Top 10 REAL Reasons to Attend Convergence 2010 in Atlanta

The Top Reasons to attend Convergence posts are already starting and I'll have one out in a little bit but I first I wanted to offer up this Top 10 REAL Reasons to attend Convergence 2010 in Atlanta. I know most of you are coming for one of these reasons. Any other reasons are  simply to justify the expenses to your company.


1. You just can't get enough of those Fargo accents.

2. Free gifts to take home to the kids

3. A night you won't remember

 



4. The Varsity. Greasy burgers and fries. (See #3)

5. Flair

 





6. Chick-fil-A

 


7. Sweet Tea

 



8. I will be there signing autographs for a $1 each. Just kidding. Autographs are $10.

9. Visiting Peachtree Street. It doesn't matter which one, they're all named Peachtree Street in Atlanta.

 



10. GP Developers will be within choke hold range. (GP dev team, beware of "hugs")

[On a personal note, I would have included Coca-Cola but as a die hard Diet Mountain Dew drinker I just couldn't bring myself to do it.]

I'm looking forward to seeing you in Atlanta!

Management Reporter Beta Coverage

After showing where to download the Management Reporter beta earlier, Waqas Butt walks us through some of the new features coming in Management Reporter.

Removing Extender Data when deleting Transactions or Lines

David Musgrave has great coverage of how to deal with orphaned Extender data in Dynamics GP 10.

Management Reporter Beta

An awful lot of folks are looking to play with Management Reporter, the eventual replacement for FRx. Waqas Butt points us to the download locations for the beta.

Feature Pack 1 and SDK available for CRM 4.0 Adapter for GP 10

From Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP we have news of the release of Feature Pack 1 and the software development kit for the MS CRM 4.0 adapter for MS Dynamics GP 10.

Weekly Review: User Activity

For those of you who have been around Great Plains for a while you know that the User Activity window lets you remove users. This is useful for maintenance, left over logins, etc. It is used less since GP introduced the ability for users to log themselves out, but it's still useful.

Users upgrading from versions prior to 9.0 will get a surprise, it's not there! Yes User Activity has moved!
It's now located at [Dynamics GP] Tools->Utilities->System->User Activity.



This was a big enough deal that Microsoft provided a Knowledge Base article (KB913820) explaining where to find the User Activity window now. If you're upgrading from a pre 9.0, this is one less thing you'll have to go looking for.

Originally Posted by Mark at 8/16/2006 09:02:00 AM 

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Videos of New BI Features in Excel 2010

Take a look at these videos with coverage of new Business Intelligence features coming in Excel 2010. This is going to be great for analyzing Dynamics GP data.

Dynamics GP 2010 Fact Sheets

Waqas Butt point us to the new Fact Sheets highlighting business benefits, functionality and more in Dynamics GP 2010.

GP Login with Active Directory

GP 2010 will allow users to save their login information to reduce the time and effort around logging in to Dynamics GP. This doesn't solve the request for Active Directory integration that I hear from users. Vaidy is asking whether or not AD integration is really required. I say yes and here is why:

• A significant amount of Microsoft's literature and communication to the developer and SQL community says that Windows Authentication is both more secure and preferred.
  
• IT professionals struggle with a mixed message. General MS communication says to prefer windows authentication for SQL, but for GP it has to be setup as mixed mode. It makes no sense to make it harder to sell and implement GP by not fixing this roadblock.
  
• IT professionals and DBA's also struggle with differences in many of the Dynamics products because these products were purchased by MS, not developed in house. This means that they don't necessarily behave like other MS products. Including AD integration continues to send the message that all of the Dynamics products are moving closing to being true MS applications.

I love what FastPath has done with their Configurator AD product to sync GP passwords with AD and provide true single sign on but I would love to see MS tackle this as part of Dynamics GP.

Modifier and the Hyperspace Property

No this isn't some existential post about the cosmos. Mariano has a new look at changing the Hyperspace property for a lookup button added with Modier in Dynamics GP.

What's New in Dexterity 11?

Mariano Gomez has a look at what's new in Dexterity 11. If you develop for Dynamics GP this is worth a look. If you don't, feel good about the fact that the foundation of Dynamics GP continues to improve.

Emailing Documents in Dynamics GP 2010

Yesterday's Feature of the Day for GP 2010 was focused on emailing documents out of GP 2010. Dynamics GP 2010 is introducing new email features for documents and Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP has the coverage.

This looks like it's going to be a popular feature. It's currently leading in the DynamicAccounting.net Facebook poll of new features that users are most excited about. Take a minute to hit the poll and tell us what you are most excited about in GP 2010.

Integrating FRx with Analytical Accounting

Mohammad Daoud takes on the task of showing how to integrate FRx and Analytical Accounting in his new post. With step by step instructions and screen shots this looks like a must add post for your GP toolbox.

Backup!

Steve Endow tackles one of my favorite subjects, regular backups in Dynamics GP. Great job Steve, though I suspect it will still take a catastrophic event to make some people backup regularly.

Update: Added Missing Link

Increasing the Homepage Font Size in Dynamics GP

David Musgrave is back looking at how to increase the Homepage font size in Dynamics GP.

GP 2010: Remember User and Company

Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP is looking at new features in Dynamics GP 2010. Yesterday's feature of the day is the ability to remember a user a company ID allowing users to login without having to type their user id and password each time. I wish they would have gone farther and integrated it with Active Directory but it's still a great move in the right direction.

Version Problem. Dynamics GP will now exit.

Mohammad Daoud take a look at versioning problems that lead to the "There was a problem ascertaining product version information Microsoft Dynamics GP will now exit."

Anyone Want to See GP 2010 in Arabic?

Well Mohammad Daoud did. Take a look at the results.

Determining the Login Company Name with VBA

Patrick Roth of Developing for Dynamics GP takes a look at how to determine the company name selected at login via VBA.

FRx SP 11 Rereleased

Service Pack 11 for FRx 6.7 has been rereleased. In Touch with Dynamics GP has the coverage.

First GP 2010 Beta Customer Live

Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP has coverage of the first customer running the 2010 beta live in a production environment.

Covergence 2010 Session Builder

I keep forgetting to blog this. The sessions catalog is live for Convergence 2010. New sessions are still being added but I'd like to draw your attention to sessions CSGP06 and CSGP07. Microsoft has graciously given me the opportunity to repeat my 50 tips in 50 minutes presentation from last year. Apparently close to half of attendees are new every year so this will ensure that all of you who missed will get to see it. Even if you saw it last year, did you really implement all 50 of the tips? Yeah, I didn't think so. Do you only see a great movie like Star Wars or Office Space once? Nope. This year you get to sit through the session and feel smart because you know all the inside jokes.

Even better, I've got 50 brand new tips for Dynamics GP in 50 new minutes. These sessions are fast, fun and informative and everyone had a blast last year. So put CSGP06 and CSGP07 on the list for Convergence 2010 in Atlanta.

Weekly Dynamic: Printing a Smartlist

Sometimes you've created a Smartlist and you just want to print it out. Maybe the auditors need it. Maybe your boss, coworker or the filing cabinet behind your desk needs a copy. But when you click the print icon the output is pretty ugly. Typically, too many items are forced to the next line making the printout overly long and complex or some items are squished and don't print out right. How do you fix a Smartlist printout?

This is so easy it's scary. Smarlist follows the width of the columns on the screen. It's not perfect, but it's close. If a column is only partially visible on the screen, it will typically be partially visible on the printout. If a column has a huge space after the date it can cause the next column to move down to the next line. Fortunately these reports can be printed to screen first to ensure that things will look the way you want.

This Smartlist:

Produces this report:

Notice that the huge space after the account number forces items to the next line and Account Description is cut off.

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Get free Dynamics Case Studies, White Papers and Tips at MSDynamicsWorld.com

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PowerPivot Overload

We talked about PowerPivot for Excel 2010 earlier today. PowerPivot is the new self service BI add in for Excel 2010. Now Thiago Zavaschi at SQLServerCentral.com is starting a series of posts on using PowerPivot. The first article is up and it looks great.

Dynamics GP 2010 Navigation Enhancements

Mariano as a great first look at some navigation enhancements in the Dynamics GP 2010 beta release including Online Connect, Navigation Pane improvements, default views and right clicking.

Integration Manager Data Sources

Finally moving off of some GP 2010 beta news, Steve Endow vents his frustration at Data Sources, Relationships and Scripts in Integration Manager. Sadly, I have to agree with him. Integration Manager is a great product, when it's not being flaky. In terms of features, IM is fantastic but its these types of issues that keep IM from being a world class product.

GP 2010 Beta Word Template Issue

Vaidy has information about some requirements for using the Word Template feature in the Dynamics GP 2010 beta. This is a feature that a lot of people are looking forward to according to our Facebook poll so it's great to see that it's getting tested. Hit up the Facebook poll and tell me which feature you are looking forward to the most in GP 2010.

What is PowerPivot?

Inside Microsoft Dynamics GP has more coverage of the upcoming PowerPivot add on for Excel 2010. This application will open up Business Intelligence and analysis to a whole new group of users. In the post AndyW mentions that on a call a number of partners had never heard of PowerPivot. Well, they are certainly not reading this site. We talked about PowerPivot rumors back in November of 2009 and had coverage in December.

Expect more PowerPivot postings after I get back from the MVP Summit in mid-February.

While we're talking Excel and analysis, I'm presenting a 2 day class covering Advanced Excel for Microsoft Dynamics GP. Attendees will get their hands dirty with Export Solutions for Smartlists, Pivot Tables, Excel Reports, Excel Report Builder and MS Query all tied in to Dynamics GP. Right now the class is targeted for late February/ early March at I.B.I.S.' Norcross office. It's not free because it's worth every penny you'll pay for it and then some. When this class is over, attendees will see how inseparable Excel and Dynamics GP should really be.

Email me if you are interested.

Better Together: Mohammad Daoud and GP 2010

Mohammad Daoud has a post up with a number of issues he has found in the GP 2010 beta. That of course is the point of a beta to find problems before they make the final release. Given the growth of the community since the release of GP 10 I suspect that this will be the most tested version of Dynamics GP yet.

GP 2010 Beta Business Portal Issue

In Touch With Dynamics GP reports that there is still a problem installing Business Portal with non-U.S. regional settings in the GP 2010 beta. See, I never would have thought to test that. If any of these issues strike a chord with you, leave a comment here or on the related blog. It's helpful to Microsoft to understand how many organizations can be affected by a an issue and how critical could be for particular businesses.

Dynamics GP 2010...Excitement

A new article on MSDynamicsWorld suggests that the GP 2010 beta isn't sparking excitement with partners. Well, it's sparking excitement with someone. Traffic to DynamicAccounting.net, the RSS feed and the GP 2010 podcast are all up significantly since the GP 2010 beta arrived. I'm excited and impressed at all the hard work going into testing the beta. Mariano and I were talking last night and he's already hacking up the Home Page. Suffice to say that I'm excited and I think excited partners will sell more than jaded ones. Perhaps that's why they are not excited.

Dynamics MVP's and the MVP Summit

If you're a Dynamics MVP and are going to the MVP Summit in a few weeks drop me a line. I'd like to meet up while we are there.

Right Click in the GP 2010 Beta

Vaidy has coverage of new right click functionality in the beta of Dynamics GP 2010.

More Dynamics GP 2010 Coverage

The Edge has coverage of the Dynamics GP 2010 name announcement. They ask rhetorically "What's in a name?". Rhetorical or not, one of the big questions has been why GP 2010? Won't users confuse that with GP 10? Well, the name is 2010 because it's being released in the first half of the year and that's Microsoft's naming standard. Current year if released in the first half, next year if released in the 2nd half.

Really will this cause that much confusion? I don't know. I think that it won't matter for lot's of smart people. They won't be confused. I also think that there are a lot of people who don't know what version they are on now 8, 9 or 10 so I don't think adding 2010 will be any worse. If someone can't remember 8 or 9 they'll be just as confused with 10 vs. 2010. I think this is one of those tempest in a teapot items that strikes everyone the same way when they hear it for the first time. Frankly, if that's your only complaint about the new version Microsoft will be very happy indeed.

Troubleshooting eConnect System Error Message

Up now at Dynamics GP Land, Steve Endow has coverage of troubleshooting procedures for the "System Error" message in eConnect.

Video: Community and Learning Center at Convergence 2010

Check out this video with coverage of the features available at the Community and Learning center at Microsoft's Convergence 2010 in Atlanta.

Fixed Asset Analysis Cube

To learn more about I.B.I.S.' new Fixed Asset Analysis Cube for Microsoft Dynamics GP, check out my post over at DynamicsCare.

Weekly Review: Field Help

For those of you new to Dynamics GP, there's a help feature that I want to make sure I point out to you. It's field help. In GP you can get specific help on any field in the program. Simply highlight the field you're interested in. Ht the help key, F1. Hit the field key. You will see a list of each field on that form along with information about that field. This is especially helpful with new releases. Often with a new release, you'll see a new field, but you won't know what it does. This helps you understand those new fields and sometimes you find a new function that it makes it feel a little like Christmas.

Originally Posted by Mark at 8/09/2006 11:38:00 PM  

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Mariano Looks at Security Enhancements in the GP 2010 Beta

Mariano Gomez takes a look at security enhancements in the GP 2010 beta in his latest post.