One of my favorite things about Microsoft’s Annual Dynamics User Group Meeting or “Convergence” each year (second only to seeing my buddy Pat Fitzhenry from Microsoft) is spending time with the Independent Software Vendors whose unique products make our strong but broad out of the box Microsoft ERP offerings into unique solutions for organizations.
This post will be dedicated to the ISV’s I plan to visit first while in New Orleans on March 18th.
1. Binary Stream. This firm offers three products that helped start our year well in 2013. Binary offers a Multi-Entity Management program that allows many entities or balance sheets to reside in one Dynamics GP database. My second favorite product is their Advanced Recurring Contract Billing (which is a broader product-not just for software companies). Because so many of our clients are software developers, we are introducing this next product more and more. Advanced Recurring Contract Billing sets up recurring billing for a number of industries with enhancements coming shortly-bundling of multiple recurring items and a built in consumer price index increase amount. The last product I’d like to mention is a specialty product for Healthcare Materials Management. One of our clients who is a large and nationally known hospital in Minnesota selected this product and is excited to deploy it shortly.
2. Fieldpoint. This Toronto-based software developer gets the whole “Microsoft is our partner” thing like no one else. They offer a .NET product called Alert Software with 600+ organizations using it as well as a newer product, Alert Stratus, written in the Dynamics CRM 2011 toolset. Both products are geared toward professional services firms and offer not only time entry and approval but also the scheduling of consultants based on skillsets and availability. Alert Stratus recently presented their product at our Dynamics ERP shootout for Professional Services firms searching for a new ERP solution. Both of these products integrate nicely with Dynamics GP out of the box.
3. Paramount. With organizations keeping tighter budgets and great control overall spending habits, Paramount steps in with a tremendous web-based solution with a strong Punchout option for Purchasing Managers wanting to order from vendor’s websites. Basically, the tool speeds order processing and lowers procurement costs by integrating real-time with suppliers’ online catalogs.
4. Mekorma. Mekorma’s MICR product used to be a standard recommendation for us to any organization that had more than one checkbook or set of checks. Who wants to have to remember to take Company A’s checks out and reload Company B’s checks? Or worse, deal with the issues that occur if checks get mailed on the wrong check stock? We are now finding that more and more companies prefer to have blank check stock for security reasons. Who wants to steal blank checks if the blank checks have literally nothing on them but perforations to separate the sections once the actual check and its amounts are printed onto them?
5. Greenshades.Greenshades has so many useful products-
State Filings (SUTA and W2)
State New Hire Reporting
Federal 1099
Federal W2s
Local W2s
940 and 941 Reports
401(k) Reports
One of the things we love about Greenshades is that their products work with multiple Dynamics ERP products including Dynamics GP-Dynamics SL and Dynamics AX.
We hope to see you at Convergence, possibly in the Expo Hall, where you can see these tools in action as well as many, many more!
