#MSDynGP It’s official: Microsoft Dynamics GP is here to stay

Over the last few weeks I have been chatting with Terry Heley on the Microsoft Dynamics GP Support team. She was been working really hard on getting the Lifecycle information for Microsoft Dynamics GP updated to reflect Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to the Dynamics GP product.

Regardless of of the sales hype and disinformation you might hear from other sources who want to spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt), Microsoft Dynamics GP is not going away any time soon and the product lifecycle information has been updated to show this.

Important: Winthrop Development Consultants internal changes

As at the 01-Oct-2020 Winthrop Development Consultants is changing its internal business structure. There will be almost no external changes, all the people, contact details, addresses and phone numbers remain the same.

COVID-19 and Winthrop Development Consultants

As my email inbox is getting filled with COVID-19 related updates from almost every company I have dealt with in the past, I thought I would not perpetuate the situation with another email.

But then I thought, would people be concerned if they had not heard from us? So I decided I would post something as a blog article instead, and here it is ….

#MSDynGP Microsoft Dynamics GP – October 2019 release coming soon

Guess what? … there will be no Microsoft Dynamics GP 2018 R3, Microsoft Dynamics GP 2019 or Microsoft Dynamics GP 2020. Why? Because in early October 2019, we will have Microsoft Dynamics GP instead.

That’s correct, the year will no longer part of the version name for Dynamics GP. In fact version 18 will be the last version of Dynamics GP (in the same way that Windows 10 is the last version of Windows).

#MSDynGP Microsoft will lose its Dynamics GP customers to competitive products

Sorry about the click bait title, but it got you to read this opening paragraph. This article is my opinion on Microsoft’s current marketing strategy for its Dynamics accounting/ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) product range and how, with a couple of minor changes, Microsoft can convert all of its Microsoft Dynamics GP customers to Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions in due time.

To understand what the problem is and what the simple solution is … read on …

#MSDynGP Dynamics 365 BC is not an upgrade from Dynamics GP

This week a forum thread on the GPUG Open Forum caught my attention and I felt I had to respond. The topic was the future of Microsoft Dynamics GP and whether moving to Dynamics 365 is an option.

The fact that the question was asked again has prompted me to write another article to help get the correct message out to the Microsoft Dynamics GP community.

#Perth: Innovating Workplace Productivity with Microsoft MVPs

If you live in Perth and work in the tech industry (or don’t work in the tech industry and want something to do), please come and join some of the Perth based Microsoft MVPs for a free community event on Saturday 25^th May 2019.

This all day event (8;30 am to 5:00 pm) will be held at the Civic Administration Centre, City of Canning in Cannington, and will be an exciting day with seven presentations and a Q&A panel session to finish.

#GPPT GP Power Tools Build 27 is coming soon

You might have seen some postings on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn mentioning that I have been working hard on the next release of GP Power Tools. Well, all the major features planned for Build 27 have been completed.

All that is left to do is beta testing, documentation and a couple of minor features and then it can be released to the Microsoft Dynamics GP community in time for the upcoming conference season for 2019.

#GPPT GP Power Tools Build 26 is coming soon

As mentioned in my previous post I have been working hard for the last few months on the development of the next build of GP Power Tools.

Build 26 of GP Power Tools is already at release candidate stage and I am just working on getting the documentation for the User Guide manual updated and tweaking any issues found during beta testing.

New presentation on the Benefits of Winthrop Development Consultants products is now available

Selling GP Power Tools for Microsoft Dynamics GP has always been an interesting affair. If you can get a customer to sit and watch a demo (live or on video from the GPPT Portal), they immediately see the benefits and want the product. However, it is usually the people who work with the product day to day who see the demo and then they find it hard to sell to management.

#MSDynGP Don’t Believe All The Microsoft Sales Hype

Last week, I was having an email conversation with a partner friend in New Zealand and he mentioned that he had recently gained a number of existing Microsoft Dynamics GP customers from larger partners (VARs) who have decided to de-emphasize their Dynamics GP line of business.

My friend’s comment was this was short sighted and that it was sad when the fight for a quick dollar overrides the value of a long term relationship. His comments prompted me to write this “opinion” article.

Important: Winthrop Development Consultants now directly and exclusively distributes all of its products

As mentioned at the beginning of May, Winthrop Development Consultants will distribute all of its products directly from 01-Jul-2018. Well, the day has arrived and the distribution arrangement with Mekorma has now ended.

We have been working hard to make the transition as painless as possible for both Partners and Customers and the article below should hopefully answer any questions you might still have.

Updated Builds for all Winthrop Products as at 09-May-2018

Winthrop Development Consultants is pleased to announce that updated builds for GP Power Tools, Batch Posting Service Toolkit and the free Visual Studio Integration Toolkit are now available.

Please note that these builds are required to ensure that the products remain registered after 01-Jul-2018. All customers will need to update their systems before their current subscriptions expire to avoid interruptions to their registrations.  Install over the top of the existing builds, no need to uninstall.

Winthrop Development Consultants will distribute all of its products directly from 01-Jul-2018

Winthrop Development Consultants has been working closely with Mekorma to distribute its product range for the last two years. Back in November 2017, we moved our free Visual Studio Integration Toolkit (VSIT) product back to Winthrop. Now we are pleased to announce that the remaining products; GP Power Tools (GPPT) and Batch Posting Service Toolkit (BPST) will be distributed directly by Winthrop Development Consultants from July 2018.

The future of Microsoft Dynamics GP …. again!

It has been just over a year since the last time this old chestnut was raised by someone in the community.

This time the question of Microsoft Dynamics GP’s future has been raised by Mark Brummel, who was a Microsoft MVP (Business Solutions) for the Microsoft Dynamics NAV product, and is based in the Netherlands.

#GPPT Why I continue to develop GP Power Tools

While at GPUG Summit in Nashville, TN, USA in October, I came to an interesting realisation. I did mention this during one of the sessions I presented, but I wanted to write an article to reach a wider audience.

It suddenly dawned on me “Why I continue to develop GP Power Tools”.

I am off to #ReigniteGP 2017 in Gauteng, South Africa

Last night I boarded an airplane from Perth, Western Australia heading to Johannesburg, South Africa.

When this article is published, I will be somewhere flying over the Indian Ocean with a couple more hours before landing.

I am going to the ReigniteGP 2017 conference in Gauteng, Johannesburg and will spend a week with the South African Microsoft Dynamics GP community.

#ReigniteGP 2017 from 22 and 23 May 2017 in Gauteng, South Africa

Thanks to Pieter Cornelius (for inviting me) and the team from Braintree, I will be going to the ReigniteGP 2017 conference in Gauteng, South Africa near Johannesburg.

This first of a kind event in South Africa will bring together Microsoft Dynamics GP end-users, technical resources and partners in instructional sessions, and showcases, focusing on all versions of Dynamics GP.

Microsoft Dynamics GP Product Roadmap (March 2017)

Following on from last week’s GPUG Amplify conference, Pam Misialek has released an updated version of the Microsoft Dynamics GP Product Roadmap as at March 2017. While I was unable to attend the conference, I heard that it was a success!

This corrected slide has fixed some minor errors that were on the slide presented at the conference (oops).

The future of Microsoft Dynamics GP

Since forever, the pundits have been preaching the demise of Great Plains Dynamics / Microsoft Dynamics GP.

When I joined Microsoft in 2001, one of the things that influenced my decision was the thinking that Dexterity (the language behind Dynamics GP) was going to die and so I decided that I would be better off inside Microsoft than continue working as an ISV (Independent Software Vendor).

Now sixteen years later in 2017 and I am back working as an ISV, and Dexterity, along with Microsoft Dynamics GP, is still going strong… despite the launch of Dynamics 365.