A new Web-based front end to Solomon and Great Plains (GP), two of Microsoft’s accounting and business management systems, will give companies a way to provide employees with browser-based access to GP and Solomon data and applications. Microsoft Business Portal (MBP) uses modular Web page components called Web Parts to format and display information tailored to particular individuals and roles, allowing a manager to view only the sales reports relevant to his region, for example. However, the product will undergo a significant overhaul in the next year, which could mean that custom Web Parts written for MBP will not be forward compatible.

Broad Access to Business Data

Unlike Solomon, which provides a browser-based interface called the Solomon Desktop, GP applications were previously accessible only by running a GP client on the user’s desktop, connecting to the GP server via Windows Terminal Services (TS), or implementing a third-party thin-client solution like Citrix MetaFrame. Companies needed to buy relatively expensive Professional user licenses (US$2,000) for their GP users, and they tended to limit GP access to back-office workers.

With MBP, Microsoft provides a lower-cost way to allow a broader range of workers to access GP, and a single front-end for both GP and Solomon. MBP and its constituent Web Parts allow workers to access GP or Solomon with a Web browser for many day-to-day tasks, such as running sales reports, querying accounting databases, and performing individual tasks such as expense reporting. However, MBP is not a replacement for GP or Solomon client applications; back-office workers will still perform more critical tasks, such as data access, entry, and manipulation via thick clients or directly on the server through TS.

Companies deploying MBP assign employees to one of two separately licensed user categories. Employee users are more casual users of the system and can access only GP or Solomon data and functions exposed by the portal. Professional users also have access to the portal, but will connect directly via TS or a local client for more involved, back-office operations.

To enforce more granular control over information access, companies can assign users specific roles: for example, the Sales Manager role provides access to customer and product data for members of a company’s sales team. MBP ships with a set of predefined roles; companies can modify these roles and add others to fit their business needs.

Next Up: Self-Service Applications

MBP will also serve as the platform for a new breed of Microsoft "self-service" applications that will give office workers further ability to update and modify Solomon and GP data without involving back-office staff. First out of the gate will be an application called Human Resources Management (HRM) Self-Service Suite that lets workers review pay and benefit information, and enter and approve timesheets.

Although Microsoft is several years behind big business rivals such as IBM, Oracle, PeopleSoft, and SAP in the business portal and self-service applications arena, the company believes there is untapped demand in the mid-market for these types of products. While MBP is not positioned to go toe-to-toe with offerings from these companies, the release serves as a warning shot as these competitors increasingly focus attention on mid-market accounts.

Based on Older Technology

Although MBP is Microsoft’s first attempt at a Web-based portal for the GP line of products, it is based on a soon-to-be-obsolete technology and comes while the company is in the midst of moving its corporate portal products to a new technology.

The problem arises because MBP is built on Microsoft’s aging Digital Dashboard Resource Kit (DDRK), which supports Web Parts based on Active Server Pages (ASP) technology. But within the next year MBP will undergo an overhaul to take advantage of a newer Microsoft portal technology—Windows SharePoint Services (WSS), which supports only ASP.NET-based Web Parts.

MBP comes with documentation and an SDK designed to help partners and ISVs customize the portal in ways that are compatible with future releases. However, partners and ISVs that build Digital Dashboard Web Parts for this version of MBP will need to rewrite those Web Parts to work with future MBP releases. This could also be a problem for Microsoft, which may find itself supporting the DDRK in MBP deployments that choose not to upgrade to newer versions of the product.

Resources and Availability

This release of MBP does not support Windows 2003 Server, but rather runs on Windows 2000 and Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.0. It will work with GP back-office servers running Dynamics or eEnterprise 7.0, or GP 7.5. MBP also works with both Solomon 5.0 and 5.5. Customers should note, however, that the product will only work with SQL Server-based GP installations; it will not work with MSDE-based GP Standard, or with any GP installations that use other database products such as c-tree SQL or Pervasive SQL.

GP and Solomon customers with a current enhancement plan can get MBP free, although Solomon Standard (a lower-priced, reduced-feature edition of Solomon) customers will have to pay US$1,500. Employee user licenses will range from US$45 to US$65, and Professional user licenses range from US$1,800 to US$2,000, depending on volume. Additionally, because MBP accesses data in Solomon or GP SQL Server stores, customers will need to purchase a SQL Server Client Access License for each MBP user.

The HRM Self-Service Suite is slated for availability in 2003 and will cost US$5,000.

More information about Great Plains, Solomon, and other Microsoft business products can be found at www.microsoft.com/BusinessSolutions/default.mspx.