« April 2005 | Main | June 2005 »

May 24, 2005

New Windows Version just for POS Terminals

Microsoft has released a new version of Windows XP that is specifically for retail point-of-sale termials. Some of the new features are . . .

The new Windows variant includes retail-specific features such as remote boot, multiuser logon and dual-display support. Microsoft also wrote a plug-and-play software layer that works with a retail software standard for linking terminals to peripherals such as bar code and magnetic stripe readers and two-line displays.

[. . .]

More than 40 companies announced they are developing terminals, peripherals or software that work with the new OS. At least three large POS terminal makers including IBM Corp. said they are working on systems that will use the software.

As I have said before, I don't do retail, but sometimes wonder if I should.

Posted by Ted at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2005

Client Back Up and Running

I got the client that had their server stolen back up and running yesterday. Their hardware guy has an interim server running. It has only 256MB of RAM and an IDE hard drive, so it’s rather show.

I had worked the Microsoft so I was well prepared when I went on site. Their most current backup was dated May 4, 2005, but they seemed to be taking it all in pretty good spirits.

When the thieves broke in they took a crowbar to every door and forced their way in. All locked file cabinets were forced open with a crow bar. It turns out those locking file cabinets only keep the honest people out.

The thieves got some cash, but not a lot. But they left the one girls un-cashed paycheck sitting on her desk. They took the servers, but left all the workstations and monitors behind. They took three pairs of scissors and some merchandise inventory. They helped themselves to snacks and drinks that were in the office.

The thieves used the drinks but left the empty bottles and cups behind. From these the police will extract DNA.

When I left last night the payroll girl was reprocessing her payroll for the last two weeks. Fortunately she still had her reports so she could re-enter them and match them up. Then she was going to run the current payroll so everyone could get paid.

The called Dell and gave them the Dell service number for the stolen server. That way, if anyone calls Dell about the server, Dell will immediately know the server is stolen and can contact the authorities.

The only data lost from restoring from backups was everyone’s password. We just need to reset their passwords and they will be good to go – aside from having to re-enter two weeks of work.

Posted by Ted at 08:34 AM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2005

Microsoft POS System

I see that Microsoft has a new Point of Sale system. This is for retail establishments. I’m a bit surprised as Microsoft Business Solutions already had a POS application. I’m not sure how this is different if at all.

I don’t get involved in POS systems – perhaps I should.

Posted by Ted at 08:27 AM | Comments (0)

May 18, 2005

Microsoft Great Plains Version 8.0

Here's some of the features that are new with Microsoft Great Plains Version 8.0. The features below are related to the Sales Order Processing module.

Print historical sales documentsYou can print a range of historical documents using the Print Sales Documents window. Documents are moved to history when they are transferred to another document, posted, or voided. You can’t reprint packing slips and picking tickets for documents that have been moved to history.

Reprint picking tickets and packing slip
If picking tickets or packing slips have been printed before, you can choose to reprint those picking tickets or packing slips. If you choose not to reprint previously printed picking tickets or packing slips, only the picking tickets or packing slips that haven’t been printed before will be printed.

Selling discontinued items
A setup option has been added to the Sales Order Processing Setup Options window to allow you sell discontinued items in Sales Order Processing. This option must be marked to enter discontinued items on orders, back orders, or invoices. If this option isn't marked, you can't sell discontinued items. If you decide to sell discontinued items, you won't be able to override the quantity shortage for discontinued items. The quantity allocated for discontinued items will be the balance of the quantity in inventory.

View quantities that are available to promise
Available to promise (ATP) means that an item is in stock and can be promised to a customer. You can see how much inventory or projected inventory is not committed to customer orders and is available. ATP is calculated for an item from the latest document date to the earliest document date for all supply orders, including sales orders, sales fulfillment orders/invoices, purchase orders, inventory transactions, inventory adjustments, inventory transfers, and manufacturing orders.

You can view available to promise information for items in the following windows.


Enter or change back ordered or canceled quantities
You have the option to enter or change information in the Qty to Back Order and Qty Canceled fields in the Sales Order Fulfillment window by marking one or both of the following options in the Sales Order Setup window, the Sales Invoice Setup window, and the Sales

Fulfillment Order/Invoice Setup window:

Ensure that quantity to invoice equals quantity fulfilled
You can mark the Override Quantity to Invoice with Quantity Fulfilled option in the Sales Order Setup window, the Sales Fulfillment Order/Invoice Setup window, and the Sales Invoice Setup window to display the same quantity in the Quantity to Invoice field in the Sales Transaction Entry window as is displayed in the Quantity Fulfilled field in the Sales Order Fulfillment window. This ensures that the quantity invoiced equals the quantity fulfilled for orders.

Ensure that bill quantity equals quantity fulfilled
If you mark the Override Billed Quantity with Quantity Fulfilled option in the Sales Invoice Setup window, the billed quantity on a fulfillment order will always be equal to the quantity filled when the quantity filled is greater than zero. This ensures that the quantity billed equals the quantity fulfilled for fulfillment orders/invoices.


Assign document statuses to fulfillment orders
If you’re using sales workflow, you can set up document statuses to assign to fulfillment orders. These document statuses indicate typical document processes, such as printing picking tickets, picking out goods from inventory, printing packing slips, packing and shipping goods, and sending invoices to customers.

You also can reverse the document status of fulfillment orders. You can move the document status back one status at a time. For example, suppose you printed a picking ticket for a customer order, but didn’t verify that the items were removed from inventory. Suppose also that your customer calls to add an item to the order. You can reverse the document status from Status 2 to Status 1, and then continue with the regular process. Fulfillment orders can have up to five statuses.
Orders will have a status of New, In Process, or Complete. See the Sales Order Processing documentation for more information.

Use named printers at picking sites
If you’re using advanced picking, you can specify a default printer for a site. This is necessary only if you want a different printer to be used for a specific site for one of the following picking tickets or packing slips:

Picking ticket enhancements
Additional picking ticket features allow you to:


Picking ticket enhancements are referred to in the documentation as advanced picking.
Previously printed indicators When you reprint a picking ticket, the word REPRINT will print at the top of the report. If you print a bulk picking ticket and then an individual picking ticket, items displayed on both picking tickets will be displayed with two asterisks (**) and a reprint icon.

Bulk picking You can print bulk picking tickets for fulfillment orders and invoices. A bulk picking ticket displays the items and quantities needed to fulfill more than one fulfillment order or invoice and the location of each item for a batch of items. A summary line for each item and the total quantity required is displayed on the picking ticket.

Sort by bin If you’re using advanced picking, you can select to sort individual picking tickets by bin sequence. If you’re using advanced picking and multiple bins, you can select to print default bins or all available bins when a default bin isn’t found.

Picking instructions IDs
If you’re using advanced picking, you can set up instruction IDs and enter picking instructions. Picking instructions can include information such as the sequence that items should be removed from inventory.

You can assign the instruction IDs to a customer record and item record. When you print a picking ticket that includes the customer ID and item ID, and you marked the Print Picking Instructions option in the Print Sales Documents window or the Sales Document Print Options window, the instructions also will be printed.

Copy sales transactions
A Copy button is now available in the Sales Transaction window. Use this button to copy lines items from sales document for use on another.

Posted by Ted at 04:58 PM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2005

Client Recovery on Hold

I spoke to the hardware guy about the client’s interim server. He said he is waiting for a tape drive that will read their tapes. Until we have the capability, we are dead in the water. It looks like the recovery will not take place until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.

I've got all the documentation I need from Microsoft's tech knowledge and I have all the scripts I will need on a flash drive. I'm just waiting on them.

Posted by Ted at 01:53 PM | Comments (0)

Client was robbed

I just received a call from a client telling me someone broke into their facility and stole their server. Apparently the thieves first cut the phone lines disabling the security system. Then they broke in and took the servers.

What I don’t know is how far back the backup tapes go. The hardware guy is supposed to have an interim server sometime after lunch. When he gets to the client site, he’ll call me and I will go out and get their Great Plains back up and running on the interim server.

Posted by Ted at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2005

Exterminators are almost done

The exterminators are almost done. I am now able to work, but tomorrow I’ll need to push all the furniture back where it was before. My productivity has taken a hit today. Suffering from a nasty cold hasn’t helped.

Posted by Ted at 04:22 PM | Comments (0)

Exterminators are here

The exterminators are here this morning. They are going to be drilling holes through the concrete floor and then injecting some kind of bug venom into the holes and plugging them up again. It’s going to be hard to get anything done until they leave and the office is back in production again.

Sigh.

Posted by Ted at 08:39 AM | Comments (0)

May 14, 2005

The Office is a Disaster

It is hard to believe, but we have termites in our building. The only wood in the whole building, as far as I know, are the windowsills.

But one morning a couple of weeks ago, a hole opened up in one of the sills and a swarm of termites commences to fly from the hole. It was like something out of a horror movie.

The property owner has arranged for exterminators to come Monday morning. But they need everything three feet away from the wall. This afternoon I went over, with some help, took the network down, and dragged all the desks away from the wall.

You’d be surprised of all the extra cables one can collect and not every know it.

Well everything is three feet from the exterior walls, but I don’t know how they’re going to get to them. I also don’t know where I’m going to sit on Monday.

I’ll be glad when this is over. What an aggravation.

Posted by Ted at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

May 13, 2005

Search Engine Results

Just for ha-ha’s I checked Google, Yahoo, and MSN to see how Eastern Business Solutions ranked in their search engines.

Here are the results . . .

Google – Number 1 and number 2
MSN – Number 2 after the sponsored links
Yahoo – Number 1 and number 2 after the sponsored links

Not bad.

Of course if I search on Microsoft Great Plains, we are lost in the dust. But I consider this site a source for existing clients and people I’ve already spoken to and they want to learn more about us. I don’t expect anyone, who’s going to spend between $5,000 and $80,000, to go looking for us on the net.

Posted by Ted at 01:22 PM | Comments (0)

Microsoft Great Plains Version 8.0

Here's some of the features that are new with Microsoft Great Plains Version 8.0. The features below are related to the Inventory module.

Manufactured dates and expiration dates
You can use the Lot Attribute Entry window to enter a manufactured date and an expiration date for an item that tracks lots even if you aren’t using lot categories.

Item and vendor item descriptions
You can enter up to 100 characters of text for item and vendor item descriptions. You’ll have to modify reports to view the entire 100-character description.

Trace serial numbers and lot numbers
Use the Serial/Lot Trace Inquiry window to track the life cycle of serial or lot numbers. A life cycle trace allows you to view all the transactions that include serial- or lot-numbers by their document date. This shows how a serial- or lot-numbered item was used from the day it was received to the day it left your business. You can use a life cycle trace to find a specific serial or lot number, find items with serial or lot numbers received from a specific vendor, or find items that use serial or lot numbers shipped to a specific customer.

You also can use the Serial/Lot Trace Inquiry window to trace the recall of serial or lot numbers. A recall trace can show which customers purchased an item with a specific serial or lot number. You can use a recall trace to show the location of items with serial or lot numbers, including the bin.

If a transaction in a life cycle trace is a manufacturing or assembly transaction, you can use the Serial/Lot Bill of Materials Trace window to view the serial- or lot-numbered items that were consumed (used) in creating a serial- or lot-numbered item. You also can view serial- or lot-numbered items that were produced (assembled) that use serial- or lot-numbered items.

On-order quantities
You can click the On Order link in the Item Quantities Maintenance window or in the Item Inquiry window to open the Purchase Order Processing Item Inquiry window. An On Order Qty field has been added to the Purchase Order Processing Item Inquiry window to view the on order quantities for each line item.

Allocated quantities
You can click the Allocated link in the Item Quantities Maintenance window or in the Item Inquiry window to open the Item Allocation Inquiry window. The Item Allocation Inquiry window shows how item quantities have been allocated.

Available to promise
Available to promise (ATP) means that an item is in stock and can be promised to a customer. ATP information shows how much inventory or projected inventory is not committed to customer orders and is available. ATP is calculated for an item from the latest document date to the earliest document date for all supply orders, including sales orders, sales fulfillment orders/invoices, purchase orders, inventory transactions, inventory adjustments, inventory transfers, and manufacturing orders.

You can open the Available to Promise window and view ATP information for items by using expansion buttons in the following windows.


Limit transactions displayed in the Inventory Document Numbers lookup window
If you are using advanced lookup windows, you can limit the number of transactions that are displayed in the Inventory Document Numbers lookup window. For example, if you enter June as the batch ID, the transactions for the June batch will be displayed in the Inventory Document Numbers lookup window.

View item stock information
You can use the Item Stock Inquiry window to view a current balance of the total stock quantity for an inventoried item and the transactions that affected the stock quantity of that item. You also can view the balance of each quantity type for the item, such as the quantity on hand and quantity allocated.

Assign minimum shelf life attributes
If you are using sales workflow and the item is tracking lots, you can assign minimum shelf life attributes to the item and use those attributes to determine whether or not the item meets the minimum shelf life when the item is received.

Adjust prices by percent of list
If you are using extended pricing, the price type of Percent off has been changed to Percent of List. If you use Percent of List as a price type, you can increase prices to an amount greater than the list price.

Enter multiple manufacturer’s numbers
You can enter manufacturer’s item numbers for an inventoried or discontinued item and select the manufacturer’s item number that you purchase most often. For example, assume that a vendor obtains the same interchangeable item from several manufacturers, but you want to purchase items made by a specific manufacturer. By entering a manufacturer’s item number for the item and selecting it as the primary number, the manufacturer’s item number you specified will be printed on the purchase order.

Consolidate lot numbers
If a transaction decreases lot number quantities, you can consolidate lot numbers by selecting to sort them by lot number or expiration date in the Item Lot Number Entry window, Item Transfer Lot Number Entry window, or the Item Bin Transfer Lot Number Entry window. You also can consolidate lot numbers in the Lot Number Inquiry window.

Enter negative prices in price sheets
If you are using extended pricing, you can enter a negative net price in the Price Sheet Detail Maintenance window.

Copy item records
A Copy button was added to the Item Maintenance window that can be used to copy an existing item record as a starting point for creating a new one.

Posted by Ted at 12:36 PM | Comments (0)

May 12, 2005

Spyware/Adware

Information Week has a post on their survey of readers results in killing off Spyware. They seem to favor five programs.

Here’s a salient quote . . .

Readers said that anti-spyware products aren't accurate; they need to use two, three or even four products in combination to detect all the spyware on a system, and even then they're not sure if they got everything. Many systems managers are forced to go into the Windows Registry and Task Manager by hand and edit out rogue processes and settings.

Posted by Ted at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)

Microsoft Great Plains Version 8.0 Seems Fast

I ran a client’s year-end close for the General Ledger last night. I estimate he had some 330,000 transactions in the prior fiscal year. The year-end close took about 15 minutes. And I ran this on a workstation, not the server.

That’s very fast. Although this client has a very nice server, I think it has more to do with the Version 8.0 code. Prior to version 8.0, Microsoft Great Plains supported three databases: Ctree, Pervasive SQL, and Microsoft SQL Server.

With the introduction of Version 8.0, they have dropped all support for Ctree and Pervasive. This has allowed them to optimize the code to take advantage of many SQL features. I think the very fast fiscal year-end close is one result of that optimization.

Although version 8.0 seems to load on the station slower than prior versions, once loaded it seems to do database intensive activities more quickly.

Posted by Ted at 10:55 AM | Comments (0)

New for Microsoft Great Plains 8.0

Here's some of the features that are new with Microsoft Great Plains Version 8.0. The features below are related to the Receivables Management.

Write off outstanding debit or credit amounts
You can use the Write Off Documents window to write off outstanding credit or debit balance amounts for one or more customers. You can specify a writeoff limit and cut-off date, and whether to create a credit or debit memo for each customer or document. Use the Write Off Preview window to mark or unmark customers to include in the writeoff process.

Set customer priorities
You can assign from one to 99 priorities to your customers; 1 is the highest priority and None is the lowest. When you allocate items in the Sales Automatic Order Allocation window, you can choose to allocate items by customer priority.

Select default order fulfillment shortage option
You can select a default order fulfillment shortage option—None, Back Order Remaining, or Cancel Remaining—for each customer.

For example, suppose you create an order for widgets and enter 10 in the Original Quantity field, 10 in the Qty Ready to Fulfill field, and 0 in the Qty Fulfilled field. However, when you fill the order, there are only 8 widgets available, so you enter 8 in the Qty Fulfilled field. The Qty Ready to Fulfill field also will display 8.

The default entry for the remaining quantity will be backordered or cancelled, depending on the option you selected. You can override the default entry when a shortage occurs.

Track additional customer address information
You can enter site, salesperson, territory, and additional user-defined information for each address. If salespeople are assigned to specific locations, such as states, it’s possible that a customer might have different salespeople for different locations.

Ship complete orders only
If the customer doesn’t accept partial shipments of Sales Order Processing documents, you can mark the Ship Complete Documents option in the Customer Maintenance window. Partial line item quantities won’t be transferred in Sales Order Processing if the customer doesn’t accept partial shipments.

Posted by Ted at 08:15 AM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2005

Business Intelligence (BI)

Many companies are using Business Intelligence (BI) to better manage their companies. Information Week as this post on what some companies are doing. Here’s an example:

Dorsey was surprised to see that while his general-ledger system had been able to tell him shrink was occurring, Showcase Analyzer showed in which of the 15 stores it was a problem and which items were disappearing. He had suspected the popular power-tools department was a source. Showcase Analyzer identified the 16 items among the thousands of power tools that were contributing nearly half of the chain's losses. They were the easy-to-conceal but expensive items such as power-saw blades and drill bits.

"When we discovered this, we put policies and procedures in place" to halt the losses, Dorsey says. These procedures included moving the most vulnerable items to areas in the stores where the staff could keep an eye on them. These steps generated $200,000 in savings the first year. Power tools, which used to experience 3.5% shrink across the chain, now have shrink levels of 2% and dropping.

[. . .]

Business intelligence identifies the source of problems and "takes accounting phantoms" out of the process, Dorsey says.

Microsoft appears to be moving aggressively in that area. That appears to be one of the things that Maestro is all about.

Posted by Ted at 01:56 PM | Comments (0)

May 10, 2005

What the heck is a LifeDrive?

I read this cryptic post in Information Week and am very curious. I am a surprisingly enthusiastic Palm Pilot user. I have been carefully eyeing the Dell Inspiron 700m. It weighs only 4.1 Lb and has a 12” screen. I know that’s small, but I want something very portable, when the Palm is just too small.

Now I see this Palm LifeDrive, if that’s what it’s really call and I am intrigued.

Posted by Ted at 05:03 PM | Comments (0)

Is Great Plains ready for the Maestro?

Information Week has a post about Microsoft’s new Business Intelligence (BI) application they’re calling Maestro. It appears that Maestro will provide real-time monitoring of various business parameters. This would seem to be a ready-made application to pair with Great Plains.

Posted by Ted at 01:35 PM | Comments (0)

Windows XP Downloads

I know I should be talking about Microsoft Great Plains, but I thought this was too interesting to pass up. I happen to stumble over this the other day. It’s several free downloads that Microsoft has for Windows XP. Just click here to download them.

I have just downloaded and tried the ClearType Tuner. It’s supposed to make reading text on your monitor easier. It says it’s for flat screen monitors, but I have a regular CRT type and I tried it.

I have to say, I think it improved the display. I’m really quite surprised. I recommend you give it a try.

Here’s the list of what they call “Power Toys.”

ClearType Tuner
This PowerToy lets you use ClearType technology to make it easier to read text on your screen, and installs in the Control Panel for easy access.

HTML Slide Show Wizard
This wizard helps you create an HTML slide show of your digital pictures, ready to place on your Web site.

Open Command Window Here
This PowerToy adds an "Open Command Window Here" context menu option on file system folders, giving you a quick way to open a command window (cmd.exe) pointing at the selected folder.

Alt-Tab Replacement
With this PowerToy, in addition to seeing the icon of the application window you are switching to, you will also see a preview of the page. This helps particularly when multiple sessions of an application are open.

Tweak UI
This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.
Version 2.10 requires Windows XP Service Pack 1 or Windows Server 2003.

Power Calculator
With this PowerToy you can graph and evaluate functions as well as perform many different types of conversions.

Image Resizer
This PowerToy enables you to resize one or many image files with a right-click.

CD Slide Show Generator
With this PowerToy you can view images burned to a CD as a slide show. The Generator works downlevel on Windows 9x machines as well.

Virtual Desktop Manager
Manage up to four desktops from the Windows taskbar with this PowerToy.

Taskbar Magnifier
Use this PowerToy to magnify part of the screen from the taskbar.

Webcam Timershot
This PowerToy lets you take pictures at specified time intervals from a Webcam connected to your computer and save them to a location that you designate.

Posted by Ted at 08:52 AM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2005

Success at Last!

Well I waited for the SQL backup to finish, deleted the errant records from the ASI00102 table, and then ran the item number conversion. This time it went willingly.

I know it’s a small thing, but when they give you trouble it’s very satisfying to finally kill them off.

Posted by Ted at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)

Item Number Change

I’m going to make an attempt to change the last item number tonight. I’ve been back and forth with Microsoft about the item in question and the ASI00102 table. Now they tell me this table is an AnyView table from Accountable Solutions.

The client is not running AnyView, but they are running something called Advanced Inquiry – also from Accountable Solutions.

Regardless, it’s time to cut to the chase on this. I’m going to do what I wanted to do yesterday afternoon. I’m going to delete the record that’s giving me the duplicate key error message in the ASI00102 and re-run the item number change for the lone remaining item number.

I will, however, wait until the SQL backup runs about 9:00 tonight – just to be on the safe side.

Posted by Ted at 05:18 PM | Comments (0)

Comments now Available

I have turned on comments for this blog. That means you can click on the comment link on each post and give me your thoughts – good or bad. It can be like a conversation.

I send my thanks to Chad at Everitz Consulting. He does very nice work and typically pretty quick. He’s a whiz at Movable Type.

Thank you, Chad.

Posted by Ted at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)

New for Microsoft Great Plains 8.0

Here's some of the features that are new with Microsoft Great Plains Version 8.0. The features below are related to the General Ledger.

Back out and correct posted transactions
You can back out posted transactions. When you back out a transaction, a new transaction is created that reverses the debits and credits of the original transaction. You also have to option to create a correcting transaction using the debits and credits of the original transaction as a starting point for the new transaction. Posted transactions that you can back out include standard, reversing, clearing, and quick journal transactions.

You also have the option to allow users to reverse transactions that originated in other modules. However, if you reverse or void a transaction in General Ledger that was originally entered in another module, that transaction is reversed or voided only in General Ledger.

Copy posted transactions
You can copy posted transactions using the debits and credits of the original transaction to create a new transaction. You can copy standard, reversing, clearing, and quick journal transactions, as long as they’ve been posted.

Posted by Ted at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)

May 08, 2005

Item Number Change Continued

The project to change about 2,500 of a client’s item numbers is done. Well, almost done. I have one item that refuses to change – just like some people I know.

When I try to change this item, I get the message . . .

Violation of PRIMARY KEY constraint ‘PKASI00102’ Cannot insert duplicate key in object ‘ASI00102’

I’m attempting to change item number 200-101687 to item number 101687. When I query the ASI00102 table through SQL’s Query Analyzer, I can see the item number 101687. That’s probably why I’m getting the error message I am. However, item number 101687 does not exist in the inventory module, but item number 200-101687 does.

I suspect I could just burn the 101687 records out of the ASI00102 table and I’d be good to go – but I could also be wrong.

I’ve decided to spend the money and ask Microsoft for their advice. Time was I had virtually unlimited access to Tech Support for answers. Now they charge for them.

They don’t wake up until about 10:00 Monday morning. I’m still pretty optimistic. I expect to shoot this last bird off the wire tomorrow night.

Posted by Ted at 02:44 PM | Comments (0)

May 07, 2005

Item Number Change

This weekend I’d doing an item number change for a client. I’m using one of the modules from the Microsoft Great Plains Professional Services Tools Suite.

I’m changing about 2,500 item numbers in their inventory module. Fortunately, this is pretty easy to do. I have a Windows XP Remote Desktop access to one of their stations. This station has the Professional Services Tools Suite loaded on it. I’m running this from home. I just can’t go very far this weekend.

I’ve started the process running. Now I just have to log in periodically to see if it is done. We did about 4,500 item numbers two weeks ago and it ran over 36 hours. I’ve gotten an earlier start on this one.

Posted by Ted at 10:24 AM | Comments (0)

May 06, 2005

Additional Modules Promotion

Microsoft has a promotion coming up to encourage users to add more Great Plains modules to their installation. They’re calling it the 123 Discount Campaign.

The promotion starts May 15, 2005 and runs through June 24, 2005. It gives you 10% off the list price for any module. This excludes additional user licenses. They have a separate promotion for that.

If you purchase two more modules, you get 20% off the list price. If you purchase three or more modules, you get 30% off the list price.

Just remember to add the 16% enhancement fee to your order total. This enhancement fee is never discounted and is 16% of the list price. However, it is always prorated to your renewal date. If you have six months before your enhancement fee is up for renewal, it would be 8% instead.

I think this is one of their better promotions. Click on the pricing links on the left to see if there are any modules you want to acquire and use with this promotion. If you’re not sure which modules you already own, contact me and I’ll give you a list.

June 30, 2005 is the end of Microsoft’s fiscal year. They’re pressing everyone to make their numbers look good.

Posted by Ted at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2005

Microsoft Live Meeting

I attended a Microsoft Live Meeting last Tuesday. It was a webinar with Chet Holmes as the speaker about marketing. I found it thought provoking.

This post however is not to just tell you about the webinar, it’s to tell you that Microsoft archives its live meetings. Click here to view all the live meetings they have archived.

Although some are sort of self-improvement type. Many are business related. As far as I can tell they are free to view at your leisure. I see the one I attended is already archived.

Take a look and see what you think.

Posted by Ted at 08:17 AM | Comments (0)

May 03, 2005

Posting Entries to the Closed General Ledger

I’ve had two clients in as many days call and tell me they needed to post adjusting entries to 2004 and they had already closed their General Ledger.

I told them just to post the entries to the prior year and Microsoft Great Plains would automatically bring those updated balances forward to the current year. They both seemed rather incredulous that it was that easy. One even thought they’d need to re-close the fiscal year.

I assured them everything was fine and it really is that easy.

Posted by Ted at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)

May 02, 2005

IBM Sells its PC Division

I see that IBM has finalized the sale of their PC division to Lenovo, a Chinese firm. IBM will still sell and market PC’s under the IBM logo. It will make Lenovo the third biggest PC maker behind Dell and HP.

I have rather mixed feelings about this move. I suspect these people were probably making IBM’s PCs all along so it may just codify a situation that already existed.

Posted by Ted at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

New for Microsoft Great Plains 8.0

I thought I’d highlight some features new to Microsoft Great Plains version 8.0.

Letter Writing Assistant
You can use the Letter Writing Assistant to create letters in Word that you can send to customers, vendors, or employees using Great Plains data and Word document templates. Examples include collection letters, credit application acceptance letters, proposal cover letters, letters to dispute charges, and employee memos.

You can use prewritten, preformatted letter templates or create your own. Start the Letter Writing Assistant by choosing the Write Letters button in the Customer Maintenance, Customer Summary, Vendor Maintenance, Vendor Credit Summary, Employee Maintenance, and Employee Summary windows or choose Reports >> Letter Writing Assistant. Letter templates are stored in the Letters folder within your Great Plains directory. Any changes you make to existing templates, or any new templates you create, are stored only on the local machine.

Deleting Stranded Users
It used to be that if your station locked up while you were in Great Plains, you would need to have another user delete your session before you could log back into Great Plains.

That is gone. Now, if you lock up while in Great Plans, when you log back in again, the system will tell you that you are already logged in and ask if you want to view your login. You just need to click “Yes”. You will see you prior session, you can delete it and then log in as usual. I find this a lot easier on users.

Posted by Ted at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)