Great Plains brings e-commerce further into reach

e-Business solutions provider Great Plains Africa has put the world`s e-business networks within the reach of most mid-sized businesses with the release of a suite of products which makes it easier to implement e-commerce strategies.

The most comprehensive release so far in the history of Great Plains, the new products - Release 6.0 of Great Plains eEnterprise and Dynamics - include significant, customer-driven enhancements in the areas of e-business, sales and purchasing, series enhancements and a new interface and reporting functionality.

A significant new feature is the software`s capability to accept transactions in any currency, from almost anywhere in the world.

Great Plains Dynamics 6.0 is an enhanced package of seamlessly integrated Internet-enabled business solutions to help grow mid-market enterprises. Chief enhancements encompass the distribution, project series, system manager suite and e-business, as well as a new intuitive interface.

"These enhancements, coupled with end-to-end integration of e-commerce, customer relationship management and back office applications, make it easier for customers to take advantage of the global e-business network," says General Manager of Great Plains Africa, Doug Reid.

eOrder, an out-of-the-box Internet storefront seamlessly integrated with Dynamics and eEnterprise, provides a quick and cost-effective solution for extending business to the Web. Established customers can pay for purchases on account or with a credit card, and payment authorisation is handled offline using a typical credit card authorisation process.

"Small and mid-market businesses demand comprehensive solutions that can be used across multiple offices," says Reid. "We`ve not only modified our applications so customers can automate critical, yet time-consuming responsibilities such as reporting and inventory tracking. We`ve also enriched each potential point of customer interaction for better performance and intuition. The functionality of all Release 6.0 products comfortably expands with our customers` growing needs."

Release 6.0 allows customers to distribute their eCommerce and eEnterprise architecture, adding greater scalability, reliability and performance for the storefront and eEnterprise.

The eCommerce architecture also allows continued service to customers via the storefront while eEnterprise is offline. Orders, items and customer information are then synchronised when eEnterprise is back online. Coupled with end-to-end integration of e-commerce, customer relationship management and back office applications, Great Plains eEnterprise empowers customers with fruitful opportunities within the global e-business network. Distribution-wise, Release 6.0 tightly integrates all processes between Sales Order Processing (SOP) and Purchase Order Processing (POP) so customers can automate entire sales cycles, including goods shipped directly from the vendor.

Release 6.0 brings a wealth of distribution, interface, business management and e-business enhancements to small and medium-sized businesses in Africa and worldwide.