Welcome to big CRM stylin’!

Here you will find the latest information regarding Microsoft Dynamics CRM and occasionally other Dynamics solutions.

The focus is on general news and tips for the intrepid CRM Administrator, as well as something for even the newest CRM user.

CRM 4.0 VPC Reloaded, with Office 2010 and new Accelerators. Download now!

You down with VPC? (Yeah you know me)

Microsoft just released an updated version of the April 2009 VPC release, mostly because it’s due to expire very soon.  You’ll probably need PartnerSource or CustomerSource access to download it at the link below.

VPC Re-Release for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

Why should you download this version?  First of all, it’s not set to expire until August 2011 which will give you plently of time to play around until CRM 2011 is released.   It’s also a leaner download at about 7 GB.  Last but not least, it includes some new technologies such as Office 2010 and portal accelerators.

Per the download page, this new release (or re-release) has some new updated software:

  • Update Rollup 11
  • Microsoft Office 2010
  • New Portal Accelerators
  • New Partner and Customer portal installed using AD so no external network is required
  • New Profile Manager Tool which has two profiles for services and URL caching

It also looks like this VPC has the same credentials as in the past releases.  Log in with the following:

ID=contoso\administrator
PW=pass@word1

Enjoy!

Video: Introduction to the Outlook Client for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

Check out my latest demonstration video on the CRM 4.0 Outlook Client! It’s an outline of the general navigation and features of the client, so it’s really nothing new for the seasoned CRM Consultants out there. Rather, this video is targeted for new and prospective clients who don’t live and breathe the CRM world everyday.

Hope you enjoy it… I’d appreciate your feedback!



Update Rollup 11 for Dynamics CRM now available for download (KB 981328)

Drogba, Ivory Coast's number 11, gets a kick out of regular updates to his CRM. (UPDATE: he's injured and will miss the World Cup. Bummer)

Microsoft released the latest Update Rollup 11 for Dynamics CRM today, just in time before the World Cup 2010 tournament.  It’s so obvious now; they did this to make some room in their schedule for watching the live matches.  Indeed, they had already announced that there would be regular updates every 8 weeks… but I see through your game!   ಠ_ಠ

This release shows better Ribbon integration with Outlook 2010.  The CRM buttons don’t appear in the Add-Ins tab anymore.

Make sure you download and review the KB article from the links below.

The usual considerations apply regarding backing up and restoring customization XML files.  Make sure to carefully read the release notes before upgrading.

Some notable updates:

  • Windows Internet Explorer crashes or stops responding when you use the Advanced Find view on a computer that is running Windows 7.
  • After you apply Update Rollup 7 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, you experience slow performance when you open Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Web client.
  • When you create a Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services (SSRS 2008) report by using the new SSRS 2008 features, you cannot display the report in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.
  • You experience slow performance when you add many members, such as 10,000 members, into a marketing list. Additionally, you may receive a time-out error message.
  • Assume that you create a report in the Report Wizard. When you run the report, you receive the following error message: An error has occurred during report processing. Query execution failed for data set ‘DSMain’.

A special cheers to all my fellow Dynamics CRM colleagues who will be following the tournament as closely as I will.  :-)

Video: Sales Lifecycle demonstration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

Here’s my brief video walkthrough of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Sales Lifecycle, from initial e-mail to closing the sale.

Hopefully there will be more to come soon. Let me know if you have a specific Dynamics CRM topic you’d like me to address, and I just might make a video walkthrough based on it. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to practice on my demo voice. :-)

Looking forward to your feedback!



The latest plans for Dynamics CRM in the just released Statement of Direction (April 2010)

Microsoft just released their latest Statement of Direction for Dynamics CRM. It’s typically a must-read for any CRM aficionado if you want to learn what Microsoft has up its sleeve in the upcoming short and long term timeframe.

Download here!
Dynamics CRM Statement Of Direction – April 2010
(link to Ross’ CRM website with the PDF)

There is some exciting information on unifying the Dynamics technologies that will help bring together any challenging business solution, as well as welcome additions to the SDK. Some details regarding CRM 5.0 are starting to be teased out, but in reality most of the information here has been public for some time.

So what did we learn? There are new Accelerators in the pipline:

  • Non-Profit Solution for Dynamics CRM Online – now available!
  • Portal Accelerators – Q2 2010
    • This release provides new versions of eService, Event Management and Partner Relationship Management (PRM) accelerators that can connect to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online as well as on-premises and partner-hosted deployments.
  • Customer Care Accelerator (CCA) – Q2 2010
    • This solution can be used to help customer care and contact center organizations provide consistent customer service experiences by combining data elements from disparate applications such as mainframes, databases or Web sites for display in a single user interface.
    • Some features: Integrated agent desktop, Desktop automation, Computer telephony integration (CTI), and Activity reporting.

New integration tools with other Dynamics software! All the Dynamics technologies are starting to come together very nicely.

  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM Adapter for Microsoft Dynamics GP – May 2010
    • A highly reliable, bi-directional and fault tolerant business document integration between Dynamics CRM 4.0 (Update Rollup 5 and above) and Dynamics GP 10 (Service Pack 4 and above) and the new GP 2010.
  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM Adapter for Microsoft Dynamics AX6 – 2011
  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM Adapter for Microsoft Dynamics NAV2009 – 2011

And for you developers out there, a big fat update is coming to the SDK in May 2010 making it easier to build agile and integrated CRM Web solutions.

  • SDK (May 2010) – Advanced Developer Extensions for Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a set of new tools included in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM SDK that simplifies and accelerates the development of internet-enabled applications that interact with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.
  • A full list of key features is outlined in the Statement of Direction document.

Regarding CRM 5.0, it is of course scheduled to release “the second half of 2010″, most likely near the end of the year. The outline is below, and as I expected it doesn’t really reveal more than what has already been disseminated. Regardless, it’s still nice to see what we have to look forward to.

  • User Productivity and Collaboration
    • Increase accessibility through the Microsoft Office “ribbon” interface
    • Drive user adoption through personalization
    • Enrich business insight through improved business intelligence
    • Balanced workload management for more efficient use of resources
  • CRM Capabilities: core CRM investments
    • Contact and Account Management
    • Team-Based Collaboration
    • Call Center and Unified Communications Support
    • Territory Management
    • Performance Management
    • Other areas:
      • Further improving the flexibility of sales opportunity management to incorporate team selling models.
      • Extending the outbound marketing capabilities to allow richer communications via email, including document attachments.
      • Further simplifying and extending marketing list management capabilities.
      • Providing users the ability to schedule future recurring activities.
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