Falling in Love With Functionality- RapidStart Configuration

So, I will admit that I was one of those that pigeon-holed RapidStart.  I thought of it as a tool (albeit a very very very useful one) for straightforward migrations of Quickbooks and Peachtree. Simple configuration. So when I was asked to present on RapidStart at Reimagine, I thought "sure,why not".  I didn't expect that preparing for a presentation would change my mindset so much.

One of my presentations today will focus on RapidStart, but not on migration. Instead, I am taking the approach of leveraging the configuration portions of the tool.  Working through the presentation, I have gained a greater appreciation for how organizations can truly benefit from RapidStart Configuration independent of the migration capabilities. 

So, you are asking, why did you fall in love with it?  Well, here are my top five reasons....

1.  Imagine a world where documenting the configuration of a system is as simple as opening RapidStart and choosing Create New Project from Existing Dynamics GP Implementation.
2.  How about applying a standard configuration to all of your projects as a starting point (or by industry, or by project size/scope)?  RapidStart, choose Import Project or Create>New Project from Industry Standard Template.
3.  Enabling customers who regularly have to set up new companies to copy their own configuration without knowing SQL?  Create New Project from Existing Dynamics GP Implementation and then connect to the company database.
4.  Giving users or consultants basic configuration settings they can complete in Excel! (My favorite here is PAYROLL POSTING ACCOUNTS and ALL OF THE FIXED ASSET SETUP- can you tell that I am excited???).  In this case, you can Create New Empty Project.  Then the spreadsheets will be generated at the location you select.

If you happen to be in Fargo (BRRRRR!!!), stop by session at 11am at the scenic Holiday Inn!

I should also put in a plug that Steve and I are also presenting at 2:45pm at the HI on Taking Your SQL Beyond SELECT and DELETE (where Steve will be answering all of the hard questions, you know that is TRUE!! Ha ha!).

Christina Phillips is a Microsoft Certified Trainer and Dynamics GP Certified Professional. She is a senior managing consultant with BKD Technologies, providing training, support, and project management services to new and existing Microsoft Dynamics customers. This blog represents her views only, not those of her employer.