Historical Overview

Last week I published post nr. 100 so it's time for an historical overview ;-)

1. In 2001, Microsoft acquired iCommunicate (first picture), as part of its customer relationship management initiative. Their developers moved to Redmond and helped form the Microsoft CRM application development team.
2. January 2003: The first release of Microsoft CRM, version 1.0 (second picture).
3. January 2004: Microsoft released Microsoft CRM 1.2 (second picture). The new version can be configured for use in nine languages.
4. June 2004: Release of Microsoft CRM 1.2 Mobile.
5. September 2004: I passed the three Microsoft CRM 1.2 exams and the CRM company I worked for (ACI b.v.) becomes a Microsoft CRM CSA
6. September 2005: Microsoft introduces the Microsoft Dynamics brand (CRM is a part of it).
7. October 2005: Start of this (CRM Watcher) blog.
8. December 2005: Microsoft released Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 (third picture). This version can be configured for use in twenty languages.
9. April 2006: Release of Microsoft CRM 3.0 Mobile; mobile customizations become possible.
10. April 2006: I started to work for a 100% Microsoft Dynamics CRM company (@work Management Associates b.v.).
11. July 2006: Microsoft announced the roadmap for the next major release of its Microsoft Dynamics CRM products, including a new software-as-a-service offering called Microsoft Dynamics CRM Live.
12. April 2007: Release of Microsoft CRM 4.0 (Titan) ???

CRM Customization Version Tool

Philip Richardson has a very nice Version Tool that's fully integrated in Microsoft CRM. Each time you create a new version record it automatically exports all customizations and saves them as an attached xml file in the CRM database.

Read more and download the Version Tool

Workflow Manager on Client

Although the Microsoft CRM Workflow Manager is installed on the server, it's not the best environment to make use of it as an Application Administrator.

It's much easier to bring the Workflow Manager to the desktop of the client and use it there.

Follow the next steps for client use of the Workflow Manager.

Use a client that has the Microsoft CRM Client installed (Laptop / Desktop version).

1. Copy the folder 'Tools' from the Microsoft CRM folder on the server to the Microsoft CRM folder of the client.
2. Make a shortcut to the file Microsoft.Crm.Tools.WorkflowManager.exe in the Tools folder and start the Workflow Manager on the client.

Customer demand for recently launched products like Dynamics CRM highlight record fourth quarter revenue

Microsoft delivered a very strong finish to the fiscal year highlighted by customer demand for our recently launched products of Xbox 360™, SQL Server™ 2005, Visual Studio® 2005 and Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM 3.0, which fueled a combined 31% revenue growth of their business groups for the quarter,” said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer of Microsoft.

“Our upcoming launches of Windows Vista™, Microsoft® Office 2007, Exchange Server 2007, and other key products position us to continue to deliver strong revenue growth in fiscal year 2007. We are also very pleased that both the Microsoft Business Solutions and the Mobile and Embedded Devices businesses achieved profitability for the full fiscal year.”

Read more

Update of Data Migration Pack (version 3.1)

An update of the Microsoft CRM 3.0 Data Migration Pack (version 3.1)

The Data Migration Pack includes two tools for migrating data to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0:
Data Migration Wizard for Microsoft Office Outlook with Business Contact Manager, for migrating data from Outlook with Business Contact Manager to Microsoft CRM 3.0.
Data Migration Framework, for migrating data from any data source to Microsoft CRM 3.0.

Both tools are installed on the Microsoft CRM server, and must be run by a user with the Microsoft CRM System Administrator security role. The English version of this tool can be used with localized versions of Microsoft CRM.

I use the DMP a lot and it works fine for me.

Download

New Microsoft CRM 3.0 Mobile Service application (by CWR Mobility) soon to be released!

Yesterday I've seen a demo of the soon to be released CWR Mobility's Mobile Service application and it has become an awesome mobile solution.

They've made a great new user-friendly interface for intuitive CRM data access and entry by the mobile professional.

CWR Mobility's CRM 3.0 Mobile delivers access to Dynamics CRM 3.0 while out of the office through the CRM 3.0 Mobile Server – allowing for up-to-the-minute data changes and instant access to current data.

Visit their website or weblog for the latest info (new screenshots soon available).

Update: Screenshots of the new application!

Screenshot 1

Screenshot 2

Screenshot 3

Screenshot 4

Screenshot 5

Microsoft CRM Custom Report Generator Snap-in for Excel 2007!

The Custom Report Generator Snap-in is a configurable Microsoft Excel 2007 report generator that allows a power user or an ISV to create a gamut of reports by binding data from Microsoft CRM 3.0.

It also allows updating some of this data back into the Microsoft Dynamics CRM system. The snap-in ships with example reports that are useful for Sales organization in tracking and planning their performance against their targets.

Read more / Download

Microsoft CRM Account Name to Outlook Company Name

A tool to populate the company name field on Contacts in Microsoft Office Outlook with information from the Microsoft CRM Client for Microsoft Office Outlook contacts promoted to CRM and other nice utilities (not supported by Microsoft) can be found on the Microsoft CRM Sandbox (GotDotNet Microsoft Dynamics).

New Microsoft CRM mobile client

This week I completed the implementation of Microsoft CRM 3.0 Mobile for @work Management Associates. It's a great application but you have to install the client version on every Pocket PC, there's no browser option. Till today....

On the Sonoma Partners site I read some interesting news:

At the Microsoft Partner Conference today, Microsoft announced a new mobile version of the Microsoft CRM software that will offer great new benefits for mobile users.

Customers can install the new mobile software on their Microsoft CRM server, and then users can browse to the CRM data through an Internet-enabled device such as a cell phone or a PDA.

Users do not need to install any software on the device, they just need Internet access to browse to the mobile CRM website.

Read en see more!

Microsoft Outlines Roadmap for New Microsoft Dynamics CRM Live Service

Microsoft Corp. today announced the roadmap for the next major release of its Microsoft Dynamics CRM products, including a new software-as-a-service offering called Microsoft Dynamics CRM Live.

The Microsoft® CRM Live service will be operated and managed by Microsoft within its Windows Live™ datacenters, and will offer Microsoft’s partners another fast and flexible way to address the unique customer relationship management (CRM) needs of each customer.

Microsoft CRM Live will use the same code base as the on-premise and partner-hosted versions of Microsoft CRM, a strategy that reinforces Microsoft’s leadership in allowing customers to choose the best deployment option for their business and IT needs at any time.

The full range of Microsoft CRM products is part of Microsoft’s vision for business — the People-Ready Business — and the new Microsoft CRM Live service will be integrated with Microsoft’s Windows Live services and Office Live services.

Read more

See also the new CRM Live site.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Virtual PC Demo Scripts and Recordings

A set of Virtual PC demonstration resources and demo scripts that can be used with the recently released Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 VPC.

Download

Microsoft: CRM's The Next Billion-Dollar Baby

Microsoft is banking that its CRM, after a slow start, will become the company's next big money-maker. While it might not hit Office-type numbers any time soon, it could still be the next billion-dollar baby, executives say.

In a series of recent interviews, Microsoft executives repeatedly brought up CRM—the current Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 release shipped late last year--as the next big apps opportunity.
"CRM could easily be the next billion dollar business for Microsoft," said Margo Day, a regional vice president who just moved to that role from her post as vice president of the U.S. Partner Group.

Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., claims 7,000 CRM customer accounts and 180,000 CRM users worldwide.

Partners agree that the latest release, with its tight Outlook integration, has made great strides from its predecessors. They cite, in particular, easier navigation—it takes far fewer clicks to perform common tasks. And, the fact that it looks and acts like Outlook means that sales people, who often refuse to use complicated programs, actually use it, partners said.

Some Microsoft Business Solutions-focused partners still beef that they cannot make the margins they expected on CRM since Microsoft put it into broad distribution two years ago. But even some of those naysayers say it makes a good add-on sale into existing Microsoft ERP and infrastructure accounts.

Read more

Automatically send -mail activities to the recipients when you distribute e-mail activities for a campaign

When you distribute e-mail activities for a campaign in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, the e-mail activities are not automatically sent to the recipients. Instead, you have to open each e-mail activity. Then, you have to send each e-mail activity manually.

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes.

Read more

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. Visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Other Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 updates and hotfixes.

IE New Window Maximizer

The Microsoft CRM windows are not always automatically the size you want them (full screen).

This free program will automatically maximize new Internet Explorer windows.

It includes a function for hiding/closing all IE windows with a userdefined hotkey. It's also possible to open new IE windows and automatically have them sent to the background. The program is also capable of closing popup windows.

Download