Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018 R2 – Repurposing Intelligent Clouds Insights

One of the main new features of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018 R2 is the option to use the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Intelligent Cloud Insights. This leverages the Business Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence and Analysis functionality in Business Central using a replicated set of GP data uploaded via the Intelligent Edge interface.

But what if you don’t want to use that functionality and would like to hide it from your users….

[Edit] GP Power Tools allows control of Intelligent Cloud Insights and Microsoft Connect Homepage part systemwide without needing any Dex.ini or Modifier changes. Use the Website Settings window added in Build 28 of GP Power Tools.

This was a question asked of me recently by a few people at the GP Tech 2018 conference in Fargo, ND, USA as well as the GPUG Summit 2018 conference in Phoenix, AZ, USA.

So, I spent a little time looking at the code and discovered that while it would require some coding to hide the Intelligent Cloud Insights features, it was fairly simple to repurpose them to display a webpage of your choice.

The steps below repurpose the Intelligent Cloud Insights to show the Winthrop Development Consultants homepage:

To repurpose the Intelligent Cloud Insights requires two steps:

• Change the URLs used by adding the following settings to the Dex.ini file:

InsightsCompanyNotReplicatedUrl=https://www.WinthropDC.com/home.htm?
InsightsCompanyReplicatedUrl=https://www.WinthropDC.com/home.htm?
InsightsMarketingUrl=https://www.WinthropDC.com/home.htm?

Note: The URLs must end with ? to prevent the added parameters from causing errors.

• Rename the prompt and page titles with the following steps:

1. Go into Modifier (Tools >> Customize >> Modifier >> Microsoft Dynamics GP).
2. Select Resources >> Messages
3. Change Message 19663 from Dynamics 365 Business Central Insights to Winthrop Development Consultants Home Page
4. Change Message 19664 from Intelligent Cloud Insights to Winthrop Development Consultants
5. Select File >> Microsoft Dynamics GP to return to GP.

One final option you might want is to change the default setting to show the user’s home page rather than the repurposed web page. You can achieve this with the following SQL script:

update SY08100 set Visible = 0
where Visible <> 0 and DICTID = 0 and SectionID = 2
-- and USERID = 'sa'

Hope you find this information useful.

David

31-Mar-2021: Added note about GP Power Tools offering this feature without needing to change settings on every workstation.
30-Sep-2021: Updated note to mention Website Settings window was added in Build 28 of GP Power Tools.

This article was originally posted on http://www.winthropdc.com/blog.