TIDBITS on Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Banter on Twitter - Why Dynamics CRM for Development?

SNECRMUG - Information Share, Information Gained utilities continued

During the December 15th Southern New England CRM User Group meeting, which was focused on Dynamics CRM development utilities, we had some great interactive discussion and I captured some of the tips from the group. Here are those goodies shared.

1. Dynamics CRM v2011 Visual Ribbon Editor - Definitly make use of the Visual Ribbon Editor and be aware that Office 2010 and it's ribbon are packed with features and a very deep well of opportunity.
2. Tap into the ODATA Query Designer
3. Take a look at FetchXML Builder
4. Don't underestimate the power of the Visual SiteMap Editor (and remember that when editing sitemap you want to use the Microsoft CRM Editors)
5. The JavaScript Web Resource Manager is a good utility to check out when upgrading v4.0 Javascript to v2011.
6. Advanced Find can be used to generate FetchXML in v2011 (oh AND in v4)

Other Tidbits

1. Solutions are well ... just released in v2011 so consider them v1.0 features and study accordingly. Lean more towards UNMANAGED solutions as opposed to MANAGED solutions. Know what is available and what is not.
2. ODATA IE8 JSON, JQUERY and Required Libraries - totally have no clue what we were talking about around this as my notes trailed off, but perhaps my audience of readers can fill in and add comments.

CRM and the Holiday Opportunities

Now that it is the holiday season and everyone is distracted with high stress, extra after work errands (or lunch time runs to the local toy store) perhaps utilizing your CRM system is not top of mind.

BUT

there are a number of different opportunities that are not present (or presents) at other times of the year.

Take for instance sending out holiday cards (either electronically or via a hand written note) an address is needed (e-mail or postal) and what better time to confirm that all your addresses are correct then right before sending out a caring thought.

There is also the tracking that you sent something, as there is nothing more embarressing (or perhaps more business limiting) then sending the same card to the same person twice. You definitely want to complete and activity once you get those messages out to your audience. Lastly well how about those great responses or the people who send you a gift or card who you did not send a gift or card to!! A thank you note, a reach out or even simply adding them to your list for next year.

CRM is not just about management or BOD statistics, it really is about helping you to be more organized, more connected or simply a bit kinder because you can remember the small details a bit better.  

Dynamics CRM Utilities, utilities, utilities

For anyone ramping up on Dynamics CRM development make note

There are a TON of utilities to make your life easier available in codeplex, Microsoft Downloads, and in the SDK. Some of these utilities are version specific and some are good for all verisons

Go check them out and to get you started here are just a few to wet the appetite

CRMDiag

– Diagnostics Tool for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 or v4 which helps CRM developers and administrators to enable trace and devErrors on a CRM server.  It also generates an HTML report file with information about the CRM deployment.

 

Microsoft CRM 4.0 Picklist XML Generator

–A small to tool which Generates CRM 4.0 Picklist Customization XML. This tool allows you to cut and paste a comma separated list of values and descriptions into a text box and then generate a set of XML picklist options which can be pasted into your Customization.xml file.

CRM Documentation - from Microsoft Dynamics CRM Documentation team’s famous Jim Daly

–Automatically generates technical documentation from a CRM Database Metadata

CRM Demo Toolset

A large set of tools that includes a Sitemap editor, a tool for Dynamics CRM icon resizing (for custom entities), The ability to generate test data quickly and more

Customization Compare

–Takes two customization.xml files and compares and reports on the differences

View Replicator

–For those projects where numerous similar views are requested within any entity. This tool offers replication of the Layers, columns and width increasing consistency.

Searchable Property Attribute Updater

–The tool allows you to display the list of all attributes and select if you want them to be searchable or not. In only one action, you can set all attributes searchable property for one entity. 

Access Checker

–With this tool, you can:

•Indicate which entity you want to inspect

•Enter the identifier of the object in question

•Searching for a user with its name or its unique identifier

•Click the “Retrieve rights” button and the program will tell you what rights the user with respect to the record

CRM Role Import/Export

Support for all out of the box privileges - By default the export utility will export ALL privileges, including custom privileges.

202006 Lifetime views

Numbers are well numbers, but I thought 202,006 lifetime views was a pretty nice number.

Trends in Dynamics CRM v2011

The buzz is fascinating on the grapevine of Dynamics CRM partners, users, and Microsoft and right now the "big" new tip of the iceburg features are all about social media integration, customer service and social analysis. 

Social Media has long been a passion of mine from the early days dabbling with Ryze, to the exercise of first trying Twitter and then really understanding what it was offering. Mix that in with the addiction to Facebook by so many and it all ebbs and flows. 

Personally technology sometimes feels like a Lazy River often found at some of the resorts. There is always something new around the corner and sometimes that new feels very familier.

You like how Dynamics CRM is working: Why Change, Why Upgrade?

There's a Talk for That!

The Microsoft Dynamics landscape is changing quickly – new technology, new platforms, new implementation strategies, new partner challenges—and the changes mean major new opportunities, and major new risks. Decisions that you make now about your Dynamics solution will have implications for years to come.

Who Should Attend Decisions Fall 2011?

Decisions Fall 2011 is a virtual event for...

• Business decision makers seeking expert advice on implementation strategy
• IT managers looking for technical insight and advice
• Power users who want to learn more from the experts and share their knowledge
• New users making the switch or contemplating the switch to Microsoft Dynamics.
• Dynamics professionals who want to learn, network, and investigate ISV solutions
• Anyone in the Microsoft Dynamics community looking for an exciting new platform to network and learn!

 

Decision Virtual Conference Fall 2011

It's Free

It's Virtual

It's Soon

Have you Registered?

Rollup 4 for Dynamics CRM 2011 Released

Greg Nichols does a GREAT job of summarizing all the new goodies here.

Dynamics CRM mature

You know that Microsoft Dynamics CRM has really come of age when not only are their over 1 million licenses sold for the product, BUT you start stumbling on information on Dynamics CRM in places like eHOW.

Take for instance this little video on Microsoft Dynamics CRM v4.0 Certification

or this one on How to Work with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM eBook 

and of course YouTube is PACKED with more Dynamics CRM information and noise than most people know what to do with.

Extending CRM - Organization Messages

I just stumbled upon a nice xRM/CRM developer resources blog: Jamie Miley's Life and Technology - Take for instance this post

http://mileyja.blogspot.com/p/microsoft-dynamics-crm-2011-sdk-index.html 

Sept 20th, 8-11am - Southern New England CRMUG Meeting

Have You Registered Yet?  @crmug: #msdynCRM

Next week is the Southern New England CRM User Group meeting in the Waltham, MA Microsoft Offices.

Come On Over to share in the joys and pains of INTEGRATION!

REGISTRATION

Utilization and Dynamics CRM

You have rolled out your project or you are working on it and that "I hate change" and "What? I have to learn something new?" are tripping you up and getting in your way.  These mindsets create speed bumps and the more speed bumps the harder the change.

So what can you do and if you know what to do how can you get the attention of your users in this noisy, noisy world so that they understand what is available to them?

The Top 7 Ideas

1. Using an experienced and trained Dynamics CRM resource, present Dynamics CRM regulary. This does not necessarily mean training, this is much more focused on sharing ease of use and the potential for the tool to meet an existing needs. Only present what you have delivered or are delivering.

2. Present audience specific information that meets the interests and needs of a very defined small audience. Don't try to meet the needs of customer service, sales and marketing or the needs of managers, sales people, marketing experts and developers all in the same 1 hour presentation.

3. Adopt the DRIP mindset. A one hour presentation a few times a month, focused on two specific features, is much more powerful and useful than eight hours of overwhelming rain showers.

4. Listen to your audience without trying to change their opinion. Different functions are easy or difficult depending on the user's perceptions. It might be easy for you, but it could be hard for them. Avoid that word EASY. Do you Golf? Consider how hard it is to change your golf swing if you have been swinging it the same way for 10 years. It might improve your game BUT

5.  First impressions are not usually lasting impressions particularly when it comes to Dynamics CRM and the flexibility and multitude of choices it offers. Offer as much training in as many different formats as possible.

Consider that anyone over 30 was trained on applications that let you do one thing at a time. One open account record for instance. Dynamics CRM allows you to work on 5 Accounts at the same time. It fits in your kids world - You know the world where kids have 5 IM windows open on their machine which are current conversations and they are working on their homework and they are listening to music. Dynamics CRM offers the flexibility to fit in this multi-tasking world. Choice makes for more complexity, raising the learning curve. Allow people the time to adjust off of their first impressions through good training.

6) Try to discover mindsets and relationships with the software that cause frustration. "I just tolerate that it has to be done that way" applies to many different tools in use today. Just as in Outlook people fall into pattern and habit which is not necessarily the easiest or the best way to use a tool. Watch how your users use the software to do their tasks. Be a detective, document that business process and then step back and consider and discuss with management what the best options are. Many time these options do not require dollars or huge effort.

7) Remember that in the world of technology and business software the tools and base foundation never stop changing. It is our habits, training, busy lives and reluctance to change that delays the goal of the highest utilization possible with the tools available in any given point of time.

Self Support - Something New

If you have not discovered the new searchable Microsoft Product Support page then you might want to take a look. You can pick your product of choice and then search the knowledge base on your issue of the day! This includes cool products like Microsoft Dynamics CRM, but also includes almost any product Microsoft related (phone, IE, XBox, Security, Zune, you name it)  

 

Theme Changes

Every once in a while I change my theme. Why? Well I find that certain changes offer a bit of brain refresh both for me as the writer and for those that read the blog via the web.

So today - the theme on my blog changed.

What do you think?

Was Spring Way too Busy? Did you miss the Statement of Direction on CRM?

Download the May, 2011 updated version of the Microsoft Statement of Direction and Vision for Dynamics CRM  

What Version Am I Really Running?

Occassionally the need arises to double check exactly what version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM you are running and when I say version, I mean the exact .0000000 version. Christian recently posted on exactly how one goes about doing that.  

His post can be found HERE or below are some of his wise, wise words.

"As many Dynamics CRM 4.0 aficionados know, Microsoft releases regular updates to iron out documented issues [and to sprinkle in a little love].  CRM 2011 is no exception; three 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: Browse to your CRM 2011 website Click on the File tab Navigate to Help Click on “About Microsoft Dynamics CRM” To determine your current build number from the Outlook CRM client: Open Outlook with the CRM Client installed Click on the File tab Click on the CRM side tab Click on the “About Microsoft Dynamics CRM”  button A window will pop up with your build number listed.  If you used Outlook, you will see the build numbers for both the Server and Outlook CRM Client (sample screenshot below). See below for a chart of the Dynamics CRM 2011 build versions.  I’ll try to keep it current, so be sure to bookmark and check back later! Version Release Date Build Number KB Article Release Candidate   5.0.9688.53 2461082 Beta (On Premise)   5.0.9585.106   Beta (Online)   5.0.9585.107   RTM February 16, 2011 5.0.9688.583 Download RTM Update Rollup 1 April 7, 2011 5.0.9688.1045 2466084 Update Rollup 2 June 2, 2011 5.0.9688.1155 2466086 Update Rollup 3 July 28, 2011 5.0.9688.1244 2547347  "

Performance and Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is built using a number of different techniques and tools from Microsoft. Given these various techniques performance is optimized, but that does not mean that each individual partner, customer and developer doesn't need to pay attention.

Performance of a multi-user, highly dynamic, many moving parts system is worth adding to your project plan. To make fine tuning performance even easier the Microsoft CRM Engineering for Enterprise team has continued to keep their "Optimizing and Maintaining the Performance of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Clients" and their testing documentation such as the "Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Performance and Scalability with Intel" white paper current.

There are even more resources when it comes to performance and Dynamics CRM so if this is a hot point for you, take a look!

Update Rollup 18 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

Microsoft has released Update Rollup 18 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. It includes updates and hot fixes packaged together for easy deployment.

 

Update Rollup 3 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011

Microsoft has released Update Rollup 3 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2011. It includes updates and hot fixes packaged together for easy deployment. We recommend that you install the update rollup to keep your software performing at its best.

MORE DETAILED INFORMATION http://blogs.msdn.com/b/crminthefield/archive/2011/07/15/podcast-and-overview-microsoft-dynamics-crm-2011-update-rollup-3.aspx

Fun with Dates

In this incredible world of both technology offering calculated date and people capturing data from all over the world the two concepts can sometimes collide!

Take for instance the world of dates.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers UTC adjustments, personal settings and Date and Time fields. What this means is that depending on how you have your computer configured and your Dynamics CRM Personal Options the dates that you enter are adjusted.

Microsoft Outlook does this as well. If  I was to setup a meeting with an associate in California for instance on my calendar for today the meeting would display as Eastern Time (2pm for instance), but for my associate (CRM Guru Marc Wolenik)  the date and time would display as (11am) and if we then added in another person such as a cool CRM Guru in Australia (Leon Tribe) the time would not only be different, the DAY would be different.   

So what happens when you start capturing these types of dates inside of Dynamics CRM for analysis or reporting?

If all the dates are entered by "humans" correctly configured for their local time zones then the software correctly handles all the adjustments. The only trick with regards to this set of considerations is that DATE Only fields are well not really date only so watch that!

If all the dates however are entered by other "Systems" then a bit more thought needs to go into the architecture. Take for instance a system that resides on a server in a data center that is capturing date information based on that servers date. If you then take that date and enter it via an integration, how would you expect Dynamics CRM to react?

How would that date be managed?

Do you want it to be fixed? or adjusted?

If you want it to be adjusted, how are you going to tell the system to adjust it?

What if you want it to be a date field BUT you want to lock it to a certain time zone?

These are the joys of the world of global!  

Oh Async: Introducing the Chef "Mr. Processor"

Async

"The term asynchronous is usually used to describe communications in which data can be transmitted intermittently rather than in a steady stream" :

Now given this simple fact you might be surprised to discover that sometimes people forget that if you use asynchronous processes (such as workflow or asynchronous plugins) and you have dependencies particularly on a variety of async processes, timing might be an issue!  

An interesting way to consider this is from the perspective of looking into a professional kitchen. Take the Master Chef (Mr. Processor): He must prepare certain items in sequence, for instance the pork chops have to be cut and spiced before they can be put in the pan to be cooked and before they can be prepared for display.

On the other hand if serving two vegtables for the same plate, if the broccoli comes out before the carrots, the chef (Mr. Processor) does not have a problem. The preparation of the broccoli and the carrots can happen in order, reverse order or at the same time. They can be asynchronous. They both need to be prepared in a timely manner (within the same approximate window of time) and they both need to get done within that time frame, but which gets done first doesn't matter that much. They are not dependent on each other.

Now the Chef might prefer the broccoli to come out first, as he has his own habits and best practices to make it all come together, but he can (and does) deal with the reality if they get reversed. On the other hand if an assistant chef forgets to spice the pork chops or spices them after cooking then the flavor of they chef's prized dinner is ruined and sometimes considered unacceptable!

These same concepts apply to functions and processes within the world of Dynamics CRM. There are functions that should be asynchronous, there are processes that need to be synchronous and knowing the difference is an important variable in any developer or power user.    

Related Posts

What is Asynchronous?

Dynamcis CRM v4 Asynchoronus Process pushing CPU to 100%

AsyncOperationBaseTable: What are those records anyway?  

 

IE 8 and CRM - Something you might not know

PowerObjects had a great little blog post on Internet Explore 8 when it came out highlighting a few of the cool NEW features that are worth learning about if you are using Dynamics CRM.

Now that IE 8 is part of your everyday routine (and you are thinking about IE 9) take a look at this post on some of the features that might have slipped your notice in what you ALREADY have.

Oh and in terms of security (for those of you running other web browers)

"Testing conducted by the independent NSS Labs found that IE8 provided signifigantly better malware blocking capabilities than Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome and Apple Safari."

The Development Team

Oh Right - the team is in Bellevue, WA

Living in a Virtual World I sometimes totally loose track of where someone is physically located. Sometimes it really doesn't matter and then other days - Oh the Joys of Face to Face!

Is their a VIDEO Phone call app for Windows Phone 7?

Mobility v4 and v2011

The CRM development team at Microsoft slid in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobility option called Mobile Express a while ago - (I could even say years ago -Check out Settings, Mobile Express) and as far as I can see they have been updating it little by little as the rollups and new versions come out.

What does this mean? It means that Mobile Express is an option worth checking out, BUT that it does not necessarily meet ALL your extensive mobility needs depending on what you need in a Mobile client and what and how many platforms you need it to run on as well as how many extra mobile specific features you want.

The mobile ISVs including TenDigits and CWR Mobility are totally focused on working with mobile teams to empower them and encourage them to get more from their Dynamics CRM Investment.  They also have additional features that are integrated so if you need those additional features get the teams at CWR and TenDigits to give you a demo, BUT if you just want to access Dynamics CRM from your cell phone once in a while then take a peek at Mobile Express.

Of note Mobile Express is a Free feature in Dynamics CRM and yes, there are a number of people who don't realize this. Pay to get it configured and to learn the best way to use it from your partner, but don't worry about  extra licensing fees. 

Articles on Mobility and Dynamics CRM are as follows:

Dynamo with Dynamics CRM on Mobility, Mobile Express and CRM v4

Customer Effective on Mobile Express (Oct, 2010)

The more Powerful Mobile Express in CRM 2011

Adding Soundex

Soundex is not necessarily the ultimate solution to expanding the power of Duplicate Detection, but it is definitely one option.

Check out this post for one approach (comments from the development crowd welcome)

Pimp your Duplicate Detection with Soundex

 

Bridge 2 CRM

I haven't heard much from Bridge2CRM over the last couple of years and have not had the pleasure of talking to them at some of the big Dynamics Conferences like Convergence 2011, but their solution looks to be another option in the mobility space.

Menno blogged about them a while back, but alas my link to Menno's post has grown cold, brittle and broken.

Comments from the Crowd?

    Are you using this solution?

    Have you used this solution?

    What do you think?

Async, Performance and Dynamics CRM v4

Just because we are a year or two away from the initial release of Dynamics CRM v4 does not mean that we are past some of the long ago solved problems.

Needless to say here is a item that you might want to look into if you are in "Database Cleaning Mode" or if you are having performance issues with a Dynamics CRM v4 footprint.

1) Run cleanup scripts to address existing Database problems!

Warning (probably unnecessary but): Before running any SQL Cleanup scripts backup the database in case you run into problems.

Note: You might want to set the Max Degree Of Parallelism option greater than Zero (1 is just fine) if you are running a multi CPU SQL Server. This option is under the Advanced options of your SQL Server. This one is a bit debatable among the DBAs and CRM experts. On small queries you want to define resources so the system doesn't burn up resources figuring things out and on more complex queries the benefits exist to let the system figure it out.

 

Now the next question you are going to ask is WHERE ARE THESE Cleanup scripts. Good Question!

Right now most teams (particularly in the larger CRM footprints) have their own or perhaps it is better to consider the partners supporting your CRM footprint. They have their own utilities, tips and tricks for great maintenance as well.

So where do you start?

Start here: An easy way to identify if you are running into an old issue with the AsyncOperationBaseTable is by checking how many records are in this table. Run a simple Count(*) and checking how many records you have of OperationType = ‘10’ and Succeeded/Completed.

If you do have this issue you can go back and check out Ben's blog and/or do a bit of Binging.

CRM v4 as a Baby - Quick Reference

Back in the day, and well ok I admit it this is still on my bulletin board in the office, Tim Dutcher put together a Microsoft Dynamics CRM v4.0 Quick Reference Sheet. This was a GREAT resource for all things new and new back in October 2008 was Dynamics CRM v4.0!

Now before you roll your eyes you might want to take a peek. A similar reference page can be put together for all things Dynamics CRM 2011. It just needs to be done and to get started here is the model!

http://mscrmrocks.blogspot.com/2008/10/dynamics-crm-40-quick-reference.html 

OR

if you have yet to move to Dynamics CRM 2011 and you have people ramping up on Dynamics CRM v4.0 they might like it

OR

if you want to follow my style and always know what features came out with which version so you can know the version number of the features (see this lets you know if the feature is robust or maybe just a bit wet behind the years)

 

 

Case Sensitive Searching

Thanks to David Fronk at Dynamics Methods for sharing a quick little trick for changing a field to be set to Case Sensitive. Now before I share this tip be aware that it is NOT supported by microsoft so what this means is that a Rollup, A SQL Server Update, a Upgrade or any other quick little patch might disable this feature.

This tip was also shared in the heavy v4.0 Days of CRM so when it comes to SQL 2008 R2 you might have to updated the steps.

Now on that note here is the link to David's quick checklist for setting the Case Sensitive Flag.

http://dmcrm.blogspot.com/2009/04/case-sensitive-searches-in-crm.html  

 

That Call - Help My Computer is acting strange

As with many software developer teams there are a number of small fixes, features and utilities that get slipped into the stream without any announcement. All of a sudden you have something that is a "well that is nice to have"

I personally attribute this to a developer deciding that if he/she releases a tool or feature that fixes a complaint about something then perhaps the knats bugging them will just go away.

In this arena software companies can also release something that perhaps does not need a lot of fanfare and marketing money. One of these tools was blogged about a while ago (February 2009 to be exact) and it has been on my list to share.

So what is this tool?

FIXIT from Microsoft

The Famous Jim Glass Blogged about it because he definitely finds it helpful for all those wonderful perhaps not as tech sauvy members of his extended community and CNet did a quick little article about it in the interest of keeping an eye on the trend. So if you happen to have friends and family who report that something "might" be not quite right with their machine, you might have them start with that little button on the bottom of the Help Article.

Another key little, off the CRM subject, tidbit includes TrendMicro's Housecall - Just happens to be a favorite of mine because without spending a dime you can have "whoever" run a complete check of their computer simply by visiting the TrendMicro website.

Kicking the View Number Over the 200,000 mark

Ah come on let's kick this over the 200,000 mark :)

191,247 Views

And yet to do this I better step it up and start posting from my library and folder of "Now that would be good to Share"

Sometimes it is all about People

Over the years my career and my ability to help has been significantly tripped up by people. Sometimes it was miscommunication and other times it was pure mischief and still other times it was something else, Power or Politics, Ego or Hate and perhaps even more.

In other areas I have been incredibly successful, for instance with adoption and mastery of applications and with helping people transition from how they are using technology today, to what they can do with what is new.

Training classes and events, presentations and simple words have all been used to empower people, to get past reluctance to change and to energize the general population.  There have been emotions as well to add to the success. Good Communication, caring, thinking, loving and general liking. Trust has also been a factor; although trust is not always necessary for success.

As I get older, I reflect back and try to think hard about what works and what doesn't work, but it is still a continual process. Failures don't just go away because you have more experience. There are successes and failures, but as my Mother use to tell me, each year is different. Always learning, but usually there is something new and I have to admit that it is true that with every failure there is learning and with every success a small win.

So today, as the urges within you yearn to vent your rage because of someone doing this or that, should we step back and consider what we are learning from this person? I know when I am in vent mode I am not in learning mode and yet. I do shift and think later.  Is it that their style is so different that talking to them is like sandpaper? Is it perhaps their attitude or ego that is preventing them from listening or considering your experience or perhaps your own that is preventing you from considering theirs? Is it a control thing? Is there a win/win? Is it necessary to play win/loose? (sometimes it unfortunately is)

OR perhaps we all just need to be better detectives and ask why? why, why, why, why? and then listen.

 

June VPC

Partners Restart your Engines!

Have you downloaded the latest Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 VPC? As per most VPCs from the CRM team it is packed with a TON of goodies BUT this version not only has your traditional CRM it also three other xRM Models.

Now if you want to really drive yourself a bit nuts and burn some  time you can take this new VPC and load it up on an underpowered Windows 7 laptop. Ouch! I mean imagine running Windows Server, SharePoint, CRM and more all within a virtualbox on a laptop with 2-4 gbs of ram. Oh it an be done, but you will not be impressed.

So Tip 1

Get the Hardware where it needs to be for demonstrating all the cool power of this incredibly powerful product! If all you have is a laptop then at least max it out with as much RAM as possible and use an external drive (or internal solid state).

Tip 2

Windows 7 Virtual PC cannot run Windows Server 64bit. Yes, this VPC is 64bit so if all you have is a Windows 7 laptop you are going to have to depend on alternative virtual technology support such as Virtual Box from Oracle.

Tip 3

Take a little bit of time and configure the image so that it uses it's resources in the most efficient and best manner possible. Even if this requires that you grab the ear of your infrastructure or Virtual guru.

Tip 4

Make it yours - remove what you don't need, change the data to better fit how you talk about the product and add your own views and reports.

Tip 5

DEMO TO WIN - An incredible class that Microsoft has offered over the years. This little class really helps people who are tasks with demonstrating any software to understand how to both present and how to best present demonstrations of applications. Look it up, Sign Up, take the class.

Tip 6

HAVE FUN! Technology solves some really painful business problems. You can be part of this solution, but in this really noisy world it isn't easy, but it is worth it.

The Benefits of User Groups

The Summary from the Southern New England Customer Relationship Management User Group meeting (Microsoft Dynamics CRM User Group - Regional Meeting)

June's SNECRMUG Meeting Summary

Boston once again managed to get the best of me (traffic, late to meeting), BUT  I still made it to the Southern New England CRM User group meeting in time to hear the better part of the first presentation and all of the second and third presentation.

I, unfortunately, missed the introductions so if you were there I look forward to seeing you in July or September! Still it also reinforced what a great option it is to have more than one great leader helping to organize and coordinate (Thanks Pat!)

The meeting started out with a presentation by Edgewater Technology on the great new charts, graphs and visual display and reporting options in Microsoft Dynamics CRM v2011.  What constantly amazes me is that reporting techniques used in the v1.2, 2.0 and 3.0 days still get a viewing and offer value, as well as all the new cool stuff in Dynamics CRM 2011. Never stop learning just because there is a new version around the corner is a GREAT motto to remember when it comes to Dynamics CRM.

The second presentation had me doing some wows! One of the Gold Certified ISVs, experlogix, showed their highly visual addition to Dynamics CRM. Products, Quotes and Orders will never be the same for me again. This product not only added break down to a very grandular bundling level but it also includes all with product pictures and built in workflow. Jeff showed the process of ordering a fish tank and with each decision the visual choices followed business rules in such a way that if you picked something such as a piranha  for your fish tank, it will mark the other fish as not an option. Who wants dead fish!

The last presentation was done by a Customer. Lojack did not do the standard presentation around how sales features are used which although is definitely interesting is not as interesting to those who have seen that type of presentation before. They actualy stepped it up and did a great presentation on how the inner workings of customer service get value out of Dynamics CRM. No PowerPoint, just look this is what we do!  They also offered some technology wow with some of the new things that LoJack is offering such as alerts when your "key" is not with your car when it is moving. Hey, I would want an alert on that as soon as possible! Text anyone?  What was fun was some of the stories about unusually things that can occur when offering these new offerings.

An extra thanks to experlogix for sponsoring lunch and to Edgewater Technology and LoJack for presenting!!

The Grace of an Olympic Star

"I am going to give you just enough information on evaluating a customer-driven architecture to make you want the IT Department to do it" Paul Greenberg from CRM at the Speed of Light

There are so many things that you can do easily within the world of Dynamics CRM that it is easy to forget how much experience is built into the solution and some of the Extension architectures. Just consider how easy those Olympic dives or ski jumps look with the grace of a professional and yet I suspect that one might kill oneself if they climbed the ladder and tried to teach themselves.

Change

Change is constant.

I was reminded of this recently by two events. The first was when one of the more incredible people at work dropped an e-mail that a routine checkup turned into a life changing event. One that she is continuing to deal with :(  My heart aches for her and her family.

The second is from a post on CRM Success that Pierre Hulsebus from EHTC posted today. "The implementation of CRM in your organization needs to be viewed as a culture-change initiative. Resistance to the CRM culture change means catastrophe."

"Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches"  -Pauline Kezer

Should we not all stretch out and embrace what is so close to us? The opportunity to grow just a little more? The chance to learn something new?

Today change is even faster. As conversations buzz on twitter at the speed of light and even e-mail is too slow. As the world shifts from the weight of crowd based opinions and as technology breakthroughs rock base assumptions every six months. How is anyone going to keep up?

BUT perhaps it is not about keeping up as opposed to simply being. You are here, in this space, at this time. Yesterday things were slightly or radically different, tomorrow will be a new day, it is all about this moment, this time, this second and what you can do for now and what you plan for the future.

As we plan, we review, as we review, we update the plan. Some items remain, some change.

  

More on Advanced Marketing Options

Tis the year to dive into business cultures and technology that have had significant change 

If you have not looked under the covers at the marketing industry lately then it is time. What you used and assumed yesterday could use a refresh based on some of the newer offerings. Take for instance CoreMotives, who is another very interesting player within the world of cutting edge marketing combined with great technology advances.

To get a feel for what they do take a peek at some of their upcoming webinars covering

> Email marketing

> Auto Responders
> Web intelligence
> Web form creation

> Surveys
> Landing pages
> Social media tracking
> Google AdWord tracking

Being Non-Traditional - Sales

Walk down the street

Make notes on which companies on your block would be great customer fits for your business.

Now add these to your Dynamics CRM system, check out their company websites, learn a bit more about them. Use the search engines.  I bet there are a few key contacts that you see every morning at the coffee shop. You might even ride up the elevator with someone who might take you weeks to get an appointment with using the traditional methods. Just take some baby steps. Eye contact, an unexpected hello?

Opening doors sometimes takes a bit of leg work, but if you focus on win/win and you truely care about great fits amazing traction can occur and the benefits overflow for all involved.

Advanced Marketing and Dynamics CRM

It is not easy to grow a business these days, but when you have years and years of experience and tons of connections and there is a good need, it is often the right thing to do.

John Gravely and his team have just that company with ClickDimensions.

On June 1st, join John to hear some of that great experience as he presents REAL stories of MARKETING with Dynamics CRM. This is a premier event for marketers (not sales people who do a bit of marketing): Offering True Stories of Marketing with Microsoft Dynamics CRM

This live workshop will include examples of real world campaigns where Microsoft CRM was used to:

• Double a newsletter list in two weeks using a unique approach toward email marketing and lead scoring
• Develop an easy way to improve web traffic by understanding the quality of visitors by traffic sources
• Implement a strategy for creating great content that positions your firm as a leader
• Apply simple tips for search engine marketing and search engine optimization
• Provide sales with easy to use automated prospecting and marketing tools to make them more effective and efficient
• Identify how to best use the right social channels to drive business value

It should be fairly interesting as there is so much more that can be done both with the built in features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Marketing AND with some of the incredible ISV offerings that tie the power of the internet, statistics and technology with the CRM platform.

TO REGISTER

CodePlex and Dynamics CRM

Wow - CodePlex grew while I wasn't paying attention. There are now almost one hundread different free solutions available, all with interesting hints of cool stuff.

Searching on Dynamics CRM: Check it Out

Business Card Scan Options for Dynamics CRM

When it comes to learning Dynamics CRM one of my favorite blogs to keep up with is Richard Knudson's Dynamics CRM Trick Bag and as I was catching up I caught a quick little tip at the bottom of one of his posts.

He was summarizing Convergence and low and behold a favorite subject of mine appears. Business card scan options for Dynamics CRM. It always made me sad that Corex cardscan evaporated, because I really liked their integration and devices. Anyway here is a clip from Richard's post.

"What are the best card scanners for CRM?  (How could this topic NOT be included in a Convergence summary article?) Here are the two I’ve had personal experience with, and have recommended to clients who’ve had success with them:

• Cardiris 5 for Windows, from IrisCard
• CardScan, from DYMO"

Upgrade? Already? 4.0 to 2011 to ???

You just settled in with Microsoft Dynamics CRM v4.0

In fact you are feeling pretty good with it. You have started with the basics, learned a few of the intermediate features, added a few reports that you like and all is good. Next week you might even add a few more workflows to the mix to automate even more of those painful manual processes and THEN

Microsoft comes out with this upgrade. Oh and you took a look and it has some cool new stuff that you want. BUT, but, but there is still so much you can do in Dynamics CRM  v4.0

Well no worries: We have a session to discuss all of these considerations at the VIRTUAL FREE DecisionsWorld conference.

Mark your calendar today - Register (yes, it is free but you need to register) and gather up all of those questions and perhaps a few assumptions so you are ready to debate the timing and benefits of staying vs. upgrading.

Troubleshooting CRM "Generic Sql Error"

The Microsoft CRM web-services normally give you pretty good error messages when you make an invalid request, but occasionally you will get this error message: “Generic Sql Error”. These errors pop up enough that they’ve become a fairly common question on the CRM development forums. The usual responses are to either enable CRM tracing or use SQL Server Profiler to get a better error message. I find that the CRM trace logs don’t always give you anything better that the same generic error message the SDK provides, so SQL profiler is probably the better option. However, if you don’t have experience using the SQL Profiler it can be hard to find the actual error message in the vast amount of data it provides. These are the steps I take to get to the bottom of most CRM “generic SQL” errors using the SQL Profiler:

via www.avanadeblog.com

Thanks Erik!

Customer Care Accelerator(CCA) for 2011 Released

Happened to run across the release of the 2011 version of CCA out on the Marketplace.  Finally, we can start playing with the "new and improved" version with 2011.

http://dynamics-crm.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-us/applications/customer-care-accelerator-for-microsoft-dynamics-crm-2011-12884914795

Matt Parks

via www.avanadeblog.com

Thanks for the heads up on this Matt!

Word of the Day: OData

The word of the day is OData 

"The Open Data Protocol (OData) is a Web protocol for querying and updating data that provides a way to unlock your data and free it from silos that exist in applications today. OData does this by applying and building upon Web technologies such as HTTP, Atom Publishing Protocol (AtomPub) and JSON to provide access to information from a variety of applications, services, and stores. The protocol emerged from experiences implementing AtomPub clients and servers in a variety of products over the past several years.  OData is being used to expose and access information from a variety of sources including, but not limited to, relational databases, file systems, content management systems and traditional Web sites" retrieved from www.odata.org 

Now apply that to your Silverlight learning as you introduce or mix Silverlight in with Dynamics CRM v4.0 or 2011!

"Silverlight 4 includes rich support for accessing web data either on the Internet or intranet via WCF Data Services. Formerly known as ADO.NET Data Services in Silverlight 3, WCF Data Services provides support for REST-based data access as well as support for the new Open Data Protocol (OData) format" retrieved from http://programming4.us/multimedia/2478.aspx 

Fun Stuff!!

Too Busy to Travel? Decisions 2011 is coming to your desk (FREE)

Over the last couple of years I have participated in the MSDynamicsWorld Decisions conference and the first year it was pretty cool, but a little light by the second year the speakers and vendors were really starting to get the format and now VIRTUAL CONFERENCES are well just hot. (Hey, just checking out the technology is cool)

Yes, the world is noisy, people are busy - but given that Decisions 2011 has one full day packed with great CRM Speakers I am helping to spread the world. Last year I heard and shifted my perspective when listening to a talk on Dynamics CRM and the marketing features (how to really leverage what is there) and this year who knows what I will learn.

SO Mark your calendars as June 17th is CRMDAY!

CRM Day 

and for those of you also working with the other products within the Microsoft Dynamics Family you might be interested in these virtual conference days as well.

June 14 - AX Day 

June 15 - GP Day 

June 16 - NAV Day 

CRM MVPs Introduce the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Wiki - Microsoft Dynamics CRM Team blog - CRM Technical Blogs - Microsoft Dynamics Community

CRM MVPs Introduce the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Wiki - Microsoft Dynamics CRM Team blog - CRM Technical Blogs - Microsoft Dynamics Community.

It is time to shine up those sharing thoughts and come on over to the TechNet CRM WIKI and share what you know!

Information Shared, Information Gained

No Matter the Tool

Paul Greenberg recently wrote up the details of the new CRMIdol contest and I must admit it is an interesting idea. He is on a mission to cut through the noise dominated by the handful of big players and give the up and coming startups, small businesses and entreprenuers, in the CRM space, the same attention.

BUT

the core problem does not go away which is getting users, administrators, developers, IT consultants, business owners and more to learn about the power of the technology that is available to them. Not only for them to learn about it, but for them to embrace it and then be agile enough to change and continue to learn with it.

As the world get's noisier and change faster, it becomes harder and harder to push oneself out of one's comfort zone and yet, there is so much out there to absorb, embrace and grow with that breaks boundries and improves the brains ability to solve world and personal issues.

As I watch a variety of companies use Excel for everything it was never meant to be for, I can't help cringing. I have the same reaction to Microsoft Access.  I have been limited to Excel, as my only tool to keep track of my connections and it is just down right painful. I have also seen complex, multi-user systems dependent on Access and it just isn't right. (hold the Access fan mail please, heard it been there and don't want to be convinced otherwise)

We have a ton of organic growth stepping in to meet need, but what about a quality control around database structure or a solid, built for multi-user platform? Do these factors matter? Perhaps not in the short run, bling matters in the short run, but with a product that is the heart beat of a company (be it Customer Relationship Management software, Office Suites or even Practice Management) the most ideal is a product that meets the needs of today, the needs of tomorrow with long term vendor support and has the depth to support long term data accumulation.

People often ask me why I don't use WordPress. It is free for instance and it has a number of bells and whistles to support blogging, but free does not always mean long term.  SixApart is hard to beat when it comes to the last six years of support, growth, agility and easy of use.

A few of the key questions I try to ask when thinking about the technology I depend on:

1. Who are the developers, how long are they going to stick around, what company backs them up?
2. Does the company do that well? What is the culture like?
3. What has the historical release cycle looked like for the technology?
4. Are new features added?
5. Do these features compliment or replace existing features?
6. How painful are the updates or upgrades?
7. How in sync with the marketplace are they?
8. What is missing and if it is missing is it on the wish list, development list or being discussed?
9. Does the software vendor get business pain? and are they solving real problems or just offering cool features?

Needless to say I have mixed ideas on the right balance between OpenSource, Vendor Source, and overall quality. Particularly given that on any given data quality can change from one extreme to another in the world of technology.

SharePoint, CRM and document management

Reuben kicks off with a great summary on when to use CRM Attachments vs SharePoint Document libraries

Mix in workflow and I am really looking forward to this presentation