Microsoft Business Solutions products and services are targeted to integrate operations of small and mid-size businesses and divisions of large enterprises. Microsoft Great Plains has been the ideal application for today’s market because it can handle a wide variety of customization.

As an IT Director or Department Head, one should foresee the positions to fill to cover Great Plains ERP and CRM technical support in-house. There are a number of skills needed that one should look for in a potential candidate. The right combination of skills and knowledge will bring out the best in an IT Department.

The following are some of the guidelines in choosing a candidate who can support a Microsoft Great Plains (ERP) and Client Relation Management (CRM) environment:

Microsoft SQL Server Specialist – The prospective candidate should be able to administer Transact-SQL statements, Stored Procedures, Views, Functions and Triggers using MS SQL Server 2000. This position would require table structure analysis and data fixing through SQL Queries. In addition, an accounting background would be helpful to address ongoing issues with Microsoft Business Solution’s Technical Support.

Network Administrator – The Network Administrator must be familiar with Microsoft Active Directory for Windows 2000/2003 Server and Microsoft Exchange 2000/2003. The right candidate will be able to troubleshoot, monitor, analyze, and respond to all server and active directory processes that could have an adverse effect on the systems.

C# or VB Specialist – The candidate should be able to work on creation and modification and support of ERP and Web systems using C#, VB.Net and SQL Server and also be able to develop applications using such programs with some Visual Basic and ASP.

Crystal Reports Designer/Programmer – The potential employee should be able to design reports using Crystal Reports. This is a remarkable tool to use with reporting and it will help you and your client access decision-driving information to aid in managing businesses more effectively.

In our long term consulting practice, we recommend you cross-train these support people so that one can be of use when the other is not available. This would make you less dependent on separate people for different skills. Rather, you’re creating a more efficient and productive use of your intellectual resources.

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For customization work and advice, please contact Andrew Karasev, Alba Spectrum Chief Technology Officer. His works include development of applications with the use of Dexterity, SQL, C# .NET, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK.