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Part Two: Love Great Plains But Want to Move to the Cloud? Look to SMB Suite.

05 Jul

Part Two: Love Great Plains But Want to Move to the Cloud? Look to SMB Suite.

by SMB Suite
in Managed IT, SMB Blog
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This is part two of a three part series where we consider the perspective of an existing customer on traditional Great Plains (Microsoft Dynamics GP) and the benefits of using Microsoft Dynamics GP with SMB Suite as an alternative to learning a new ERP system.

You may be a business with an older version of Great Plains. Your business would like to go to the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics GP, but it’s currently not on the maintenance plan. Of course there is an option to upgrade, but your business is faced with heavy fines for being behind and fees for upgrade services.  That’s not all — your hardware may be outdated and in need of replacement. Your business might also be constantly patching and upgrading the operating system to protect from data compromise and viruses.  If your business is like many others, it may be running on Windows XP, of which Microsoft is ending support for soon, leaving your business at risk.  Traditionally, the fix for this problem requires a lot of upfront capital expenditure.  Many consider this to be a dark cloud hanging over them; one they just can’t escape from.

However, there is another cloud subscription worth considering: SMB Suite.  The cloud is “the new way of doing business” and many businesses are finding that this is indeed the answer to their problems.

Consider the advantages that SMB Suite brings to existing Great Plains customers. First, customers get to keep Great Plains, and are automatically upgraded to the latest version. SMB Suite brings business into the modern cloud world where businesses can forget about patching, updating, and performing daily backup of critical data. It’s all done securely at a cloud datacenter with 24/7 monitoring. Businesses no longer have to worry about buying or maintaining server equipment and the outdated operating system will be a thing of the past. In fact, SMB Suite customers are able to log into the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics GP with just a web browser.

The new way of doing business in the cloud includes monthly subscription pricing. With subscription pricing, customers only pay one fee per month, making it is easier to plan and budget for. This fee includes all of the software licenses, including the database and operating system licenses; along with the Microsoft Dynamics GP upgrade licenses, upgrade services and cloud services. This is possible because the cloud only requires a subscription, not a full purchase of the licenses. SMB Suite offers a full 36 month subscription for the entire core offering of Microsoft Dynamics GP & CRM solutions, without any upfront fees. This innovative, single-fixed payment also includes unlimited support and all future upgrades and upgrade services. This eliminates the need for a large investment of capital upfront, since all fees are spread over 36 months.  Most importantly, businesses don’t have to switch to an unfamiliar new system. SMB Suite customers are able to keep Great Plains and enjoy all of the benefits of a modern cloud solution.

Another big benefit of the moving to SMB Suite is the ability to continue using Excel. A leading cloud provider of a non-Microsoft ERP would not only move your business off Great Plains, they would prefer to move your business off of Excel.  Most businesses use Excel every day for business analysis. Dynamics GP allows for a seamless integration with Excel. In the latest version, most reports can be easily exported to Excel — not just in a CSV or flat file, but in a fully formatted Excel worksheet. Because Excel is so popular for business, users are even able to produce a budget in Excel and bring it directly into Dynamics for budgeting.

SMB Suite takes this a step further by including an Excel based reporting tool. This acts as add-in to Excel, giving Excel new capabilities, and is fully integrated into Microsoft Dynamics. This brings together the best of both worlds — the new capabilities provide access into the Microsoft Dynamics database, where the user can create a report by simply dragging and dropping the fields into Excel.

We’ll explore more about how this helps a business gain insight, plus more on how the cloud makes it possible to access your system from anywhere, and much more in the third and final part of this series.

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Steve’s been with SMB Suite since 1998 and has been involved with nearly every aspects of the Company’s business as a strategist, professional services executive, cloud solutions architect, and senior consultant. In his current role, Steve is responsible for SMB Suite’s revenue and oversees the execution of ERP, CRM and BI projects for customers across a broad range of industries. Steve combines his expertise in MS Dynamics GP, CRM and other Microsoft products with a strong foundation in accounting and business to identify gaps and streamline customers’ processes. Prior to co-founding SMB Suite, Steve was previously Corporate Controller for MEHLE Behr and, prior to that, Audit Senior for Ernst & Young. Steve holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Jeremy is responsible for SMB Suite’s technology vision, strategy and implementation and is the architect of the Company’s Dynamics Cloud Platform. Highly adept in every facet of managed services, ERP systems and e-commerce platforms, Jeremy’s expertise spans the implementation and support of business and financial software solutions, as well as the customization and integration of SMB Suite’s cloud ERP technology stack. He holds numerous Microsoft and industry-related certifications, and was primarily responsible for designing the Company’s progressive business services platform in the early days of the Cloud. Prior to SMB Suite, Jeremy served as the financial analyst, systems administrator, and information systems liaison for a $2 billion financial services corporation.

Monty is responsible for SMB Suite’s day-to-day operation and, most importantly, its customers. As a leader, motivator and mentor, Monty creates loyal high performance teams willing to “walk through walls” to accomplish their goals. Prior to SMB Suite, Monty served as President of The Bradshaw Group (TBG), a global distributor, manufacturer, and repair facility for digital printers. In this role, he was the Company’s ambassador to its most important domestic, European and Latin American customers and TBG achieved a best-in-class Net Promoter Score of 74 for its superb customer satisfaction. Prior to TBG, Monty served as the General Manager of Sam’s Clubs three highest grossing U.S. stores and was named Regional Operator of the Year in 1999. Monty holds a BBA in Marketing from Texas Tech University and is an active member of Business Navigators. He has been active in Vistage International, Executives in Action, the Dallas/Fort Worth Retail Executives Association, as well as, A.P.I.C.S., the leading professional association for supply chain and operations management. Monty also volunteers with Hunger Busters and ManeGait, a therapeutic horsemanship organization.

David is a proven financial and information technology professional with expertise in providing business accounting software and computing solutions. He began his career by starting and managing a successful independent consulting practice for several years. He then launched the local systems consulting unit of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneurial Services Group, leading the office into the hi-tech consulting arena. After successfully developing the unit for Ernst & Young, David founded NextCorp (which became SMB Suite in 2013) to serve the business software needs of clients throughout the US. David has made SMB Suite one of the best cloud ERP providers in the industry. In addition to being a successful entrepreneur and leader, he is a software and technology specialist, holding certifications in various Microsoft and other technologies.