In this article series, you’ll learn how to access your historical data using Popdock when that data is not in your new system.

In our first article, we covered the concerns of accessing historical Dynamics GP data in your new system. Now we will go into some scenarios you might run into when migrating.

Before we jump into the nitty-gritty of accessing your historical Dynamics GP data, we’re going to define certain terms that you may be less familiar with.

Important terms

Gateways

When we talk about connecting to Dynamics GP data, we need to make sure we have a secure way of accessing it. Data gateways allow secure access to on-premise data.

When Popdock, an Azure-based solution that is hosted in the cloud, receives access to your on-premise data, it enables other applications to use this information without compromising the SQL Server where the data resides. This gives you all the power you need to ensure the right people in your organization have access to the correct data.

Azure Data Lake

An Azure Data Lake is a storage unit located in the cloud that houses your historical data. It allows you to store unstructured data.

Unstructured data is not arranged in preset ways. This kind of data cannot be stored in a traditional database. Email messages, videos, webpages, photos, and audio files–all text and multimedia files–count as unstructured data.

In Dynamics GP, all of the data was stored in tables. Those columns were in the format GP was expecting. If you had third-party products, you may have had additional tables where those were stored.

Azure Data Lakes are much more versatile. You can store CSV files, JPEGs, Word documents, and other types of files right next to each other. The storage rules are flexible. They give you the capability to store large amounts of data in a cost-effective manner.

If you have documents in Dynamics GP, how do you still get access to viewing those files? Popdock allows you to extract that document, place it into the data lake, and make it viewable in any system.

Popdock is the solution for accessing historical Dynamics GP data

Popdock is the solution for:

  • SQL on-prem or cloud
  • Hosted GP
  • Popdock and an Azure Data Lake

We’re going to discuss three different scenarios and then dive deeper into them in our following demonstration articles.

Scenario 1: Maintaining a SQL Server

If you want to continue maintaining your SQL Server with all your GP data for however many years to come, that is one option. Popdock can bring that information in. You will get all of your SmartLists, favorites from your SmartLists, and anything built in SmartList Builder. You’d get access to all those things as well as access to views, tables, etc. You can continue making that data available if you want to maintain your old SQL server.

But here’s the thing; most people don’t want to maintain their old SQL Server forever. They want to reach a point where they no longer need to use it and can access that old data in the cloud. The burden of keeping their SQL Server running locally can outweigh the benefits.

Scenario 2: Hosted GP

There are a few different solutions that will host GP. Some people have moved it to one of those different solutions and have a single user who can log in and access that data. There are systems where they have put a whole API around it that Popdock can call into. That’s one example of a hosted solution where we can hook into that data.

Scenario 3: Popdock and an Azure Data Lake

With Popdock, you can move all your data to an Azure Data Lake. Using a data lake is a cost-effective way to access all your data and surface it in other systems.

This allows you to:

  • Stop maintaining old SQL Servers
  • Save the money you would have used to story data in your new system
  • Keep your new system running smoothly

Hosting historical data in an Azure Data Lake and connecting Popdock to your new system allows you to access that historical data in your new system. Popdock is the bridge connecting that data lake and your system.

In our next article, we will demonstrate how you can use Popdock to access historical Dynamics GP data in a timely and cost-efficient manner. 

Do you want more personalized help in answering your questions? Contact our sales team at sales@eonesolutions.com or 888-319-3663 ext. 1. They are always eager to provide help and answers for your migration needs.