Microsoft Navision, Axapta or Great Plains – ERP for Large Companies
ERP selection for large corporations is typical because of their presence in different countries with different laws, languages, business culture, market trends, customer taste and currency. Apart from these scalability and adaptability of the ERP is also of utmost importance for future requirements and problems.
Microsoft has been working on ‘project green’ which is to unify all four ERP solutions into one to give a powerful solution to its users because there are serious overlapping of features and functions in the four Microsoft ERP solutions which does not justify their separate presence in the market. As far as Microsoft dynamics SL is concerned, it is more suitable for project based companies rather than manufacturing or large distribution enterprises. To identify the most suitable option for any large enterprise out of the other three ERP solutions of Microsoft, it is important to consider the criteria companies follow to choose an ERP solution.
Customization of the available ERP is important to fit in the exact requirements of the user, Microsoft Navision, Axapta or Great plains can be customized with ease but customization of GP is the easiest of them. Great plains is considered as easiest to setup and launch in comparison to Navision and Axapta. Navision requires mid-size customization while Axapta has longer implementation cycle. With the MS SQL server at back end both Navision and GP, are capable of giving more integration and reporting options with crystal reports. Being an SQL based ERP both of these can be integrated with Unix, Linux or Oracle comfortably.
While doing ERP selection for large corporation one of the primary requirements is the capability of the ERP to work in multi-company, multi-division and multi-currency environment. These procedures shall be added on, as and when required, and with out any restrictions, Navision, Axapta and Great plains provide such working environment. In terms of flexibility all the three ERP solutions of Microsoft are at par, though Great plains has more options as add on, which gives it more flexibility to adjust according to the user requirements and also makes it cost effective.
User friendliness and internet integration are other criteria used by the large enterprises for ERP selection. Today almost every ERP provide internet integration for e-commerce, web portals and e-business facilities including Axapta, Navision and Great plains. All the Microsoft ERP solutions are user friendly and can be handled easily even by the staff of the company having minimum IT skills. Role tailored of role center screens of Axapta has been its highlight which gives a customized screen for better and quick understanding and feeding of data by removing irrelevant grids and information.
Over all out of the three Microsoft dynamics ERP solutions, Great Plains with its 10 years of presence, its flexible features, quick implementation, cost effectiveness, internet integration and integration with MS office and other Microsoft products, appears to be the most suitable ERP solution for large enterprises. Though recently there has been a surge in the installations of Axapta but it is still a relatively new ERP compared to Navision and Great plains.
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