- Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Implementation
- Victoria Yudin
- 676字
- 2021-08-06 16:42:16
Integration with other systems
Are there existing systems in place that your Dynamics GP system will need to integrate with? A good example of this in many companies is a sophisticated web application already in place for customer orders and billing. Other examples may be systems for employee time tracking, fixed assets, or shipping software.
Note
Excel spreadsheets, no matter how complex, are not usually considered existing systems. Existing systems are typically other database applications or separately purchased software packages to accomplish specific tasks.
If there are existing systems in place, part of the implementation planning will be to decide whether to keep these systems and integrate them with Dynamics GP, or replace the functionality with Dynamics GP. Other approaches may be hybrids of these, keep some existing systems but replace others, or keep existing systems for now and replace their functionality with Dynamics GP in a more phased approach, one at a time, after the implementation.
To help decide on the best approach, ask the following questions, keeping in mind that the goal, whenever possible, should be a single data entry point:
- How well does the existing system fulfill the current requirements? If the system is not meeting today's business needs, maybe because the requirements have changed significantly in the ten years since it was implemented, then it is a good candidate for replacement. However, if the existing system is accomplishing what is needed, even if a few small tweaks are needed, it may be more prudent to keep it.
- How easy would it be to integrate the current system with Dynamics GP? There are three parts to this question:
- Would it be fairly straightforward to import data from the current system into Dynamics GP? Or would considerable work be needed?
- Does the data flow need to go one way only (from existing system to Dynamics GP), or does it need to be bidirectional? If bidirectional, what is the process of importing data into the existing system?
- How timely does the integration have to be? Should new data be imported into or out of Dynamics GP monthly, weekly, daily, or real-time?
If the data import is fairly straightforward and one of the existing Dynamics GP import tools can be used, that would make a decision to keep an existing system in place more viable. If creating the integration would require considerable work and real-time integration is needed, it may be a good candidate for replacement. This is especially true if the existing system is not meeting all the current requirements.
- What would be the cost of replacing the functionality with Dynamics GP? While the existing system may be sufficient, it may also be fairly easy to duplicate its functionality with Dynamics GP. If that is the case, the decision should be based on the comparison of the cost of duplicating the functionality in Dynamics GP (which may involve an additional module purchase or customization), and creating and maintaining the integration. In this situation, even if the cost of moving the functionality to Dynamics GP is slightly higher upfront, it is better to not keep the existing system. Having only one system to maintain will pay for itself in the long run and will also result in increased end user satisfaction.
- Will keeping the existing system prevent any planned upgrades? The current system may be performing perfectly and meeting all the business needs. However, it may be a custom application that is no longer supported or one that has a very costly upgrade path to move to new operating systems, versions of SQL Server, or some other planned technology upgrade. This may make it a good candidate for replacement with a phased approach, after the Dynamics GP implementation.
Once these questions are answered, compare the cost and time of keeping the current systems, and creating integrations, with the cost and time of replacing them. Keep in mind that there are many third-party (also called Independent Software Vendor or ISV) add-ons available for Dynamics GP, even if the functionality needed is not available in Dynamics GP out-of-the-box.
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