Friendly Microsoft Dynamics CRM Monster

Stairway to 'CWR Mobility' Heaven

2009-11-10T16:36:00.012+01:00

It was very busy last week. First the Convergence on Thursday and Friday xRM event of Microsoft. Nevertheless, I did attend the partner training of CWR Mobility instead, which was more interesting than hearing the xRM e.g. CRM with new marketing flavour ;-)

Of course it was late Thursday night after eating with Matt Valentine (Microsoft US), Ronald Lemmen (Avanade) & Hans Veldman(Hans Veldman Consultancy Solutions) in heart of Amsterdam. Next morning driving to Rotterdam again...

I remembered the address, because I had been there before, but this was heaven compared to the shabby location of Microsoft Convergence the day before. The weather was good and you had great view over the port of Rotterdam (see photos), really amazing. Good start with coffee and donuts :)
The days was divided in several blocks containing sessions, sometimes focused on sales & technical oriented consultants. A good lunch and nice afternoon and the final of the sessions.

I think I could safely speak for all people who did attend that this day was excellent and looking forward to partner day part II :) More details of the event at CWR Mobility blog

www.hotelnewyork.nl

At the end of the day we were invited to join CWR Mobility for diner at Hotel New York, which was delicious & good choice too.

In conclusion a very nice partner event organised by CWR Mobility. An excellent location,food, good and interesting program. And I am now also certified partner (friendlyITsolutions.nl) & trained professional as bonus, what more we can wish for :-)

Convergence "Credit Crunch" at Rottterdam (NL)

2009-11-10T16:19:00.004+01:00

Last Thursday it was finally the time to visit the Convergence. I was very curious what they had organized this time. It was typical bad weather day stormy & rainy. The location was next to train station, but it was in old shabby former hotel. The registration was at first floor and to my surprise the rooms were situated on first and seventh floor(!).

The sponsors were also divided on two seperate floors on asle which were too small. Some were placed next to entry/exit of room which made it almost impossible to ask something if people were attending or exiting the room. So, the location was as worse as the weather.

Hightlight were some new companies (at least for me). My personal favorite was Team Knowledge Limited.

Guess, you would say the food is always good at Microsoft? This time it was not too bad, some Dutch local food, but unfortunately served too cold too.

The speakers were a lot better than last year, but the topics were mainly focussed on xRM and sales & marketing and not too technical. It might be nice to have some MSDN like event for Dynamics...

See, now waiting on next Convergence, but not sure if I will attend yet...

Online training

2009-10-21T13:46:00.002+02:00

Nowadays its hard to stay up to speed with all lastest technologies, products updates etc. You also probably busy with current projects, gettin new business etc.

So this might be nice solutions for talking some online training. Check out the website of webucator. I did check it out myself and they offer interesting courses.

I was involved several times in setting up and organizing training within IT department and this could be nice option or add value to your programm. In my last hours I watch many webinars & courses to keep up to date.

PS

It was also nice to have new sponsored banner, you like one too feel free to contact me. :)

Attending Convergence 2009 (Netherlands)

2009-10-21T13:36:00.001+02:00

Just to let you know I will attend the Convergence in Rotterdam (The Netherlands).

I had also plans to go to UK, but unfortunately I could only be added on waitings list.

My latest musing about "outsourcing"

2009-10-09T09:17:00.004+02:00

It was a bit quiet here, but I am still alive. I have some, I hope, interesting posts coming up about C360, MobiConverge, Adxstudio and trainings module.

Think by next week I will also post about what I am currently doing and working on some nice ideas...

Today, I just start with annoucing my latest musing. Yes, another one is published and you can read it now at msdynamicsworld.com

Enjoy :)

MS Convergence Europe 'Credit Crunch version' is Coming

2009-09-12T10:01:00.005+02:00

In one of my previous posts I already mentioned the next Convergence in October/November. Its now open for registration, check the website.

I am not sure yet, but I probably will attend the one in The Netherlands and maybe also in the UK. I have also no idea what to expect for this version, which is at least a lot cheaper, hope they don't cut the budget on the food too, that was always excellent, the rest was not too bad too ;-)

Curious if you plan to go and to which location and what you're expectation are?

Leave some feedback in the comments...

BTW I also saw some poll about Convergence on linkedin...

Invited to Scribe Software MVP Program

2009-09-01T20:33:00.005+02:00

Today I received the official invitation to the newly Scribe Software MVP Program. Of course I accepted the invitation :-)

Here a quote what the program is about:

"...The goal of our MVP program is to recognize excellence and develop more formal relationships between Scribe’s most experienced and active users and our internal product management, development and support teams..."

You can find my listing and of other MVP's at Scribe website.

Hmmmm, friendlycrmonster - Scribe Software MVP... not bad.. not bad at all ;-)

Another Roll Up is available: No.6

2009-08-31T10:38:00.004+02:00

Today, I did some reading at other blogs etc. I just read the announcement for Roll Up 6.0.

Some highlights: solved issues with convering time to UTC in database, asyncoperation tables grow very large and emails promoted by using DM Manager cannot be reassigned.

You can find(more) details here.

Start rolling (again...)

My first glance at Experlogix product

2009-08-28T14:46:00.004+02:00

Lucky some people do read my articles @ msdynamicsworld.com. This resulted in an invitation to a demo of the product of Experlogix.

Of course I saw the demo for Dynamics CRM, the functionality could be described as

"...Experlogix features an intuitive configuration environment that turns even novice users into expert product customization specialists. As you customize a product, Experlogix automatically provides easy to understand, color coded displays, makes suggestions, fixes problems, etc. - all according to rules that you have defined. Graphics and technical product data can be called up at the touch of a button..." - [quote website Experlogix]

I must say I was impressed to see how smoothly everything worked with Dynamics CRM. I hope I could do some more tests myself, if I got the time I will let you know.

Nevertheless, I am very curious if you used or tried their product already, leave your remark in the comments

Give it a try!

Finally I am officially: Scribe Software - Level I Technical Certified Consultant

2009-08-28T14:36:00.003+02:00

I finally got the time to do my second exam for Scribe certification and I also got it. So, now I got at least one certification :-p

I already did Level 2 course and heard that by end of the year Scribe has some new courses available for Nav & AX.

Keep on integrating or migrating :)

Are the Accelerators for Microsoft Dynamics CRM overrated??

2009-08-19T14:26:00.002+02:00

In my spare time I try to keep up with the accelerators for CRM. In the beginning I thought it was very nice initiative, but I hear lots of different opinions about the quality & reliability.

Today I was very surprised to see even accelerator which you have to pay for?? I read on the homepage "... available at no cost...", guess I did miss something here :-S

Nevertheless, I am very curious about your experiences with the accelerators. Personally I would love to see one who would let me also send emails from custom entities like you could do for standard entities and for a change also support a Enterprise architecture.

Curious about your experience!

Keep accelerating, or not that's the question :-)

My latest 'musing' now published!

2009-08-11T17:47:00.006+02:00

Yes, after some months I wrote my next musing on msdynamicsworld.com and as bonus you also could find the link at Recent blog posts section or just click here :-)

The musing is about succesful approach to data migration.

Enjoy reading!

Of course please feel free to leave your comments (after reading) :-)

Convergence 2009 Europe

2009-07-30T07:50:00.003+02:00

Today I received some information from Microsoft The Netherlands, seems "we" are number three in the world for Dynamics CRM in absolute figures. Its of course nice to know, but other information was more interesting. The announcement of Convergence 2009 Europe.

As you might know it will take place in 4 countries:

* Tuesday October 27th in London, UK
* Thursday October 29th in Vienna, Austria
* Tuesday November 3rd in Frankfurt, Germany
* Thursday November 5th in Rotterdam, The Netherlands

The rates are credit crunch proof and only 300 euro (ex. VAT). You could register for the events from September 1st, if you are a forgetting person you can use the "Registration Alert".

More details at Convergence 2009 Europe website. Now only convince your boss which place to go :-) Even Microsoft helps with that too... (look at right side if the first page of the website "Spread the word" button).

Missed opportunity: crm addon for Enterprise?

2009-07-27T08:24:00.003+02:00

It still got me puzzled... One of the targets of CRM 4.0 should be the Enterprise segment. I wrote postings about the architectural challenges and from architectural point of view CRM 4.0 should or could work.

Nevertheless, I have not experienced a flawless working addon in Enterprise architecture yet :-( It seems that most addons are not designed to work with NLB setups, clusters, CRM server that are installed on several application & platform servers etc.

Another thing probably forgotten that it doesn't stop with the addon itself. There is no standard environment at your customer. So, another big issues is support! In my opinion a lot of time is wasted to request and find the right person for gettin support.

It would make our work a lot more pleasant if next to an addon that works in complex Enterprise setup it also has good support.

Please feel free to share your good or bad experience in the comments, don't be shy :-)

Following the friendlycrmonster...

2009-07-13T08:22:00.003+02:00

Just out of curiousity I created a twitter account (frndlyCRMonster). Hmmm, I am little worried, because the last time I did something like this I ended up with this blog... ;-)

So if I have access and am in the mood, you could find me on twitter too. Of course you still could read my posting or my columns at msdynamicsworld.com.

Enjoy!

Coming up WPC 2009

2009-07-10T08:23:00.002+02:00

I hoped I could attend the WPC this year, but I am in the middle of big migration project. Nevertheless, I heard already some new rumors about new products and alliances in Dynamics CRM world.

If you lucky you could hear it yourself at WPC else check back around 13th to read some of the news or my comments :)

Check back later!

New interesting products: Biztalk 2009, SharePoint 2010 etc.

2009-07-10T08:04:00.003+02:00

In the last quarter some interesting products were or going to be released in this quarter.

Guess by now you should know I am more or less specialised in migration and integration to Dynamics CRM. So, last quarter Biztalk 2009 has been released. I didn't had time to take a look in it, because I am totally behind due to my current project. You could download trial here.

Other interesting products that are coming is of course Office 10, I read some current products were renamend from Groove to SharePoint WorkSpace 2010. I could remember one of the speeching of Bill Gates af couple of years ago, where SharePoint was positioned in the middle and all other Microsoft products were positoned around SP.

Guess, this is my cue to tell you that probably this month, you never sure with Microsoft release dates, the beta of SharePoint 2010 will be released.

Also I am looking forward to Windows 7's official release. There is only one big annoying thing about this release. It seems that in some countries in Europe an upgrade version wouldn't be available :-( due to European regulations.

Guess, that sums it up for now... its back to migrating!

Scribe keeps renewing

2009-07-01T08:17:00.002+02:00

Guess, its already mentioned in newsletter and maybe you seen the website. Newest release is the blog of Scribe after new branding, fresh website now it also launches a blog.

You can check it out at: http://blog.scribesoft.com/

Interesting topic on the blog from my point of view the pre announcement of an adapter for one of the other Dynamics product, Dynamics AX.

I am working on new post about some more tips and tricks for migration Goldmine to CRM 4.0. Also working on new column for dynamicsworld.com about datamigration.

keep migrating :)

Migrating: Goldmine -> MS CRM

2009-06-10T13:33:00.005+02:00

What is a CRM application without data? In my experience datamigration/integration is one of the importants part of your project.

As you might know I am working at this moment on migrating data from Goldmine 5.5 (MS SQL implementation) to MS CRM 4.0. To get more information about Goldmine I used some information from Scribe templates, but also used this website a lot.

To make it more easy we also use an extra leading data source. We choose to add some columns in table of Goldmine. To retrieve you extra columns you have to update the Goldmine Adapter with MetadataConfig tool, which you could find in Scribe directory.

You have to add your columns in the Goldmineadapter.xml and upload them with the Metadataconfig tool. Please make backup of xml file first :-)

If you succeeded you will see the fields when connecting to Goldmine in the workbench. Some more tips/tricks in next post.

Scribe Integration: Error(s) trying to run DTS in Scribe Console (Enterprise Level)

2009-06-10T13:11:00.005+02:00

I ran into some issues trying to schedule a DTS in the Scribe Console. The DTS was running fine in the Workbench. In our logs we did see several errors also:
- "Server execution failed (Error code=80080005)"
- "Error initializing the Message Processor"
- "Initialize failed (MsgProcDoc is null)"

We followed these steps (see topic 469) to solve the issue:

1) Check (correct) installation of MSMQ

2) Scribe Service Account should be/have :

a) a local admin on the Scribe server

b) a member of the Scribe Console Users Group

c) internet access.

The last (internet access) could be issue in Enterprise Environment. If its impossible to gain this privilige because security policies you could try this:

1) Logon to server with the account running the Scribe Services

2) Open IE and go to => Tools => Internet Options Click on the 'Advanced tab' scroll to 'Security'

3) Uncheck 'Check for publisher's certificate revocation'

4) Click 'Apply' and then 'OK'

You're DTS should now run succesfully.

The origin of this issue is not in the Scribe Software but an possible issue with the .NET framework. Please test it first in your development environment. The workaround is only needed when your account don't have internet access privilege.

Keep on integrating!

The new Scribe website

2009-06-04T08:58:00.004+02:00

After my long weekend, we had some holiday over here. I had nice surprise, which I guess many people were waiting for.

The website of Scribe(soft) had an extremely makeover! I must admit I like it and it is big improved considering the old website. The style was already displayed in new release of Scribe Insight 6.5 and its fresh and I actually could find my way around now :-)

So for many of us it's time, if you didn't already, to update the bookmarks:

- Openmind (forum & knowledge base)
- Downloads (of course the download page)

Go see it for yourself!

Enterprise Architecture - Platform Server

2009-06-04T08:47:00.003+02:00

In an Enterprise Architecture we can setup Dynamics CRM in application and platform server. You could enhance performance by setting up a NLB for the application server, so you can use more than one application server. Of course this will also enhance your availibity of the application/

There was lot of discussion about what to do with platform server. Can we replicate it too, do we have to use cold fail over etc. The solutions is even nicer, a Microsoft Consultant pointed me to this whitepaper "Performance and Scalability Assessment of Customer Implementation"

The article describes a test where the platform server was deployed in NLB setup.

Check it out!

Scribe's Web Services Adapter Webcast

2009-05-12T14:20:00.003+02:00

Guess, it has already been announced at many blogs. Nevertheless a new very interesting feature of Scribe. The Scribe web services adapter, you can join it yourself on Thursday, May 14 @ 11am – 12pm EST

Please register here before joining!

More details about the webcast:

Scribe Web Services Adapter Product Launch: Overview and Demonstrations
This webcast will cover the newly released Web Services Adapter for Scribe Insight and Scribe Insight Enterprise. The webcast will include a feature overview and several demonstrations of the Web Service Adapter enabling integration to Dynamics AX, Microsoft SharePoint and 3rd party commercial web services.

Enjoy!

PS I am working on post about my integration between GoldMine and MS CRM 4.0

Be carefull with crm addons and Enterprise Architecture

2009-05-04T08:36:00.002+02:00

One of the options crm 4.0 gives us is the flexibility to choose how to install Dynamics CRM. We have three major deployment options:
1) Standaard ( Dynamics CRM on one server)
2) Application /platform server (seperate services over one or more application servers and one platform server)
3) Custom (install the service independendly)

The first two options are provided with the GUI. The last options is a command line installation. The last two are commonly used in an Enterprise setup, where performance, redundancy and availability are key issues.

The setup is not too difficult and shouldn't take too long :-) The most important thing is to consider, which Dynamics CRM addon(s) you want to use! I experienced that addons are not always tested for the last two deployment options. Sofar I understand Microsoft only test them in standard deployment and the creator of the addon is responsible for other deployment options.

If considering an Enterprise Architecture be carefull with the use of addons. Read carefully, check and/or confirm that they will work in your deployment. This would definitely save you some big trouble and headaches. It takes a lot of time if you find out to late, think of the time you have to spend on support calls, reconfiguring, re-testing etc.

Nevertheless addons can deliver the functionality your client needs, but be carefull when considering them in an Enterprise Architecture.

Choose wisely :-)

My lastest musing on msdynamicsworld

2009-05-04T08:32:00.004+02:00

The topic of hosted crm keeps me busy, guess and hopefully I am not the only one. I decided to write my musing about the topic after the many reactions on my post about hosted crm and the development in the market and my own experiences sofar with hosted crm.

Check it out yourself at msdynamicsworld.com