Microsoft Dynamics has been a player in the CRM market for years. Because Microsoft continues to evolve and refine its product offerings to match the needs of organizations, you’ve likely come across various iterations of its Dynamics family. Microsoft Great Plains (GP) and Microsoft Dynamics 365 are two widely used solutions found in small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
Because both products contain overlapping features, it can be challenging to determine whether Microsoft Great Plains vs. Microsoft Dynamics GP is a better fit for your organization. Let’s examine how the two solutions compare regarding capabilities, implementation, and industry strengths.
What is Microsoft Dynamics GP?
Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains is business software many companies rely on as an enterprise resource management (ERP) and accounting solution. It’s designed to handle many back-end operations essential to supporting a business. Companies of all sizes use Microsoft GP to help them remain competitive in industries like finance, education, healthcare, and insurance.
Thanks to Dynamics GP, organizations can use automated workflows to handle financial processes in a centralized location. It also uses artificial intelligence (AI) to develop more optimized ways to manage standard business functions. Microsoft Dynamics GP is designed to work on premises. That’s the most significant difference between it and Dynamics 365, which was built for organizations looking to work in the cloud.
What is Microsoft Dynamics 365?
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is cloud-based software that provides organizations with an ERP and a customer relationship management (CRM) platform in one solution. The flexibility of Dynamics 365 makes it easy for organizations in any industry to scale with the needs of their business.
Like Microsoft Dynamics GP, Dynamics 365 has built-in reporting and extensive AI capabilities. There’s a centralized database that analysts can use to review metrics and the performance of various business areas. Dynamics 365 also provides real-time insights that give companies visibility into ways they can optimize their workflows and find new ways to generate revenue.
What are the Main Features of Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains?
Microsoft GP has features designed to manage core business functions, including the following.
Project Management
The project management module in Dynamics GP lets you accurately capture project management costs. You can also build web-accessible reports for tracking the time and money spent on a project. Project managers can set up quick customer invoicing and efficiently reimburse employee expenses.
Make cash collection cycles shorter by including project expenses earlier in the billing cycle to improve cash flows. Individual employees can enter their project time from anywhere, whether working from home, in the office, or out in the field.
Human Resources
Microsoft Dynamics GP makes tracking your organization’s most valuable assets easier by optimizing how you manage and provide services to employees. Set up accurate reporting and use query tools supported by business intelligence that sorts worker data into different categories.
Other ways you can leverage Dynamics Great Plains for human resources include:
- Generating payroll reports and W-2 statements
- Tracking of employee cards
- Viewing current and past pay activity
- Manage payroll records
Accounting Management
Create customized views of financial data flowing through your organization and use them to make more informed business decisions. Dynamics GP secures critical business data while making it available to those who require access. You can also use GP’s automated workflows to handle bank reconciliation and set up electronic banking solutions. The same automation helps you move away from manual data entry and reduce human errors.
- General ledger — The general ledger supports up to 999 periods. Built-in automation helps you save time when it comes to making entries.
- Payables management— Automate your accounts payable tasks by taking advantage of historical statistical data. You can also set up functions for tracking vendor information, payment scheduling, and check printing.
- Receivables management — Use automation to set up workflow processes to streamline your account receivable tasks around invoices, finance charges, and receipts. You can also keep up with customer activity and maintain customer records.
What Features Are Available in Dynamics 365?
Dynamics 365 offers a full suite of cloud solutions to help organizations streamline manual business processes. SMBs can improve worker efficiency and expand their ability to focus on more critical organizational tasks. Below is an overview of the different modules available with Dynamics 365.
Business Central
Business Central combines the benefits of two legacy Microsoft Dynamics platforms, Dynamics NAV and Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations. Users can set up better customer service experiences thanks to a simplified user interface that provides access to essential business tools.
One advantage that Business Central offers over Dynamics GP is that it seamlessly integrates with Microsoft intelligence tools like Power BI. You can connect to Power BI with Dynamics GP, but it takes more customization.
Dynamics 365 Customer Service
The features provided through Dynamics 365 CRM help companies organize customer interactions. You can view all contacts made through email, chat, text, phone, or video. Customer agents can use AI-driven suggestions to provide more accurate and thorough responses to customer inquiries. The module also offers insights to help companies identify problems that impact customers to reduce the number of complaints received.
Dynamics 365 Finance
Dynamics 365 finance allows organizations to monitor their operational performance in real time. The module also sets up predictive outcomes, giving company managers what they need to make data-driven business decisions. Other functions available through Dynamics 365 Finance include:
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Financial process automation
- AI insights around cash flow
- Predictive recommendations
Is Microsoft Retiring Microsoft Dynamics GP?
Many ERP solutions go through changes as they mature. Older Dynamics GP products that fall under Microsoft’s Fixed Lifecycle Policy, those built before 2016, will eventually fall out of support. Microsoft Dynamics GP 2016 and later instances fall under the Modern Lifecycle Policy. Those products will continue receiving security updates, bug fixes, and servicing.
Is Dynamics 365 Better than Dynamics Great Plains?
Dynamics 365 represents Microsoft’s commitment to using cloud technology to help organizations manage their business performance. You get the same performance as you would through Dynamics GP. However, Microsoft continues to make Dynamics GP available for those organizations who prefer having an on-premises ERP solution.
Choosing Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 depends on your business needs. Internet eBusiness Solutions (IES) understand the intricacies of working with legacy and cloud Dynamics instances. Contact us today to help you navigate the installation and usage of your chosen Microsoft Dynamics platform.
