New Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 Datasheet

Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 is a complete performance management application that includes scorecards, analytics, and plans that enable companies to more effectively manage their business.

Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 is built to improve operational and financial performance across the entire organization- across business units and up and down the organization structure.

Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 Key Features:

● Comprehensive Performance Management.
● Business Users Manage Business Rules.
● Handles Real-world Complexity.
● Rich, Role-based Information.
● Robust Security and Compliance.
● Integrated BI Platform.

Download the datasheet

New add-on' s by c360: Field Level Security / Audit / Multi Currency Management

New add-on's for Microsoft CRM by c360:

Field Level Security for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0
c360 Field Level Security enhances the security capability of Microsoft CRM 3.0 by restricting access to CRM data on a field level basis. By using Field-Level Security, administrators will be able to restrict access to specific fields in CRM entities. The fields can be disabled (read-only), forbidden (deny access) or hidden (remove field from view) for any CRM security role in a business unit (or team), thus allowing dynamic field privilege access while maintaining the CRM security model. Read more


Audit for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0
c360 Audit is a Microsoft CRM enhancement that allows you to Track and Analyze all changes made to CRM. The components of c360 Audit are1. Audit Tracker2. Audit AnalyzerThe Audit Tracker component captures all changes made to CRM data including custom entities and custom fields. Using the Audit Tracker, organizations will be able to:- Track all changes made to CRM data including contact save, lead conversions, quote deletions, updating of account fields- See the big picture view of the complete audit trail with the ability to drill down and open any CRM record with a single click. Read more


Multi Currency Management for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0
c360 Multi-Currency Management is a Microsoft CRM enhancement that offers organizations a dynamics and flexible solution for handling different scenarios of multi-currency requirements within CRM. Organizations will be able to manage different multi-currency scenarios such as:Multi-currency Price lists: Organizations can maintain a full price list according to CRM logic while defining price lists in different currencies for the same products. The currency symbol will then be determined in the price list level and will automatically propagate into the opportunity/quote/order/invoice calculations. Read more

Great CRM add-on's by Smart@xs

Smart@xs nv specialises in the distribution, development and hosting of Sales & Marketing supporting software and Microsoft CRM is a part of it. They offer some great CRM add-on's:

Easy Entry Tools
Multilingual salutations linked to gender and language
Extended address-control with embedded street catalog (supports multiple countries)
Extensive set of input checking’s (international): VAT-number, Credit card number, Bank Account number
Immediate duplication protection

Integrations
Geomarketing
Statistics
Full Contact Center Functionality
Skype

Configurable Components and Add-on’s
Smart@xs Navigator© (per module): Sales Navigator©, Service Navigator©, Navigator Suite© Smart@xs Summary© (per entity)
Rule-based reference numbers generation
Warnings
Intelligent import/export
Mail merge library for all entities based upon multiple criteria and security rules

Business templates
B2B
Consultancy
Service
Construction

Read more

Microsoft Dynamics: From Troubled Child to Favorite Son

Dynamics, a brand name unveiled at a Microsoft conference last fall, is a suite consisting of the Microsoft CRM application (now known as Dynamics CRM) and the four acquired products, Dynamics GP (from Great Plains), Dynamics NA (from Navision), Dynamics SL (from Solomon) and Dynamics AX (from Axapta).

Cobbling Dynamics together since those acquisitions hasn't been easy. None of them, for instance, offered the familiar Microsoft appearance and functionality. However, Microsoft has significantly increased cross-integration of the products' features, particularly for the 2006 release cycle, says Joe Wilcox, senior analyst at Jupitermedia Corp., a Darien, Conn.-based IT research firm.

Now the company is pumping money into an advertising blitz to promote Dynamics and spell out how the product will evolve over the next few years. Microsoft has also made it clear that Dynamics is a chief component of its massive push to target midsize companies, which it defines as businesses with between 50 and 1,000 employees.

Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect, has emphasized that Dynamics will focus on ease of use and implementation, characteristics not usually associated with ERP. "A new generation of software has to step up and provide capabilities in a way that's incredibly reliable, easy to set up, and brings the information to the right people," Gates said at the first-ever Microsoft Business Summit for midsize companies last fall.

Read the full, very interesting article

The Future of Dynamics CRM: CRM Hosted

This year Microsoft announced the introduction of a hosted version of Dynamics CRM. This hosted CRM version delivers the same interface options as the 'regular' version of Dynamics CRM as well as flexible deployment options for deploying all or parts of the Dynamics CRM solution. There are also configuration and customization capabilities.

Streamline Solutions provides a demo environment where you can try the current Dynamics CRM hosted version. This works really great and I think there is a great future for this version of Dynamics CRM.

You can try the fast Dynamics CRM demo environment for free (choose one of the available login's and don't forget to turn off your pop-up blocker).

Click here for the demo

Vista: SQL 2005 Required (CRM uses SQL 2000)

When the Windows Vista client finally ships, VARs will have to make sure database customers are running the latest-and-greatest SQL Server bits as well.
Though it's not widely known, Vista and the even more distant "Longhorn" Windows Server will support SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 and later. SP2 is due to ship soon after Vista to ensure compatibility. Microsoft maintains that Vista remains on course for general availability early next year.

Microsoft in its latest earnings call said its database business grew 35 percent year over year, which indicates that there's a lot of the new database out there. But VARs say there are many applications still running on older SQL Server 2000 and earlier releases of the database.
It's likely that many of those users wouldn't necessarily rush into an operating system upgrade. But if they are, they will need to take several factors into account.

SQL Server 2005 shipped in November 2005, and SP1 was released in April. One consideration for cutting off support for older SQL Server 2000 SKUs, including the MSDE (Microsoft CRM 1.2 client and Microsoft CRM 3.0 laptop editon), is that those versions don't support Windows Update Services and can't be patched automatically, as the successor database can. And in SQL Server 2005, MSDE has been supplanted by SQL Server Express.

Users wanting to continue with SQL Server 2000--presumably running on older operating systems--can do so under standard support until November 2007. Extended support, which carries an additional charge, continues for 10 years.
Customers running SQL Server 2000 on Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 who want to update are advised to run trial versions of SQL Server 2005 and Windows Vista Beta 2 to test applications. Then they would need to upgrade their databases to SQL Server 2005 SP1 and then upgrade to Vista.

Read more

Microsoft CRM Consultants wanted (London / Amsterdam / New York City)

Interested in Microsoft CRM? Do you want a career in London, New York City or Amsterdam?

Become a Dynamics CRM Consultant and choose your city!

1. London
2. New York City
3. Amsterdam
4. New Jersey
5. Brussels

More Microsoft CRM Careers

Microsoft's security update from Aug. 8 causing browser trouble for Dynamics CRM

Microsoft's security update from Aug. 8 to Internet Explorer is causing browser trouble for some systems.

After people apply the MS06-042 update (critial rated) Internet Explorer may crash when certain Web sites are viewed, the company said in a notice on its customer support website. The problem affects Internet Explorer 6 with Service Pack 1 on Windows XP and Windows 2000 systems.

"Microsoft has identified an issue with the security update MS06-042," the company said in a statement Tuesday. It plans to re-release the bulletin and patch on Aug. 22 for all affected users.

The problem occurs when IE users view Web sites that use version 1.1 of HTTP alongside compression, according to Microsoft's notice. HTTP, or hypertext transfer protocol, is the standard protocol used to browse Web sites.

Internet Explorer users have reported browser crashes when using Microsoft's CRM application.

Microsoft has a temporary fix available for the problems caused by MS06-042. However, this fix is not available for download; people have to call the Microsoft support line.

Troubleshooting Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0

There are a lot of answers on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM site to common questions that arise while working in Microsoft CRM. This site will be updated when there are new solutions to common issues.

Troubleshooting general issues in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0

Troubleshooting e-mail in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0

Troubleshooting Microsoft CRM 3.0 client for Microsoft Office Outlook

Troubleshooting system administration in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0

Read more on this Self-help and troubleshooting for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 site.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 List Web Part (SharePoint)

The List Web Part for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 provides a subset of the Microsoft CRM record list functionality. It allows users to view Microsoft CRM records as a list from a SharePoint dashboard, open records in Microsoft CRM 3.0 from the list, and connect Microsoft CRM Web Parts to filter different lists.

This release includes support for the following languages: German, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Danish and Brazilian.

Download

New version of the caching tool for Microsoft CRM

Joris Kalz has made a new version of the caching tool for Microsoft CRM. Instead of a system tray application it now resides in the system as windows service.

It is now running in the background but more important there is now a delay between each ping so the activity of the caching service will not disturb your work or maybe your presentation. For the first rountrip there will be only small delay (10ms) but for every following roundtrip you can specify the interval time in the config file.

Read more

Download the new Caching Tool

Microsoft CRM Update Roll Up Pre-Release testing

The Microsoft CRM Engineering Team plans to release Update Rollup 1. This Rollup will include Hotfixes and Updates released to date that enhance Microsoft CRM v3.0 usability and performance.

This Rollup will include packages for CRM v3.0 Server and Sales for Outlook Client in the following languages:
CSY (Czech)
DAN (Danish)
DEU (German)
ELL (Greek)
ENU (English – United States)
ESN (Spanish)
FIN (Finnish)
FRA (French)
HUN (Hungarian)
ITA (Italian)
NLD (Dutch)
NOR (Norwegian)
PLK (Polish)
PTB (Portuguese-Brazilian)
PTG (Portuguese-Portugal)
RUS (Russian)
SVE (Swedish)
TRK (Turkish)

It seems that this Update Rollup will make it possible to use Microsoft CRM 3.0 with Outlook 2007...

If you’re interested in more information regarding Microsoft CRM v3.0 Update Rollup 1 Pre-Release testing, contact Greg Nichols.

More release news: The CRM Team will release the new Microsoft CRM Mobile Client this week on the CRM Sandbox.

Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM (3.0) Project Management and Timesheet Registration Add-On

@work Management Associates B.V. introduces a Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM (3.0) Project Management and Timesheet Registration Add-On (English & Dutch versions).

@work has been involved within the Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM industry since the early release of Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM, @work Consultants have come across multiple situations in which customers not only want a great CRM solution but are looking to integrate a Project Management Solution with time sheet registration in CRM.

Customers have the specific need to be able to monitor 5 key elements of a project:

Time: The amount of time required to complete the project. This is typically broken down for analytical purposes into the time required to complete the components of the project, which is then further broken down into the time required to complete each task contributing to the completion of each component.

Cost: Calculated from the time variable. Cost to develop an internal project is time multiplied by the cost of the team members involved. When hiring an independent consultant for a project, cost will typically be determined by the consultant or firm's hourly rate multiplied by an estimated time to complete.

Quality: The amount of time put into individual tasks determines the overall quality of the project. Some tasks may require a given amount of time to complete adequately, but given more time could be completed exceptionally. Over the course of a large project, quality can have a significant impact on time and cost (or vice versa).

Scope: Requirements specified for the end result. The overall definition of what the project is supposed to accomplish, and a specific description of what the end result should be or accomplish.

Risk: Potential points of failure. Most risks or potential failures can be overcome or resolved, given enough time and resources. According to some definitions risk can also be negative, meaning that there is an opportunity to e.g. complete the project faster than expected.

Read more

Microsoft the fastest growing CRM vendor in the European marketplace in 2005

European CRM Software Revenue Increased by 9,7% in 2005.

Microsoft, a recent entrant into the CRM market, experienced the fastest growth in Europe at 88,1%. CRM market growth in Europe was lower than the 13,7% increase seen worldwide in 2005 and lower than the 15,1% seen in the region in 2004. However, Gartner highlighted several factors that contributed to this and stressed that despite the lower revenue growth, there is actually more CRM business in the market.

SAP was the No. 1 CRM vendor in Europe based on total software revenue, with a 32,4% market share in 2005, up from 31,4% in 2004. Siebel was the second largest vendor, but was acquired by Oracle early in 2006. Oracle’s own CRM sales pipeline suffered while customers awaited affirmation of future product directions following its acquisition of Siebel.

Read more

"Colourising" Microsoft CRM Grids

There is an interesting post on the Odynia.org Blog showing how to colourise the grid rows.

Read more (Part 1)

Read more (Part 2)

Free Map Utility: Multimap Link

The Multimap Link is a free utility that makes viewing the location of an Account, Contact or lead as easy as a couple of clicks.
CABC's Multimap Link uses the Postcode from the Primary Address to launch Multimap. If the record does not have a Postcode, the Multimap Link will let the user know.

Request the free software

Other Free Map Utilities and Info can be found here:

Embedding Maps in CRM Forms

Demonstration of Microsoft CRM with Virtual Earth embedded in it.