March 2009

This is bazillionth time that I’ve encountered this issue, so I’ve decided to post a solution to it. If you live in a country which doesn’t have Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 localized version yet, you might have tried installing the W1 (worldwide, English, non-localized) version. Did it work out?

Usually I do not write about local Croatian affairs, but this particular occasion and this particular topic deserve an exception. As a part of Microsoft Dynamics promotion campaign in Croatia, Zoran Šegić, Microsoft Business Solution Lead in Microsoft’s Croatian subsidiary, has given an interview for eBizMags , a Croatian e-business blog/portal.

It’s hardly any news for the lucky 21 countries which have had them by default for about two years, but for other 18 which haven’t, there is an alarmingly low awareness about three interesting NAV functionalities: Liquidity , Cost Accounting and Kitting .

It’s the survival of the fittest game, that stuff that happened to the dataports. You know dataports? That class of NAV objects that’s used to move data back and forth in text format? It’s really funny what has been going on with them lately. They evolved, then degenerated. Today, they are an endangered species.

Yesterday, my and my friend Dave’s book Implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 has been made available on Safari Books Online . Safari Books Online is the world’s premier on-demand digital library for technology and business professionals, and it delivers the books in digital form on subscription…

This was a part of Chapter 1 in the first draft of my book Implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 . It was cut to keep page count down and preserve the environment, but I figure that a few electrons pushed through the optical labyrinths of The Internet won’t hurt anyone, so here you get it, in its original form: The History of Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

One of the biggest absurdities about ERP systems springs from the very word we use so often when describing ERP: integrated . ERP is an integrated system: it integrates all data and processes into a single application. Different modules look over different aspects of data and processes, but a change in one module automatically reflects in all others.

You can’t avoid customizations. Vanilla ERP is a great first step, and a valuable tool for establishing common language between the customer and the consultant. But in the long run? Probably not. Pristine uncustomized ERP won’t be sufficient, because of the gaps between your way and ERP’s way.

– “We need a report which groups our sales by product components.” – “And we need it broken down by cost centers.” – “And it must show comparison with last month, quarter and year, and with budget and forecast, with indexes and trends. In linear regression.” – “And it must let you choose if it is by posting date or by document date.