Microsoft Dynamics GP eCommerce: Sales Order Processing integration and Autoposting

If you are ecommerce developer, who is integrating ecommerce web front application with Dynamics GP (often referred historically as Great Plains Dynamics or eEnteprise), you probably target SOP or Sales Order Processing Invoice as target in GP for ecommerce customer shopping cart.  Customer Credit Card payment becomes customer deposit to invoice and each item purchased becomes Invoice Line item.  If you are using Microsoft Visual Studio C# or VB.Net web project for ecommerce application, then natural way for you to deploy Dynamics GP sConnect libraries and SDK (help info, available in eConnect) to review and imitate code samples.  This technology should work in both B2B (where you create real customer, or work only in restricted partner channel) and B2C (where you send all the invoices to so-called Walk In customer, and if required add just new Walk In folk address).  In this small publication we would like to review other options and Automatic Batch posting technology directly from ecommerce eConnect application:

1. Microsoft Dynamics GP Integration Manager in ecommerce scenarios.  This tool could be either called on demand or scheduled with the scheduling application available for purchase from Microsoft Business Solutions, or you can deploy third party (often free) Windows macro type of small shareware applications available in open software market for download and tryout.  If you schedule IM to execute ecommerce to GP integration say every twenty minutes - this method might be a way more powerful (assuming that GP plays master role for Inventory Items maintenance and update and Pricelists).  If this is the case - IM can create or update such objects as Customer, Address, Inventory Item, Comments to Customer, Invoice, Invoice Line, Shipping Instructions.  With Dynamics GP 10.0 Integration Manager deploys eConnect connectors, which are very efficient from performance standpoint (however eConnect SOP connector doesn't have SOP Return, but you can realize return via IM OLE technology based SOP connector and for future versions of Dynamics GP IM we hope that that gap will be patched).  Integration Manager also does the job, even if your ecommerce is hosted in Linux/PHP/MySQL.  In this case you can either use cross platform ODBC bridge, or have Integration Manager integrate text or XML ecommerce shopping cart exports.  And as the another good note about IM - if you deploy Advanced ODBC Data Sources in IM, you can base them on Microsoft SQL Server Linked Server to Oracle, Lotus or another non-Microsoft DB platform, which is ODBC compliant and which could be joined in SQL Server View

2. eConnect.  This tool opens the door to real time ecommerce integration to GP, if this is something, that is absolutely required.  eConnect might be more flexible comparing to Integration Manager, but it might require more programming time to cover all expected (and unexpected) ecommerce customer actions.  If real time aspect is not critical, eConnect advantage could be additional flexibility, when eCommerce application is playing master role (new items, price lists, discounts, internet promotions are initiated in your ecommerce application and then propagated to Dynamics GP, as you post new ecommerce shopping carts and download them to Great Plains)

3. Dynamics GP Automatic batch posting directly from ecommerce eConnect or Linux based application.  eConnect by its architecture works with GP master records and so-called Work Transactions, where you place work SOP invoice (ecommerce shopping cart image) to the bath for GP user (decision maker or approver) review, approval and posting directly in GP user interface.  Dynamics GP is mid-market Corporate ERP and it has layers of security and approval cycles, and eConnect doesn't allow shortcuts in batch auto posting on eConnect level.  We recommend you to deploy Alba Spectrum Posting Server which imitates batch approval and posting initiation through Dynamics GP User Workstation.  Even if you are sending shopping carts from Unix, Linux/PHP platforms, you can still enjoy Posting Server functionality, as all you need to do is to populate SOP10100, SOP10200 and other SOP work tables (we have Alba Spectrum Order Connector product, which allows you to do this work on SQL Stored Procedures level) and mark the batch as ready for being posted in custom Batch Prepared for Posting table.  Posting Server deploys native Microsoft Dexterity (formerly known as Great Plains Dexterity) batch posting initiation internal procedures

4. How to get additional help?  We encourage you to search in google for Dynamics GP video demos and presentations.  Our web engineers are deploying web casting technologies, similar to the ones used in Youtube and Google Video to provide free Dynamics GP internet video presentations.  Feel free to call or email our office.  Service is available virtually Worldwide via remote connections, web sessions and phone conferences.  We will be happy to travel to your USA, Canada, Brazil or international based office or facility, if required.  Our consultants speak English, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Filipino and other languages