Convergence, the annual Microsoft conference focused on the Dynamics products, concluded March 21st. The most interesting information I came across was regarding the “web client” in Microsoft 2013, the upcoming release.
Currently Dynamics GP needs to be installed on your computer or on the computer (terminal or Citrix server to which you connect. We refer to this as a “fat client” because the entire application is installed on the local or “client” computer (while the data is on the “server”). A web client will allow you to run an Internet browser (Microsoft will only test and certify Internet Explorer), enter the right web address, and run GP.
The technology approach taken should allow all of GP and nearly all third party products to run in a web client without modification! Microsoft’s Silverlight technology, a browser add-in, is a key component in making this possible. All reports will be “rendered” or printed through the use of Word.
Each window does need to be tested by Microsoft, so they won’t guarantee that all modules will be available with the initial release of GP 2013. Each third party vendor will need to do their own testing, so it is unlikely all products will be immediately available on the web client.
As a Microsoft partner, we should get a beta release of GP 2013 sometime this summer; the likely release date for GP 2013 is mid-November of this year.
For more information on how you can upgrade to the newest version of Dynamics GP, GP 2013 and the new “web client”, at (920) 687-4797, or dynamicsinfo@avastonetech.com
By, Al Schuette, Dynamics GP Consultant, Avastone Technologies LLC,
