Plumbline Solutions - Software Consulting Services

October 2008 Newsletter

In this Edition:

FP1 is coming... are you ready?

Over the past few weeks, I attended the Dynamics User Group SL Fall Meeting and I am currently facilitating many of the Microsoft Dynamics Customer Roadshow sessions. Both events are sure to stir up customer interest in upgrading to SL 7.0 with Feature Pack 1. The downloadable version of FP1 may be available as early as November, so you'll want to start talking with your customers to discuss the advantages of getting on the most current release and scheduling their upgrades. Please let us know if you need any assistance with completing the upgrades.

Best Regards,

Todd Michael
Director of Sales & Marketing
Plumbline Solutions, Inc.
(419) 581-2973

Plumbline Solutions provides software engineering services for Microsoft^® Dynamics Channel Partners and Microsoft Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). We offer software development, application support and technology consulting, with a focus on delivering excellence and building lasting relationships. Our 2008 Microsoft Competencies include: Data Management Solutions, Information Worker Solutions, Microsoft Business Solutions, Small Business Specialist Community, Custom Development Solutions and Business Intelligence.

Customers have expressed excitement over the many new features that this upgrade will provide, including easier and greater productivity:

Document Sharing uses SharePoint sites to store and manage records, increasing communication between teams for customer, vendor and project information.
Sortable Grids increase usability and is available throughout the product where grid views are provided.
Quick Send functionality has been expanded beyond Invoices and Purchase Orders to include AR Statement, Order Manager Order Confirmation, Manual Order Confirmations, Shipping Notices and PR Direct Deposit Slips.
Project Flex Time is an optional new interface that allows custom screen setups to view time entered beyond the standard 7 day period. Additionally employee assignments can be viewed at the subtask level.
Project Connector 2007 provides tighter integration with Microsoft Office Project and provides deeper budgeting capabilities and resource assignments.

The Dynamics SL 7.0 Feature Pack 1, now in the Beta 2 test process, is expected to be available by the end of this calendar year.

To keep up-to-date with the latest information on FP1, including readiness web seminars, the FP1 VPC download and a presentation deck you can use to illustrate the new FP1 features to your customers, visit the new dedicated web page [read more].

SL 7.0 Requirements
Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0 has been upgraded to run on the latest version of Visual Studio 2005 (Visual Basic), making it a native .NET application and providing new interfaces to products like SQL Server Reporting Services.

Following is some documentation to guide you with SL 7.0 requirements and installation:

Customers can locate these guidelines on CustomerSource, under Documentation.

Tip: To run Dynamics SL 7.0 in a workgroup environment, do not use Windows authentication.

Reports Sent Using Electronic Document Delivery Are Blank in Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0 - This problem is typically encountered when using customized reports created in prior versions of the software. The report is sent blank because it does not contain the ASID field that was added in Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0 to work with the EDD / Quick Send feature. [Read more]

Mark your calendars for these upcoming events:

Microsoft Dynamics Customer Roadshow - Join Microsoft representatives for an exciting event to learn how to maximize the Microsoft Dynamics GP, SL and NAV solutions. These meetings are happening in cities across the country in Sept., Oct. and November. The schedule can be viewed on CustomerSource. Don't forget to register for Partner's Day!

On-demand training available from the Partner Learning Center:

Microsoft Dynamics Technical Web Seminars - This training series covers installation tips for SL, BIO and BP plus Business Analytics, Requisitions, Forecaster, Communicator and Business Portal, plus What's New in Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0 FP1.

Microsoft Dynamics SL Platform Technologies Web Seminars - Topics covered include Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and SharePoint, Business Intelligence Road Map, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Sequel Server Reporting Services, Project Management and Microsoft Project Server Demonstration, and Business Portal for Microsoft Dynamics SL and SharePoint.

Windows Server 2008 Technical Drill Down - This web seminar series from Microsoft covers some of the technical elements of working with Windows Server 2008, such as how to manage IIS 7.0, configuring and deploying the operating system, how to build failover clusters, tips on network protection and troubleshooting.

SQL Server 2008 Administration Fundamentals - Access this web seminar series to learn the basics of administrating SQL Server databases and the new features of SQL Server 2008 such as security, scalability and policy management.

Name: Tim Rader

Team: Microsoft Dynamics SL Contract Team

Background: At Plumbline, Tim is currently an Associate Developer, working with System Manager screens, databases, reporting, customization, installation, menus, the SDK, and user interface controls (such as grids). Prior to joining Plumbline on a full-time basis, Tim worked as an intern while finishing college.

Likes best about consulting: Enjoys problem solving and learning about new technology.

Hobbies: Video games.

The Dynamics User Group SL Fall Meeting was a big success this year, with over 120 attendees. Several Plumbline team members were able to attend the meeting, helping with some of the sessions, ranging from “How does Business Portal and SharePoint fit together” to “Maximize Project Allocator” and hosting hands-on labs. Jeff Wallis did a presentation showing the new features available with SL 7.0 Feature Pack I, followed by the hands-on labs where customers could see and use the new features.

Overall it was a great networking event where many customers and partners shared their ideas, challenges and solutions. Congratulations to Joe Miller and David Subry for pulling together a great conference!

Members can download the presentations from the Fall Meeting. To sign up for membership visit the Dynamics Users Group SL website.

The Microsoft Pre-Sales Support Program is being offered once again to Microsoft Dynamics SL Partners. Under this program, Plumbline Solutions provides pre-sales technical support services at no charge to Partners (Microsoft covers most of the costs, if not all). To request service, please contact your Regional Manager:
West Arleigh Taylor
Central Ben Alford
East Joe Bailey

New demo tools will soon be available to help Partners create custom demonstrations quickly and easily. Look for more information on PartnerSource about VM Express and DemoMate over the next few weeks.

ISV Royalty Licensing Program: Integrate with Microsoft, seamlessly. If you have developed add-on solutions but are not a Microsoft reseller, you will appreciate this program. Microsoft is now offering a way to package your solutions with theirs, eliminating the need to refer customers to a reseller to purchase the underlying Microsoft software. You can sign up for the ISV Royalty Licensing Program by calling the ISV Resource Team at (866) 613-9198 or by sending an email to: usisv@microsoft.com.

Partner Business Network
This is a new Microsoft Partner online community for interacting with ISVs and other Partners to help you grow your business. A discussion forum will be added soon.

Access Plumbline Solutions' Link Exchange for a list of Microsoft Dynamics SL add-on products in one easy-to-search area: Plumbline Solutions' Link Exchange

To participate in the Plumbline Solutions' Link Exchange Program and gain greater visibility for your products or services, e-mail us or read the participation details.

If you have consultants in your organization that are not receiving the Plumbline Newsletter, please forward a copy of the newsletter to them and have them click on the "Subscribe me!" link in the email. Sign-up is also available on our website. We want to make sure we have these professionals “in the know” about the latest SL activities and ensure they have access to the monthly hints & tips.

To read previous issues of our Newsletter click here.