What kind of training is most beneficial for Dynamics GP?

I have a confession to make. In my 10 years working with Dynamics GP I have only been to one formalized training class and the class was on Crystal reports. When I started out in the GP world I was working as an intern at a small start-up company in El Segundo, CA. My fancy title was Financial Analyst which really meant I was cheap labor hired to do whatever anyone else important didn't want to do.

My project for 5 months centered around implementing a new accounting system called Microsoft Dynamics. The company was moving off a smaller system (MYOB) as they had high hopes (and VC funding needing to be spent) the company would take off and need a complex financial system to get them to the next level of efficiency...and funding.

I was given a couple of Dynamics CD's before I showed up to my new job so I could learn the system but really had no idea what to do next. I arranged a phone call with my companies new VAR/Partner and was shown how to install the software then was left to my own devices. The following are some of the things I remember about that experience:

• It sucks when your computer crashes and you have to uninstall GP as your user is locked in the system (hope you are laughing with me)
• Creating a test company doesn't get you too far as there is nothing setup, no chart of accounts, vendors, etc. Which means you can't really do anything in the system
• What in the world is "The World Online"? Must be some kind of Microsoft promotional propaganda
• The tutorials in GP are on things I generally have no need for
• The user guides are a pretty good resource

I arrived at my new company full of apprehension and very little Dynamics knowledge. In the course of 5 months we implemented INV, SOP, POP, PM, RM, GL, and connected Dynamics to pull in orders from our website (our companies developers basically wrote eConnect before there was eConnect.)

I was known as the Dynamics guru, super user, and GP go to guy. In all reality, I spent a lot of time reading those blessed user guides and then tying up the loose ends with our Dynamics Partner in question and answer sessions. CustomerSource was horid and the online Dynamics community was still in infancy.

Did I wish I had formal training for the software? Yes

But what kind of training is most beneficial? I will discuss my opinion in my next post.

I will look at the following potential training methods for Dynamics GP:

• Formal MBS Classroom training
• Onsite training from a Dynamics consultant, typically sent from your Partner
• Training from your Partner or other Dynamics Partners
• Dynamics GP system manuals and user guides
• Conferences
• Partnersource/customersource
• Online training
• Online resources
• Internet search
• Trial and error