Best Practices in SharePoint Development for Microsoft Dynamics GP. Technical Whitepaper

Transcription

1 Best Practices in SharePoint Development for Microsoft Dynamics GP. Technical Whitepaper Audience: Solution Architects, System Consultants, Business Analysts and IT Professionals exploring the integration capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics GP with SharePoint. January 1, 2011

2 Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary Value Proposition... 3 Benefits of Integration... 3 Integration Examples... 5 Using in Conjunction with Microsoft Office Technical Design... 6 Architecture Overview... 6 Components of Integration... 7 SharePoint... 7 Business Web Service... 7 Microsoft Dynamics GP Integration Working with DynamicPoint... 9 DynamicPoint SharePoint Development for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2

3 1 Executive Summary SharePoint technologies are being adopted by organizations large and small given the platform s vast out-of-box capabilities, extensibility and ease of use. With this expanded use comes a significant opportunity to integrate SharePoint with information in your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application. This whitepaper is specifically targeted to organizations that are leveraging Microsoft Dynamics GP and interested in expanding the use of this information to additional resources of the company via the SharePoint platform. 2 Value Proposition Benefits of Integration SharePoint can be utilized specifically to extend the reach of your Dynamics GP implementation to more of your employees, customers, and vendors. Accessing Microsoft Dynamics GP critical data via SharePoint will help you automate your business and allow your employees to collaborate in ways that save time, money and frustration. Portals SharePoint custom portals that are integrated with Dynamics GP are constructed specifically to satisfy the demands of customers, vendors, or employees. In today's highly-connected business environment, individuals have easy access to more information than ever before. By integrating portals with Microsoft Dynamics GP, organization can provide the data that is critical to serving the needs of the entire organization and its customers. Employee, Customer & Vendor Portals DynamicPoint SharePoint Development for Microsoft Dynamics GP 3

4 Employee Portals Let employees manage personnel information and streamline administrative tasks by providing an Employee Self Service site. This not only saves the overhead costs associated to additional HR and payroll resources, but most employees prefer the timeliness and privacy of directly viewing and updating their own data 24/7. Employee Self Service Portals Vendor Portals A SharePoint Microsoft Dynamics GP Vendor Portal provides a single web interface for your suppliers to log-in and view open orders as well as submit information to you such as electronic invoices, ship notifications, production schedules, delivery acknowledgements and more. These collaboration functions are designed to improve your vendor communications thereby receiving your purchased product or service in a timely manner and to the specifications you requested. Customer Portals Customers are fluent with the web, and appreciate the no-waiting, 24/7 convenience of a self-service portal. Not only are customer portals efficient for your organization, but people often like them better than conventional, more time-consuming, agent-assisted support. Integrate your Customer Portal with Dynamics GP and allow customers to complete orders, check status and track support tickets. Business Automation - Workflow Imagine orders that are entered over the web that flow directly into Microsoft Dynamics GP for routing and approval, a knowledge base that is populated directly from the resolutions posted in Microsoft Dynamics, or position requisitions that are automatically updated when a candidate responds. These are all examples of business automation that can be leveraged by the SharePoint workflow engine and, better-yet integrated, with your Dynamics GP solution. Business Automation DynamicPoint SharePoint Development for Microsoft Dynamics GP 4

5 Integration Examples Dependant on individual organizational needs almost every Dynamics GP software implementation falls short in certain areas of functionality. The following integration examples identify several SharePoint-based products that can fill these gaps and magnify the benefits provided by Dynamics GP: Sales Order / Quote Entry - Preview Custom Solution Order Fulfillment Expense Reimbursement - Watch 2 minute demo Request for Proposal Purchase Requisition - Online demonstration Human Resources Workflows/Automation Employee, Customer and Vendor Portals Project Time & Expense Entry Using in Conjunction with Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Outlook integration will greatly enhance the SharePoint experience for users. Because of this connectivity, users can stay in the familiar environment of Outlook and yet work directly on SharePoint resources. Stay on top of tasks by being alerted via Outlook to review and approve Expense Reports and Purchase Orders. Or enhance collaboration between team members by using document libraries to preview, search, and open project documents. Microsoft Office will then remind members to update the SharePoint server with changes, as necessary. You can even work on the resources offline, because your changes will be synchronized when you go back online, allowing you to continue to work regardless of connectivity. SharePoint resources integrated with Outlook: Task List Contact Lists Calendars Document Library Discussion Boards DynamicPoint SharePoint Development for Microsoft Dynamics GP 5

6 3 Technical Design Architecture Overview Regardless of the use case that is being addressed, the technical building blocks for creating SharePoint applications that integrate with Microsoft Dynamics GP will be the same. Architecture Overview User Interface In these scenarios, various SharePoint components such as web parts, InfoPath forms, or custom SharePoint pages serve as the user interface that present users with information from Microsoft Dynamics GP and provides them with the mechanism for updating that information. In most cases, information that is submitted through SharePoint needs to be routed for review and approval prior to updating the ERP application. The workflow engine provided by SharePoint is a perfect solution for this type of business automation. DynamicPoint SharePoint Development for Microsoft Dynamics GP 6

7 Business Tier While SharePoint provides the user interface components, these applications also need to have a business tier that provides a centralized location for their business logic. This layer translates business ideas, such as processing an expense report or updating an employee s salary, into the actual updates that need to be performed in Microsoft Dynamics GP. This business tier is constructed as a Windows Communication Framework (WCF) service, and serves as the middle man between the SharePoint components and the Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Services. Data Access The Microsoft Dynamics GP application provides integration functionality through the GP Web Services and econnect. Together, these technologies provide access to query and update a subset of the data contained within Microsoft Dynamics GP. However, there are limitations as to the specific data that is accessible. Fortunately, both technologies can be extended through the use of best practices provided by Microsoft. By utilizing these technologies, these applications are insulated from the impact of new versions of Microsoft Dynamics GP, reducing the cost associated with the upgrade process. Components SharePoint (User Interface) By using SharePoint as a development platform, we are able to leverage many of the technologies it provides out of the box increasing the value of the application while decreasing the cost of development. The table below highlights a few of the most common technologies that are used by these applications. Technology Examples Considerations Workflow Outlook Integration Security and Permissions InfoPath Forms File Management Review and approval of data before updating Microsoft Dynamics GP Workflow tasks and notifications show up as tasks and s in Outlook Users and groups in SharePoint allow for fine-grained control over data access Rapid development of forms such as expense reports or purchase requests that can be opened in the browser Share documents among team members and collaborate on their development Types of workflows: Visual Studio SharePoint Designer 3 rd Party Tools Requires Enterprise version of SharePoint Version Management Retention policies Backup and restore capabilities Business Web Service (Business Tier) By building the business tier as a Windows Communication Framework (WCF) service, these applications utilize the latest technologies provided by Microsoft and adhere to the services oriented architecture (SOA) approach to building enterprise software. In most cases, the WCF service is hosted in Internet Information Services and exposed as web services that can be consumed by any software application within your environment. For example, the business web service may expose a single web method to process an expense report. When this method is called, the service would then look up the appropriate Vendor, determine the correct General Ledger allocations based on the types of expenses incurred, create the corresponding Payables Distributions, and then finally create the Payables Invoice transaction as part of the appropriate batch. DynamicPoint SharePoint Development for Microsoft Dynamics GP 7

8 Microsoft Dynamics GP Integration (Data Access) By following the Microsoft best practices for building integrations with Microsoft Dynamics GP, these applications leverage several tools and features provided by Microsoft: Existing Components While not all of the data in Microsoft Dynamics GP is exposed through econnect and the GP Web Services out of the box, our applications leverage the vast amount of data that is available by default and fill in the blanks for the remaining. Dynamics Security Console This is a robust tool used to manage security to the Microsoft Dynamics GP web services. Our applications utilize this framework to create Roles, Tasks, Policies, and Behaviors. Microsoft Dynamics GP Web Services Exception Console This is an exception management tool utilized by GP Web Services to capture and log all System and Validation exceptions that occur while interacting with the web services. DynamicPoint SharePoint Development for Microsoft Dynamics GP 8

9 4 Working with DynamicPoint DynamicPoint DynamicPoint is the premier source exclusively for Microsoft Dynamics and SharePoint integration. DynamicPoint specializes in making SharePoint Portals, Business Automation and Custom Products that integrate with Microsoft Dynamics ERP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM solutions a reality. Whether we are working with customers to optimize their out-of- box Microsoft Dynamics Portal applications or building independent SharePoint solutions, our objective is the same: To help customers maximize productivity, improve business insight, and enhance communication and collaboration to create optimal revenue opportunities within their marketplace. DynamicPoint affords you the ability to take advantage of our standard product offerings and to additionally adopt affordable customized solutions with tailored workflows specific to your unique business needs. Almost every ERP and CRM software implementation falls short in certain areas of functionality. DynamicPoint has identified several SharePoint-based products that can fill these gaps and magnify the benefits provided by your existing Microsoft Dynamics systems. Custom ERP Solutions: Sales Order / Quote Entry Order Fulfillment Expense Reimbursement Request for Proposal Purchase Requisition Customer, Vendor & Employee Portals Human Resources Workflows/Automation Project Time & Expense Entry Custom CRM Solutions: Customer Service Support Cases Knowledge Base Order Status Customer Contact Details DynamicPoint Offering The DynamicPoint team has extensive experience in designing, developing and deploying custom solutions to enterprise organizations. We have taken this expertise in enterprise development methodology and applied it to the mid-size organizational environment. We understand the best way to develop a high quality solution while staying within your timeline and budget. Instead of buying into a "one-size-fits-all" methodology, we here at DynamicPoint acknowledge that each client is different and we adapt according to the size and scope of the project. Because of this, we have solid expertise in multiple Software Development Lifecycle models including the traditional Waterfall Model and the Iterative Model employed by popular methodologies such as Agile and Scrum. DynamicPoint SharePoint Development for Microsoft Dynamics GP 9

10 Software Development Lifecycle Models Waterfall: Iterative: Next Steps DynamicPoint s strong expertise in SharePoint technology specific to Microsoft Dynamics GP, NAV and CRM, provides value added consulting, training and software development services to enhance the capabilities and functionality of the product unique to your business needs. Learn more about SharePoint solutions for Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM solutions at or contact us directly with additional questions. DynamicPoint SharePoint Development for Microsoft Dynamics GP 10