eXtender share price doubles over night!

I have been contacted by a number of resellers in the last few weeks who were very excited - if not a little agitated!!

They are saying things like " Our clients are excited about the web client and really want to use it. BUT we have had VB customizations in place for many years and none of that will upgrade to the web. In addition we built some .net code just last year - and it will not upgrade either!! So our consultants have decided to do the whole thing in eXtender as its the only configuration tool that works. "

So why have shares in eXtender gone through the roof in the last few weeks:

1. Works with Web client: eXtender solutions will work with the Dynamics GP 2013 web client. This means that all the eXtender configurations will upgrade seamlessly.
2. Extender Enterprise Logic: Logic can be embedded just about anywhere in Dynamics GP.  Logic is really simplified dex code without the need for compiling code, building dictionaries, upgrades etc.   So whether it is on opening a form, printing a document, saving a record, entering a field, exiting a field, if you changed a field etc you can have extender execute your logic code. 
3. Logic goes Web: With the 2013 web client - all logic code will continue to trigger and execute just like it would in the windows client.
4. eXtender works with SmartConnect: Take the data you capture in eXtender and use SmartConnect to generate more data within Dynamics GP. e.g. You capture details at a sales order level and when you posit it you need to create a service contract. SmartConnect grabs the SOP details and extender details and auto generates a contract.  No Code programming.
5. One Stop Dev: Develop once - without a developer!! One set of customization that works seamlessly in regular GP as well as the web client.

So you can not write dex logic scripts!! The good news is that there are plenty of developers that can - and so can the team here at eOne.  Your job is to understand the need, document it and let us do the rest.

The next question we are asked is "so how on earth did Microsoft let you take the code back out of the OEM-  right when every GP customer is going to need it . . . ".  

Watch out for the upcoming extender tech/dev level training where we will teach you everything you need to know. If you want more info email me at martin.olsen@eonesolutions.com.

Extender OEM

Announcement

eOne and Microsoft have mutually agreed that from the release of Microsoft Dynamics 2013 the Dynamics GP eXtender module will no longer be available via Microsoft.

In 2006 eOne granted Microsoft the rights to market, sell and support Dynamics GP eXtender and Dynamics GP SmartList Builder via an OEM agreement. Under this agreement One has continued to perform all development and quality assurance for both of these modules, as well as provide marketing and support escalation services to Microsoft.

During this years annual review of this OEM agreement it was mutually decided that it would be best to withdraw Dynamics GP eXtender from this agreement. You may ask why?

Why?
There are a number of reasons behind our decision to not renew the extender OEM agreement.

1. Development: Working within the OEM we were limited to Microsoft protocol as to additional functionality we were able to add to eXtender. We are now able to remove our blinkers and be as creative as we like to be at eOne - to add all the functionality we dream up.
2. Web Client: With the upcoming GP web client we saw a world of potential for how we can enhance eXtender to provide a great deal more flexibility. Outside of the OEM agreement we are able to make much more regular releases and not need to ask for Microsoft approval to add functionality.
3. Two Versions: For the past 6 years we have maintained 2 separate products (Dynamics GP Extender and eXtender Enterprise). Strangely both products used the same extud dictionary which was a little confusing during upgrades. This move has allowed us to combine everything into a single set of code to simplify development and at the same time simplify upgrades.
4. Tighter Integration: eOne is passionate about making ALL our products work together within the eOne stack. Inside the OEM agreement it was not possible to build in specific functionality to suppot non-OEM eOne products.  We are now able to significantly improve the integrations between eXtender, SmartConnect, SmartView and other upcoming eOne products.
5. Contract Reviews: While we had these thoughts going on regarding development direction, Microsoft went through their cylce of thinking 'we should review and make changes to our OEM contracts'. We took this opportunity to say OK  - lets make it easy and we will make our customers happy by taking eXtender back back in house at eOne.

Why I thought this was a good idea and the best result for eOne, our customers and Microsoft?

1. Good for eOne: I'll be honest - outside of the OEM we no longer have to share our revenue with Microsoft!
2. Good for Microsoft: The OEM agreement has really achieved it goals.  Extender sells standard with most new GP sales and is used widely by partners to differentiate Dynamics GP from other ERP solutions. There are many thousands for eXtender customers. Given Microsoft GP resellers know the product so well they will continue to use eXtender as a major differentiator to sell more GP. Microsoft will also benefit from new creative features that will ensure our partners can differentiate GP even further from its competitors. This results in more sales of GP.
3. Good For Resellers: Extender gets better fatser and easier to deploy and upgrade. The only difference is that AEP is paid to eOne and not Microsoft.
4. Good for Customers: Really no change at all for existing customers - other than the product will get better faster.

As you can see this is a win/win situation for everyone.


What do resellers and customers need to do?

1. Stay tuned for more process announcements from both Microsoft and eOne
2. If you are not already an eOne reseller (not sure why you would not be) then you need to sign up with us as soon as possible. There is a $2,000 sign on fee for partners but this has been waived for any partner that signs on before April 2013.
3. Customers and Partners will receive communication regarding an 'opt in' process that will transfer all your eXtender related information from Microsoft to eOne. (purchase dates, contacts, AEP dates etc).  As a reseller you will be able to check a box that ensures all your current eXtender customer information is transferred to eOne in one go. This means that as soon as you are signed up as a reseller you will be able to place orders and make AEP payments online via our website.  

The Good News
eOne and Microsoft are going to do everything to ensure this process is simple and seamless. Existing customers who are current on AEP will transition 'free'. The product remains unchanged so you have no compatibility or upgrade issues. So really everything will remain 'same old' but you will find eXtender gets better faster.

In November/December we will hold some informational webinars regarding the process and will be able to answer any questions you may have.  Keep an eye out for those sessions and be sure to sign up as they will have lots of time allotted to Questions and Answers.


You can read the microsoft announcement on Partnersource here


Yours in selling more Dynamics GP

Martin

Visit us at the GPUG & CRMUG Summits in Seattle

So where are we now?? We’re spending our week in downtown Seattle, WA for the Dynamics Communities Summit 2012 event for GPUG and CRMUG. (Haven’t heard about it? It’s a great community to join!)Although the rain doesn’t seem to stop, it’s “nothin’ but sunshine” when we get to share our passion for improving GP and CRM with our customers and partners.

Not only will we be spending time in the eOne booth (#342), we’re also presenting a number of sessions and would LOVE to have you join us if you’re in here:

·         Wednesday, October 17^th at 10 am: Enhancing Your Use of SmartList with Microsoft GP

·         Wednesday, October 17^th at 11:15 am: Make GP Do Things You Have Never Dreamed of Without Writing Code

·         Wednesday, October 17^th at 2 pm: Eliminating IM, Enhancing SmartList, and Making GP Hassle-Free

·         Wednesday, October 17^th at 3:30 pm: Excel Report Builder – How2

·         Thursday, October 18^th at 8 am: SmartList Builder Deep Dive Insights

·         Friday, October 19^th at 11 am: Make Microsoft Dynamics GP Fit Your Business with the Extender Challenge

Last year at the Summit, we received awesome feedback from our partners about the fantastic solutions they’ve been able to create on behalf of their customers. (Check out some of the video testimonials here.) We’re looking forward to hearing more testimonials and sharing them with you.

So, if you’re in Seattle, stop by and see us!

All the best to you today!

Are you a partner or customer that has a testimony to share about eOne products? Email me (abbey.cooper@eonesolutions.com) with the story or even a video of you sharing – I’d love to hear from you!

Tech Tuesday - New Excel Template (Again)

Hey everyone, I have some great news from our services manager Chris Dew involving our Excel templates again. I made a post a while back on them but we held off on releasing anything until we were able to add a couple more features to it that we think everyone will really be able to make use of:

We are very excited to finally release our new Excel GL Templates for SmartConnect! We had three major goals for this release:

1. Remove the reliance on SOAP
2. Prevent Data Entry errors
3. Configurable without coding

The past templates have had a reliance on the Microsoft SOAP SDK that was used for calling the SmartConnect webservice from VBA. Microsoft has discontinued this support a long time ago and with this new release we can now simplify the install process of the templates to just copying the Excel sheet where you need on the network. This also allows us to support 64-bit environments for Office.

One of the largest uses of the Excel templates is copying data from other sheets. Excel will often display only two decimal places but behind the scenes there could be 15 decimal places and oftentimes rounding errors would occur in larger journal entries. We have added logic to handle that rounding for you so copy and paste away!

I think my favorite new feature to report is the easy configuration of the new template. You can now dynamically change the amount of rows without changing any of the code. Also, we locked the totaling row for the debits and credits so you can always see the balance. This was one of the most common customizations we did for our partners and customers and now you won’t need us anymore!

We have locked down the code in the template to ensure the delivery of the solution. Additionally, we updated the documentation for the template. If you would like to add some additional functionality to the template please feel free to contact me (chris.dew@eonesolutions.com) and our services team can help you design a custom template.

As always, we welcome your feedback. We have plans to roll out a lot of these changes to the other 11 templates available today (over the next couple of months) and may release a generic template that is unlocked as well. Please let us know if you have additional ideas for new templates or features.

Thanks,

Chris Dew