The New Table Synchronization Paradigm in NAV 2013 R2

cnicola

I am not sure if everyone is aware of this new concept from MS:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nav/archive/201 ... 13-r2.aspx

I think there is an interesting "conversation" already going in the comments section of the post. But I think this requires a lot more discussion since it affects all of us in many ways. After reading it, I have decided to keep a new customer on 2013 rather the start them on 2013 R2 because I simply cannot understand whether I need to worry about what it is said there if I am doing single tenant. And the penalty for a mistake is losing customer's data. =D>
I think Ivan's comment (on the post) captures the obvious: why not add multi-tenant features and have in code separate the options (like the ISSERVICETIER in 2009)? ](*,)
They are treating this like a brand new software with little regard to existing base and current new installs. I think the scariest thing for me in the article is when they call "Single Tenancy" = "Legacy Mode". [-X [-o< #-o
We are barely recovering from the RTC/RDLC double punch only to land straight in another totally unnecessary nightmare of MS's making.
And, unless Tatarinov said "let there be multi tenant", I do not see the business case for this in the short to medium range. It will be years before someone will deploy 1000 or 100 multi-tenants of exactly same code to at least make it worth the manual labor this will save. However to offer that they are doing another redesign of NAV with us riding along unwillingly ...

A perfect illustration of how ridiculous things have become is importing objects. The instructions used to be: get file, open NAV, File -> Import, replace all and done!!!! =D>
Now Microsoft in the article has 7 steps that they recommend that include, without any hint of irony as far as I can detect, NOT using the NAV dev client, break up objects in "smaller chunks" (is there a Item Unit of Measure table that defines chunk as Base UOM and alternate UOMs as smaller, smallest, larger, largest so I can upload that in my brain using Rapid Start? :roll: ) and last and my favorite: using SQL Profiler to "monitor" the process. Assuming we know how to start Profiler (and we should since now we are SQL experts that can run scripts to backup a company instead of simply running an fbk file) I am still unclear as to what I am supposed to look for while monitoring, whether I can leave the computer to go to the bathroom for 1 minute or I have to keep an eye on it until all 10000 tenants synchronize, and, assuming I can detect something that looks wrong (via some sort of feminine intuition), what should I do: use the Force?

Phew got that all off my chest ... maybe more to come tomorrow. Meanwhile if their explanation makes sense to you, please help me understand how I can continue to do the same things I used to the old-fashioned/legacy/single-tenant way. :-#

generic

If you are a partner, you are supposed to have a person who is certified on sql and they can answer your questions.
As far as complaining about change, and not willing to accept that the application is changing with every version, that's your problem.
You should spend some time on learning how the new application works and test it for yourself on demo/test data.
All the new documentation is available on MSDN.
Bugs happen in software. When NAV first came on sql, there were bugs that caused data loss. It's a risk that we all take the way software is written in general.

The data loss scenario wouldn't happen in production environment if you follow best practices on loading objects.


[Offensive wordings removed by Administrator]

cnicola

generic wrote:

If you are a partner, you are supposed to have a person who is certified on sql and they can answer your questions.
As far as complaining about change, and not willing to accept that the application is changing with every version, that's your problem.
You should spend some time on learning how the new application works and test it for yourself on demo/test data.
All the new documentation is available on MSDN.
Bugs happen in software. When NAV first came on sql, there were bugs that caused data loss. It's a risk that we all take the way software is written in general.

The data loss scenario wouldn't happen in production environment if you follow best practices on loading objects.


Stop being a troll.

While you may disagree with my opinion, that does not make me a troll. And I guarantee you there are many people that think like me. Either way, I would appreciate if you kept this at a polite tone.

I am still in this business after RDLC/RTC/Cloud came out. If that does not make me willing to embrace change I don't know what will.
And while I do have the needed SQL resources, you are missing the point: there used to be an easy way to do some things like importing objects and backing up a company. I do object to having that made infinitely more complicated due to changes that most people I know in partner channel never asked for ...

At a higher level, you are also ignoring the bigger issue. The issue is not as much the changes as how they are done. No company whose revenue actually depended on NAV would have ever made the moves MS is making today since this pace and disruption would risk alienating your customers, prospects and reseller network. Especially since NAV was working so there was no reinvent or die moment (in the short term at least).
NAV however is run by the MS "Ivory Tower" who is running an experiment with our livelihood (since numbers generated by NAV are a blip on their financial radar at least for now). They may turn out right if all this works out and they will credited as visionaries. They may also turn out right and alone with everybody having moved on ... Or they may turn out wrong and then this will simply be added to the same graveyard as Windows Phone 7, Surface and many other experiments.
Partners on the other hand are not in the business of adapting and keeping up with change for change's sake. And for now I still think there is a future with this if only MS listened more to the channel and their customer base (like Navision did). I will try anything for that to happen even if I have to resort to trolling. And I do hope more people will join me.

As for data loss happens: is that what you would say to your customers when it did occur?

Rob_Hansen

I agree with what you're saying cnicola. There was no justification for anyone to call you a troll on that post. It was a valid and clearly articulated statement on the complexities that are making life more difficult for all partners, and driving implementation costs UP while MS is trying to push NAV implementation costs DOWN. Their intentions and their actions are not aligned right now, and they need to be.