Welcome to the Microsoft Business Solutions Academic Alliance quarterly newsletter. Here you will find the latest news on the Academic Alliance and information on ways to get maximum benefit from your membership. Please feel free to share this newsletter with your colleagues!

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Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0

Microsoft Dynamics GP 9.0 (formerly Microsoft Business Solutions–Great Plains) will be available to members of the Academic Alliance sometime in January or February 2006. GP 9.0 carries the familiarity of Microsoft Office and includes a new Web service engine and a more efficient user setup. Check out What’s New with 9.0 for details.

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Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 will be available in early 2006. Visit the product information page for details.

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Microsoft Small Business Accounting 2006

Microsoft Small Business Accounting is a full-featured financial management program designed for companies with 25 or fewer employees. Everything you need--accounting inventory management, sales order and purchase order processing, job tracking, banking, and payroll--can be found in this program.

Small Business Accounting 2006 is part of the Microsoft Office System and therefore easily integrates with Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Office Excel, and other Microsoft Office System programs. Like Microsoft Office, Small Business Accounting is not offered through the Academic Alliance. However, an online demo version is available for those of you who wish to include it in your curriculum.

Top 10 benefits of Small Business Accounting 2006
More information on Small Business Accounting 2006

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Microsoft Retail Management System and Microsoft Point of Sale

If you teach in the area of retail management, you may want to consider integrating Microsoft Retail Management System or Microsoft Point of Sale into your curriculum.

These point-of-sale products are used by thousands of retailers to help manage inventory, control cash, reduce costs, and improve customer service. To compare the two point-of-sale solutions from Microsoft, read on.

Who uses Microsoft Point of Sale?
Microsoft Point of Sale can be used by most small specialty merchandise retailers with a single store or group of independently operated stores. Types of retailers using the system include:
• Wine
• Hobby, toys, games, craft, gift, novelty, souvenir
• Convenience food (coffee shops, fixed-item cafeterias)
• Tobacco
• Pet
• Retail kiosks

Who uses Microsoft Retail Management System?
Microsoft Retail Management System has been adopted by a wide variety of retailers, from small owner–operated businesses and specialty boutiques to mid-size retailers with large chains. Types of retailers using the system include:
• Clothing, apparel, accessories, sporting goods
• Wine, beer, liquor
• Radio, TV, electronics, appliances
• Hobby, toys, games, gift, novelty, souvenir
• Convenience food
• Nursery, garden centers
• Auto parts
• Drug, pharmacy

For more information, compare Microsoft point-of-sale products.

If you’re interested in using a Microsoft point-of-sale solution in your course(s), contact MBSAA@microsoft.com with your request.

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Upcoming publications featuring Microsoft Business Solutions–Great Plains

Just a reminder that several publications will soon be available that feature Microsoft Great Plains as the system example. Please contact the publisher for availability information.

Computerized Accounting Using Microsoft Business Solutions–Great Plains by Alvin A. Arens and D. Dewey Ward; published by Armond Dalton Publishers, Inc.; Instructions and Assignments – 300 pages; Reference – 200 pages. Formerly titled Computerized Accounting Using Microsoft Great Plains Dynamics.
Expected availability: Early 2006
Likely adopters: The materials are typically used in the first information systems course, but they are relevant in any course where the instructor wants students to learn and understand accounting software used by medium-sized businesses.
Phone: 517-351-8520
Web site: www.armonddalton.com (see this Web site for details about the 2nd edition)

An Introduction to Microsoft Great Plains, an Integrated Approach by Terri Brunsdon, Marshall B. Romney, and Paul John Steinbart; published by Pearson Prentice Hall; ISBN: 0-13-186064-X; 240 pages.
Expected availability: Spring 2006
Web site: www.prenhall.com/compaccounting

Computer Accounting with Microsoft Business Solutions–Great Plains 8.0 by Carol Yacht and Susan Crosson; published by McGraw-Hill/Irwin; ISBN: 007-312-9690; 650 pages.
Expected availability: January 2006
Web site: www.mhhe.com/irwin/images/Yacht/caccounting.html

Computer Accounting Essentials Using Microsoft Business Solutions–Great Plains 8.0 by Carol Yacht and Susan Crosson; published by McGraw-Hill/Irwin; ISBN: 007-312-9666; 250 pages.
Expected availability: December 2005
Web site: http://catalogs.mhhe.com/mhhe/home.do

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MSN College & University Program

You may be interested in another Microsoft program for education. You can connect your campus with hosted e-mail from MSN! Your institution can select a custom domain name for your students and alumni. MSN hosted e-mail includes large storage capacity, junk e-mail filtering, and anti-virus protection tools. Other features of the MSN College & University Program include MSN Messenger, MSN Spaces (where students can post blogs), MSN Mobile, and MSN Alerts. To find out more, visit the MSN College & University Program Web page.

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Curriculum Repository

We have a new curriculum repository hosted on a Windows SharePoint Services Web site. This popular resource for members of the Academic Alliance is migrating from Blackboard to SharePoint. You will be able to post curriculum, discussions, learn about announcements and events, and access course material posted by other members. You will receive a letter containing access instructions and a personal PIN that will allow you to create your own password. Once you have created an account, you can begin to explore the site. Watch your mailbox, as instructions will come by postal mail.

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Your resource—CustomerSource

In this second article of the four-part series on CustomerSource, you will learn how to access the various training components that are available through your Academic Alliance membership.

You are eligible to partake in 10 eCourses per year, along with naming four people to receive a year-long subscription to the Foundation Library.

eCourses are designed to cover detailed concepts on specific areas of a Microsoft Business Solutions product, and provide in-depth technical training.

The Foundation Library is a collection of overview tutorials specific to the Microsoft Business Solutions family of products. These tutorials generally cover a broad range of topics at a high level, and typically do not exceed 60 minutes in length for each tutorial.

You can review the list of available courses here. (Remember you need to log into CustomerSource using your Microsoft .NET Passport account—the topic of our last newsletter.)

From this site, select either eCourses or Foundation Library. After you have made a decision on which course(s) to participate in, you can begin the registration process. DO NOT register online for these courses. Instead, you should contact the Training Team by one of the following methods:

E-mail: mbs-elrn@microsoft.com
Phone: (800) 456-0025 (select option 4)

You will need to provide the following:
• Your authorized number
• School name
• Your name (you must be listed as a professional on the account)
• Name of the eCourse(s)
• Starting date

You also must mention that you are a member of the Microsoft Business Solutions Academic Alliance in order to receive the course(s) free of charge.

For inquiries about eCourses or online training, send e-mail to mbs-elrn@microsoft.com.

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Convergence 2006

Mark your calendar for Convergence 2006, scheduled for March 25–28 in Dallas, Texas. In order to accommodate the conference schedule, we will host our Academic Alliance members an additional day on Friday, March 24.

For a preview of the conference details, visit the Convergence Web site. Watch your e-mail inbox for the Call for Presentations for the Microsoft Business Solutions Academic Alliance session and information on how to register for the reduced fee associated with being a member. The Call for Presentations is also available here.

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MBS Manufacturing Summit

If you currently use an MBS manufacturing solution, or if you are considering adding manufacturing to your curriculum, check out the presentation slide decks from the 6th Annual MBS Manufacturing Summit held November 16–19, 2004 at the Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando, Florida.

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29th Annual Congress of the European Accounting Association

The 29th Annual Congress of the European Accounting Association will be held in Dublin, Ireland, March 22–24, 2006. The venue is the Quinn School of Business at University College Dublin's Belfield campus, 5 kilometers south of the city center. The conference is being organized by the Department of Accountancy at UCD.

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North Dakota trivia

In the last newsletter we included a couple of fun factoids about Fargo and North Dakota because we frequently hear that many people have never visited our fair state. Since Fargo, North Dakota is where the Microsoft Business Solutions Academic Alliance staff is located, we thought maybe you would like to learn a little more about our area! Here are a couple of factoids from Wikipedia.com:

• Notable people from Fargo include: film actor Charlie Korsmo, blues guitarist Jonny Lang, former New York Yankees baseball player Roger Maris, host of The Ed Schultz Show on the Air America Radio network Ed Schultz, and pop music singer from the 1960s Bobby Vee.
• Fargo is often recognized as the title of a 1996 Coen brothers film named after Fargo (though the city is only mentioned briefly at the beginning and most of the film actually takes place in Minnesota).
• Due to the rivalry between North and South Dakota, in 1889 President Benjamin Harrison directed his Secretary of State James Blaine to obscure from him which proclamation of statehood he was signing. Today it is therefore unknown whether North Dakota or South Dakota was admitted to the Union first.

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Volume 4

Decmber 21, 2005

In This Issue