Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0

Built to help you more efficiently manage accounts and process requests, Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0 empowers your employees, managers, customers, and vendors. Microsoft Dynamics SL helps them increase their effectiveness by providing the tools they need to view and process data based on the permissions that you have established for them. Microsoft Dynamics SL improves your ability to manage by exception, rather than wading through reams of paper to locate the information you need to make business decisions.

1. New menu interface

Microsoft Dynamics SL's new menu interface is built to work like and with other Microsoft products you and your people are familiar with, helping reduce the time required to become productive.

• New, menu interface that is similar to the 2007 Microsoft Office System
• Configurable, role-relevant menus and home pages
• Custom step-by-step menu process for groups or users so they can include custom text to describe each step.
• Improved text editing

2. The flexibility of reporting to meet your business needs

Powerful reporting tools help you integrate data from multiple sources and then sort, analyze, and present information to meet specific needs of your company and people, as well as export and distribute reports to many formats and other applications, including Microsoft Office Excel.Additional reporting solutions for Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0 include:

• Business Information Optimization (BIO): A business intelligence solution built specifically for Microsoft Dynamics SL that provides insight into your company.
• SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS): An interface to call SSRS reports from within Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0

3. Quick send: electronic document delivery

Save time, money, and improve customer service by sending purchase orders and invoices to customers and vendors via e-mail or fax.

• Saves money: Reduces paper handling, and postage cost.
• Create instant communications: Communications are emailed/faxed instantly.
• Improve customer service: Customers receive or can request invoices in a timely manner.
• Turn receivables faster: Remove the delay of mailing with email or fax invoice notification
• Automatically sent: Emails and faxes are automatically sent with not need for user interaction.

4. Pay-subcontractor-when-paid

Link subcontractor and customer work so payment to the subcontractor is not made until the work has been accepted by the customer and paid for. Companies often employ subcontractors to complete tasks or provide materials for their customer. Often, for cash flow and quality control reasons, a company does not want to pay the subcontractor until the end customer has accepted the work and paid the company. This enhancement will only allow vouchers to be paid when the associated customer invoice is paid.

5. Additional project multi-currency support

Project expenses can now be entered in foreign currencies as well as the entry of value-added tax (VAT) information. Additional enhancements to the Scheduled Billings and Billing by Percent processes now allow for multi-currency processing.

6. Extending access to information - Business Portal project access

Create, edit, or view project information from the Web, using the new Project Maintenance screen. The Business Portal project maintenance screen is a combination of information pulled from five separate screens to provide project users the information they need at their fingertips. Access to project data is restricted by role and can also include which fields can be viewed, edited, or what default values should be set.

7. Business Portal based on Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

The new Business Portal builds on top of Windows SharePoint Services to provide access to your enterprise resource planning (ERP) data along with providing access to SharePoint features such as document repository, calendars, blogs, wikis, and really simple syndication (RSS) feeds.

8. Maintain security and efficiency

New optional security features supports Windows Authentication so users can log into their system and Microsoft Dynamics SL without the need to re-enter information. This also makes Microsoft Dynamics SL compliant with your corporate password policies.

9. Continued compatibility with the latest technology

Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0 provides support for the latest technology so you can continue to grow your business using the latest business tools. Included are support for the Windows Vista operating system, Microsoft SQL 2005, and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, Microsoft Office 2007, and Microsoft Project 2007.

10. Screens and interface upgrade to Visual Basic 2005 - .NET product

Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0 has been rewritten to run in Microsoft Visual Basic 2005, making it a .NET product. This allows companies to use the latest tools to customize the experience for their industry needs for custom development and provides the product a great base for developing future features and interfaces.

If you need more information, or are interested in upgrading to SL 7.0, please contact me at russell@thinkitworks.com.