To the Dynamics CRM community,

My apologies for not being as faithful to this blog as of late; there have been big changes!  After five awesome years at Emerging Solutions, I’ve decided to move on and sign up with Avanade.  I’m leaving not just [...]]]>

I jumped like this guy, but I strained something bad.

To the Dynamics CRM community,

My apologies for not being as faithful to this blog as of late; there have been big changes!  After five awesome years at Emerging Solutions, I’ve decided to move on and sign up with Avanade.  I’m leaving not just talented colleagues at Emerging Solutions, but great friends as well.  Due to our combined efforts, the Microsoft practice and especially the Dynamics CRM team has grown tremendously in recent years, and I wish them continued success!

Onwards to the future.  After several weeks at Avanade, they continue to impress.  I really could not ask for more regarding the resources they provide in my role as a Consultant.  They’ve invested in the CRM team by having me attend a CRM Boot Camp with @coloradojules and @davidyack, showing their solid commitment to their employees.  Additionally, their international presence demands a new level of consulting, and I hope to quickly get up to speed and make waves.  Undoubtedly, my goal is to be the best while learning from the best.  Many thanks to the Avanade team for making me feel welcome!

Finally, as many of you already know, the Dynamics CRM Team has been feverishly busy making CRM 2011 even more awesome.  Check out my news roundup below for the latest.

• The Dynamics CRM 2011 Roadmap announced that Service Update R8 is coming soon with big changes this end of Q2.   Download the Release Preview Guide here!  A quick summary below.
• Mobility:  a new cloud subscription service called Dynamics CRM Mobile will provide rich native apps to several mobile devices.  CRM, anywhere.
• Browser Flexibility:  this is a big one.  Dynamics CRM will soon run on any modern browser (IE, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari) on various platforms.  Non-Windows users should be pleased (you know who they are).
• Social:  updates to the popular Activity Feeds will be added, with features such as a Like button and filtered views.
• Industry Templates:  new verticals like Life Annuity Insurance, Non-Profit, Health Plan Sales, and Wealth Management continue to address customer needs.
• SQL Server 2012:  the latest version of SQL also is supported for CRM 2011, with significant performance boosts.
• Certifications:  Microsoft data centers and extension Dynamics CRM Online achieved compliance on important certifications regarding cloud computing standards.

• Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 6 significantly improves performance and should be a must-install.  Note: once installed, you can’t roll it back.
• KB Article #2600640 and Release Notes
• Download link
• Improved Upgrade Performance blog post
• The R9 update to Dynamics CRM is coming soon, and brings social analytics and data-enrichment components.
• Social Analytics UI screenshot
• Article by the All About Microsoft Blog

Note that the On-Premise build numbers I list below may be different than what you will find in CRM 2011 Online.  Microsoft continuously adds new [...]]]> As many Dynamics CRM 4.0 aficionados know, Microsoft releases regular updates to iron out documented issues.  CRM 2011 is no exception; several Update Rollups have already been released since RTM.

Note that the On-Premise build numbers I list below may be different than what you will find in CRM 2011 Online.  Microsoft continuously adds new updates behind the scenes, thus the likelihood of having a greater build number in comparison to the latest Update Rollup version.

To determine your current build number from the IE web client, simply:

1. Browse to your CRM 2011 website
2. Click on the File tab
3. Navigate to Help
4. Click on “About Microsoft Dynamics CRM”

In the latest Statement of Direction (May 2011) announcement, Microsoft has laid out plans to accelerate the development cycle of Dynamics CRM as well as hints to future significant features, probably most notably [...]]]> For all those following the latest news in the CRM market, it’s evident that Microsoft’s recently announced future milestones are truly noteworthy.

In the latest Statement of Direction (May 2011) announcement, Microsoft has laid out plans to accelerate the development cycle of Dynamics CRM as well as hints to future significant features, probably most notably multi-browser and cross-platform support.

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM Statement of Direction – May 2011 (PDF download link)

Accelerated development cycle

Since its inception in 2003, Microsoft CRM has evolved over five versions into Dynamics CRM 2011, the enterprise-class application and framework it is today.  Over the course of its history the Microsoft CRM development team traditionally released each version in 2-3 year cycles.  Each new major version required customers to plan each major upgrade extensively, at times with a sizable investment.

Per the new announcement, Microsoft has committed to shorter development cycles which will bring new enhancements and features to all Online and On-Premise customers.  This will allow users to enjoy the latest innovations as they are developed, as well as providing minimal impact to existing deployments.

The newly announced development cycle includes:

• Updates: similar to the current Update Rollups, these are enhancements that will be delivered to the Dynamics CRM platform semi-annually at Spring (Q2) and Fall (Q4) of each year.  Updates will not require significant implementation planning like Upgrades.  They will also deliver compatibility for future Server, SQL, .NET and Office versions.
• Upgrades: these are new future versions of Dynamics CRM that will provide the next level of milestone features to the platform.  These releases will likely require more implementation planning from customers than the Updates.  The next scheduled major release is for Spring (Q2) of 2012.

The Evolution of Social Media and Collaboration

The focus of Customer Relationship Management applications should be relationships, and the recent announcement for Dynamics CRM reiterates that emphasis.  Mentioned in the announcement is additional feature support for social media and collaboration tools.

Per the statement of direction, there will be new support for:

• Micro-blogging: encompassing important status updates and notifications regarding business events and actions.
• Business activity feeds: delivering configurable real-time notifications regarding important relationships and significant business events.
• Social intelligence: identification of data patterns and streams to enhance customer service and marketing decision-making.

The Perks of going Microsoft

If your organization is a “Microsoft shop”, there are clear advantages to deploying Dynamics CRM and investing in the other Microsoft technologies besides Office.

While it’s not really new news, Microsoft reiterated its commitment to extend capabilities across Microsoft products.  Its most recent example is the easy-to-deploy integration between Dynamics CRM 2011 and SharePoint 2010.   Other points of native integration for Dynamics CRM already include Microsoft Lync and Microsoft Office, as well as the ability to synchronize with back-office applications such as Dynamics GP. Deploying these investments will provide a new user experience as well as have clear business value.

Not mentioned in the statement is the recent sizable investment in Skype.  There’s a good bet that Microsoft has a plan for Skype integration in future updates to Dynamics CRM.  At this point in time, we can speculate that it could provide an enhanced call center solution.

Dynamics CRM anywhere, anytime, on any device

One of the early pain points that I’ve discovered in my experience with Dynamics CRM is its inability to function seamlessly with other browsers beyond Internet Explorer, and by extension other operating systems such as Mac and Linux.  There are new and persistent expectations with cutting-edge devices such as mobile smartphones and tablets.  While there may be competitive and technology reasons for this historical reliance on Internet Explorer, this limitation is unacceptable for some key users.  Workarounds like the compatible MSCRM Mobile Express solution and mobile apps help, but in the end cannot provide the full user experience native to the IE Web and Outlook Client.

To my great delight, Microsoft announced multi-browser and cross-platform support for the next future release of Dynamics CRM.  Per the statement:

• CRM anywhere: deliver immersive user experiences that match users’ particular context or work “mode” – whether that is on the road or in the office. This facilitates a new agility and productivity in how users respond to different situational requirements.
• Cross-device: provide device-specific application experiences that are natural and intuitive across a range of platforms and form-factors.
• Multi-browser: provide targeted user experiences that work on different web browsers by utilizing HTML5 for structuring and presenting content.

Microsoft naming HTML5 as the vehicle for multi-browser support is noteworthy.  Could this be the new future trend, versus platform-centric apps?

The New York Times article “In a New Web World, No Application Is an Island” addresses this very topic, and is a highly recommended read.  Per the Times article:

Engineers say the technology will make it possible to write Web applications, accessed with a browser, that are as visually rich and lively as the so-called native applications that are now designed to run on a specific device, like an iPad or an Android-based tablet.

HTML5 has shown to be quite promising.  Dynamics CRM is positioning itself to be at the forefront of this new web application technology.

Conclusion

There are clear advantages to combining other Microsoft business technologies with Dynamics CRM, and will only be easier to integrate in the future.   Key pain points in the past (such as multi-browser support) will be addressed, and new social collaboration tools to enhance Dynamics CRM are promised and will be soon forthcoming.

These key initiatives will continue to keep Microsoft Dynamics CRM an innovative and competitive leader in the enterprise CRM market.

What’s new in Dynamics CRM 2011

More videos, continued. [...]]]> Software Advice sat down with Dynamics CRM General Manager Brad Wilson and discussed a variety of topics in the videos below. It’s interesting to see the man behind the product, as well as discovering his thoughts on the current state and future of Dynamics CRM.

What’s new in Dynamics CRM 2011

More videos, continued.

Dynamics Marketplace

Microsoft’s strategy for marketing automation

Dynamics Partners in the Cloud era

Dynamics CRM vs. Salesforce

Check out the various [...]]]> As a pleasant surprise, Microsoft publicly released the official On-Premise bits a couple weeks earlier than previously announced (Feb 16).  This is great news for those who want to get started on upgrading from Dynamics CRM 4.0 On-Premise.  Yes, I’m a bit late posting this announcement, but it’s well worth mentioning.

Check out the various download links below.

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Server (64 bit)
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for Microsoft Outlook (32 and 64 bit)
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 SDK
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 E-mail Router
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 List Component for SharePoint

Trial License Key Information:

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Workgroup Server 2011 (5 CAL limit):
H84KC-JH8DF-7PDYK-TXBXR-2RMMT
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011 (no CAL limit):
MQM2H-JYYRB-RRD6J-8WBBC-CVBD3

On a personal note, I’ve been neglecting this blog for weeks due to one major reason: the release of CRM 2011!  This new version has caught quite a lot of interest, and I’ve been criss-crossing the Midwest to help address the demand.

Be sure to drop a note at my Twitter account if you’d like to chat about the new version!

Earlier in the year, this company had restructured their staff.  During this process [...]]]> I recently got a call from a company that was having issues running their workflows on Dynamics CRM 4.0.  Despite being configured correctly, their workflows hadn’t processed for more than 4 months!  After a quick remote session, we quickly determined the source of the issue.

Earlier in the year, this company had restructured their staff.  During this process they had disabled the user account of a key former employee that was the owner of all the workflows.

What was the lesson learned?  Disabling the Owner user account of a workflow will disable the workflow jobs as well. Workflows require an active user account to process the jobs. When developing workflows for an organization, make sure all of the published workflows are owned by an administrative account, and not an employee.

Dynamics CRM 4.0 does warn you of this fact while disabling a user (see screenshot below).

Disabling a User in Dynamics CRM 4.0

Unfortunately for my client, all of their workflow activity during the downtime could not be recovered, despite having finally re-enabled the workflows.  Again, as a Dynamics CRM Consultant, be sure to educate your clients of this fact.

Arguably, the most noticeable feature in the Dynamics CRM 2011 Beta is the new Dashboard functionality.  It brings to the table such a new level of easy and powerful customization that one could say Microsoft has truly “brought BI [...]]]>

"Data, looks like resistance to the Borg is futile to maximizing our sales pipeline."

Arguably, the most noticeable feature in the Dynamics CRM 2011 Beta is the new Dashboard functionality.  It brings to the table such a new level of easy and powerful customization that one could say Microsoft has truly “brought BI to the masses.”

What makes the Dynamics CRM 2011 Dashboards so special?  Let me count the ways:

• Easily create a custom Dashboard on the fly by clicking the New button on the Outlook ribbon or from the web client.
• Keep your custom dashboard for yourself, or share your creation with other colleagues on your team (similar in functionality to Views).
• Easily add CRM Views to the Dashboard.
• Drag in your own bar charts and line charts, add a sales funnel, or add a connected Bing Map so you can see the locations of the customers you’re visiting today.
• Drill-down capability, so you can view individual records.
• Use iFrames to provide a window to other Portals or internal/external websites.
• Use the advanced tools in Dashboard customization to incorporate custom SSRS reports that display data from other systems.

These tools provide all the fodder that the imaginative user and developer will need to design useful Dashboards on-the-fly.

Dashboard Help Section

For those new to managing Dashboards, Microsoft provided a help section that is available upon your first login to Dynamics CRM 2011.  This section can be hidden permanently as soon as you feel you’re familiar with the tools.

Dynamics CRM 2011: Dashboards Help section

Creating a New Dashboard in CRM 2011

Upon creation of a new Dashboard, CRM asks for your preferred layout format.  So far so good…

Dynamics CRM 2011: Dashboards Layout

In the next Dashboard customization screen, we can add the following resource types:

• Chart
• List
• Web Resource, which can consist of:
  • Web Page (HTML)
  • Style Sheet (CSS)
  • Script (JScript)
  • Data (XML)
  • Images (JPG, PNG, GIF, ICO)
  • Silverlight (XAP)
  • Style Sheet (XSL)
• iFrame

Dynamics CRM 2011: Dashboards Toolbar

In less than five minutes, I instantly built my sample Dashboard by:

• Adding a bar graph of Activities by Priority
• Adding a Grid View of My Accounts
• Adding a JPG image
• Adding the mobile website of Twitter Search for #MSDYNCRM

See the screenshot of my creative (albeit questionably productive) Dashboard below.

Dynamics CRM 2011: My Sample Dashboard

While my sample Dashboard won’t win any productivity awards, it’s my own Dashboard to view, tweak and share with my colleagues.  My next step would be to try and incorporate Bing Maps imaginatively.

As always, the most important step is to take that initial dive, and imagine the possibilities!

It’s a wonderful day in the #MSDYNCRM world. 

Microsoft promised and delivered today the Dynamics CRM 2011 Beta version, available Online and On-Premise!  Check out http://www.crm2011beta.com for videos and highlights, as well as the official announcement to see for yourself.  If you didn’t attend the “First Look at CRM 2011″ webcast on [...]]]>

It’s a wonderful day in the #MSDYNCRM world. 

Microsoft promised and delivered today the Dynamics CRM 2011 Beta version, available Online and On-Premise!  Check out http://www.crm2011beta.com for videos and highlights, as well as the official announcement to see for yourself.  If you didn’t attend the “First Look at CRM 2011″ webcast on September 7th, I’d highly recommend you view it.

• If you want to sign up for the CRM 2011 Beta Online, make sure to fill out this form.
• If you want to download the On-Premise bits yourself and install them in house, download the installation files here.
• Be sure to download the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Beta Implementation Guide.
• Make sure you post your questions on the official CRM 2011 Beta Forum.
• At this link you can download the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Software Development Kit (SDK).
• The following product keys are available for this release (found in the readme file).
  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM Workgroup (5 CAL limit): FF2JM-QX9PG-HXT8M-MMHXG-4MF32
  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server (no CAL limit): 4FDTK-3HYV2-D9CCJ-4MF9Q-QJ32X
  • Although the application may display a 90-day trial period, these trial product keys will expire after 270 days.
  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM Professional edition is no longer available with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.

This Beta release is also getting some media attention!  Check out a few interesting articles below.

• “Microsoft aims to sharpen its CRM pitch”, CNET News
• “Microsoft to deliver public betas of CRM 2011 and app store in mid-September”, ZDNet
• “Microsoft begins testing new CRM program”, CNET News

In the next coming months, my pledge to you will be to start highlighting all the new Beta features and tips here at this CRM blog.  Feel free to contact me if you have a special request or question regarding the new Beta, and I’ll be sure to cover it for you.