Microsoft Great Plains as an ERP and Microsoft CRM as a customer relationship management system is a very robust combination and could serve medium and large corporations as an enterprise system. As VP of IT or Director of IT, you need to anticipate the positions you will have in your IT department to provide internal support for MS Great Plains and MS CRM.

Let us give you the instructions, based on our research and consulting practice.

1. Microsoft SQL Server Specialist – Especially we don’t call this position as MS SQL DBA, because both Great Plains and MS CRM are not very complex from database administration point of view, they don’t use index optimization, referential integrity, probably they do not require complex backup/recovery of the transaction log. scenarios. On the other hand, this position requires Great Plains table structure analysis and Microsoft CRM and some primary Great Plains data fixation skills via SQL queries, outlined in the MBS Client Source Technology Knowledge Database . The best candidate should have a background in accounting, to be able to address current MBS support issues.
2. Network administrator with good Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory skills. Microsoft CRM uses all of the latest Microsoft technologies, and Exchange is a workhorse here. To install and update MS CRM, this guy needs to understand the underlying Microsoft technology. At best, you should be aware of the Exchange security framework and probably program Exchange drivers, due to the fact that the CRM/Exchange connector is not yet a perfect tool.
3. C# or VB.Net programmer with excellent SQL skills– if you are a medium or large company – you must have this position – you will need web publishing and customization of MS CRM and its support. Microsoft CRM SDK currently has C# examples so C# programmer would be best suited, it may have more VB code in the future so the C# – VB balance can be restored.
4. Crystal Reports Designer/Programmer – Crystal Reports is the best tool available on the market to address the reporting needs of Great Plains and MS CRM. This position can be merged with one of the previous ones.

These people should probably be cross-trained in Great Plains programming, Microsoft CRM, Crystal Reports, SQL, and C#, so you don’t rely on one person’s unique skills. In our opinion, based on our long-term consulting practice, these skills will allow you to keep the cost of IT support reasonably low and avoid paying a high consulting price to your Microsoft Business Solutions Partner.

Happy hiring and training! But in any case, you must select Microsoft Business Solutions Partner/Var/Reseller to be your official representative. This is how MBS keeps your channel running: It ensures that Microsoft Business Solutions products are implemented correctly. If you want us to be your Microsoft Business Solutions Partner, give us a call at 1-866-528-0577! [email protected]