Dynamics Ax Data Export And Massage Before Production Migration From Legacy Accounting

Dynamics Ax Data Export And Massage Before Production Migration From Legacy Accounting

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Large scale data conversion project, where you are exporting master records and historical transactions from legacy Corporate ERP system and preparing them to be imported into Dynamics AX, requires careful planning. If you plan to deploy Excel Import, then you should expect data export from old accounting system, cleansing the data and saving it in Excel templates format. It is probably reasonably simple to initiate final step where Excel files are moved to AX tables. Data export from legacy system might have more fun in the sense of hard work to figure out how to connect to the database, what is the table structure, field name, etc. We would like to review several popular migration paths: from Great Plains Dynamics, Great Plains for DOS, QuickBooks, SAP Business One, Microsoft Small Business Financials. Lets begin with data export technologies:

1.Printing Reports into text files. This method doesnt require direct connection to legacy accounting database and tables via data export tool. Each old accounting likely has customer reports, historical GL trial balance and it is possible to print it into text file format. Next step would be to cleanse the text file in something like Microsoft Excel, or if the number of documents is huge (hundred thousand or even millions) you should consider importing the file into SQL custom table (SQL Server Import wizard should be able to do the job) and cleanse the records in custom SQL View

2.ODBC Connection to Legacy Accounting Database. This method requires programmer help and it is more flexible and powerful. Also keep in mind that it often commands higher budget. Here your developers have to come through some homework and learning curve in finding the ODBC driver and connection procedure, legacy application table structure. Lets now move on to specific migration paths

3.QuickBooks to AX. This route statistically has high volume of projects, due to the fact that QuickBooks is very popular among successful rapidly growing businesses. Probably QuickBooks did a good job for your company and now it is the time to switch to high end Corporate MRP and ERP system. The migrations where we participated were done on QB reports printing into text files and then cleansing these files in custom MS SQL Server tables. We do not recommend direct connection to QuickBooks database due to its proprietary platform

4.Great Plains. When you are referring GP we have to check if it is Great Plains Dynamics on Pervasive SQL Server/Btrieve or maybe GP on MS SQL Server or even Great Plains Accounting for DOS, Mac and Windows. Lets review all of these paths and begin with Dynamics GP

5.Microsoft Dynamics GP to AX. You can deploy both reports printing to the file as well as accessing SQL tables in Management Studio. Tables structure could be reviewed in GP user interface through Tools -> Resource Descriptions -> Tables or alternatively in SDK, where tables relations diagram could be printed. Traditionally Great Plains has very powerful mechanism to create Report Writer custom report based on the individual table and print it into text file

6.Microsoft Small Business Financials. This product was frozen on version 9.0 and MBS recommended migration path to GP. If you decided that the better path for your organization is to AX we recommend you to read previous paragraph, as SBF is scaled down version of Great Plains, and it is programmed in Great Plains Dexterity

7.Great Plains Accounting DOS. The name might resemble GP Dynamics, however it is completely different application with its own table structure. Report printing to the text file is available. If you would like to connection via ODBC to Btrieve database, we recommend to do it in Pervasive SQL Control Center

8.From SAP B1 to Dynamics AX. Typically in USA this small business Corporate ERP application is hosted in Microsoft SQL Server. One of the introduction versions to United States market was 2005A, next one was 2007A and current is 8.81 (July 2011). Exporting from SB1 could be done via saving reports or custom queries into Excel or connecting to SQL Server database (if you switch on flag to see system information then field and table name should be displayed in the left bottom corner)

9.Please call us 1-866-304-3265, 1-269-605-4904 (for international customers, where our representative pick up the phone in St. Joseph, MI call center). help@efaru.com We have local presence in Chicagoland, Southern California, South West Michigan, Houston and Dallas areas of Texas. We serve customers USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil nationwide and internationally via web sessions and phone conferences (Skype is welcomed). Our consultants speak English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese. Our core expertise is in International Business

About the Author:
Andrew Karasev is Great Plains Certified Master, MVP, help@efaru.com 1-866-304-3265, 1-269-605-4904. He is also the initiator of eFaru project http://www.efaru.com and founder of Alba Spectrum information space



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