Friday, August 22, 2008

2008.08.21 - First Dynamics Network Drink

Thurday 21th of August 2008 was the first Dynamics Network Drink in Gouda The Netherlands.
I was attending the drink with my colleague "Friendly CRM Monster". I want to thank the initiator Johan van Dijk for arranging this drink and of course we had some drinks with other bloggers like Ronald Lemmen and CWR mobility Erik van Hoof and Jeffry van de Vuurst. Looking forward to the next drink on November 27th.

Monday, August 18, 2008

CRM Statement of Direction and CRM Accelerators

Just downloaded this document on Partnersource and found of course a lot of blogging articles on the internet about it. Below you find the article I took of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Team Blog.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM partners and customers can look forward to a packed program of exciting releases during the second half of 2008.

The Statement of Direction whitepaper will be updated periodically to keep prospects, customers and partners up to date with key roadmap information for Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

One of the big announcements for Microsoft Dynamics CRM at Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston (and detailed in the Statement of Direction whitepaper) was about CRM Accelerators. This post will detail the overall Accelerators program and future posts will provide a high-level overview of each accelerator and its capabilities.

CRM Accelerators are a range of free-of-charge add-on solutions which are being developed for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 customers and partners. Each accelerator will showcase how the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 platform can be configured and extended to broaden marketing, sales and service capabilities. CRM accelerators provide additional functionality for deployments of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers are encouraged to further configure these accelerators to meet their specific business needs.

Each accelerator may consist of the following:
  • Importable data model
  • Business process workflows
  • Business Intelligence elements such as custom reports
  • Functional code samples (strictly adhering to SDK guidelines)
  • Documentation for installing, operating, localizing and extending the solution
  • An automated installer
Each accelerator will be supported as per any other customization that follows SDK guidelines. Additionally, all samples are supplied with full source-code so they can be extended further to meet specific customer requirements. Because of Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s services-based architecture and metadata-driven application capabilities, accelerators can be easily deployed for both on-demand and on-premise environments.

Through accelerators, customers and partners benefit from new functionality on a more frequent basis, and they can be deployed to their environment quickly and easily. Delivery of these accelerators will be during the second half of 2008.

The list of accelerators is as follows:
  • Analytics
  • eService
  • Event Management
  • Enterprise Search
  • Sales Methodologies
  • Extended Sales Forecasting
  • CRM Notifications
  • Business Productivity

CRM as a Rapid Development Platform


Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 provides all the capabilities to be a foundation for building line of business applications and saves you a ton of time! In this book, you will learn that CRM is an application development platform not just a CRM package. We will explore how its declarative data modeling, security model, dynamic SOA Web Service creation and other platform services make it a fast and easy platform for development. CRM 4.0 uses popular developer technologies like SQL Server, SQL Server Reporting Services and Windows Workflow Foundation for process automation. See how you can build your applications on top of it, integrate with it or simply extend it using ASP.NET, SharePoint, Silverlight, Virtual Earth, Custom Workflow Activities, Mobile and more.
Check the link here!

Custom Views by SalesCentric

SalesCentric Custom Views for Microsoft Dynamics CRM simplifies data navigation and brings the power of complex queries to every user.


Custom Views allows CRM users to create list forms with filters for almost every entity in CRM in a WYSIWYG query builder and integrate them into the MSCRM navigation system. The user finds the desired information in a few mouse clicks.


Custom Views key features:
  • Create list forms with filters for almost every entity in CRM in a WYSIWYG query builder.
  • Integrate crafted list forms in MSCRM navigation system including site map and navigation panes.
  • Use any combination of single options, multi options, range and text box filters enhanced by auto complete feature to get to the needed data with a few mouse clicks.
  • Save filter values as a named filter and apply it any time later.
  • Add a column or a filter to a list form on fly for a few clicks in a WYSIWYG query builder.
  • Bring data from the primary entity as well as its related entities without limitations for the relations level number.
  • Export Custom Views results into Excel.
  • Utilize out-of-the-box Custom Views definitions instead of CRM’s default views.
  • Search across all relationships in CRM to find the people who have specific relationships with your prospect employees.
  • Search across any associated records using easily configured filters such as city, address, first and last names, job titles and even custom fields.
  • Display both Activities and History in the same list.
  • Add contacts from Custom Views directly to Marketing lists.
  • Design Custom Views in a test environment, export them and use them in the production environment.
  • Integrate Custom Views in your solutions by linking them into an inline frame.

Marketing Segmentation screenshot:

Customer Relationships screenshot:

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Internet Facing Deployment Scenarios

Microsoft has released version 1.3 of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Internet Facing Deployment Scenarios document on their Corporate site.
This document covers the following Internet-Facing Deployment (IFD) scenarios for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.
• Install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 through the user interface (UI) setup

• Install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 with a configuration file

• Upgrade Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 through the UI setup

• Upgrade Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 with a configuration file

This document is intended to cover how to set up the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Web site to make it available from the Internet.
This document will not cover the steps that you must complete to make a server available from the Internet.


Tuesday, August 12, 2008

New and interesting CRM Books

Just a quick update on new and interesting CRM books. These books can be ordered at Amazon.com.

December 15, 2008
September 22, 2008
June 1, 2008
April 20, 2008

Friday, August 8, 2008

2 new Linkin Groups Created

Yesterday I created 2 new Microsoft Dynamics CRM groups on Linkedin:
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Blogs and the Dutch Dynamics CRM Community, so please sign in to these groups and get connected!!!

Friday, August 1, 2008

Dynamics Network Drink

On the 21st of August 2008 the first Dynamics Network Drink will be organized. Initially it was planned for the 1st of July 2008 but the bar wasn't finished yet. So please sign in on the website and I hope to see you all at the Dynamics Network Drink in Gouda.