Portal for Business Solutions Apps

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.