Microsoft Integrates Sharepoint Portal and ERP with Solomon 6.0

by Alex Woodie

Microsoft Business Solutions last week announced Solomon 6.0, the latest release of its ERP application designed for small and midsized companies in the project, service, or distribution business. With Solomon 6.0, Microsoft has improved the usability of the product by integrating it with Microsoft Business Portal 2.5, and it has delivered dozens of other enhancements, from accounting and payroll to distribution and reporting.

The integration with Business Portal 2.5 stands out as possibly the biggest enhancement with this release. Business Portal 2.5, which was released in August and is also used with Microsoft's Great Plains ERP software, is built on Microsoft's Sharepoint Services Web portal technology and will provide Solomon 6 users with a new Web-based user interface with which to access the application. The integration should also pay dividends in the Project Management and Accounting components of Solomon 6, where Microsoft says users will now be able to get a complete picture of project financials, timecard, and expense report entry, along with other accounting information. Users will also be able to store, share, and edit Word, Excel, and other documents using Microsoft Business Portal.

Financial management components of Solomon have been enhanced with this release, including prepayment capability in the Payroll module, a new Web portal-based timecard capability in the Time and Attendance module, and new payroll capabilities for unions. A new Key Performance Indicators module is also included with Solomon 6, allowing users to see at a glance how specific areas of the business are progressing. Solomon also ships with reporting and budgeting tools built on Business Objects Crystal Reports10 and Microsoft Business Solutions for Analytics--FRx Version 6.7. New Historical Budgets by Period views allow users to track changes to orders over a period of time, while improvements have also been made to forms required by companies that deal with public agencies.

The Distribution component received several enhancements, including more flexible invoice rules for customers of Solomon users, more options for customer invoice sequencing, new credit limit holds to prevent overextending customer credit limits, and better inventory accounting. The Field Service Management component has also been enhanced with the capability to track changes to contact information.

"Microsoft Solomon 6.0 will allow customers to simplify their business management experience with an enhanced product interface and access to integrated, Web-based data and functions," says Eric de Jager, group product manager with Microsoft Business Solutions. "New capabilities for managing projects and distribution deliver a powerful and comprehensive solution for project-, service- and distribution-driven organizations."

Solomon 6 was originally scheduled to ship in July, as Microsoft announced this March at its Convergence 2004 customer conference in New Orleans. Solomon 6 builds on Solomon IV Release 5.0, which Microsoft's Great Plains division (as Microsoft Business Solutions was then known) started shipping in 2002 (see "Great Plains Adds Functionality to Business Apps").

Solomon 6 is due to start shipping in the United States and Canada in October. Pricing for a single user license starts at $4,500.