What's new in Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0
Updated: May 10, 2007
Microsoft Dynamics SL has long helped small and midsize
organizations operate more effectively. The latest
version—Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0—empowers your employees,
managers, customers, and vendors to be even more productive.
It also helps increase effectiveness by providing the tools
your people need to view and process data based on the
permissions that you establish.
Enhancements to this latest version include new
Role-Tailored menus that make it easy for your people to focus
on functions they need to do their jobs more efficiently. New
reporting tools also help people better understand what is
happening in the business. Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0 is built
with Microsoft
Visual Studio 2005, providing new tools for developers and
interfaces to products like Microsoft
SQL Server Reporting Services.
On This Page
Enable employees to focus on business tasks
A new user interface and familiar new design themes make
Microsoft Dynamics SL easy to learn and cost effective.
RoleTailored menus direct your employees to the functions they
need to do their jobs more efficiently.

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Illustration: Navigate the new Microsoft Office-like
menu interface with ease as Microsoft Dynamics SL provides
menu trees and user-specific home pages.
| • |
Personalize tasks and information to make jobs
easier for employees. Create step-by-step menus to
streamline and standardize your business processes.
Pre-configured screens determine the functions and
information employees can access through the Web portal.
For example, a project manager can access the Project
Center page, or sales personnel can easily access
customer, order, and receivables
information. |

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Illustration: Create custom menus that list
step-by-step instructions for specific job processes.
| • |
Manage customer communications effectively and
improve order management efficiency with Quick Send. The
feature provides Electronic Documents Delivery—the
capability to send purchase orders, and invoices—to
customers and vendors by e-mail or fax. Send batches or
individual documents in the format your customers or
vendors prefer. |

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Illustration: Set up Quick Send Electronic Document
Delivery for instant communication with customers about their
orders and invoice status.
Provide managers and executives with decision-driving
insight
Enhance project and distribution performance. New
capabilities help maximize productivity, improve operational
control, and provide quick access to timely, accurate
information.
| • |
Find the information you need, when you need it,
in a context that is meaningful by using enhanced
reporting functionality. Easy-to-use tools help your
people tailor standard reports and information views.
Drill down to detailed information from any module.
Access role-based information and up-to-date reports
from your Web browser. And schedule and distribute
reports automatically. These capabilities help to make
sure that everyone in your organization is involved,
current, and connected. |
| • |
Create and share interactive scorecards by
using BIO for Microsoft Dynamics SL to analyze tracked
business activities. BIO for Microsoft Dynamics SL
provides personalized, Role-Tailored scorecards for
everyone in your organization based on a common set of
data. Work from one set of company data by bringing
operations and finance data such as projects, sales,
inventory, customers, accruals, revenues, budgets, and
more into one information tool. Then, share the
scorecards using Microsoft
Internet Explorer, the Microsoft
Office system, and other applications you already
use. |

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Illustration: Compile data from different sources
into interactive scorecards and share them with managers
throughout your organization.
Connect your people, your customers, and your company
Unify project, financial, sales, and operational
information and processes across your business. Employees can
collaborate with each other and with customers and partners
quickly and easily. Flexible architecture and customization
tools help your organization integrate applications and extend
functionality to meet industry-specific needs.
| • |
Extend access to information by using the
Microsoft Business Portal to set up and edit new and
existing projects from remote locations and client
sites—all without logging in to Microsoft Dynamics SL
7.0. Expanded document sharing includes access to blogs,
wikis, and really simple syndication (RSS)
feeds. |

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Illustration: Gain access to Microsoft Dynamics SL
Project Maintenance through the Business Portal without
logging in to Microsoft Dynamics SL.
| • |
Integrate with Microsoft products by combining
the project accounting strengths of Microsoft Dynamics
SL with the enterprise project management version of Microsoft
Office Project. The result is integrated resources,
skills, and project management. Microsoft Dynamic SL is
compatible with Microsoft Windows
Vista and Microsoft Office
2007. |

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Illustration: Data viewed in Microsoft Office
Project helps monitor profitability.
| • |
Manage resources efficiently by using
Microsoft Dynamics SL integrated functionality. Gain
Web-based access to information and processes. And
automate everyday tasks by using product-wide
workflow. |
| • |
Integrate with industry standard technologies and
industry specific offerings by matching your unique
business needs with hundreds of industry specific
applications. Solutions developed by independent
software vendors (ISVs) can provide you with a complete
business management system. |
| • |
Connect across your business by building on
the open architecture of Microsoft Dynamics SL and Microsoft
SQL Server technologies. The e-business capabilities
of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) help to integrate
information and centralize access. New connectivity
helps employees working from any location to communicate
effectively with partners and customers around the
world. |
Adapt your solution to meet specialized business
needs
Microsoft Dynamics SL is designed to help you build for
change and growth. Integrated capabilities, automated
accounting, and instantly accessible information help to speed
closing time and improve cash flow.
| • |
Tailor your solution to work the way you do
with built-in customization tools. Integrate smoothly
with cost-effective, custom solutions. Easily adapt to
business growth. And deliver applications and updates
from the Web browser to help minimize work disruption
and reduce IT administration costs. |
| • |
Control operations with ease and confidence by
using integrated processes and data. Whether you are a
single company or a multi-company organization, you can
link every aspect of your business. Connect project
accounting, distribution, financial management, field
service, and payroll. |
| • |
Improve your business performance and increase
cash flow and profits with faster closing times,
improved capture of billable transactions, increased
collections, efficient payroll management, and updated
Accounts Payable processes. The new Pay-When-Paid
feature releases payment vouchers to subcontractors when
the associated customer invoice is paid. This ensures
your subcontractors get paid only when your customers
are satisfied. |

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Illustration: Link customer invoices to
subcontractor vouchers, paying subcontractors only when the
customer has paid for the work.
Work on a Microsoft-supported solution while maintaining
low total cost of ownership
You can control costs and optimize revenue. Drive demanding
projects to profitable outcomes. Manage distribution processes
efficiently. Improve service operations. And deliver the
focused insight that fosters shrewd business decisions.
| • |
Equip your organization to achieve excellence
by using project and distribution enhancements to plan
and execute projects across multiple sites. Remote
employees can enter and view information.
Distribution-driven industries can automate distribution
flow. And powerful shipment planning helps to address
unique customer priorities. |
| • |
Rely on Microsoft support to help you update
and adapt your solution easily and affordably. Microsoft
Certified Partners and ISVs are available to help you
implement, customize, and extend your solution. At all
times, you can rely on Microsoft for the dedicated
services and support that promote your long-term
success. |
New features in Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0
|
Foundation |
| • |
Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0 is
written in the latest version of Visual Basic
2005, making it .NET compliant. |
| • |
Integrated Windows
Authentication associates each user's computer
login to their Microsoft Dynamics SL 7.0
login. |
| • |
The intuitive user interface
is similar to the 2007 Microsoft Office
system. |
| • |
Configure Role-Tailored menus
and home pages. |
| • |
C and display custom home
pages for people using the application. |
| • |
The business solution is
compatible with Windows Vista and the 2007
Microsoft Office
system. | |
|
Financial Management |
| • |
The Pay-When-Paid feature
releases subcontract vouchers to be paid only when
the associated customer invoice is paid. |
| • |
The Quick Send feature enables
Electronic Document Delivery of purchase orders
and invoices. | |
|
Project Management and
Accounting |
| • |
Foreign currencies and a Value
Added Tax line item are now accepted in the
Expense Report entry programs. |
| • |
Enhanced multicurrency,
Scheduled Billings, and Billing by Percent
Complete can produce bills in the currency and
format of each
project. | |
|
Service Series |
| • |
You can specify invoice line
types and preventive maintenance tasks in Generate
PM Service Calls screen. |
| • |
Specify a different customer
ID on a service contract attached to a master
contract in Service Contract Entry. |
| • |
Graphical Dispatch Board
(SD.900.00) now also filters the views in
Dispatch-View
Maintenance. | |
|
Microsoft Dynamics SL Business
Portal |
| • |
Gain remote access to
Microsoft Dynamics SL Project Maintenance program
using Business Portal without needing to log into
Microsoft Dynamics SL. |
| • |
New access to Microsoft
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 features includes
blogs, wikis, and RSS feeds. |
| • |
Microsoft Dynamics SL Business
Portal is compatible with Microsoft Windows
SharePoint Server
3.0. | |
|
Reporting and Analytics |
| • |
Analyze and track up to 900
business activities within the Microsoft Dynamics
SL database. |
| • |
Access reports written in SQL
Server Reporting services for SQL Server 2005
directly from Microsoft Dynamics SL
7.0. | |