At a recent launch event for Microsoft partners I heard this clear statement, “If you do a LMT from MBL to BRL in GP, BP becomes DCO in AM but not BE”. Say what??
If you work with Microsoft for any period of time, or try to buy their products, you will soon realize that you need to speak “TLA”. For you newbies, TLA (Three Letter Acronym) is the official language of Microsoft.
As a fun exercise for myself during this event, and to help my new coworker who is just learning to speak the Microsoft language, I came up with this list of acronyms. And mind you these are just the ones I heard mentioned in one event related to ERP software. Yet there are so many more and new ones created each day, just to confuse us all. See how many you can translate from this list:
AA: Analytical Accounting
AM: (an edition of Microsoft Dynamics GP)
AS: Authentication Service
BE: (an edition of Microsoft Dynamics GP)
BI: Business Intelligence
BP: Business Portal
BRAP:
BPOS: Business Productivity Online Standard Suite
BRL: Business Ready Licensing
CfMD: Certified for Microsoft Dynamics
CRM:
DCO: Dynamics Client for Office
DDV: Drill Down Viewer
EFT: Electronic Fund Transfer
ERP: Enterprise Resource Planning
GA: General Availability
GL: General Ledger
GP:
HR: Human Resources
IIS: Internet Information Services
IM: Instant Message
IM: Integration Manager
ISV: Integrated Software Vendor
KPI: Key Performance Indicator
LMT: License Model Transition
MBL: Module Based Pricing
MR: Management Reporter
MRP: Manufacturing Resource Planning
PDK: Personal Data Keeper
PM: Payables Management
PO: Purchase Order
PTO: Paid Time Off
RM: Receivables Management
SAAS: Software as a Service
SIS: Single Instance Storage
SLP: System List Price
SOP: Sales Order Processing
SP: Sharepoint
SPLA: Services Provider License Agreement
SRS: SQL Reporting Services
UI: User Interface
VAR: Value Added Reseller
VPC: Virtual Personal Computer
WSF: Windows Sharepoint Foundation
XBRL: Extensible Business Reporting Language
I admit that there were several that I did not even know. I had to humble myself and ask the presenter to explain and risk the jeers of my Microsoft peers more fluent in “FLA” or consult Wikipedia or this handy I found online.
So to translate the first phrase from Microsoft into plain English: “If you do a License Model Transition from Module Based Licensing to Business Ready Licensing in Dynamics GP, Business Portal becomes Dynamics Client for Office in Advanced Management but not Business Essentials”. Got it now?
Do you speak Microsoft? What other Microsoft acronyms have you heard?
By CAL Business Solutions,
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