MS Great plains gp 10 - normalized?

Hi,

I have imported hundreds of thousands of records into Dynamics GP.  The database tables follow sensible, practical, real world normalization.  Sure, there are a few oddball tables that appear to have some redundant fields, but those are the exception.  And if you simply review the table lists, I would argue that it is clear that GP is adequately normalized.

If you are concerned about importing data, I would offer that your concern should be less about technicalities related to the normal forms, and more about the not-so-obvious logical complexities and dependencies of the Dynamics GP data.  Because of its long 'heritage' and original design on a different database platform, Dynamics GP does not use features like referential integrity.  Data and table relationships are therefore not explicitly defined in the SQL Server database.

The item master table is a relatively simple table, but there are many other dependencies for an inventory item that you will need to address.  You will need to consider Class ID and the corresponding default values it provides, UOM schedule, selling and purchasing UOM, item currency, price group, item sites, item vendors, vendor item numbers, kits, general ledger accounts, and price levels.  It's technically possible to manually import and/or validate these associated records during import of items, but to do so manually would not be terribly productive.  Given this, I strongly discourage direct-to-table integrations with GP except for the simplest of tables, or in situations where you have very deep knowledge of the underlying tables and their relationships.

If you are having to import regularly, or if you need to import multiple data types or transactions, I would recommend that you look into Integration Manager, eConnect, or GP Web Services.  If you are a Dynamics GP customer (company that uses GP), these are all licensed products and are not cheap, but they do offer significant value.  Integration Manager is well suited for lower volume, manual integrations (single button click), and offers VBScript support if you require customization.  eConnect is an integration API that provides support for high volume integrations (12-20 transactions per second), and allows you to develop a custom .NET application with .NET assemblies or MSMQ to manage your integrations.  GP Web Services allows you to develop an integration using web service calls using SOAP and HTTP.  One licensing caveat is that if you GP partner develops an eConnect or Web Services integration for you, you do not need to purchase the Developers Toolkit.  So depending on the number and complexity of your integrations, it may be more cost effective to have them develop an integration for you.

Let me know if this addresses your concern of importing into Dynamics GP, and if you have any additional questions.

Thanks,

Steve Endow
Dynamics GP Certified Trainer
Dynamics GP Certified Solution Professional