When getting ready to upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2 or any GP upgrade for that matter there are always the normal items that you will want to investigate. Firstly all installed modules, 3rd party vendor support, System requirements, unsupported system modifications that may be a blocking upgrade issue, and data prep and mock upgrade in a test environment.
I am always surprised at the number of customers that choose the option to not go through a mock data upgrade at least to verify that there are no issues with the data migration scripts, custom windows, and 3rd party vendors. The user acceptance testing should be the largest part of the upgrade to verify that everything is correct before you attempt the production upgrade. It is well worth the process every time.
Here are a few key items to review before upgrading to 2013 R2 from a previous GP Release.
1. Account Framework Table Conversion: We convert several tables that have account framework information in them. If the account framework tables in the company database, do not match the SY003001 and SY00302 tables in the DYNAMICS database, the upgrade will fail. Please run the Account_Framework_Validation.txt script from the Upgrade Guide to validate your tables prior to the upgrade. If results are returned, please work with your Partner or contact Technical Support to talk about the options for those tables. Here are the tables we convert:
GL10110
GL10111
GL70500
GL70501
GL00100
GL00201
IV70500
2. Human Resources and Payroll Suite (10.0 only): If you currently use the following Human Resources and Payroll Suite modules and are on Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0, the January 2013 hotfix is required for the upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013. The January 2013 hotfix or any later patch release must be installed prior to launching Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Utilities. Click HERE to go to the service pack/hotfix page for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013.
Product ID 1911 – HRM Solution Series
Product ID 4522 – Payroll Integration to Payable
Product ID 4933 – Certification Manager
Product ID 4955 – Employee Health and Wellness
3. Collections Management: If you currently use Collections Management with Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010 and are on version 11.00.2164, a new MSI is required for the upgrade to Collections Management for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013. The new Collections Management MSI, must be installed prior to launching Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Utilities. Click HERE to go to the service pack/hotfix page for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013. Please refer to the Notes section to obtain the new MSI for Collections Management.
4. Database Compatibility: If you are moving to a new SQL Server in addition to the upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013, you can restore your databases to the new SQL Server and start your upgrade. Please refer to KnowledgeBase Article 878449 for the steps to move to a new SQL Server. Once the databases are restored to the new SQL Server, you must change the database compatibility.
a. In the SQL Server Management Studio. right-click your database and click Properties.
b. Under Select a Page on the left, click Options.
c. Change the Compatibility Level to match the version of SQL Server you are running. SQL 2005 = 90, SQL 20082008 R2 = 100, SQL 2012 = 110.
5. Purchase Order Tables: If there are detail records in the POP10110 and the POP30110 that do not have a matching header record in the POP10100 and the POP30100, the upgrade may fail on those tables. Run the Invalid_Records_POTables.txt script from the Upgrade Guide to validate all detail records have a header record. If results are returned, you can either remove the detail records or run checklinks in the current version you are running.
6. Server Drop Down List Blank: When launching Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013, the Server drop down list may be blank. The Server drop down is the OBDC DSN that Microsoft Dynamics GP needs to connect to your SQL Server databases. If the ODBC DSN is an older version or an x64 DSN, it will not show up in the list. Please make sure you have a 32-bit ODBC DSN created using either the Native Client 10.0 or Native Client 11.0 driver. ClickHERE for the steps to setup an ODBC DSN.
7. Payroll Work Tables (10.0 only): If upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 and you use payroll, run the Payroll_Work_Tables.txt from the known issues script library to clear the Payroll Work Tables. If records exist in those tables, the upgrade will fail on the UPR10*** tables.
8. Workflow Documents Must be Final Approved: If you use our Workflow for GL/PM/RM batches, Purchase Orders, Vendor Approvals, Credit Limit Overrides, Sales Quotes. Employee Onboarding, etc., all Workflow Documents must be final approved prior to the upgrade. No documents can be pending. The upgrade does check for this and will stop Utilities and provide a report showing what documents need to be approved.
9. Microsoft Dynamics Adapter Service: If you use the CRM Connector for Microsoft Dynamics GP and the Microsoft Dynamics Adapter Service is running on the server where you are performing the upgrade, please stop the service temporarily. Once the upgrade is complete, the Microsoft Dynamics Adapter Service can be restarted.
10. General Ledger Transaction History Record Count (10.0 only): If you are upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0, run the following script to get a feel for the record count in the GL30000 table.
select count(*) from GL30000
The GL30000 is the GL Transaction History table and can be very large. If you have millions and millions of transactions in the GL30000, please make sure to run a test upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013. We do have a big conversion on the GL30000 that may slow down the upgrade. Running a test upgrade will allow you to benchmark the upgrade for your environment. Some tips!!! Make sure you have enough disk space on the drives where the MDF and LDF are located. Also, manually grow the size of your LDF to accommodate the size of the largest table. Grow the LDF of your company database and TEMPDB.
11. Microsoft Dynamics GP Utilities Stops Responding: When you launch Utilities for the upgrade, most of the processing is done on the SQL Server. If you happen to client away, Utilities may appear to stay white and show “not responding”. Please do not close out of Utilities, the upgrade is still running. Please give the upgrade time to continue working. If you feel the upgrade is hanging or locked up, please start a SQL Server Profiler trace to review activity.
Please review the known issues above prior to your Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 R2 upgrade! Running the scripts above will for sure eliminate issues in the long run! Remember to always run a test upgrade first!