Microsoft to roll out its newest Great Plains ERP release with Office 2010 hooks

On April 20, Microsoft announced it will make available the final version of its Great Plains 2010 ERP offering, a product three years in the making, as of May 1. Dynamics GP is one of four different ERP lines developed and sold by Microsoft. The newest release, Dynamics GP 2010, is targeted at mid-size businesses for whom business-intelligence reporting and interoperability with Office and other line-of-business applications, are top-of-mind. The new GP 2010 release features personalized Role Centers, more than 400 built-in SQL Server Reporting Services and Excel reports, and improved interoperability with SharePoint and PowerPivot for Excel 2010, officials said. (A quick PowerPivot refresher: Codenamed “Gemini,” PowerPivot is integrated with SharePoint Server 2010 and SQL Server 2008 R2. Microsoft is touting PowerPivot’s benefits as integrating “massive amounts of data on the desktop from virtually any source”: and the performance fast calculations and analysis on large data volumes.) Like previous GP releases, the 2010 version will include a built-in connector allowing two-way information sharing between GP 2010 and Microsoft’s on-premises Dynamics CRM and its cloud-based and/or partner-hosted CRM Online offerings. In addition, by taking advantage of the presence functionality in Office Communications Server 2007 and its Office Communicator client, GP 2010 gives users the ability to right-click on a contact to send that person information with fewer steps. Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 will be available via Microsoft’s extensive partner network in Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, the Middle East, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States on May 1. French Canadian and Latin American Spanish versions are due in the second half of the year. Customers can opt to deploy the product on-premises or via on-demand/subscription-based hosting. Microsoft is committed to delivering a new version of Dynamics GP every two to three years, officials said.