Author

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies ? USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, based in Chicago, Illinois, California, Texas, Florida, New York, Georgia, Colorado, Minnesota, Washington and having locations in multiple states and internationally www.albaspectrum.com, he is CMA, Great Plains Certified Master, Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer. You can contact Andrew: andrewk@albaspectrum.com

akarasev@albaspectrum.com

---

Spyware: What It Is and How to Combat It

Spyware is software or hardware installed on a computer without... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains in Construction & Building ? Implementation & Customization Highlights

Microsoft Great Plains could be tuned and setup to fit... Read More

Beware of Spyware

One day, you suddenly realize that your computer started to... Read More

How to Evaluate Staffing Software

If you are in the market for new staffing software,... Read More

20 Extra Hours Per Week: What Would You Do?

While I was in college, if you would have asked... Read More

Dont Choose Adobe When Working With PDF

While Adobe is the most known maker of PDF tools,... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Subcontracting ? Overview for Microsoft Business Solutions Partner

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very popular ERP/MRP applications... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Beverage Production & Distribution ? Implementation & Customization Highlight

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has many years of successful... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Multicurrency ? Overview For Implementation Consultant

When you first think about multicurrency ? you probably have... Read More

SpyBot - Search and Destroy versus Microsoft AntiSpyware (Beta).... My personal experiences...

Ok... Where to start?Well, I guess I will start at... Read More

Great Plains Dexterity Development: FAQ

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is Dexterity-written application and currently... Read More

Microsoft CRM Programming Secrets ? Tips For Developers

This article is for advanced Microsoft CRM SDK C# developers.... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Remote Support - Overview

Microsoft Great Plains is now standard mid-market ERP application, serving... Read More

Crystal Reports for Microsoft Great Plains ? Overview for Developer

Microsoft Great Plains is main accounting / ERP application... Read More

An Introduction to .NET Framework

.Net Framework is a platform or development environment to seamlessly... Read More

Secure File Transfer Using SSH Plus Additional Audit & Automation - FSA Reporting

In order to meet regulatory and corporate compliance requirements reporting... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Middle East - Arabic Language Support

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies... Read More

15 Questions to Ask Your Software Vendor

When making a decision to buy any piece of software... Read More

Bill of Lading ? Custom Reporting for Microsoft Great Plains ? Overview for Consultant

Bill of Lading is required report for Logistics and Freight... Read More

OLAP, An Alternative Technology Over Spreadsheets

Are Spreadsheets Robbing your Enterprise of Competitive Advantage?'90% of "average"... Read More

Microsoft CRM Integration with Lotus Notes Domino: Messaging Connector ? Future Directions

IBM Lotus Notes Domino and Microsoft CRM (Client Relation Management)... Read More

Looking for an Alternative to Microsoft Office? You Should Be!

Now is the time to look at an alternative to... Read More

FreeDOS

Before September 1995, Microsoft Windows was an MS-DOS program. DOS... Read More

Know Linux

Linux essentials:It's free for download but you have to pay... Read More

Adware, What Is It?

Adware is a type of Spyware program that displays some... Read More

Inherent Dangers Of File Sharing Via The Internet.

Cyberspace has opened up a new frontier with exciting possibilities... Read More

Where to Find Free Fleet Maintenance Software

Costs of fleet maintenance software can vary widely. It is... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains international implementation ? USA / Mexico ? overview for consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was purchased from Great Plains... Read More

S is for Spying, Surveillance -- and for Software as Well

Words we choose to describe things and phenomena often show... Read More

Microsoft CRM in Latin America: Implementation, Customization, Support ? Overview for Consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is present several years on the... Read More

A Symons Mark II Function Point Counting Example

I provide, here clear explanations and a count of function... Read More

5 Time-Saving Tips in Microsoft Word

Whether you have used Microsoft Word for years, have just... Read More

Demand More From Your Lead Tracking Software

An integral part of any quality CRM system is lead... Read More