Tech Tuesday: What version is what in SmartConnect?

We have recently released SmartConnect 2014; for more information on the initial release, check out our blog post on it from last week here. Chris Dew, our Director of Product Management, will ease any confusion when it comes to different SmartConnect versions below.
 
We have quite a few people that ask what version of SmartConnect is needed for a specific version of Microsoft Dynamics GP or Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The new architecture we introduced in 2010 has allowed us to remain independent of specific versions of products for the most part. As with many ETL tools, we are always introducing new technologies as they are made available. For example, SQL Server 2014, gets added to our list of supported datasource and destinations.

Below I have prepared a couple of key releases you will want to note for the major versions:

SmartConnect 2014

• Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2, 2013, 2010, 10
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, 2011, 4.0 and Online
• Salesforce.com
• SQL Server 2014, 2012, 2008, 2005
• Webservices as datasource and destination
• Excel add-in for Excel 2013, 2010

As you can see the newest version of SmartConnect should have you covered for most versions of Dynamics GP and Dynamics CRM. We have seen a few customers using SmartConnect to migrate from older versions of Dynamics GP (5 and 6) or from Dynamics CRM 4.0 to 2013 or the Online edition. You won't need to worry about loading any older versions of SmartConnect to go back this far. The only thing I would point out is that we do require SmartConnect to be loaded on a SQL Server 2005 or greater database when you are migrating.

As we look to the near future where we can make additional connectors available, we are especially excited about the "DexNext" services oriented approach. When we add this connector for Dynamics GP 2015 it will open up many more integration points to Dynamics GP and ISV products ensuring that the same business logic is used whether you enter the data inside of Dynamics GP or from SmartConnect. Will eConnect still be around for a while? Absolutely, but Microsoft will be pushing the architecture and I think it will make Dynamics GP have the best integration story with SmartConnect out there!

Interested in SmartConnect? Have further questions regarding versions? Email us at sales@eonesolutions.com and we will be happy to assist you!

SmartConnect 2014 releases today!

It's here... SmartConnect 2014!

We are very excited to release SmartConnect 2014 today!

This release will work for any of the following versions of Dynamics GP(10, 2010, 2013, 2013 R2), Dynamics CRM (4, 2011, 2013, online) and all the more generic connectors (SalesForce.com, Web Services, Text Files, XML, SQL,etc).

SmartConnect 2014 has some really great features added along with several fixes. Below are a few of the really exciting features along with the download below:
http://www.eonesolutions.com/Products/Downloads

SQL Server Realtime Triggers – This feature allows you to run a SmartConnect map and use the data from the just saved record in SQL Server. Any SQL table can have this added.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Bulk Destination – As larger datasets need to be sent to Dynamics CRM the load on the CRM Webservice can be reduced by using the Bulk Destination for CRM and sending more data in one document.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Entity Lookup Enhancements – Entity Lookups allow you to work with Microsoft Dynamics CRM data without needing to know the complexities of the GUIDs or needing an intermediary datastore to synchronize Dynamics CRM data. We have enhanced this feature set allowing you to use other calculated fields and transformations in the lookups.

SalesForce.com Entity Lookup Enhancements – Entity Lookups allow you to work with SalesForce data without needing to know the complexities of the GUIDs or needing an intermediary datastore to synchronize SalesForce data. We have enhanced this feature set allowing you to use other calculated fields and transformations in the lookups.

Rolling Column New Features (Next Document Numbers) – We have added most document types and now you can even have multiple in a specific map. Custom Rolling Columns are available globally now instead of just on a specific map. Additionally, you can pass in data source fields and calculated fields in determining the correct document type.

Disable/Enable all tasks – Quickly enable/disable all tasks when testing maps. This can be very useful when you have a process like sending an email or updating a SQL table on the success or failure and you only want that to run when the map is ready for production. 

Enhanced Transformation Abilities – I really love this feature. We have basically allowed you to use the transformation fields (Calculated Fields, Lookups, Translations, etc.) everywhere inside of the application. When you look at SmartConnect as an ETL tool you can see that this adds another level of robustness when delivering any solution for your business needs.

Thanks,
Chris Dew
Director of Product Management

Do you have any questions regarding the latest release of SmartConnect 2014? Email us at sales@eonesolutions.com and we would be happy to help!