Blogs are a way for KTL Solutions to provide information and highlight particular items and solutions to our customers and users. In this month’s blog, I wanted to highlight KTL Solutions’ 10th Annual User Conference and, in particular, I wanted to provide a recap of the “Ask the Expert” session hosted by Dave Vora and myself.
As always, our 10th Annual User Conference was well attended and provided valuable information to the attendees. This year, we had a broad range of sessions that covered many topics including: Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, SQL Server, Sharepoint, Management Reporter, BI 360, eCommerce, Document Management, and Cloud services. We also had several ISVs participate to showcase their products, which included: Avalara, Scribe, Solver, PaperSave, Fastpath, K-eCommerce, Appolis, GreenShades, and DiCentral. We had a few additional offerings at this year’s User Conference such as several hours of Open Lab to allow the attendees to come ask one-on-one questions along with an additional session called “Ask the Experts”. We further offered a second conference day for in-depth training for both Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This year as in previous years, we received a lot of positive feedback about the conference and emphasized the success of the conference and will enable us to make future conferences even better.
This was the first year KTL Solutions had the “Ask the Expert” session. In this session, we allowed the participants to ask any questions to our Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM consultants. This forum allowed for additional information to be provided that may not have been covered in any of the other sessions and was presented in a group setting. In this setting, other attendees could benefit from the questions asked from the other attendees and the answers provided by KTL Solutions’ consultants. This session complimented the Open Lab hours, which was designed to address attendee’s one-on-one questions. The first year of the “Ask the Expert” session was well received and we received much positive feedback.
A couple of good questions were asked at the “Ask the Expert” session and I wanted to highlight one in particular that many of the attendees seemed to have an interest. The question: What accessing method is better for Dynamics GP: Desktop or Terminal Services?
We have many clients using both methods, and the answer is not a simple – one or the other. There are pros and cons to both, which I have listed a few below:
Desktop Workstations:
Pros:
| Cons:
|
Terminal Services or Remote Desktop (RDP):
Pros:
- Simplified/Centralized management of Dynamics GP software allowing easier installs, upgrades and maintenance of GP and ISV software
- Users able to access GP from any computer that has access to the internet and Terminal server
- Easy backups and restore of software
- Desktop acts as a simple terminal allowing for low end desktop hardware
- Lower demand on network since only GUI display and keystrokes travel outside the server network
Cons:
- If the Terminal Server goes down, all users loose connection to GP
- Resources are shared on the server, so large jobs may impact processing time
- Server requires additional RAM, disk space, and processing power to handle all the connecting users, which may be offset by using lower end desktops to connect to the Terminal Server as depicted in the Pro section of this article.
ANDREW FRASER | Senior Business Software Consultant
As a Senior Business Consultant, Andrew is responsible for the implementation and support of CRM, GP, and other Microsoft products assuring that our solution scoping, architecting, and delivery meet and exceed customer expectations. He helps clients analyze their current business processes and provide them with process improvements. During his time at KTL, Andrew has built lasting relationships with clients by understanding their business needs and provided value by leveraging their existing resources. Andrew has more than nineteen years of experience in implementing business software for a variety of industries including service, government, distribution, not-for-profit and manufacturing. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Math with concentration in Computer Science and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Marketing from St. Andrew’s University in Laurinburg, North Carolina. His experience includes helping companies embrace technology to fulfill their organizational needs and creating innovative solutions using CRM, GP and other Microsoft products.
