After careful review, Myappsanywhere’s Senior Business Solutions Consultant Tobi Darby shares a few of her thoughts on Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Web Client.
Before we dive into the review, I’d like to start off with a reminder that it is important to note the GP 2013 Web Client is meant to be a complement to the Microsoft Dynamics GP package rather than a replacement of the standard GP client.
In reviewing the new GP 2013 Web Client, I have found that accessing GP in Web Client is very easy. Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Web Client offers flexibility to access GP applications from anywhere, anytime. Unlike hosted versions of Dynamics GP, users do not have to login through a VPN, Remote Desktop or Citrix server to access the application—they can just enter an internet address and log in with their GP Web Client credentials.
Additionally, the licensing for the GP 2013 Web Client is a lot less complicated than hosted GP (Citrix or Terminal Server) licensing, too. The Web Client is a good access point for part-time users, light data entry, reporting or inquiry into your GP data.
However, since Web Client is going to be released in a phased approach, not all functions are available at this time. Today, Web Client users will be able to use General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Sales Order Processing, Purchase order Processing and Inventory with the GP 2013. Payroll/HR is planned for a phase II release, Project Accounting is phase III, Field Service phase IV, Manufacturing is phase V. As for the remainder of the functions, we do not have an ETA on when these are set to be released.
There are a few other quirks with Web Client, including the fact that any user leveraging Web Client will need to install Microsoft Silverlight (a required component for GP 2013 Web Client) on the local computer used to access GP—that also means that the local computer must have a Windows operating system. Microsoft has also stated that Web Client works with Internet Explorer versions 8-10. Our internal testing demonstrated this to be true, and we have not tested other browsers at this time.
With testing as it stands today, I believe that Web Client is a good tool for users who are looking for information but are not heavy data entry users. For example, heavy data entry users will likely be frustrated with the generation of reports in Web Client, as this process does not allow the report to open on the screen. Instead, the user is expected to save the report to their local computer before opening the report. There are also a few keyboard commands, such as lookups, that do not function in Web Client.
A couple of other points about Web Client:
Many third party products may not be available
Customer Maintenance and Vendor Maintenance are not available
You will receive an error message in the print window for Sales Transaction Entry
For a full list of features for both Web Client and hosted GP, see our charts below: 
