Microsoft Great Plains, Navision, Axapta ? Selection Considerations

During the years of our consulting practice, which comes back to East Europe in mid 1990th and then continues in the USA, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Oceania, Germany, Canada ? we would like to orient you ? business owner, IT director or software programmer. Selection process can take several months and you may end up with non-Microsoft solution. We will give you our Microsoft Business Solutions products serving point of view.

? Small, midsize or large business. In our opinion ? this was the to-be-or-not-to-be question of late 1990th when if you are public corporation you had to stick to rich functionality ERP: SAP, PeopleSoft, Oracle Financials. When SQL database platforms dropped in the price and Microsoft SQL Server is available for all the budget options ? you can stake on midmarket ERP solution to serve even large company

? Great Plains, Navision or Axapta. Great Plains was purchased with the acquisition of Great Plains Software, Navision and Axapta were products of Navision Software and opened the European door for Microsoft. Again ? this is what we see from our experience serving clients in these areas and this might not be official Microsoft positioning. We have no intention to do official product positioning here in this small article. Great Plains is popular in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Poland, Middle East, Pakistan, UK, Oceania, Latin America (in Brazil Navision seems to be officially promoted). Navision has very strong position in Europe, plus it has very matured market in the USA due to 1990th marketing efforts of Navision Software. We also see that Microsoft promotes Navision on the so-called emerging markets: Russia, Brazil (where it tries to compete with Microsiga and other local ERPs). Axapta is new ERP and it is targeted to large businesses and so we would say that it has rich functionality and can be considered as alternative bid to Oracle, SAP or PeopleSoft

? ERP Selection Advises. When you select corporate ERP you should think about product life cycle. If product is in the phase out mode ? you definitely don't want to do new purchase and implementation. On the other hand ? if product doesn't have reliable vendor behind and is very innovative ? you should also apply portion of conservatism.

? Industries. We are confident in all the products: GP, Navision and Axapta to automate these industries: Aerospace & Defense, Pharmaceutical, Healthcare & Hospitals, Insurance, Textile, Apparels, Services, Placement & Recruiting, Apparels, Beverages, Logistics & Transportation, Food, Restaurants Supply Chain Management, Gold & Mining, Jewelry, Consignment, Wholesale & Retail, Advertising & Publishing

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ), serving Microsoft Great Plains, CRM, Navision, Axapta to mid-size and large clients in California, Illinois, New York, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Washington, Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan, Europe and Latin America

---

Ukraine IT Myths Dispersed

While Ukraine is becoming a new popular IT outsourcing destination,... Read More

How To Make Good Use of Spreadsheets

Most computer users use spreadsheets software such as Microsoft Excel... Read More

The True Meaning of Freeware

The vast majority of us will have, at some point,... Read More

MicroWorld Releases New Version of MailScan Ver. 4.5 - Antivirus and Content Security Software

MicroWorld Technologies, Inc. the leading solutions provider in the area... Read More

Microsoft CRM USA Nationwide Remote Support

Remember old good days when your company probably had Great... 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

Preventive Maintenance Software Companies

Several software companies design programs for preventive maintenance. Most of... Read More

Navision Customization: C/SIDE, C/ODBC, C/FRONT, XBRL ? Development Options

Microsoft bought Navision, Denmark based software development company, along with... Read More

How To Develop Software For Your Business

Software development is a risky business.Many software developers are barely... Read More

Run Your Own Search Engine

Our hosted solution allow you to run your own search... Read More

Microsoft Small Business Manager eCommerce ? Overview

Microsoft Business Solutions Small Business Manager is scaled down Great... Read More

Why Stick With Email Clients Like Outlook?

Trying to figure out a stream in banning one email... Read More

OS 101: Suggestions for Choosing an Operating System

An operating system (abbreviated OS) is essentially the path through... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Integrations - Tips for Developer

In this short FAQ style article we would like to... Read More

What is Fleet Maintenance Management?

Fleet Maintenance Management is a critical position in any company... Read More

Microsoft CRM and Great Plains Implementation: Freight Forwarding Business Automation Example

Microsoft Business Solutions offers several ERP applications: Great Plains, Navision,... Read More

OSI Layers Model

IntroductionDuring the early years of our modern computer era, very... Read More

Spyware: What It Is and How to Combat It

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

Is Your Family Protected?

When you think... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: Getting New Users Licenses ? Annual Service Plan FAQ

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Solomon, Navision, Axapta, Microsoft CRM... Read More

Choose your Java Wisely

Java has come along a long way. Many would agree... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Integration with Legacy Systems ? Overview For Developer

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

An Easy Way to Deal with Email Viruses and Worms

If you feel intimidated when someone tries to teach you... Read More

Lotus Notes Domino and Web: Application Development ? Tips for Programmers

Beginning with Domino version R4 it has integration with the... Read More

eStore Advantage ? Extending Microsoft eConnect for MBS Great Plains

eStore Advantage allows front-office applications to communicate with back-office business... Read More

Antivirus Software ? Get The Bugs Before They Get You!

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

Is Software Tester a Most Infamous Person in a Software Project Team?

The fact that a software tester is a most infamous... Read More

Why do Manufacturers Invest in Business Management Software?

With many manufacturing shops heading over seas in favor of... Read More

Hear It in Digits

Music downloads are off the charts! We're listening to digital... Read More

IBM Lotus Domino or Microsoft Exchange?

IBM Lotus Domino or Microsoft Exchange?The severe competition continues for... Read More

Databases ? How We Love to Hate Them!

You've finally created databases that you can actually use to... Read More

5 Easy File Management Tips in Microsoft Word

How many steps does it take you to locate and... Read More

Microsoft CRM Integration & Customization: SharePoint Document Gateway

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