Corporate ERP: Standard vs. Rich functionality ? Microsoft Great Plains

Traditionally we were considering functionally rich systems, such as SAP, Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft, JDEdwards as the fit for large publicly traded corporation. There might be multiple opinions for the future corporate ERP/MRP systems. We would like to give you our prognosis: high-end systems will be losing market to generic granulated standard functionality systems. Customization will be in high demand ? but it will be appropriate to go for light of medium customization versus purchasing high-end functionality system. It is not a secret, that nowadays multiple companies from Fortune 500 list use midmarket solution, such as Microsoft Great Plains as their corporate ERP. In this small article we'll try to defend our position and give you highlights on deploying Microsoft Great Plains for large corporation.

? Computer Hardware Technology Breakthrough. Imagine you are back in old-good 1990th ? high tech boom. If somebody would tell you that you can go to the store and purchase of the shelf 400GB IDE hard drive for $300 ? you would probably laugh. We were used to 20GB hard drives those days and believed that such a high capacity devices attributable to mainframes. Another example ? 1GB RAM memory stick for $100. Intel Xenon and AMD Optron based Servers are direct successors of IBM PC platform, designed in the 1980th as personal computer (PC). These are signs of the maturity in the industry and time to revise hardware pricing strategy ? it should definitely drop.

? Elite DB Platforms Time is Over. Yes, it might be surprise, but Microsoft, which in the 1990th was targeting small business and developers community is now out there on the marketplace with Microsoft SQL Server, which is similar in its power and is a way more simple to support, than Oracle, DB2, Sybase, Progress, Ingress, SAP database and other "elite" platforms. Midsize companies switched to MS SQL Server and do their reporting, analysis and datawarehousing/OLAP on the Microsoft platform

? Custom Logic versus Functionally-Rich Module. The trends in the ERP/Accounting applications software industry ended up with required annual maintenance/enhancement program fee, which is usually close to 20% of the software list price. If you purchase expensive module and use 10% or its functionality, because the whole bundle has what you need among other features, then you are in trap of paying 20% annually for the logic you don't need and don't use. If you hire consultant to customize generic platform ? you pay one time

? ERP Granules Standardizing. This should happen. We believe in this ? seeing signs of maturing ERP software industry.

Good luck and you can always seek our help in customization, implementation, integration and support. Call us: 1-866-528-0577 or 1-630-961-5918, help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies ? USA nationwide Great Plains, Microsoft CRM customization company, serving Chicago, California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Georgia, New York, Australia, UK, Canada, Continental Europe, Russia and having locations in multiple states and internationally ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), he is Dexterity, SQL, C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer

---

Microsoft Great Plains IV: Inventory Management

Great Plains Inventory Management (IV) module gives your business a... Read More

Constructionalist Parsing - Deciphering Natural Language

The research in the field of Natural Language Processing usually... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Payroll Module Customization Scenarios

It is now common thing when large corporation selects mid-market... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains & CRM in Transportation & Logistics ? Overview

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains and MS CRM (client relation... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation in Russia ? Overview for Consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very popular ERP platform... Read More

Great Plains Dexterity Programming ? Overview For Developer

Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular,... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation for Midsize & Large Corporation: Lockbox Processing

Microsoft Great Plains is now targeting large and midsize businesses... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation: Collection Management ? Overview For Consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very good fit for... Read More

Antivirus Software ? Get The Bugs Before They Get You!

You turn on your computer, and it doesn't look quite... Read More

Understanding XML Server

XML Server can be a Web Server that stores the... Read More

Microsoft CRM Implementation & Remote Support

We would like to give you pluses and minuses of... Read More

Free Software - Powerful Alternatives to Budget-Busting Software

When you buy a computer, it most likely comes with... Read More

Marketing Your WinRunner Team

It won't matter how effective your WinRunner Team is if... Read More

Behave, Word, Behave!

If you copy something from a Web site or elsewhere...... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Nationwide Remote Support

ERP Consulting industry is on the way to serve clients... Read More

Unwanted Files

A LOT OF UNWANTED FILES.When you uninstall an item of... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Dynamics on Pervasive SQL.2000 Data Repair ? Overview For DBAs

Some introduction into Great Plains Software products, now Microsoft Business... Read More

Microsoft CRM Modification ? Overview for IT Specialist

Microsoft CRM is now on the scene and it is... Read More

Should I Use Windows Update?

Should one use Windows Update?This topic has good and valid... 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

Crystal Reports - Geterogeneus databases: SQL Server, Oracle, Unidata, Btrieve ? Tips For Developer

Crystal Reports is the most flexible tool on the market... Read More

HelpDesk & Asset Management Software - Choosing The Right One

If you are to buy a HelpDesk & Asset Management... Read More

Microsoft CRM or Siebel

Siebel is traditional CRM market leader, however and mostly due... Read More

Lotus Domino Implementation and Development: Infrastructure ? Present and Future

Domino server is a buffer between the operation system and... Read More

Brief Notes About Mainframe Software Pricing

We don't think about mainframe software pricing anymore, we just... Read More

Microsoft CRM Customization Secrets ? Second Edition

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

Microsoft Great Plains: Service Business Customization & Integration Example

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains might be considered as ERP... Read More

Microsoft CRM Integration & Customization: SharePoint Document Gateway

MS CRM is very close to document workflow automation, including... Read More

How a Bug Challenges to a Software Professional

It is really interesting that a bug can create problem... Read More

How to Tell You Have Spyware, Ad-ware or Viruses

Usually, the easiest way to tell you have spyware is... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains customization ? Freight Forwarding/Transportation industry example

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains version 8.5, 8.0, 7.5, Great... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: exchange & brokerage ? implementation notes

If you company is small or mid-size special products or... Read More

Make 2005 the Year You Save Time!

Today's business world is fast-paced. No matter what it is... Read More