DALLAS — March 27, 2006 — Today at Convergence 2006, the Microsoft Business Solutions Group’s customer conference, Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of Microsoft Dynamics™ GP 9.0 Extensions, a wide range of enhancements to the Microsoft Dynamics GP enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that empower a user’s mobility, strengthen compliance tracking and reporting capabilities, increase business process functionality, and extend the standards-based tools available for developers. This broad set of offerings provides powerful tools for customers and partners and further supports Microsoft’s vision of delivering solutions that are familiar to users, fit with existing systems, fuel business productivity and enable confident decision-making.
“Extensions for Microsoft Dynamics GP deliver across key trends in the industry today: mobility, compliance, business processes and Web services,” said Lynne Stockstad, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics GP at Microsoft. “Building upon the innovation in Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0, we are offering the market a compelling solution to meet the needs of their business today and in the future.”
Microsoft Dynamics GP now provides more mobility options so users can access information relevant to their role when they need it. Among these new features is the Field Service Anywhere solution for service technicians, which can be deployed via handheld devices and synchronized with Service Call Management. Based on Microsoft® Windows Mobile®, SQL Server™ Mobile and the .NET Compact Framework, Field Service Anywhere will be deployable as a Windows Mobile version for Pocket PCs with and without phone capabilities. In addition, enhanced integration between Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 and Microsoft Dynamics GP Professional allows remote users in the field to view available credit for a customer, inventory numbers, or value-added tax information. The deeper integration will also enable the easy migration and synchronization of information between the two solutions.
“With these mobile solutions we have reached the point where anyone can deploy a mobile application for their company that has rich functionality while being extremely cost-effective,” said Andy Vabulas, CEO of I.B.I.S. Inc., a Georgia-based Microsoft Certified Gold Partner. “This will really positively impact the level of client satisfaction our customers can provide.”
Two new pieces of functionality — audit trails and electronic signatures — when used together help ease compliance with FDA 21 CFR Part 11 and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Audit trails allow users to easily track, trace and report on changes made to data within the Microsoft Dynamics GP solution, including changes made to data within third-party software that resides in Microsoft Dynamics GP. Electronic signatures allow companies to assign dual-signature authorization requirements to critical business documents, helping reduce the risk and potential errors associated with significant business processes.
“Compliance is one of the leading issues affecting the business world, so the Sarbanes-Oxley and FDA Part 11 tracking capabilities enabled by these extensions is a huge win for customers,” said Bill Burke, president of Merit Solutions Inc. “Microsoft’s delivery of solutions to help meet data compliance regulations, in an easy and cost-effective way, is critical for customers in many industries. If your industry isn’t regulated today, that doesn’t mean it won’t be soon.”
Microsoft Dynamics GP Extensions include new features to help improve business processes for users, including a new global human resources (HR) component and an HR “pay step” functionality that allows HR staff to easily set up and maintain pay-step tables and automate the process of moving employees to the next wage increase. For example, if an employee’s pay rates are based on the length of time in a position, often the employee moves to the next pay step after a designated length of time. So if a newly hired employee earns $15 per hour for the first six months of employment, and that salary is increased to $16 per hour after six months, the new pay-step functionality will automatically make this pay increase happen. For customers in education and healthcare industries, this is a key feature.
The Microsoft Dynamics GP Extensions continue to deliver in terms of tools. They enable partners and customers to easily integrate and extend their solutions for flexibility and information-sharing across various applications through the delivery of the Developer Toolkit for Microsoft Dynamics GP that was introduced with version 9.0. Updated components to the Developer Toolkit include an eConnect SDK, Web Services for Microsoft Dynamics GP SDK and Visual Studio® Tools for Microsoft Dynamics.
Availability and Pricing
The Microsoft Dynamics GP Extensions will be available either by download or service pack. Pricing varies by extension.
About Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of financial, customer relationship and supply chain management solutions that helps businesses work more effectively. Delivered through a network of channel partners providing specialized services, these integrated, adaptable business management solutions work like and with familiar Microsoft software to streamline processes across an entire business.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential
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