The Top 3 Reasons Why You Want to Implement Microsoft Dynamics GP Part 3 of 3

Dynamics GP has the largest 3^rd Party Vendor network, several ‘Cloud’ offering options, bullet-proof architecture, and is one of the lowest total cost of ownership ERP software products on the marketplace today.

There are many reasons to use Microsoft Dynamics GP as your ERP solution. We've already gone over several reasons why you should implement GP, but in this post, I am going to highlight what I believe are the top 3 reasons why you should implement Microsoft Dynamics GP.

1. Immense 3^rd Party Product (Add-On features) Catalog

From a core feature/functionality perspective, there isn’t much of a difference between today’s ERP software applications.  No matter what solution you’re looking at, everyone needs a chart of accounts, the ability to record payables/sales invoices, and pay vendors/receive cash from customers.

However, the real power of an ERP system comes into play when an organization has specific needs that require further attention in a specific ERP solution. For example, a decision maker might ask:

• What if I want to have tools that make my employees enter information into an user-friendly ERP system and even use Excel to perform the integration?
• What if I need a portal for my customers to pay their invoices from?
• What if I need to meet certain audit compliancy in my ERP solution?
• What if I need to enter transactions, perform inquiries and run reports for multiple companies to perform intercompany processing and centralized processing in a single database?
• What if I need to recognize revenue for multiple items on an invoice using different recognition schedules for those items?

Meeting these types of needs in an ERP solution is usually done in 3 ways:

1. The vendor of the ERP software includes these features in their application.
2. Custom-code modification to the software application.
3. A 3^rd party ‘add-on’ solution that integrates with the software application.

Which Option is best for meeting specific needs?

While all of the options above can provide the same result, I believe that the third option is better for the following reasons:

Including “Complex ERP”/”Deep functionality”
If the vendor of the ERP includes ‘complex ERP/deep’ functionality in their solution, it usually means that you’ll need to have those ‘specialized’ ERP staff on hand to assist the development team in determining how that complex functionality should operate. This can be an arduous task for the core ERP development team.

It’s not common to see ‘experts’ in deep ERP functionality on an ERP development team. This is because it requires both the skillset of that ERP vertical and the knowledge of the direction the core ERP product is taking – a combination rarely found in ERP software for medium/medium-large ERP solutions.

 Custom Code Modifications

Custom-code requires a developer for the organization to ‘program/develop’ the solution and comes with the risk of needing to get another developer up to speed with the code and solution if they were to leave the organization.

However, if you incorporate a 3^rd Party solution, that code is part of an application that has a ‘standard’ set of implementation instructions. This means that other consultants/customers can follow along easily and you can have multiple users trained on the process in case of redundancy requirements.

Custom-code needs to be tracked when added to an ERP solution.

It’s very easy to add custom code to an ERP solution.  However, if there is a lot of custom code applied, it may become difficult to track where it starts and where it stops in an application. This situation becomes paramount when you need to upgrade your ‘core’ ERP application software.

3^rd Party Solutions

With 3^rd Party solutions, even though it is tightly integrated to your ERP application, you know exactly what they are adding to the software, which areas it specifically adds to the ERP solution and they will update their application for the version you are upgrading to in the core ERP product.

Dynamics GP has the deepest 3^rd Party offerings for their software in their product because it has been around for such a long time and has developed a large, stable customer user base.

3^rd Party organizations bring you the most up-to-date functionalities available in their specialized area. They also can normally be implemented in a much shorter time frame than if the feature(s) were custom-coded into the software.  Many ERP companies will tell you that their software includes a deep ERP feature, but a customer needs to ask if those features in their software are ‘out-of-the-box’ or are being ‘customized’ specifically for their needs. Customized features significantly add both cost and complexity to upgrades in software.

One other item to note is that once you find a 3^rd Party vendor for your specific needs in an ERP solution and find out that they have such deep knowledge of that vertical, you should look to other ERP vendors and even have them demo those features in their ERP product. If you find that this is not possible without plenty of questions and time to prepare the demo, then you may find that they are building the solution rather than showing you what comes out of the box.

2. Operate Microsoft Dynamics GP from the Cloud

There are many different offerings of a cloud solution. Although Microsoft Dynamics GP itself is not a true cloud solution, through the Microsoft Dynamics GP cloud solution partners, and even Microsoft, your company can login to Dynamics GP from the internet and not have to manage the hardware/networking requirements that come when you run a ‘client/server’ environment (owning the software and maintaining it on your company network). With this option, you don’t have to purchase the software, but instead, pay monthly subscription fees as other ERP cloud offerings have.

Don’t think for a minute that you cannot use Dynamics GP ‘in the cloud’ as it certainly has all those capabilities if your company requires them.  Contact FMT Consultants or Microsoft itself if you need more information about this topic.

3. It’s Bulletproof (almost!)

There are many ERP offerings in the marketplace. You’ll need to get answers to these questions when researching ERP solutions for your organization:

• How long has the software been on the market?
• Will the ERP vendor be around in the marketplace for at least a decade?
• What investments are the ERP vendor making to keep their product current with all the current technologies available to take advantage of?
• How many end-users (customers) are using the software?
• What is the functionality I’m receiving for the cost of the software I’m receiving?
• Can I own the software or do I have to rent/subscribe the software? OR can I rent/subscribe the software and not own it?
• Are there enough ‘experts’ in the software that I can rely on to configure/implement/upgrade/advise me?

Dynamics GP answers all of these questions with ease.

Dynamics GP is one of the leading ERP software solutions in the marketplace for small/medium/medium-large companies. The solution has been developed for over 2 decades and is constantly being enhanced and developed by Microsoft. Microsoft, of course, is never leaving the market and is a leading innovator in home and business software in the world. Additionally, Microsoft has added tons of features to its products over the years in order to match trending technologies and also invests in the software to meet current technology needs – it’s not simply being maintained.

There are so many core accounting features in the product as well as the deepest “pool” of 3^rd Party vendors to help your organization hone in on those specific needs you require in your ERP solution. GP also has the largest and oldest expert networks in the world that can anticipate your current needs, and, more importantly, advise you on what you’ll need to anticipate in your organization regarding your future ERP needs.

There are really no other ERP solutions that offer as much as Dynamics GP and its vast 3^rd Party product solutions!

The Bottom Line: Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) – it just works!

If you need a single answer as to why you need to use Dynamics GP ERP solutions, let it be this: GP has always provided a reduction in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) once all the dust settles from the implementation stage and you process consistently on a month-to-month basis.

I’ve heard first hand from one VP of Finance that they have seen as much as a 50% reduction in TCO from their previous ERP solution and they had over 200 divisions in this particular organization! Now your TCO may not be as dramatic as this, but there’s a reason why Dynamics GP has been the leading ERP solution in the marketplace for this long.  It’s has staying power and longevity in the marketplace because IT JUST WORKS!

Implement GP for Your Business!

Whether you value the largest 3^rd Party Add-on feature catalog, multiple “cloud” offerings, bullet-proof architecture or total cost of ownership are what you consider critical in your selection process for a new ERP system, this blog provides you with some insight as to why I believe Dynamics GP is one of the best if not the best ERP solutions in the marketplace.  Feel free to reach out to FMT Consultants if you have any questions or comments.