Supporting GP in house?

[beleyrs]

What is the strategy giong forward for MS and Great Plains? I know it is going to be a supported product, but what about the re-seller/partnerships?

What is MS's stance on supporting GP in house? Are there certifications required? It seems to me that if a company were to buy GP, couldn't it be supported in house, or does a partner have to be involved somewhere?

 

[beleyrs]

No takers apparently. Perhaps this is the wrong place for a question of this nature?

 

[jazgeek]

probably you should be asking your var or Great Plains/Microsoft directly. Only one here that could answer your question would be winthropdc.

our best practise is to employ someone who worked for a var. Or find an independant.

http://www.mbsgurus.com

might get you there too.

-----------
and they wonder why they call it Great Pains!

jaz

 

[Dukester0122]

I've worked for several vars then went independent until one of my customers decided to hire me full-time. We still work with a var if we need add'l modules but support is done in-house by me.

I would normally qualify the module if I have enough knowledge compared to the resources my var has and 90% of the time I would do it. We're using all modules including manufacturing(MRP,MPS,Sales Configurator,etc.).

You need a lot of training and certification would not hurt. But also back-end experience and training is very important like SQL administration & querying, Crystal reports and FRx. The best 2 resource for part-timers would be mbsgurus.com and mibuso.com.

Goodluck.

 

[VictoriaYudin]

We're actually a Great Plains partner. My 2 cents is that for smaller installations it doesn't pay to invest in an internal resource to support Great Plains. It's probably cheaper to use a partner for that.

For larger installs and with complicated processes, integrations, customizations, etc. it is usually a lot more cost effective to have internal resources for most of your needs and only use a Great Plains partner for the more complicated stuff.

As far as we've been told, Microsoft will continue to only sell Great Plains through the partner channel.....for now....my guess is that down the road this may change. There is no certification you need to support Great Plains internally for your own company....however, some training is certainly a good idea. You do need certifications to be a partner and to resell Great Plains.

Hope that answers your questions,
Victoria

 

[Dukester0122]

In the past, MBS certifications were only available to partners but this year that changed so you can take it in any Microsoft testing centers.

 

[barbola]

We're a smaller company with less than 20 users and when we converted to Great Plains, I worked side by side with a consultant who had done the conversion for a couple of other companies. The conversion took about six months.

We got the system set up and I am the in-house supporter but still somewhat learn as I go. I have only had to take a couple of day courses in SQL and FRx. I have a technical and accounting background, but am no expert, but it was a very good fit.

Getting support from a partner is very expensive when you can have someone in-house able to find the answers to common user problems.

Just my $.02.

Thanks!
Barb E.

 

[beleyrs]

Thanks all so much for your insight, it is much appreciated. I suspect i will soon become a frequest poster on this board!