Disabling Users in Dynamics CRM can cause Workflow troubles
Administrator, Consulting, CRM 4.0, Customizations, Developer, General Users, Support November 1st, 2010
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.
Tags: Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Users, Workflows
Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s next generation is here! CRM 2011 Beta Online and On-Premise available worldwide today
Administrator, CRM 2011, Developer, Downloads, General Users, Links, Microsoft Dynamics, Salespeople, Videos September 9th, 2010
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. 
Tags: Announcement, beta, CRM 2011, download, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Videos
CRM 4.0 VPC Reloaded, with Office 2010 and new Accelerators. Download now!
Accelerators, Administrator, CRM 4.0, Developer, Downloads July 15th, 2010
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!
Tags: CRM, CRM 4.0, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Office 2010, VPC
Video: Introduction to the Outlook Client for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
CRM 4.0, General Users, Links, Salespeople, Support, Videos June 10th, 2010
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!
Tags: CRM, CRM 4.0, Demonstration, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Outlook, Video
Update Rollup 11 for Dynamics CRM now available for download (KB 981328)
Administrator, CRM 4.0, Downloads, General Users, Support June 3rd, 2010
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.
- Download Update Rollup 11 for Dynamics CRM (Microsoft)
- KB 981328: Release Notes for Update Rollup 11 (Microsoft)
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.
Tags: CRM, Downloads, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Update Rollup 11, World Cup 2010
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