Microsoft Dynamics GP, originally branded Great Plains, sports a longer history than virtually any other ERP solution made for Windows. Dynamics GP is a mature, full-featured application and is one of the most popular ERP platforms for SMBs, with around 50,000 active customers globally. A number of businesses who have relied on Dynamics GP for years or decades have managed to defer upgrades and maintenance to the point that they now find themselves running seriously out-of-date software and rickety IT infrastructure. This is risky. At the same time, a recurring complaint we hear from new clients is that they have a hard time finding experienced Dynamics GP experts who can provide in-depth knowledge about how to upgrade their Dynamics GP system affordably and extract the maximum benefit from the software.
The longer a business attempts to make do with outdated releases of Dynamics GP, the more complex the migration procedure becomes. When physical host servers or disk systems fail, there could be no suitable devices on the market to replace them. When releases of Windows Server that run Dynamics GP reach end-of-support (EOS) status, vital security patches stop being distributed. The latest editions of SQL Server might not work with your important GP customizations. Next-generation tools like Power BI may not be an option. Businesses investigating an update of their Dynamics GP environment can be intimidated by the volume of pieces there are to the puzzle. And the price tag quoted for an upgrade may seem through the roof.
Dynamics GP Upgrade and Customization Services Offered by Progent
Progent has offered support for Microsoft Dynamics GP and Great Plains for more than 20 years, and Progent's seasoned experts have delivered high-level and economical remote consulting for Windows-based networks to organizations in every state in the U.S. By offering deep familiarity with all editions of Dynamics GP along with top-tier network integration skills, Progent is ideally qualified to make sure your Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania business optimize the benefit of GP/Great Plains.
We partner with our clients and start by understanding their needs. After gaining an understanding of the environment and the areas for improvement we provide our recommendations. Proposed services can involve a migration to a more current and fully supported release of Dynamics GP, basic user education, full platform and specific module implementation including 3rd-party modules from a wide range of vendors that have published add-ons to Microsoft Dynamics GP, integration with other key business applications within your organization, custom report creation, and solution evaluations to determine whether GP is being used to its fullest. Our goal with every Microsoft Dynamics GP project big or small is to optimize strategic value and control expense.
Progent can assist your Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania business in each facet of your Dynamics GP migration or enhancement process including:
- System Review
Take a look at what modules and features of Dynamics GP you are currently running and discuss additional features of the product that may be helpful to your organization.
- Migration Planning and Scheduling
Develop a complete upgrade plan and schedule that avoids business interruption. Schedule solution validation, live deployment, and training. Identify customizations and add-on modules. Anticipate and resolve compatibility issues.
- Pilot Testing
Design and configure a pilot environment for validating the upgrade process.
- System Upgrades
Create backup copies of databases and dictionaries, eConnect automation, and GP Integration Manager database. eMigrate Dynamics GP to the latest version to assure continuing support from Microsoft and to make all current features available to your business. Update SQL Server and compatibility levels for all databases. Activate services from the GP Professional Services Tools Library (pstl). Prepare data and run scripts to resolve known issues.
- Custom Reporting
Create reports and or custom dashboards for private as well as public consumption. Deploy SQL Server Reporting Services and combine Microsoft Dynamics GP with Microsoft Power BI for self-service reporting and for aggregating information from multiple on-premises and external repositories.
- Training
Provide one-on-one or classroom style training for current and new users of Dynamics GP.
- Support Services
Act as a single point of contact for expertise to ensure effective and affordable resolution of issues thanks to familiarity with your particular situation.
Other Microsoft Dynamics GP Consulting Expertise Available from Progent
Progent offers the support of seasoned consultants who have been creating working Microsoft Dynamics GP and Great Plains environments since relerase 1. Progent can do the jobs you require directly instead of supervising less experienced consultants or internal staff. Important areas where Progent can provide Dynamics GP expertise include:
- Recommendations
Recommend the use of modules that come with the core GP system but are not currently being used. Also, recommend third-party products written specifically for Microsoft Dynamics GP to provide capabilities that GP skips.
- Integrations
Build special integrations between Microsoft Dynamics GP and other business applications to avoid duplicate entry and improve accuracy.
- Customizations
Build major and small customizations that run with Dynamics GP to handle various business functions not handled by out-of-the-box GP modules or third-party add-ons.
Infrastructure Consulting Services
Progent can assist you to upgrade your infrastructure to support Microsoft Dynamics GP for any architecture including on-premises, private or public cloud, or a hybrid environment. Infrastructure services provided by Progent's consultants include:
- Needs assessment and site inventory
- Network topology planning and implementation (on-premises, cloud-based, or hybrid)
- Configuring security gateways and VPN connections and creating security policies
- Managing iOS, Android, and Windows smartphones and tablets
- Creating high-availability (HA) environments
- Integration with public cloud services such as Microsoft 365
- Disaster recovery and business continuity preparedness
- Performance optimization
Why Progent?
An optimized Microsoft Dynamics GP environment incorporates diverse software platforms, on-premises network infrastructure technologies, and cloud services integrated into a cohesive ERP solution. For over two decades, Progent's consultants have delivered online and on-premises support from Microsoft-certified professionals including Dynamics GP/Great Plains consultants, Windows Server specialists, SQL Server consultants, Exchange Server configuration experts, Microsoft Office consultants, and SharePoint development experts. Progent's consultants have supported these products from their first releases to their current versions, and Progent can help with cloud-based SaaS options by providing Office and Microsoft 365 consulting, Exchange Online integration services, and SharePoint Online migration and application development services.
Progent also has extensive experience providing help from seasoned Cisco CCIE-certified network experts, Hyper-V integration consultants, and VMware virtualization specialists. This background with strategic technologies saves time and costs when guiding businesses through each phase of updating their legacy Dynamics GP deployment. Progent also can provide the support of advanced cybersecurity and compliance experts, disaster recovery planning experts, application programmers, hybrid cloud integration experts, and SQL Server DBAs who can assist you to design, implement, and maintain a modern Microsoft Dynamics GP environment.
Progent's Support Services for Dynamics GP/Great Plains Enterprise Resource Planning Solutions
For more about Progent's remote and on-premises support expertise in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for Microsoft Dynamics GP/Great Plains ERP software, refer to:
Read/Download Progent's MS Dynamics GP/Great Plains Consulting Services Datasheet
To download a datasheet describing the consulting support offered by Progent for MS Dynamics GP/Great Plains ERP software, select Download Datasheet: Consulting for Microsoft Dynamics GP/Great Plains ERP Software (PDF file).
Contact Progent for Dynamics GP/Great Plains Upgrade Support
If your Pittsburgh, PA business needs a Dynamics GP/Great Plains deployment consultant or software developer, phone 1-800-993-9400 or see Contact Progent.