These same respondents ranked “achieving operational efficiency”, “containing costs”, and “managing inventory” as their top priorities for improvement due to the effect these areas would have on the overall performance of the organization.

So if these organizations want to improve their business performance, why aren’t they analyzing their operational, financial, and inventory data to help them make business decisions?

It may be because 24% of them believe they don’t have a budget for a business intelligence project, 17% believe BI takes too long to implement and provide a ROI, 10% don’t have the right skills in house to take advantage of business intelligence, and 7% don’t understand the benefits it can bring to their organization.

If you are using a Microsoft Dynamics ERP or CRM solution and you are still relying on intuition rather than insight to make your business decisions because you fall into one of the categories above, then you are wasting some of the investment that you have already made in your software and putting your business at risk unnecessarily.

Every Microsoft Dynamics solution includes easy to implement, easy to learn, and easy to use data analysis and business intelligence tools “out-of-the-box.” To learn more about what analytics tools are included in your Microsoft Dynamics solution, contact us today.

August 2011 – The much anticipated release of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 will take place.  AX 2012 is designed to “empower people to anticipate and embrace change” through enhanced business agility and simplified decision making.   

May 1, 2011 – Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 R2 will become available, featuring significant business intelligence capabilities geared to make businesses more agile. 

April 11, 2011 – Today marks the official launch of Microsoft Dynamics SL 2011!  This new release promises a faster realization of the value of the software for users via a direct integration with Microsoft Project 2010.  Dynamics SL 2011 is currently available for purchase or upgrade. 

Ballmer and Tatarinov stressed that the enhancements made in these releases, as well as all of the Dynamics products now and going forward, are geared toward making businesses more dynamic through simplicity, value, and agility.

If you choose to attend Convergence, you will get:

• Insights into Microsoft’s corporate direction from the executive who are making the future plans for your Microsoft Dynamics solution
• To peek into what’s new with your Microsoft Dynamics solution, including details about upcoming innovations and product launches
• To connect with your peers, partners, Microsoft team members, and industry experts to share ideas and knowledge
• Opportunities to learn how you can get the most out of your Microsoft Dynamics solution through concurrent sessions, interactive discussions, deep dive sessions, hands on labs, and user groups

Even with all of these things you can gain by attending Convergence, one of the most unique aspects of the event is that you also GET the opportunity to GIVE. 

On Sunday, April 10^th, you have the opportunity to participate in projects that benefit inner city children and families with landscaping and building playgrounds at a low-income apartment complex, as well as painting at a nearby community center.

Throughout the rest of the event, attendees are encouraged to stop by the Community and Learning Center to help create colorful paintings for a local hospital in the Atlanta area.

If you strictly look at what the software companies have to say about their products, it can be difficult to get a clear picture of what the solutions are really all about.  SAP’s messaging is very focused on promoting their proven implementation methodology.  Despite also having a proven implementation strategy behind its products, Microsoft Dynamics AX is implemented by the trusted partner that you select thereby freeing Microsoft to focus on the user experience with the product post-implementation.  

At Socius, we believe that implementation is just the beginning of your journey with an ERP solution.  Therefore, we want to compare how Microsoft Dynamics AX and SAP All-in-One compare functionally:

Ease of Use
A recent Keystone Strategy research paper revealed that Microsoft Dynamics AX end users on average rated their experience with Microsoft applications more favorably than SAP users rated their experience with SAP.  In fact, Dynamics AX beat out SAP by 8% – 27% in every category, including transactional efficiency, business insight, collaboration, familiarity, and flexibility.  Users ranked Dynamics AX as 17% more usable than SAP.  This is most likely due to the familiar and intuitive interface that reduces the learning curve and training costs for new users. 

Role-based User Interface
Both Dynamics AX and SAP provide role-specific user interfaces, but they go about it in slightly different manners.  SAP offers a family of user interfaces, each having its own role structures which can add extra work for IT to deploy and upgrade.  On the flip side, Microsoft delivers role-tailored information directly to Role Centers which are personalized home pages for each user, enabling people to cut through the clutter and delivering just the information they need, where and when they need it.

Portals
SAP All-in-One provides a portal experience via SAP Enterprise Portal (EP) which requires that user access must be set-up separately in the Portal in addition to security set-up within All-in-One. Microsoft Dynamics AX offers out-of-the box portal capabilities that do not require customers to re-implement security features.

Ease of Customization
Microsoft Dynamics AX provides a layered architecture where partners and customers each have a layer where they can make customizations without disrupting each other’s work, making on-going changes and upgrades more manageable. With SAP All-in-One, while customers and partners can each have separate object ranges for customizations, they are still on the same layer which can lead to additional testing and expense.

Self-service Business Intelligence (BI)
With self-service access to information and analytical tools, you can improve productivity and reduce demand on valuable IT resources. Some self-service BI exists within SAP, but often companies are required to deploy SAP Business Warehouse which requires its own server, database, and security scheme.  Microsoft Dynamics AX meets the spectrum of BI needs by delivering a flexible and adaptable business management solution with integrated analysis, communication, and collaboration capabilities that don’t require costly add-ins or a separate analytics program.

Learn more about this topic by downloading the complimentary “Empower Your People with Self-Service Business Intelligence” whitepaper.

Microsoft Dynamics GP (formerly Great Plains) offers school administrators seamlessly integrated solutions that combine practical, flexible, and affordable tools that include:

• Secure financial management and reporting solutions
• Departmental benchmarking and funding functions
• Payroll and HR Management tools
• Web-based student information systems
• Interfund Accounting functionality 
• Control Account Management functionality
• Encumbrance Management tools
• Commitments tracking functions through Requisition Management features
• Grant Management solutions

To see these tools in action, view this brief demo video of how Microsoft Dynamics GP works for schools:

Microsoft made changes to their plans across the board, starting with name.  What had previously been known as CRM5 is now officially Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.  They also added 8 additional international markets to the 32 that had previously been announced where CRM 2011 will be available, bringing the total to 40 countries and 41 languages. 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 promises to deliver “The Power of Productivity” through familiar, intelligent and connected experiences for people inside and outside an organization. This release will also enable users to easily access Microsoft Dynamics CRM extensions and custom solutions from within their system through the integrated Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, which is being released in September 2010 along with the public beta of Dynamics CRM 2011 Online.

Learn more about what to expect in the release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011!

The solutions and services featured on this on-line marketplace all extend the value of Microsoft Dynamics solutions.  Like any of your favorite on-line shopping experiences, the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace is a searchable and filterable catalog complete with user evaluations and feedback capabilities to help you discover the optimal solution.  The site is complete with downloadable applications as well as the ability to connect directly with Microsoft partners. 

The Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace is being launched in September 2010 along with release of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 beta (formerly known as CRM 5).  The two tools are integrated so that Dynamics CRM 2011 users can search for for applications directly from within their CRM solution. 

Microsoft hopes the answer to that question is “both.” 

The RoleTailored interface in Microsoft Dynamics GP provides employees with personalized dashboards and key performance indicators targeted at their specific job functions. These providing them with immediate, clear, and controlled visibility into the information that’s specifically important to them. 

Also, the HR and Payroll (HRP) functionality available for Microsoft Dynamics GP enables you to strategically manage your organization’s most important asset – your employees.  Automating your HRP processes through your financial system can result in some significant savings and tremendous efficiency gains for your organization. 

Go ahead and run the numbers to see what Microsoft Dynamics GP has to offer you and your employees: 

13 HRP Modules

220 built-in HRP Reports

3 major reasons to select Microsoft Dynamics GP for integrated HRP administration:

1.  Streamline HRP processes with improved productivity and reduced risk of human error by putting automated routine tasks in place instead of relying on manual data entry, tracking, and calculations.
2. Gain control over complex HRP functions while maintaining precise control over financial and personnel resources through a system that adapts to users’ work styles.
3. Empower people to make confident decisions about payroll and benefit options by quickly and conveniently transforming raw data into meaningful information to help your staff minimize risks and maximize productivity.

All of these numbers are great, but don’t mean a thing unless it adds up to results for users.  That’s why this is our all-time favorite number related to HRP for Microsoft Dynamics GP:

560,000 dollars our client G&J Pepsi-Cola Bottlers saves annually since consolidating their HR, payroll, and financial data for their 1,700 employees using Microsoft Dynamics GP. 

“Microsoft Dynamics GP makes it easy to trace changes and drill down to investigate financial details. With a central system, I will be able to perform better auditing. For example, I will be able to verify that we are contributing the appropriate amounts to employees’ 401(k)s.” – Hope Clevenger, Corporate Benefits and Payroll Manager, G&J Pepsi-Cola Bottlers

Read more about the benefits that G&J Pepsi-Cola Bottlers has realized by downloading their complete Microsoft Dynamics GP HR and Payroll success story.

Socius has also seen record-breaking growth in new purchases of Microsoft Dynamics GP.  Since January of 2010, we have experienced 400% growth in the number of companies choosing to work with Socius to implement Microsoft Dynamics GP over the same period in 2009! 

While each of these organizations have their own unique requirements that Microsoft Dynamics GP is meeting for them, the one aspect that almost every single new Socius client cited as the key reason they selected Dynamics GP is integration.  Whether they were looking to integrate their front and back office processes by using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM adapter for GP or they wanted to integrate Dynamics GP with industry specific solutions or other Microsoft solutions they were already using, Microsoft Dynamics GP provides an ease of use and integration that is unmatched in the ERP solutions midmarket. 

Take Microsoft Dynamics GP for a test drive today to see everything it has to offer an organization like yours!