Plumbline Consulting - Software Consulting Services

July 2010 Newsletter

In this Edition:

Summer is officially here! That means warm sunny days, vacations and swimming, barbeques in the back yard and plenty of daylight for outdoor fun. I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy time with your family and friends before we move into the busier fall season.

Plumbline Consulting recently helped Microsoft close out the year by presenting at 16 partner-led User Events across the country. These visits were focused on assisting Partners in two ways: 1) Help close new deals by answering prospects’ questions about Microsoft Dynamics SL and its suitability for their business and 2) Increase existing customer awareness about Dynamics SL functionality offered in the 7.0 release, including the Feature Pack and 7.0 Service Pack 3, to help drive upgrade sales.

Customers were also shown a re-cap of Convergence 2010 which revealed the "8.0 Sneak Peek" session highlights. Customers were energized about the new about features that will be offered in the Microsoft Dynamics SL “8” release due out next year.

The feedback from these events was positive. Customers who weren’t on the 7.x versions walked away strategizing on their upgrade plans to get them there. Existing 7.x customers were excited to learn of new features they hadn’t taken advantage of yet, and began planning how to start using MORE of what their system offers NOW.

Partners were also brought up-to-speed on the Microsoft Dynamics releases and many have started scheduling meetings with their existing 7.x customers to discuss their upgrade plans to Microsoft Dynamics “8”.

If you would like Plumbline to present this material at your next User Event to help you close additional sales, please give me a call!

Best Regards,

Todd Michael
General Manager
Plumbline Consulting
(419) 581-2973

Note my new email address: Toddmich@plumblineconsulting.com.

We also have a new company website - www.plumblineconsulting.com.

Plumbline provides software engineering services for Microsoft Dynamics^® Channel Partners and Microsoft Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). We offer software development, application support, technology and business process consulting, with a focus on delivering excellence and building lasting relationships.

Save Time & Money with Business Portal Time Entry Customizations

If you use Business Portal for Time Entry in your organization, you may find some of our Plumbline Proven Solutions (PPS) to be of great value to you. We use several of these modifications in-house to improve both the efficiency and accuracy of data entered into the BP Time Entry screen. Many of these solutions are also available for the BP Expense Entry screen.

Following is a chart that highlights the 15 Plumbline Proven Solutions available for the BP Time Entry Screen [learn more].

You can view and purchase all Plumbline Proven Solutions at: www.DynamicsDownloads.com.

What triggers Dynamics SL 7.0 Menus and Favorites to regenerate?

Since menus and favorites are user-specific, menus and favorites will update when a new user is added in the system, permissions or group rights change for a user, and during database upgrade processing. Read the full Knowledge base article here.

Customizations not working properly after upgrading?

If you're having problems with your customizations becoming corrupted or modified, you'll want to review this article for tips & resolutions.

Inc Magazine offers this tip for collecting customer payments:

There are lots of ways to try to collect payment from a customer. One of the most effective is to just drop by. If you don’t receive a scheduled payment, you might call and ask, “Where’s the check?”

Whereupon your customer might say: “It’s right here. It’s going out in today’s mail.” To which you should always, always reply: “Don’t bother sending it, I’m going to be in the neighborhood today. I’ll pick it up.” That simple tactic might be the most effective collections procedure out there. And it doesn’t have to be the CEO or CFO who makes the visit. For out-of-the-way customers, a salesperson can personally go for it.

Recommendations From PC World

A few portable diagnostics programs that you can keep on a flash drive (get the portable version) - each is free:

· CCleaner – Cleans and repairs a variety of problems including broken items in the Windows Registry.

· Revo Unistaller – Unlike Window’s own program installer, Revo removes junk left behind – except 64-bit apps.

· EasyCleaner – Overlaps CCleaner, but is best at emptying an overloaded drive.

· SuperAtiSpyware Online Safe Scan – A portable malware scanner.

· Recuva – My favorite free file-recovery program. Make sure that you download the portable version.

Dynamics SL User Group Fall Conference

The 2010 Dynamics SL User Group Fall Conference is scheduled for Sept 22-24 in San Diego. There's still time to register!

Momentum Webcast: Unlocking the Power of Microsoft Office and SharePoint Server

This Microsoft self-paced training is at the 100 level and can be viewed in 1 hour.

From the recent WPC event - Congratulations to these Award Winners!

Queue Associates, Inc. was named the Microsoft Dynamics SL Partner of the Year winner, while Synergy Business Solutions, Inc. was a finalist in that category. Computer Generated Solutions, Inc. was a finalist in the Microsoft Dynamics Professional Services Partner of the Year category.

A full list of all award winners named at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference can be found here.

Name: Barbara Conway

Background: Currently, as a Consultant with Plumbline Consulting, Barb specializes in designing and troubleshooting Crystal reports, performing database repairs, balancing inventory inconsistencies and providing support services. She began working for Great Plains in November of 2000, providing Financial Support. Later, while working for Microsoft Corporation, she became 2nd tier support for Financials and supported the Distribution modules. Prior work experience includes Accounting Manager, Commission Supervisor, streamlining business practices and assisting with accounting systems implementation for Philips, Comdata, and Quorum Health Resources.

Likes best about consulting: The diversity of the position, as the task varies with each case or phone call. Enjoys finding solutions for problems that customers/partners struggle with; satisfaction comes from assisting a partner or a customer in making their jobs easier or more efficient.

Hobbies: Hiking, Sewing, Traveling

http://www.linkedin.com/companies/
plumbline-consulting

Payroll Updates now available!

June Payroll Tax Updates contain changes for Arizona that go into effect on July 1, 2010.

Payroll updates are also available to support the new Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) act. These updates are needed to file the second quarter 941 form.

Curious about what Office 2010 offers?

Check out this link!

LANDFALL Solutions, LLC. is offering free* Navigator DataViewer software to Dynamics SL sites for a limited time.

This inquiry tool allows you to quickly and easily access your Dynamics SL data and build workflow processes. You can learn about this product on Landfall Solution's website; more details will also be provided in Plumbline's Solution of the Month article next month.

To sign up for a free copy of the software, register here.

*Note that a maintenance fee is required for the first year.

Monthly DynamicsDownloads Drawings

We will have a drawing from the pool of new DynamicsDownloads Members registering each month for the remainder of the calendar year. The winners will be provided with a $50 credit that can be used on their next Dynamics add-on purchase.

The winner of the June drawing is: Alyssa Koinzan, from SKT (Southern Kansas Telephone), who registered for a Corporate Dynamics SL User Group Membership on June 12th. Congratulations Alyssa!

If you haven't signed up yet for a free membership yet, we encourage you to do so. Just go to www.DynamicsDownloads.com and select a membership level. You could win $50 off your next DynamicsDownloads purchase!

If you would like to offer your solutions for sale on DynamicsDownloads, following is some additional information:

Program Overview for ISVs & Partners

Procedure to Upload Solutions

Get information about your solution in front of customers, partners and ISVs that subscribe to the Plumbline Newsletter.

You can have your product highlighted as the "Solution of the Month" in Plumbline's newsletter. If interested, please send us an email. More details about this advertising opportunity can be viewed here.

Take advantage of Plumbline's free newsletter subscriptions

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 information.