Tag Archives: Toronto

Performing miracles remotely and other remote Microsoft Dynamics GP consulting

Microsoft Dynamics ERP ConsultantWith the power of the Cloud, remote desktop access, and increasingly refined processes we’ve found that more and more of our client work for Microsoft Dynamics GP (ERP) and Microsoft Dynamics 356 (CRM online) implementations, upgrades and integrating 3rd party products, has been completed remotely via secure connections from our offices rather than traveling onsite to our client’s location (in Atlantic Canada, Central Canada or USA).

So what’s changed?  We did a quick poll among our Endeavour Solutions’ Canadian consultants in Toronto, Halifax, London and Montreal, the results were much along the lines of what you might expect, but do indicate a clear trend none the less.

1)      Change in customer mindset

2)      Improvement in technology and remote connections

3)      A refinement of processes and the more predicable nature of consulting engagements

Now, most of the consultants interviewed, still stressed the need to meet with clients as part of their relationship building process, but some did concede that they’ve been able to build and maintain a number of strong long-term relationships via phone, email and webcam.

Change in customer mindset.  The general consensus was that more and more clients, new and existing, were willing to have their Endeavour consultants work remotely.  This was both due to their comfort and trust in working with Endeavour Solutions, as well as a general shift from what used to be a lot of collaboration and joint discovery of the issues and potential solutions, to more of a reliance on Endeavour as a trusted adviser and a more simplistic, get-it-done attitude.  To sum it up, more and more clients are buying ‘results’ and are less concerned with paying for ‘bums in seats’.  For example, on an eight-week project, one of our consultants traveled to the client’s office (Dynamics GP Michigan client) only once for an initial kick-off, and the rest of their Dynamics GP upgrade was performed remotely, including the implementation of a new manufacturing module along with the associated testing and training.

Technology Improvements. This is thanks to both better network stability and bandwidth that is seen across Canada and the majority of the United States.  It’s also because of the greater prevalence and use of proven network security, firewalls and systems being extended to external stakeholders.   Our technical consultants also stressed that the newer versions of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 and Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM were designed for browser use (web client) incorporating a modern Service Based Architecture which provides a streamlined means of supporting mobile, cloud and secure remote connectivity.  This is further echoed in Microsoft’s “mobile-first, cloud-first” mantra in support of its efforts to help Dynamics Users “Re-invent [their] productivity and business processes”  with mobile, cloud and applications such as Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016.

Refined Processes: Endeavour is now in its 27th year in business as a Microsoft Dynamics GP ERP (Great Plains), Microsoft Dynamics 365 for CRM and Microsoft Office 365, Azure & cloud consulting firm.  With over 400 active clients coast to coast in Canada and internationally including the United States and South America, we have refined, updated and optimized a number of internal processes to help improve efficiency and predictability of customer engagements.  These methodologies, used by our consultants in Toronto, Halifax, London and Montreal, with additional remote support for Edmonton Alberta and Ottawa Ontario, have also created an increased level of predictability and confidence in delivering projects on-time, on-budget and now remotely.

To learn more, contact Steve Ewing, Director Business Development @ Endeavour Solutions Inc.

Save with the exchange rate for USA Remote Dynamics GP Consulting from Canada www.endeavoursolutions.ca/USA

Interesting and Innovative Projects by Endeavour Solutions (Endeavor Solutions) www.endeavoursolutions.ca/dynamicsprojects

Follow us on LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/company/endeavour-solutions-inc-

 

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Dynamics GP 2016 R2 to be released late 2016

Dynamics GP 2016 R2, unofficially announced this summer and further validated at the Microsoft Dynamics GP “ReIMAGINE” conference earlier this week (September 19 2016).

Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R2 will be released later this year.

The official date has not been set, but is slated for Q4 CY 2016 – End of calendar year 2016 in Canada and USA.  Given the announcement of the launch of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Financials and Dynamics NAV 2017 in Canada for early November 2016, it is presumed that Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 R2 will most likely be late November or early December 2016.

This release will align well for clients considering Dynamics GP 2016 R2 upgrades in early 2017 after they’ve closed their period-end books (Year-end for some, Quarter-end for others).   Below is an unofficial photo of the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 / 2017 Roadmap along with other products within the Microsoft Dynamics Suite including Microsoft Dynamics CRM On-line.  We’re also told that Microsoft Dynamics GP 2017 should be expected late next year, our best guess would be Fall 2017.

Dynamics GP 2016 R2

Visit Endeavour Solutions for more information on:

Microsoft Dynamics GP ERP for Business Financials

Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Customer Engagement and Dynamics 365 CRM Cloud for Customer Engagement

Microsoft Office 365 and Cloud for e-mail, file storage and collaboration

Videos and Demos for Dynamics ERPDynamics CRM or Office 365

Microsoft Presidents Club Gold

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Top 3 Excel Functions for Microsoft Dynamics

Excel has been a key part of Microsoft Office and continues to be enhanced in Office 216, part of Microsoft Office 365 (Office 365 Consulting in Canada).  As a complement to Microsoft Dynamics, Office 365 and Excel 2016 not only provides additional functions and usability, but there are now dedicated mobile apps,  browser-based online versions as well as the traditional Office desktop workhorse apps for Mac and PC.

The following are a quick Top 3 Excel Functions for Microsoft Dynamics
1. Excel templates in Dynamics CRM and GP.

There are a number of great ‘canned’ reports within Dynamics GP and CRM.  Some of the more popular GP ‘canned’ reports include: Export Chart of Accounts, Sales Analysis, Purchasing Analysis and Inventory Analysis. New within Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2016, you can now create your own Excel templates and reports. This is an exciting new function within Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2016.  Excel templates can now be formatted and embedded within CRM and made available as a personal or system-wide template.  This means the full capabilities of Excel formatting, including Pivot Tables, Pivot Charts, conditional formatting or offline calculations that can’t be easily handled inside CRM, can now be created as templates and made available to all users.


CRM Dynamics Canada reports


2. Excel PowerPivot for advanced slicing and dicing.

This this free add-in within Excel, simply type into the search “Power Pivot”, Excel will point you to the data analysis add-in called Power Pivot.  Vlookup and Hlookup are good, but being able to use a graphical interface to create joins between multiple tables via Power Pivot makes the consolidation and analysis of information a breeze.  Within Excel 2016, Power Pivot has been expanded to include that ability to preview and filter (ETL) before extracting data from a view, instead of downloading the entire Dynamics View or SmartList. This is a great time saver when you are dealing with large data sets with, hundreds of thousands or millions, of rows of transactional data. We recommend that you get some help from an expert (Endeavour Microsoft Dynamics Consultants) to build and create the custom connections to views or database tables in Dynamics CRM or Dynamics GP before performing your slicing and dicing.  Be sure to periodically reconcile a simple PowerPivot report against your current reporting system to confirm that you are capturing each of the right tables and transactions.


PowerPivot for Microsoft Dynamics


3. Creating budgets within Excel and re-importing them back into Dynamics GP.

Under the Financial Card in Dynamics GP, you can use the ‘Budget Wizard for Excel” to create GP friendly budgets that can be re-imported into GP for actual vs. budget comparisons.  To help kick-start your budgeting process, you can export an Excel budget template with starting data from Microsoft Dynamics GP based on:

  • A percentage change +or- from the open year, or
  • A percentage change +or- from a previous year, or
  • A percentage change +or- from a previous budget, or
  • A blank Excel budget template that you can populate from scratch before re-importing back into Dynamics GP.

Budget template for Dynamics GP


 

For more sophisticated budgeting and forecasts, you may also want to consider Endeavour Solutions’ approved Dynamics ISV partner, Prophix for automated budgeting workflows in support of a collaborative approach to setting budgets and forecasts.  With their new cloud-based options, Prophix is now more affordable for Microsoft Dynamics users in the mid-market. See Endeavour’s dedicated Prophix page at www.endeavoursolutions.ca/Prophix

 

About Endeavour Solutions Inc.

Endeavour Solutions is a Microsoft Gold ERP and Microsoft Silver CRM Partner focusing on development, implementation, upgrades, support and training for Dynamics GP, Dynamics CRM. and Office 365. With offices in Toronto, Halifax, London, Montréal and Edmonton we have more than 400 active clients in every province in Canada. In 2016, Endeavour was named to the Microsoft President’s Club – The top 5% of Microsoft Partners Worldwide.  See our Innovative projects www.endeavoursolutions.ca/dynamicsprojects

 

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2016 Microsoft Dynamics President’s Club awarded to Endeavour Solutions

Endeavour Solutions earns spot in the 2016 Microsoft Dynamics President’s Club.

This award is based on Endeavour’s client-centric focus and support of SMB and Midmarket customers using Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM across Canada and USA.

Microsoft Presidents Club LogoToronto, Ontario, July 11, 2016– Endeavour Solutions Inc. is pleased to announce that it has earned a spot in the 2016 Microsoft President’s Club, an esteemed group representing the top 5% of Microsoft partners worldwide. Although the bar is continually raised year over year, Endeavour has been able to yet again achieve this highly sought after recognition.  Endeavour provides consulting services to over 400 clients using Microsoft Dynamics software and solutions across Canada and a number of States in the USA.

The Microsoft Dynamics President’s Club is for those Microsoft Partners who:

  • Achieve specific strategic business milestones,
  • while also maintaining consistently high levels of customer satisfaction,
  • and demonstrate an active pursuit of technology to advance their solutions and services.

Celebrating its 26th year, Endeavour Solutions provides services to the Microsoft Dynamics GP and CRM communities through its Canadian offices in Toronto, Halifax, London, Edmonton and Montréal.

“We would like to thank all of our clients, both new and long-term.  It is your support that has allowed us to continue to grow and receive recognition annually for hitting new milestones. In FY 2017 our goal is to continue our growth plans, including additional services to bring further value to you, our customers.”

Terry Sunderland, President, Endeavour Solutions Inc.

READ MORE: Official Press Release

Microsoft Presidents Club Gold

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Congratulations Endeavour – Microsoft Cloud Certification – Way to go Team

A special congratulations to consulting the team at Endeavour for their latest in Microsoft Cloud certifications for Small and Midmarket Cloud Solutions Provider within the Microsoft Partner Network.

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” Congratulations Endeavour – Microsoft cloud certification – way to go team!”

Office 365 Enterprise Canada Endeavour365 Cloud Logo banner

This certification is a great testament to the hard work and success that our clients have been able to achieve with Microsoft Office 365 Enterprise and other Microsoft cloud services including Azure Active Directory and Azure hosting.  Microsoft Canada now offers Office 365, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and Azure in Canada hosted out of the ultra-secure new Microsoft Canadian data centers in Toronto and Québec City.
More info on Endeavour Solutions Inc. and the Microsoft Cloud see:
e-Business, Cloud, Mobile and Custom Integrations
More info on Endeavour365 for Office 365 Enterprise, Microsoft Cloud and e-mail Migration see:
Microsoft Office 365 with Endeavour Solutions

As a value add to new and existing clients, we are also now selling Canadian Dollar Microsoft licenses for Windows Server, SQL Server and other small, mid-market and enterprise software and user CALs in Canada.  see  www.endeavour365.ca/licenses

About Endeavour Solutions Inc (ESI)

Endeavour Solutions is a Microsoft Gold ERP and Microsoft Silver CRM Partner focusing on development, implementation, upgrades, support and training for Dynamics GP, Dynamics CRM. and Office 365. With offices in Toronto, Halifax, London, Montréal and Edmonton we have more than 400 active clients in every province in Canada.

See our Innovative projects www.endeavoursolutions.ca/dynamicsprojects

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