What’s New with Microsoft GP 2013 R2

Microsoft GP 2013 R2 includes great features to simplify functions, leverage Office 365, and provide disaster recovery.

Today’s culture of immediate availability and got-to-have-it-now demands require on-premises solutions adhere to a more aggressive release schedule. The Microsoft Dynamics GP team is stepping up to the challenge by moving to something closer to a six month cadence of new releases. GP 2013 R2 marks the start of this process with a focus on a few so-called “Big Rocks” and then as many smaller features prepared within the same time frame.

This release reflects Microsoft’s deep commitment to offering SMB customers and partners a business solution that is quick to deploy, easy to use, and with the power to support their business ambitions.

Though it’s not officially a major release, GP 2013 R2 introduces significant new capabilities. Here’s a look at some of them:

Requisitions

Previously available via the additional SharePoint-based Business Portal solution, Microsoft has now built requisitions capability into Dynamics GP. Procurement can now be simplified in GP 2013 R2 by consolidating multiple requisitions into a single purchase order.

Based on earlier statements by Microsoft, there will eventually be several integration points for the new requisition capabilities, including into business intelligence, MDA, encumbrance management, fixed assets, project accounting, manufacturing, and analytic accounting. The Dynamics GP product team has also advised that requisitions will be a multistage roll out.

Workflow

GP 2013 R2 also introduces a new workflow framework that no longer relies on SharePoint. Managers can now approve requests using email, and processes can be managed directly within GP. Dynamics GP 2013 R2 includes four workflow types: payroll time card approval, project time sheet approval, purchase order approval and purchase requisition approval.

The team will provide a path forward for more capabilities in future releases.

Identity Management

GP 2013 R2’s new identity management capabilities aim to streamline security in order to simplify the login experience on the web client and reduce logins between GP and peripheral applications. The updates are also aimed at supporting companion applications and the Service Based Architecture.

Office 365 Integration and Disaster Recovery

GP 2013 R2 includes many new features GP users will enjoy. Two favorites include improved Office 365 integration and Azure backup.

The backups feature allows organizations a way to mitigate risk with secure, easy-to-use database back up to the cloud on Microsoft Azure. Settings within GP configure an Azure storage account for both backup and restoring of a company.

Office 365 integration now allows the user to easily create and securely share executive dashboards. Also, Office 365 tools like Outlook and SharePoint Online sites can be set up to offer drill down links back to the GP web client.

Users can also create detailed Excel charts using information surfaced from Dynamics GP 2013 R2. In addition, the user can click on a data point in Excel to return to Dynamics GP 2013 R2 and find related information about that data.

And More to Come

The Dynamics team is already planning for the next step. Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 is set to release in December 2014 with notable additional functionality improvements, identity management, and a service-based architecture. Beyond the 2015 release, there will be functionality and technology releases every six months in what the team is calling GP “Next.”

Download the Microsoft Dynamics GP Capabilities Guide 2013 R2 now!

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