Dynamics GP Integration Scenarios and Techniques: Using IM Module

IT infrastructure management theory prefers evolutionary methodic, where you keep reasonable pace of innovations and replace one obsolete legacy application in the time step by step, versus revolutionary approach, where you would trash the whole infrastructure and get all new systems in one time switch.  This means that ERP integration is something normal and even desirable, comparing to the customization, which should be probably recommended in some restricted cases, but not like a general recommendation.  If Great Plains is implemented in large organization with strong IT department, where SQL and Microsoft Visual Studio.Net C#, VB programmers are available, there might be a temptation to try eConnect and even direct SQL stored procedures to enable integration.  We typically recommend to look at the Integration Manager module first, as in our opinion it is user and programmer friendly tool and it covers most of the eConnect methods:

1. Integration Manager versus eConnect.  Let’s look at the tools first.  With the introduction of the version 10.0 and especially current version 2010/11.0 eConnect, being the set of encrypted SQL Stored Procedures in its core and doing the job of master records and transaction creation, updating and deletion, is made one of the two IM connectors.  The second connector is traditional Microsoft OLE Server technology, where you have to have one of the user licenses to keep Great Plains workstation running as OLE Server: IM integration hides it and validates business logic by filling OLE enable forms, including clicking on the Save button.  Having said that – in our opinion the difference between what could be done in IM versus eConnect is minimal.  eConnect, of course could be included as libraries into MS VS C# or Visual Basic programming project, if this is what you are looking for, but if you are thinking about just integration, there is no need to do heavy lifting programming in eConnect.  You may also discover that eConnect doesn’t have methods to post batches in various modules, but the same restriction is present in the Integration Manager and it is coming rather from Great Plains Dexterity architecture and foundation.  There is the way to post batches automatically in MS Visual Studio project with eConnect libraries, by deploying Alba Spectrum Posting Server.  Well, you are at this point probably overwhelmed with technical terminology, sorry.  Let’s now move on to the scenarios

2. Initial Data Conversion.  IM license could be purchased for the time of initial data import from your legacy accounting, such as QuickBooks, PeachTree, SAP Business One, Oracle, or you name it.  If you have to downsize from something high end, such as Oracle Financials, there is no need to talk about proprietary DB platform, as in Oracle you can enable data conversion via ODBC DSN.  For small business accounting packages you typically have to print reports as the text or Excel files and they should become the base for your IM Integrations.  Initial data migration should be discussed with your VAR, as unrealistic conversion requirements are one of the most popular reasons for the initial implementation to go into the limbo or even fail.  You can read our numerous publications on the data conversion subject, outside of the scope for this article

3. Electronic Commerce.  eCommerce is one of the major reasons for eConnect SDK to be introduced in earlier 2000 (we believe that for the version 7.0 in 2003).  Traditionally customization was done in Dexterity IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and the codes written in Sanscript programming language.  Dex, however was and still is semi-proprietary and not really friendly to Microsoft .Net developers community.  The idea of eConnect was to open ERP objects to SQL and MS Visual Studio developers, primarily in the ecommerce specialization.  eConnect does perfect job, especially when it came to its maturity as SDK – we think that it happened with the introduction of the version 10.0 in the late 2007.  In our consulting practice we discovered that probably half or more of the ecommerce integration projects are ending up with IM integration option.  One of the major reasons is IM quasi real time integration triggering.  Let’s take a look at it in some additional details.  eConnect method could be called in real time from your ecommerce web application, but does it have the value for your customers, are they ready to pay for the fact that transaction is transferred to the warehouse floor immediately, or they are OK if the transaction is processed and sent for the fulfillment in ten minutes?  Integration Manager is well geared for quasi real time data upload

4. EDI or Electronic Data Interchange.  Obviously there is always the option to purchase industry strength EDI module where all the protocols and data upload channels are supported.  But, what if you need only one or two protocols, or if you are dictating the EDI rules, being multinational corporation or large wholesale distributor?  In this situation you can establish your own franchise EDI requirements to do the interchange in proprietary XML format, for example.  Both IM and eConnect could parse XML EDI data stream.  If you would like to go low profile, IM can base its EDI related integration on the Advanced ODBC query, in turn based on the SQL formatted Select statement

5. IM in the Retail sector.  Very good example is Counterpoint custom POS integration.  In multiple scenarios, when deploying Counterpoint POS in the retail store, you are ending up in deploying custom integration logic, where Counterpoint offers you to export transactions into the text file.  Then you pick them and import via IM

6. IM in the international business.  Well, here we see the example, when you are deploying non Microsoft Business Solutions ERP for your overseas subsidiary and you are doing GL transaction level consolidation on the regular basis.  Let’s assume that your foreign subsidiary is in Brazil, China or Russia and you are running it on SAP Business One.  From SB1 you are exporting GL trial balance to Excel and then every week you are importing it into GL level shadow company in GP in your USA or Canada based headquarters.  Here IM is the tool of choice and really a bargain to do the job and we’ve done it numerous times for our multinationals customers

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