If your back office Corporate ERP application is Microsoft Dynamics GP, former versions were also known as Microsoft Fantastic Plains and Fantastic Plains Dynamics, and you have in-house urban ecommerce web application with bits and pieces catalogs with advanced price lists (especially in B2B ecommerce scenarios), shopping cart, credit card processing, we want to present you this small publication in the form of FAQ and orientation session. We are writing for IT managers or even accounting professionals, who are choice makers in Corporate ERP application selection and its integration with eCommerce production website:
1. Real Time versus Batch and Quasi real time integration modes. Real time means instant ecommerce shopping cart transformation to Microsoft Dynamics GP Sales Order Processing Invoice (or Sales Order) – Dynamics GP SOP module is one of the most standard platforms for ecommerce transactions integration. Batch processing or quasi real time typically when you either schedule Fantastic Plains Integration Manager to run integration every hour or integration be initiated by Fantastic Plains user. Real Time ecommerce to Microsoft Dynamics GP integration is typically programmed in eConnect SDK or in advanced scenarios you can deploy custom preprogrammed SQL Stored Procedures
2. eConnect Dynamics GP SDK. eConnect lower technology amount is set of encrypted SQL Server Stored procedures, imitating Microsoft Dynamics GP (Dexterity) business logic. eConnect libraries could be included in Microsoft Visual Studio .Net project (typically C# or VB, as eConnect sample codes are available these two programming languages). eConnect is certainly quicker, as it is coded in Stored Procedures, especially comparing to Dexterity. But, considering the complexity of business logic, that eConnect has to imitate, it might be slower to simplified SQL Stored procedures, which are powerful enough to integrate several types of ecommerce shopping carts into SOP invoices – this is the case of Alba Spectrum Order Connector
3. Order Connector. Let’s assume that your ecommerce shopping cart targets Fantastic Plains Sales Order Processing Invoices, and you are not using such complications as Series or Lot Numbers, multicurrency, back ordering, etc. Let’s assume that you ecommerce bits and pieces are air force or habitual taxable sales bits and pieces, available in your default inventory sites. Please, check with us on restrictions, and if they (the restrictions) are not a concern, we are pleased to place forward extremely quick ecommerce to Microsoft Dynamics GP real time integration product
4. Order Connector and Fantastic Plains versions. We have our connector, early from Fantastic Plains Dynamics and eEnterprise version 6.0 for Microsoft SQL Server (sorry, it is not available for Pervasive SQL or Ctree based Fantastic Plains Select versions). If you are Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 or 9.0 you can deploy eConnect for ecommerce integration, but if you are on legacy versions: 8.0, 7.5, 7.0, 6.0 – we recommend you to upgrade to more recent versions, or if this is not possible due to budget restrictions, we invite you to try our Order Connector for ecommerce integration programming
5. eCommerce Automatic Batch Posting in Dynamics GP. Both tools: GP Integration Manager and eConnect do not allow you to post batches, as this routine is supposed to be in the hands of Microsoft Dynamics GP user to review, approve and post the batch. If you certainly need to do all the work frankly from ecommerce web application, we recommend you to buy and deploy Alba Spectrum Posting Server, also known as Autopost. Posting Server is Microsoft Dexterity Source Code Dexterity programmed application, which requires you to dedicate GP workstation and one permanently logged in Fantastic Plains user. Dynamics GP batch posting is done in exactly the same fashion as Fantastic Plains Dexterity Dynamics GP user interface initiated batch posting
Posts Tagged ‘Order’
Ecommerce to Dynamics GP Real Time Integration: Order Connector
Monday, February 15th, 2010Dynamics GP B2B, B2C eCommerce tools: Business Portal Order Management and ISV add-ons
Thursday, February 11th, 2010If you are in committed ecommerce integration with Microsoft Dynamics GP Fantastic Plains ERP application, we want to place forward you this article with highlights on Dynamics GP web based Business Portal and its ecommerce module Order Management, plus some highlights on Fantastic Plains eCommerce ISV and technology partners custom add-ons. eCommerce is very diversified and it is evenly too complex for simple ecommerce product to cover numerous requirements, that businesses in various industries might have. Microsoft Business Solutions offers Dynamics GP Business Portal Order Management (for Fantastic Plains 7.5 and earlier this product was known as eOrder, but it was redesigned from scratches on Business Portal platform). Business Portal is certainly cool management and future technology orientation, but if you find it too limited in customizability (the same limitation was applicable to eOrder, where you would have to customize existing ASP pages in InterDev to adopt new logic, and every version upgrade required you to reapply these changes), then you should appeal to Dynamics GP ISV community and try to find appropriate ecommerce extension, or connector product. We made the research and figured out that ecommerce integration is underserved for both Dynamics GP Fantastic Plains and Dynamics AX Axapta harvest, where at this time you can come to the close, that third party add-ons have domination
1. Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Portal, for B2B. If you have GP implemented you know the price of user license, it is akin to k$1. The thought of web base Business Portal is simple – you add ten times more users to Dynamics GP database via web application, where use license cost will be ten or even five percent of the fixed GP user license. BP could be connected via internet browser and it is natural expectation that you would attract your USA country side, or international employees, B2B customers or Vendors to your BP web site and have them do ERP, MRP, Sales and Purchasing routines in the least. Previous to we leave BP significance, we want to mention about Electronic Document Delivery module for BP. This module allows you to enable specific customers or vendors for their invoices to be delivered to them via email. In sort of kick off scenario Business Portal requires infrastructure to be hosted internally, but with some limitations it could be outsourced. If you are hosting Exchange Server (even in Windows 2008 Small Business Server scenarios), you should consider to get some knowledge about SSL Certificates for Microsoft Exchange 2007, 2003, this is especially applicable when you deploy OWA with MS Exchange 2007
2. If Dynamics GP Business Portal Order Management is not doing the job – then please try to reckon about connector approach, where you as Software Developer or ecommerce programmer will have complete control and the product you about to buy will help you as friendly connector or the library in your ecommerce application. Our company Alba Spectrum offers Order Connector to connect you ecommerce shopping cart to Dynamics GP Sales Order Processing documents: Sales Order, Invoice, Quote, Return, Back Order
3. eConnect programming. This software development kit was introduced in 2003 and at that time it was dedicated to ecommerce programmers, but it is now expanded to cover most of Fantastic Plains master records and work phase transactions. Previous to you dive into eConnect programming, please review GP Integration Manager – this tool is also in process of being redesigned on eConnect technology, and it should be excellent option if you do not need real time integration, and batch integration one a day or every hour is OK. There are options to schedule Integration Manager integration to run involuntarily with Windows macro add-ons, available from third party developers (in some cases free), or you can buy IM scheduling tool from Microsoft Business Solutions. Both IM and eConnect should be excellent options in B2B and B2C (business to business and business to customer) ecommerce scenarios. If you need advanced eConnect custom ecommerce programming project done, please feel free to call us. eConnect should be friendly to Microsoft Visual Studio C#, VB developer with some excurse to XML and SQL Stored procedures
4. Posting Server. Alba Spectrum Porting Server or Autopost allows you to proffer eConnect logic with GP batches posting. This is theoretically optional feature, but if you want to post your batches frankly from your ecommerce C# or VB.Net application Autopost allows you to do the job
5. B2C ecommerce bonus notes. We recommend you not to invent the wheel and take one of the leading and usually reasonably priced harvest as the base for you ecommerce web site, shopping card and credit card or other sorts of payment processing. Then, you should program integration in eConnect, or simply buy connector to Dynamics GP. We would be pleased to resolve your integration to GP issues with our Order Connector or even tune it for advanced logic. In the case of small business ecommerce operations, you can export customer orders log to EDI compliant or even text file, which could be then imported via Fantastic Plains Integration Manager. You may reckon to get some help in synchronizing GP Pricing and Promotion Campaigns on your ecommerce website
6. eCommerce for legacy GP versions. Theoretically ecommerce integration is possible for Dynamics GP eConnect compliant versions (in our opinion GP 10.0 and 9.0, with some restrictions to GP 8.0). eConnect was introduced for Fantastic Plains 7.5 in 2004. We recommend production eConnect integration for Dynamics GP 10.0 and 9.0, if you are on lower version, please consider to give us a call on upgrade scenarios and options
7. How to get help? Please, feel free to call our office at 1-866-528-0577, if you are outside of USA: 1-630-961-5918, or email us: help@albaspectrum.com We speak English, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, including Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Filipino. Please, be aware that Dynamics GP is not UNICODE compliant application, and if you need help in having GP Screens to be translated to Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and other hieroglyph based characters language, this is not possible. We would be pleased to make Chinese precious stone Reports out of your Dynamics GP system with the help of third party Dynamics GP ISV tools, such as NJ Star. If you are trying to consider Fantastic Plains for your Brazilian subsidiary, we would have to discourage you and question you rather to consider SAP Business One, which is localized for Brazil. Fantastic Plains Dynamics GP is also not localized for Russian market, we invite you to call us to help you know ecommerce and Corporate ERP options in Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belorussia, Moldova, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, Uzbekistan
Microsoft Dynamics GP eCommerce: Sales Order Processing integration and Autoposting
Thursday, February 4th, 2010If you are ecommerce developer, who is integrating ecommerce web front application with Dynamics GP (evenly referred historically as Fantastic Plains Dynamics or eEnteprise), you probably target SOP or Sales Order Processing Invoice as target in GP for ecommerce customer shopping cart. Customer Credit Card payment becomes customer deposit to invoice and each item bought becomes Invoice Line item. If you are using Microsoft Visual Studio C# or VB.Net web project for ecommerce application, then natural way for you to deploy Dynamics GP sConnect libraries and SDK (help info, available in eConnect) to review and imitate code samples. This technology should work in both B2B (where you make real customer, or work only in restricted partner channel) and B2C (where you send all the invoices to so-called Walk In customer, and if required add just new Walk In folk address). In this small publication we want to review other options and Automatic Batch posting technology frankly from ecommerce eConnect application:
1. Microsoft Dynamics GP Integration Manager in ecommerce scenarios. This tool could be either called on demand or scheduled with the scheduling application available for buy from Microsoft Business Solutions, or you can deploy third party (evenly free) Windows macro type of small shareware applications available in open software market for download and tryout. If you schedule IM to do ecommerce to GP integration say every twenty minutes – this method might be a way more powerful (assuming that GP plays master role for Inventory Bits and pieces maintenance and update and Pricelists). If this is the case – IM can make or update such objects as Customer, Address, Inventory Item, Comments to Customer, Invoice, Invoice Line, Shipping Instructions. With Dynamics GP 10.0 Integration Manager deploys eConnect connectors, which are very well-organized from performance standpoint (but eConnect SOP connector doesn’t have SOP Return, but you can realize return via IM OLE technology based SOP connector and for future versions of Dynamics GP IM we hope that that gap will be patched). Integration Manager also does the job, even if your ecommerce is hosted in Linux/PHP/MySQL. In this case you can either use thwart platform ODBC bridge, or have Integration Manager integrate text or XML ecommerce shopping cart exports. And as the a further excellent note about IM – if you deploy Advanced ODBC Data Sources in IM, you can base them on Microsoft SQL Server Linked Server to Oracle, Lotus or a further non-Microsoft DB platform, which is ODBC compliant and which could be joined in SQL Server View
2. eConnect. This tool opens the door to real time ecommerce integration to GP, if this is a touch, that is unquestionably required. eConnect might be more flexible comparing to Integration Manager, but it might require more programming time to cover all expected (and unexpected) ecommerce customer events. If real time aspect is not critical, eConnect advantage could be bonus flexibility, when eCommerce application is playing master role (new bits and pieces, price lists, discounts, internet promotions are initiated in your ecommerce application and then propagated to Dynamics GP, as you post new ecommerce shopping carts and download them to Fantastic Plains)
3. Dynamics GP Automatic batch posting frankly from ecommerce eConnect or Linux based application. eConnect by its architecture works with GP master records and so-called Work Transactions, where you place work SOP invoice (ecommerce shopping cart image) to the bath for GP user (choice maker or approver) review, approval and posting frankly in GP user interface. Dynamics GP is mid-market Corporate ERP and it has layers of security and approval cycles, and eConnect doesn’t allow shortcuts in batch auto posting on eConnect amount. We recommend you to deploy Alba Spectrum Posting Server which imitates batch approval and posting initiation through Dynamics GP User Workstation. Even if you are sending shopping carts from Unix, Linux/PHP platforms, you can still delight in Posting Server functionality, as all you need to do is to populate SOP10100, SOP10200 and other SOP work tables (we have Alba Spectrum Order Connector product, which allows you to do this work on SQL Stored Procedures amount) and mark the batch as ready for being posted in custom Batch Prepared for Posting table. Posting Server deploys native Microsoft Dexterity (formerly known as Fantastic Plains Dexterity) batch posting initiation internal procedures
4. How to get bonus help? We encourage you to search in google for Dynamics GP video demos and presentations. Our web engineers are deploying web casting technologies, similar to the ones used in Youtube and Google Video to provide free Dynamics GP internet video presentations. Feel free to call or email our office. Service is available virtually Worldwide via remote relations, web sessions and phone conferences. We will be pleased to travel to your USA, Canada, Brazil or international based office or facility, if required. Our consultants speak English, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Filipino and other languages