Microsoft Dynamics CRM Team Blog

CRM Anywhere

crmblog — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:11:00 GMT

Over the last few months I have spent a lot of time meeting with customers, partners and industry leaders around the world on the current trends effecting businesses. The discussions have been fascinating! An interesting theme emerged around technology. The most common questions put to me were what are the innovations other customers are asking for? How are they embracing the rapid change of technology? And how can we leverage technology and Microsoft Dynamics CRM as a vehicle to drive a truly dynamic business to thrive in a hyper competitive environment? Heavy questions! I'll get to my answers in a moment.

In my last blog post I discussed the innovations going on in the CRM space and the fact that CRM is a big bet for Microsoft. Our "CRM economy", if you will, is a deep and vast network. It is big business. Couple that with our strategic "more innovation available more frequently" agenda which we announced last November along with all the work we are doing to synergize Microsoft technologies and bring them home to the CRM customer. Put that all together and you still only begin to scratch the surface of how much we are bringing to the table to change the industry. We will deliver more. Why? Because like you, we are relentless in our drive to outpace the competition.

So on to those answers I promised. We want to be revolutionary, not evolutionary. ...and the market is moving fast. Our customers are tackling CRM initiatives like never before. They can't afford to be casual. They are serious. They don't flinch. They are absolutely convinced that together with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM innovation agenda and pace of delivery, they can be a dynamic business. The most successful customers are innovating with mobility, using every kind of device they can deploy CRM functionality on, and they are going deeper with Microsoft Dynamics CRM flexibility for their specific needs than ever before.

Six months ago we announced our Social Productivity and Enterprise Cloud capabilities release. It was a great success and it was a good part of the answer to those questions I mention above. But we're not standing still. We have no rear-view mirror. I am thrilled to announce the next wave in our continuing cycles of rapid innovation in helping provide those answers: the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Anywhere release is coming in Q2 2012. With this release we are enabling you to be pervasively connected to your most valuable asset-your customer. We are providing more flexibility in mobility than any other CRM provider. Period. CRM where you want to consume it on the device you use.

Who doesn't love to get ahead of their competition in a big way? You do. And we just did in many ways!! And that's really only the beginning of what this release will offer. There's much more to discover including cross-browser support for broad access, data visualization capabilities for unique insight, big additions to our Marketplace and enhanced social capabilities to keep you in touch with your network and customers.

I encourage you to learn more about our Q2 2012 Service Update in our Release Preview Guide.

I look forward to hearing from you as we roll this into the market in the next few months.

Dennis Michalis
GM, Dynamics CRM

Microsoft Dynamics CRM SiteMap Editor Walkthrough

crmblog — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:22:00 GMT

It has always been a very tedious process to update the SiteMap. The conventional way is to have the sitemap exported as part of a solution, extracting the customizations.xml from the solution zip, hunt for the sitemap portion in the same xml file, update what needs to be updated, zip the file back into the solution, reimport the solution, and publish it. That sounds a lot doesn’t it? Not to mention that if you are not satisfied with the update, you have to do the same process all over again. It’s a trial-and-error process and is very error prone. Is there a way to make a system customizer’s life easier?

Yes there is. We have released the Microsoft Dynamics CRM SiteMap Editor last November. It is released as a solution that can be imported into a CRM organization, and customizations can be done within CRM in a snap. Once you load the editor’s user interface, you can view the sitemap and make all necessary updates. The accompanying user’s guide gives you a jumpstart on how to use the tool. This blog provides you a concrete example on updating the sitemap using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM SiteMap Editor.

Adding a New Area to the SiteMap

NOTE: Before updating your sitemap, make sure to save a back-up of your sitemap just in-case you encounter issues in the sitemap update process. Always follow this best practice. If you don’t have a back-up, you would need to recreate your sitemap, or dig through old sitemap copies and do a restore.

Consider that you are a system customizer for a nonprofit organization which has different kinds of volunteers and has decided to keep track of your volunteers in CRM. You wanted to achieve this sub-structure in the sitemap:

Volunteering (Area)
- Volunteers (Group)
  - Volunteers (Subarea)
  - Volunteer Skills (Subarea)

So you need to add a “Volunteering” area. To do this through the editor, click on any area in the sitemap and click on the + button at the bottom of the left pane (the navigation pane). This will add a “sibling” of that area immediately after the location of the selected area. You will then see an editing form at the right pane of the tool, which allows you to add/edit the necessary information attributed to that element.

You can go ahead and input an Id (any unique identifier) as well as the URL to the icon that represents volunteering. This URL uses the $webresource directive because this icon is a web resource in Microsoft Dynamics CRM named ‘msdyn_/imgs/sitemap/Volunteering.png’. All you need is include “$webresource:” in front of the name of the web resource.

This URL should not be confused with the other URL field which should contain the Outlook URL to render the Outlook folder that represents this area. If you want to show the groups of subareas under this area, click on the Show Groups checkbox. For the purposes of this example, let us have it checked so we will be able to see all components that we plan to add. Since this is a new area for a new entity, we need to add a title to it. Click on the New Title button, fill-in the LCID, which is short for Locale ID. The LCID for English is 1033. The title string text should be “Volunteering”. The Use Resource ID for Title should be left unchecked as it is for internal use only and should not be changed. The same steps can be executed for the description section. Enter an intuitive description for your new area and we should be done creating a new area in the sitemap.

Adding Groups to the SiteMap

To create a group, click on the Volunteering area and click on the Child button below the navigation pane. You can then set the Id and the other fields similar to that of the Area element. Let’s name this group “Volunteers”.

Adding a New Sub-Area to the SiteMap

So you have a “Volunteers” grouping but you don’t have any subareas under that group yet. To create the subarea, click on the newly created area, and add a child to it by clicking on the Child button at the bottom of the navigation pane. Similar to the creation of the area element, you have to set the Id as well as the URL of the associated icon. As we don’t have to pass information about the organization and language context through the URL (see CRM SDK Topic: Passing Parameters to a URL Using SiteMap for more information on this), you can leave the Pass Params checkbox unchecked.

Say for example you created a custom entity called “new_volunteers”. That being the case, you will have to set the Entity field to “new_volunteers”. For Client, you can check the All checkbox as this subarea should be available to all clients but since the default is “All”, you really don’t need to. This subarea is also expected to be available offline so you can also check the Available Offline checkbox. You can leave the Sku checkboxes as is since like the Client checkboxes, the default is also “All”.

The same steps as with creating the area element should be followed for the Titles and Descriptions section. Based on the target sitemap we have set at the beginning, we are naming this subarea “Volunteers”.

You can also prevent users from seeing this subarea if they don’t have specific access privileges to some entities. Say you don’t want to users to view this subarea if they don’t have Read, Write, and Create privileges to the activity entity (activitypointer). You have to set the Entity field to “activitypointer” and set the Read, Write, and Create checkboxes.

If you have help visors or Get Started pages to associate with this subarea, you can set the Get Started Pane Path values. You can set just the default Get Started Pane Path as we don’t expect different Get Started Pages when logged in as admin or in Outlook (see Change Application Navigation Using the SiteMap: Customize the Get Started Pane for more information).

If you want to create your own customized Get Started Panes, see Create Custom Get Started Pane Content. The SDK provides some template files a web developer can use to create custom Get Started Pane content using web resources.

You can follow same steps to create a different subarea for “Volunteer Skills” provided that you have a custom entity to associate to the subarea. If you want to interchange the order of the two subareas, you can easily just click on any of the subareas and drag it to the right position.

Wrapping it up

So according to plan, you have easily created all components that you needed to add to the sitemap. Now you just have to save all changes and publish the customizations in CRM. Just click on the Save button, confirm, and click on the Publish All Customizations button in CRM. When you refresh your instance, you should be able to see the updated navigation pane with the elements that you have added.

For more information on the SiteMap, see the Microsoft CRM SDK topics:

Change Application Navigation Using the SiteMap

There should also be instructions on exporting/backing up the SiteMap in Edit the Site Map (see steps 1 to 4 of the “To edit the Site Map” section).

Maria Christina Joaquin

Web Sales with the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace- Case Studies

crmblog — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:14:00 GMT

PowerObjects

PowerObjects is a Microsoft partner with deep expertise in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Although the company focuses on providing consulting and implementation services, its add-on solutions for Microsoft Dynamics CRM remain attractive to customers and partners alike. When Microsoft launched the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, PowerObjects was quick to recognize the opportunity. After making its add-ons available on the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, PowerObjects now receives around four to six trial subscriptions per day, of which 3 percent convert to sales and even large-scale deployments of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Through the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, the company aims to drive recurring revenue of U.S.$50,000 per month and has made an effort to do so without having to build a new sales channel or changing its business model as a value added reseller.

	What we have found with the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace is that even our small $1 to $2 sales can lead to 100-seat to 1,000-seat deployments of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
	Jim Sheehan, COO and Partner, PowerObjects

Business Opportunity

With a team of 70, PowerObjects focuses solely on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. As a Microsoft partner, PowerObjects has a gold competency in Customer Relationship Management in the Microsoft Partner Network and achieved 2011 Inner Circle for Microsoft Dynamics for its year-over-year revenue growth with the solution.

Although PowerObjects is a value-added-reseller (VAR) and drives revenue primarily though consulting and deployment services, the company also develops a range of add-on solutions for Microsoft Dynamics CRM that help meet specific customer needs. When Microsoft launched the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, an online lead generation tool that helps partners showcase and sell their best add-ons for Microsoft Dynamics, PowerObjects saw it as a perfect opportunity to market its solutions directly to customers.

“Customers and partners alike were always approaching us to use our add-ons, but as a VAR, we didn’t have the resources or sales channel needed to effectively deliver,” explains Jim Sheehan, COO and Partner at PowerObjects. “After the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace launched, however, we had a solution. It provided a place we could market our add-ons. And, we didn’t have to build out a sales channel, which let us continue to focus the efforts of our team on our consulting and implementation services.”

Online Strategy

To get the most out of the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, PowerObjects chose to offer a free, 30-day trial for its add-ons. Potential customers can register for the trial by clicking a button that appears in the listing for each solution. After they click, they can download the add-on and install it themselves.

To maximize conversions of the leads generated though the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, PowerObjects added a subscription reminder to the trial versions. When using the add-on, an initial pop-up window prompts customers, asking if they would like to continue with the 30-day trial or subscribe to the full solution.

Driving conversion to the full solution, PowerObjects also priced its solutions competitively at only U.S.$1 to $2 per user per month. And whether customers try the trial or subscribe, the add-ons send information back to PowerObjects’s own Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution, where staff track and analyze leads and sales for future sales and marketing efforts. And to support customers of its add-ons, PowerObjects has also set up a LinkedIn group.

“Customers who are buying add-ons online have a certain expectation: They don’t want to talk to a salesperson and they want to be able to click to try the solution, install it themselves, and then, if they like it, click again to buy it,” says Sheehan. “With the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, we were able to provide that experience.”

Benefits

By providing its add-ons on the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, PowerObjects now receives four to six trial subscriptions per day, of which 3 percent convert to sales. Although this may seem like a small number, it fits well into PowerObjects business model. Says Sheehan, “As a VAR, we’re really looking to provide consulting and implementation services. What we have found with the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace is that even our small $1 to $2 sales can lead to 100-seat to 1,000-seat deployments of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.”

Sheehan goes on to note that the company is seeing exponential growth in the sales of its add-ons through the marketplace, however, and expects the add-ons themselves to become a healthy stream of recurring revenue. He says, “Our plan is to control 10,000 seats of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and earn $5 in revenue per seat per month through our Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace listings, and we’re on track to get there in the next year.” This comes to a total of U.S.$50,000 in monthly, recurring revenue.

About PowerObjects
Founded in 1993 as a two-person development and consulting firm, PowerObjects has since grown into a multimillion-dollar product and service company specializing in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Headquartered in Minneapolis, PowerObjects has satellite offices in Dallas and St. Louis.

Today, PowerObjects has more than 70 employees and is one of the largest Microsoft partners that focuses exclusively on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Attributed to its success, PowerObjects focuses on educating and listening to its clients. From this success, the company established itself as a member of the 2011 Inner Circle for Microsoft Dynamics.

Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace Listing: dynamics.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-US/PartnerDetails.aspx?PartnerId=4296455411

About the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace
The Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace is an online service designed to help customers find trusted Microsoft Dynamics experts, applications, and services that enhance and easily integrate with Microsoft Dynamics solutions.

Powered by the Microsoft Pinpoint platform, the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace provides greater visibility to Microsoft partners. With the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, customers can search partners, applications, and services by product, business issue, or location. With listings to serve customers both locally and worldwide, finding the right Microsoft Dynamics expert, application, or service is easier than ever.

For More Information
To learn more about the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, visit: dynamics.pinpoint.microsoft.com/GetListed

Fast, Efficient Growth for Project Management Solution - Case Studies

crmblog — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:56:00 GMT

itara

When presented with the opportunity to feature CRM-Project, the fourth module for project management in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, in the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, itara acted immediately. The company built a consistent marketing strategy to ensure the optimal visibility and effectiveness of its solution listing. In that effort, customer reviews and ratings are key. CRM-Project also received Certified for Microsoft Dynamics status, which greatly helps in highlighting the soundness and effectiveness of the solution. With CRM-Project ranking at the top of several Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace country sites, the company generates 70 percent of its new business through this resource. The increasing traffic from potential customers and business partners helps itara in taking CRM-Project to new markets around the globe.

	" We generate 70 percent of new business through the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace. This powerful, efficient resource is invaluable in taking our solution into many new markets worldwide."
	Bernd Lachner, Managing Director, itara

Top-Ranked Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace Solution

Many of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers who come to try out, purchase, or use CRM-Project through the solution’s listing in the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace , are not even aware of itara, the company that created the solution and that continues to enhance it. That is just fine with Bernd Lachner, Managing Director at itara. “We want to be known for CRM-Project,” he says. “That’s how we deliver value to customers and other Microsoft Dynamics partners.” CRM-Project, the fourth module for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, extends the solution’s sales, marketing, and customer service capabilities with richly featured project management functionality. Lachner explains, “Customers come to us with one of two motivations: Either they are seeking project management capabilities to enhance Microsoft Dynamics CRM, or they want to add more value to their implementation of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and they recognize that project management is one way to achieve this.”

More than 70 percent of itara’s prospective customers find out about CRM-Project through its Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace listing. Currently, the solution has the top ranking on the U.S. and several other country sites. After reviewing the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace listing with a thorough overview of the solution, customers and Microsoft Dynamics partners interested in building a business relationship predicated on CRM-Project can visit the CRM-Project site to learn more, download a trial version of the solution, or purchase it. As a horizontal solution that is Certified for Microsoft Dynamics and available in localized versions, customers in many industries around the globe have adopted CRM-Project.

Consistent Marketing Strategy

Generating that much business through a Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace listing takes commitment on itara’s part. Lachner says, “The Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace is the most cost-effective marketing channel we have. Our marketing team dedicates the equivalent of one full-time employee’s time to managing the listings on the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace sites, and the payback on that is simply enormous. Since April 2011, we’ve gone from an average of 2 inquiries a day to 10 or more.”

Reviews and ratings are critical in the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace strategy to support CRM-Project. Lachner explains, “We were one of the first partners to participate in the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace and were listed among the top five partners from the first hour. A key element of that is our consistent, successful engagement with our partners and customers. We ask all of our customers and partners to review and rate our solution as soon as they have had a chance to test the solution or have signed a contract with us. The reviews are usually highly favorable, because customers find the solution to be valuable for them, and we also make it very easy for them to get in touch with us and implement the solution without requiring assistance.”

In addition, itara is meticulous in managing details of the solution listing. The company’s marketing writers ensure search engine optimization for all languages that the listing and the solution site appear in. itara marketers also optimize screen captures for effective display on the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace listing. Lachner and his team keep close watch on their website traffic and referring sources to ensure that the listing remains effective in bringing visitors to the CRM-Project site.

Emphasis on Certification and Horizontal Value

It’s very important to itara that CRM-Project is Certified for Microsoft Dynamics. “For customers, certification of the solution means it is credible and sound,” says Lachner. “Without certification, we would not see anywhere near the level of response we are experiencing today. The certification also helps us to achieve good visibility with the Microsoft field and potential business partners.”

Currently, itara and Microsoft are achieving more and more software-as-a-service license sales to customers who use the solution in the cloud in integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. In the cloud and on-premises, the breadth of CRM-Project helps its adoption in a wide spectrum of organizations. “CRM-Project is a horizontal project management solution, effective for organizations in many different market segments, and the potential for adding value is very high,” says Lachner. “The Microsoft Dynamics partners who connect with us through the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace and are interested in going to market with CRM-Project also appreciate this. Some of our partners take advantage of the opportunity to enhance CRM-Project by building vertical solutions that integrate with it.”

According to Lachner, much of the credit for CRM-Project’s success is due to Microsoft. “We know that Microsoft promotes the value of the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace to customers and partners every day, and we see the results of those efforts,” he says. “That helps us free resources to focus on other business development channels and take our solution into new markets.”

Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace Listing: dynamics.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-us/applications/4th-module-for-project-management-in-microsoft-dynamics-crm-crm-project-12884910148

About itara
Headquartered in Würzburg, Germany, itara serves Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers worldwide with a horizontal solution, CRM-Project. As a fourth module in addition to the sales, marketing, and customer service functionality that Microsoft provides with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, CRM-Project offers a full set of project management capabilities for organizations in any market segment. Customers purchase CRM-Project directly from itara or from one of the company’s more than 100 partners worldwide.

For More Information
To learn more about the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, visit: dynamics.pinpoint.microsoft.com/GetListed

Activity Feeds Solution & Development Environment

crmblog — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:48:00 GMT

This article focuses on the engineering behind the Activity Feeds solution and explains how to use it safely in your Development environment where you plan to build and export your solutions.

If you are new to the term Activity Feeds and would like to learn about it and install it, then follow this article Introduction to Activity Feeds solution.

How is Activity Feeds Feature any different than regular CRM Feature?

Traditionally features within CRM were always part of the core product, with no options available for the end user to choose which features they wanted. CRM 2011 provided the Solution framework which allowed ISV’s, Partners to build solutions that can isolate their customizations, business logic from other others.

Activity Feeds is the first certified solution that the CRM team produced that abides by the same policies set by the Solution Development Model. What it means is that you can enable or disable this feature in your organization by installing or uninstalling the solution.

I. Activity Feeds Feature is split into 2 parts, Platform and Solution.

Platform is delivered as part of the UR5 release. This means you get Entities like Post, Comment, Follow and the SDK Messages that retrieve posts as part of UR 5 update.
Solution is available as MicrosftCRMActivityFeeds.cab from the Dynamics Marketplace. It contains:

UI Components to:
- Display posts via What’s New & Record Walls.
- Enable Entities for Activity Feeds.
- Choose which Auto Post Rules to enable.
ActivityFeeds Security Role
Auto Post Rules on some OOB entities like Task, Appointment, Phone Call, Recurring Appointment, Lead, Opportunity, Case,Dialogs

II. Online and On-premise differences

For On-premise and existing organizations in Online, you would need to install the solution by getting it from market place.
For New Online Organizations, we install the solution as part of the provisioning so you have it all ready to go.

How does the solution work in my environment?

The Activity Feeds solution allows you to enable / disable an entity for Feeds. For example, you can enable feeds for Account and disable for Contact.

When you enable an entity for feeds we do the following on behalf of the end user:

1. Create the following Saved Query’s to the Entity

Accounts Being Followed
Accounts I Follow

2. Customize the Entity FormXml

Add “Record Wall” Tab to the Form

3. Enable Auto Post Rules for each entity if available

You as an Admin can also go to each entity for eg: Account and Create the Views, Customize the Forms. But we wanted this to be as few clicks as possible, so we do that on your behalf when you create a new active row in the Activity Feeds Configuration section. We also clean everything up when you Disable the entity for feeds by removing the row from Activity Feeds Configuration section.

What should I know if I am developing another Solution in this organization?

I think this is the main reason why you are reading this article. So let’s cut the chase.

Remember the Solution development model where Managed solutions create components as managed and all end user customizations are treated as Un-Managed. (Read more about solutions model here. About Importing a Solution)

If you go through the last section, I showed you that we create Saved Queries, Customize Form Xml on behalf of end user. So this means those are Un-Managed customizations.

If you try to export Account entity, you will get those customizations exported within your solution. So if you export and import in customer organization, you will be trying to take ownership of those customizations in target organization. This is likely not what you intended as you did not directly make these customizations, effectively you do not own those customizations. When you export your solution, you need to make sure you export only the changes you intend and nothing else.

I understand this brings back the memories of CRM V4 where we have to worry about other ISV’s customizations in the system... I understand…

Here are the steps to remove Activity Feeds Un-Managed Customizations from your development org:

Go to Settings-> System-> Activity Feeds Configuration ->
- Delete all the entries except User
- Delete User at the end
- Publish all customizations
You can optionally uninstall the Activity Feeds solution in your Development Organization after the above 2 steps are done.
Note: All New Online Orgs Provisioned after UR5 will have Account, Contact, User, Opportunity, Lead, Case automatically enabled for Activity Feeds. If you are developing against an Online Org you will need to Unconfigure these entities even though you did not manually enable them.

Now you can Export your solution - it will not export the components from Activity Feeds.

Thanks

Ajith Gande

Developer – Microsoft CRM

“The Big Bet”

crmblog — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:29:00 GMT

Business applications, as I see them, are a critical component of business success. Throughout my 20+ years in the industry I've worked with countless customers of all sizes around the globe that would absolutely agree that their core business infrastructure is essential to their long-term viability. Yes, talented, dedicated people are critical. And, yes, great products and sound processes are crucial. Competitiveness, focus, and quality sure help, too! And so goes the list of basic ingredients for a successful business (let's not forget the ability to survive through tough times). But I am firmly in the camp that cutting-edge business applications are an absolute necessity, not just nice-to-have ingredient, but something you can bet your future on.

There are some basic facts about the CRM market that I hold fast. First, it is an active market that is flourishing. Businesses of all sizes and with requirements that range from mild to extraordinary are investing in CRM at a very rapid pace. The competition is strong (and some might say "noisy"). The capabilities in Sales Force Automation, Customer Care and so forth that businesses demand are asking all CRM providers to create products and provide services that must be increasingly robust every day. This is a beautiful signal to me. It tells me CRM is undeniably at the "bet your business" level of investment for success. And at the risk of already sounding like a company man I believe that bet is best made with Microsoft. The broad range of capabilities that Microsoft brings to the game to enable our customers to connect in meaningful ways with their customers is unmatched. And it is now my job ...to ensure you can clearly arrive at your own conclusion that Microsoft is the obvious choice for your business needs. I already have.

Frankly, I have always respected Microsoft's business. As a competitor they were consistently tough. As a partner they were disciplined and professional - and marvelously committed for the long haul to their products and customers. When Microsoft called and asked if I would be interested in helping drive a very important solution into a global market, they had my attention. But once I had the opportunity to sit down with the leaders of the team and talk through where the Microsoft Dynamics business had come from, where they intend to go and what the vision is that fuels that drive I was absolutely IN! The sheer magnitude of everything Microsoft has to offer for the CRM customer is awe inspiring!

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the great work that came ahead of me. The Dynamics team and the Microsoft people and Partners around the world that work with our customers have created an enormous amount of success to-date. I marvel at what I have learned about what the combination of our technology, capabilities and community have done for business around the world. My hat is off to all those that have contributed to this legacy.

Thus begins our journey together! I have a lot of ideas to share and I look forward to our future dialog. And I am intensely interested in your feedback. Criticism is just as welcome as good ideas.

Yours in a great business bet,

Dennis Michalis

GM, Microsoft Dynamics CRM

CRM 2011 Chart Enhancements

crmblog — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:27:00 GMT

With the advent of R7/Update Rollup 5 from CRM 2011. The ability to modify charts within the CRM 2011 interface has grown. However, if you want to take the user chart experience even further, there are still some modifications that you may want to make by exporting the chart out to an .xml file and modifying it in Visual Studio and reimporting it back into CRM. Below are a few basic examples for various chart types with screenshot examples and the code snippets with the areas highlighted in yellow that you need to modify.

In creating this blog, I found the following resources helpful…

CRM SDK - View Data with Visualizations (Charts)

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg309647.aspx

Chart Types (Chart Controls) - MSDN
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd489233.aspx

Microsoft Chart Controls Add-on for Microsoft Visual Studio
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=23903

Microsoft Chart Controls for .NET Framework Documentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=EE8F6F35-B087-4324-9DBA-6DD5E844FD9F&amp;displaylang=e&displaylang=en

Enjoy!

Jack Bender

1. Bar & Column Charts

a. Cylinder

<Chart>

</Series>

b.Emboss

<Chart>

</Series>

c. LightToDark

<Chart>

</Series>

d. Wedge

<Chart>

</Series>

e. 3D

</AxisY>

</AxisX>

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

f. No Values show on the bars

<Chart>

</Series>

g. Instead of Stacked…

Go with 3D Cylinder

</Series>

-and-

</AxisX>

</ChartArea>

2) Pie/Doughnut Charts

a. Pie Chart

b. Pie Chart – 3D

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

c. Pie Chart – Concave

</Series>

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

d. Pie Chart – Soft Edge

</Series>

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

e. Doughnut Chart

</Series>

f. Doughnut Chart – 3D

</Series>

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

g. Doughnut Chart – Concave

</Series>

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

h. Doughnut Chart – Soft Edge

</Series>

</ChartArea>

</ChartAreas>

3) Funnel Charts

Circular Base by Default
YIsHeight by Default

a. Square Base

<Series>

</Series>

b. Neck

<Series>

</Series>

c. YIsWidth

</Series>

Tips and Tricks in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Dialogs-Part I

crmblog — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:09:00 GMT

How to create Page-less Dialogs?

In Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, we introduced the concept of UI Scripts (otherwise known as Dialogs) which are essentially workflows with the provision to accept inputs from the user. We call these as “Prompts and Responses”. I use the word provision lightly simply because it’s not really optional; rather it is mandatory to have at least one page with at least on Prompt and Response item in any given Dialog. If one didn’t then one would see the following error message on activation of the Dialog.

Screenshot: Error on activating a Dialog without any Prompt and Response Step

Why would one want to have Dialogs without pages instead of using Workflows?

- Well, for starters, Dialogs have Variables and Input Arguments that gives the flexibility in authoring the business processes.
- Once a Workflow is linked from a Dialog, one will not be able to call back into a Dialog.
- In addition, Workflows are asynchronous whereas Dialogs are synchronous.

Think of the scenario where in one needs to obtain some inputs from the user, do some backend processing before displaying the resulting information. In this case there would be a couple of Dialogs which require pages and there may be many more that only do some backend processing. The backend processing Dialogs are modules that do some unit of work and pass on the information to other modules. Authoring Dialogs in this modular fashion increases their re-usability.

Having more modules implies having more Dialogs which in turn implies we end up having more pages since each Dialog needs to have at least one page. Bummer!

Not anymore! Here’s a simple trick that you probably already knew.
- Add a Variable, say “Dummy” of type Single Line of Text. Set some default value, say “myworkaround”.

Screenshot: Add a dummy variable

- Add a Check Condition step. The condition should read like this:

If Dummy’s Value is Not Equal To “myworkaround”.

Screenshot: Check Condition : Is Value of Dummy Variable Not Equal to “myworkaround”?

For the steps of the condition above add the following steps:
- Add a Page.
- Add a Prompt and Response with more dummy values.

Screenshot: Add a dummy page and dummy Prompt and Response

Activate this Dialog as a Process Template. Henceforth, when one wants to create a new module Dialog, one creates it out of this template. Voila! We now have “Page-less” module dialogs.

Okay, why do we call them “Page-less” when we have added a page and a “Prompt and Response”? You guessed it right; the page is never shown as the condition to show the page is never true. However, one is allowed to activate the Dialog because the authoring tool is satisfied with the presence of the “Dummy Page”.

Now if only I could also get rid of the “Finish page” – I would have a truly “Page-less” Dialog. So close, yet so far…

More to follow soon, till then happy UI-Scripting!

Ravindra R Upadhya

eXtremeCRM 2012 Berlin

crmblog — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:07:00 GMT

The Dynamics CRM team will again be participating at the eXtremeCRM conference held this year in Berlin from February 5th – 8^th. Sessions are being presented by the CRM R&D and Product Management teams and details can be found here. I will also be speaking at the event, and hope to see you there.

eXtremeCRM offers session tracks for sales and marketing professionals, implementers, and developers and these tracks are designed exclusively for those in the Microsoft DynamicsCRM ecosystem. This year, eXtremeCRM will be host to the first Practice Leader Summit, a workshop-style event for partner leadership that will address the key business issues facing partner businesses today. The eXtreme App Challenge will be another eXtremeCRM first this year, as partners face-off in their attempt to create the most compelling CRM application.

eXtremeCRM 2012 Berlin is 100% focused on Microsoft Dynamics CRM and as such is the place to connect to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM product and strategy.

Craig Dewer, Director, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Product Management, David Brown, EMEA CRM Product Lead and Eric Boocock, Sr. Technical Product Manager, will deliver keynotes on the state of the CRM
business, our recent fall release and our cloud services strategy. We also have a keynote on the roadmap of Microsoft Dynamics CRM where we plan to announce some great new things coming in in the next release!

In addition, Mike Ehrenberg, Microsoft Technical Fellow and Chief Architect for Microsoft Dynamics, delivers a technical address focused on the future of Microsoft technologies.

There is no other event that offers the rich CRM education, the expert-led sessions, and the enlightening keynote addresses. It’s a wise investment in your CRM business.

To learn more about the eXtremeCRM 2012 Berlin agenda and to register, visit eXtremeCRM2012 Berlin.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Amir Jafri

"Thank You" to my Customers, Partners and Friends by Brad Wilson

crmblog — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:17:00 GMT

What a journey it's been over the past six years! ... from the ground-breaking CRM 3.0 release, to full multi-tenancy with CRM 4.0, and the amazing user experience of CRM 2011... with the launch of CRM Online in 2008, a global roll-out in 2011, and six more Online service updates along the way ... and with great customers and great partners around the world fueling double-digit growth of the Dynamics CRM business for 29 consecutive quarters. It's been so much fun to be a part of this business, to bring a terrific and talented team together, and to help guide Microsoft into a leadership position in the CRM category. As we start 2012, I'm very excited to transition my responsibilities over to Dennis Michalis, and to watch him continue to grow and scale the Microsoft Dynamics CRM business.

Microsoft provided a unique opportunity to build a business from the start-up phase to maturity, and that's what I love doing. I'm taking some time to decide what to do next, but you can be sure that it will be about growth and passion.

With that, I want to say a huge "THANK YOU" to all of my customers, partners, colleagues, and friends who have made this a wonderful experience for me - your friendship and partnership are unforgettable! I look forward to staying in touch, and you can always reach me at brad.t.wilson@live.com, or via my LinkedIn profile.

Best regards,

Brad Wilson

Personalizing Reports for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online

crmblog — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:18:00 GMT

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 has excellent reporting capabilities. Customizers have the option to create SSRS reports using SQL or CRM’s querying language, FetchXML, in on premise deployments. Customizers must leverage FetchXML to create SSRS reports in online deployments for improved security and performance. ISVs should consider creating reports using FetchXML to reach the broadest audience. This blog will provide commons patterns that can be applied when writing reports using FetchXML or converting SQL based reports to FetchXML based reports.

RDLHelper

Many of the patterns rely upon members in the RDLHelper assembly. The RDLHelper assembly contains a set of VB types that can be accessed within SSRS reports in an online deployment. Only the RDLHelper assembly and a subset of the VB library can be accessed in an online deployment because the Report Server is running in sandbox mode for enhanced security and performance. Customizers of on premise deployments can also configure their Report Server to run in sandbox mode. More details can be found on MSDN. The whitelist of accessible types and blacklist of restricted members can be found in the SDK
documentation.

CRM Report Parameters

SSRS reports that are executed within CRM have access to report parameters that are populated by CRM at runtime. These parameters are populated with organization and user settings and data. These parameters are provided to facilitate creation of personalized reports based on the current user. The complete list of CRM Report Parameters can be found in the SDK documentation.

Personalization

Before authoring a report it is important to consider the audience who will view it. Author reports such that the target audience can easily understand them. A pattern to increase comprehension is to use the current user’s language, date, time, number, and currency settings to display information. The pattern can be implemented by combining CRM Report Parameters, members of the RDLHelper assembly, and other whitelisted VB types.

In on premise deployments customizers can gain access to the current user’s settings by calling the table valued user defined function called fn_GetFormatStrings. More information on this technique can be found in the SDK documentation. This technique is not possible in online deployments because SQL datasets are not allowed in SSRS reports. With clever use of CRM Report Parameters and VB scripting the same pattern can be implemented in online deployments.

Language

A report can specify the current user’s language by setting the value of the <Language> element. This technique calls the GetCultureName method and passes in the value of the CRM_UILanguageId report parameter.

<Language>=Microsoft.Crm.Reporting.RdlHelper.ReportCultureInfo.GetCultureName(Parameters!CRM_UILanguageId.Value)</Language>

The reason the CRM_UILanguageId parameter cannot be used directly is because it is in the format “1033”, but the <Language> element expects the format “en-us”. The GetCultureName method enables us to convert from the culture code to the culture name.

Date & Time

The text value of many report controls can be formatted using the current user’s settings. The example shown below passes a custom format string to the ToString method and a CultureInfo object. The CultureInfo
object is created by calling the CreateSpecificCulture method and passing in a culture name. The culture name can be obtained by calling the GetCultureName method and passing in the value of the CRM_UILanguageId report parameter.

CDate(Fields!FirstDayOfThisMonth.Value).ToString("MMM-yy", System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture(Microsoft.Crm.Reporting.RdlHelper.ReportCultureInfo.GetCultureName(Parameters!CRM_UILanguageId.Value)))

This pattern is applicable anywhere format strings can be used including the VB Format method or the RDL <Format> element.

Format(Fields!duedatestring.Value, Parameters!CRM_ShortDatePattern.Value)

<Format>=Parameters!CRM_FormatDate.Value + " " + Parameters!CRM_FormatTime.Value</Format>

The calendar format can also be specified by setting the <Calendar> element’s value. The value is the name of the calendar. The CRM_CalendarTypeCode report parameter specifies the calendar type as an integer. The integer needs to be converted to the corresponding name. Use the IFF method rather than a Switch because the Switch method is in the blacklist table.

=IFF(

IsNothing(Parameters!CRM_CalendarTypeCode.Value) or Parameters!CRM_CalendarTypeCode.Value = -1 or Parameters!CRM_CalendarTypeCode.Value = 0, "Gregorian",

IFF(Parameters!CRM_CalendarTypeCode.Value = 1, "Japanese",

IFF(Parameters!CRM_CalendarTypeCode.Value = 2, "Korea",
IFF(Parameters!CRM_CalendarTypeCode.Value = 3, "Taiwan",
IFF(Parameters!CRM_CalendarTypeCode.Value = 4, "Gregorian US English",
IFF(Parameters!CRM_CalendarTypeCode.Value = 5, "Gregorian Arabic",
IFF(Parameters!CRM_CalendarTypeCode.Value = 6, "Gregorian Middle East French",

IFF(Parameters!CRM_CalendarTypeCode.Value = 7, "Gregorian Transliterated English",
IFF(Parameters!CRM_CalendarTypeCode.Value = 8, "Gregorian Transliterated French" "Gregorian")))))))))

</Calendar>

Given a UTC time value the current user’s time can be retrieved by calling the ConvertUtcToLocalTime method and passing in the time value and the value of the CRM_UserTimeZoneName report parameter. Calling the method returns a DateTime object whose ToString method can be called by supplying a custom format string and the user’s CultureInfo object. The CultureInfo object can be obtained by calling the GetCultureInfo method and passing in the report parameters collection. It is important to note that the entire CRM report parameters collection needs to be referenced. The listing of all members of the collection can be found in the SDK documentation.

<Value>=CDate(Microsoft.Crm.Reporting.RdlHelper.DateTimeUtility.ConvertUtcToLocalTime(DateTime.UtcNow, Parameters!CRM_UserTimeZoneName.Value)).ToString("g", Microsoft.Crm.Reporting.RdlHelper.ReportCultureInfo.GetCultureInfo(Parameters))</Value>

Number & Currency

Customizers can apply the same pattern to format numbers and currency. An example of specifying the user’s format string for currency is shown below. The first parameter is the current user’s CultureInfo object, the second parameter is the decimal precision, and the last parameter specifies whether the number should be formatted as currency.

<Format>=Microsoft.Crm.Reporting.RdlHelper.ReportCultureInfo.GetNumberFormatString(Microsoft.Crm.Reporting.RdlHelper.ReportCultureInfo.GetCultureInfo(Parameters), CDbl(2), True)</Format>

As an alternative the value itself can be formatted by calling the ToString method and passing in a custom format string and the current user’s CultureInfo object.

<Value>="(" & Fields!invcount.Value & ")" & " " &

CDbl(Sum(Fields!totalamount.Value)).ToString("C2", Microsoft.Crm.Reporting.RdlHelper.ReportCultureInfo.GetCultureInfo(Parameters))</Value>

Next Steps

The general pattern that has been applied is to use CRM report parameters as arguments to VB script methods to personalize reports. Only a small slice of CRM report parameters and VB script methods have been examined in this blog. Please contribute to and empower the CRM community by blogging about any other uses you have found. The next step is to brush up on FetchXML patterns and start writing your own custom FetchXML reports for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

Bao Nguyen

What’s new with Dialogs in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 UR5

crmblog — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:37:00 GMT

Introduction

Dialogs are the synchronous/interactive processes in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online that collect and process information by using step-by-step scripts to direct users through a process.

Dialogs have been enhanced in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online R7 (Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 UR 5) to enable enhanced interaction with existing entities and records in the CRM system. The enhancements are covered in 3 parts below.

Smart Form experience at Runtime

In Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, data entered in the prior pages was retained when one navigated back using the Previous button. However, navigating forward using the Next button would cause the next page to be refreshed resulting in the user having to re-enter any data provided previously. This turns out to be a significant problem in time critical business processes like on-call customer interactions.

In Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online R7 (Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 UR 5), the data entered by the user is always retained, be it while navigating forward or while navigating backwards. In addition, to align with real world scenario needs, user entered data is overridden with server side values if it is dependent on previous page values (which are modified by user). The end user is informed of this override via the page level and per-prompt level alerts indicating that the content of prompt, response or tip have changed.

The data entered by user would be replaced with server side data if:

- The content of Prompt or Tip changed due to data slugs evaluating to different value AND/OR,

- The response data set (from Query step) or the default value changed.

For example, consider the dialog shown below. The dialog expects the customer to declare the annual household income to determine what Credit Cards the customer is eligible to be offered.

Screenshot: Data entered on page 2 for the first time

Screenshot: Back to Page 1 and changing data

Screenshot: Page 2 is refreshed with new data for the first Prompt & Response but retains data for the second one

Enabling hyperlinks to CRM Records

Dialogs supported static hyperlinks in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 via the Insert Hyperlink dialog. This allowed for having static links to pages from within the Dialogs runtime experience. One could further enhance this by modifying the XML like string placed in the prompt of tip text upon using the Insert Hyperlink button to embed slugged query parameters and generate pseudo-dynamic URLs. However, one was not able to obtain URLs to CRM records created as part of the Dialog (or related CRM records).

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online R7 (Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 UR 5) has a very unique solution to this limitation. Data Slugs - One can now use data slugs for Text to Display and URL fields in the Inset Hyperlink dialog. In addition this enhancement has been made available in the Email Content Rich Text Editor of the Send Email Step in Dialogs and Workflows. Data slugs can be obtained for attributes of the primary entity, related entities and records local to the dialog (records from Response values, Create Record Step, Variables and Input Arguments).

Screenshot: Insert Hyperlink in Prompt and Response Step

A new dynamic attribute Record URL is made available that evaluates to the URL of the record. This new attribute is available in the Form Assistant not just in the Insert Hyperlink dialog but across Dialogs authoring experience. For Internet Facing Deployments, the external facing URL of the specified record is evaluated. One can still enter static URLs in the format <Protocol><Address>. Please note that protocol is mandatory, if not the URL will result in a self-link URL at runtime.

Screenshot: Insert Hyperlink in Send E-mail step

More CRM Data types: Date, Date Time and Lookup type attributes

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 allowed use of integers, floating point numbers, strings and forms of these as data types in Variables, Input Arguments and Prompt & Response steps. In addition, one was able to use Query Step values to obtain handle on records.

One can now use Date, Date Time and Lookup type attributes of entities in Variables, Input Arguments and Prompt & Response steps. While Date and Date Time are self-explanatory, Lookup type attributes may require some explanation to illustrate its correct usage.

Screenshot: New data types supported in Variables, Input Arguments and Prompt & Response Steps

On choosing Lookup as the data type, one is presented with two drop-downs: Reference Entity and Reference Field. On selecting an entity in Reference Entity, the Reference Field drop-down populates itself with all lookup type attributes of the chosen entity. By selecting one of the Reference Field values, one would be able to add a lookup of that record type which is represented by the chosen Reference Field value.

Screenshot: Using customer lookup attribute of case entity

For instance, if Account is the chosen entity attributes like Owner, Parent Account, Primary Contact etc. are populated in the Reference Fields drop-down. Selecting Primary Contact from Reference Field drop-down allows one to add lookup to Contact records in the system. Similarly choosing Owner from the Reference Field drop-down allows one to add a multi-entity lookup consisting of User and Team records in the system. The key is to identify the correct Entity-Field combination to represent your lookup record needs.

Please note that one needs to assign a value for Lookup type Variables using the Assign Value Step before using the variable. This is required as one cannot set a default value for Lookup type Variables.

Screenshot: Reference type and Date Time type at runtime

At runtime, a Lookup control that allows selection of records from entities as defined by the Reference Field type selected is rendered. In the above example, since we chose to use the Customer attribute of Case Entity, we get to select Account and Contact records using the lookup rendered.

Happy UI-Scripting!

Ravindra R Upadhya

Resource Center article: Go live with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online

crmblog — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:26:00 GMT

We have recently published the article Go live with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online that aims at improving your experience with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

This article describes some common settings to optimize the performance of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, and also lists some resources that you could benefit from. It is intended for administrators and business users of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

Note: This article is based on the Go Live checklist document created by the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Support team.

We welcome your comments and feedback.

Shubhada Joshi

Resources for customer service

crmblog — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:22:00 GMT

Customer service is an important part of any business. To keep your customers happy and to retain them, it is very important that you provide excellent services to your customers.

We’ve created an article that includes links to various resources that help you get started with managing cases, contracts, and services, and organizing and tracking activities in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

You can view the article here:

We would love to hear your feedback.

Shubhada Joshi

Help get your Case Solved Faster using Diagnostics

crmblog — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:15:00 GMT

Microsoft Support is using Diagnostics to help automate data collection and data analysis when troubleshooting support incidents. Diagnostics allow our support teams to capture certain pieces of data about an environment to more efficiently resolve a customer case. Diagnostics can do basic data collection to gather information about product version, system configurations and settings, as well as do a deeper analysis of this and other data collected to determine the root cause of an issue.

Steps on how to run a Diagnostic will now be presented after submitting most cases on CustomerSource / PartnerSource. If you have recently logged a support incident via CustomerSource / PartnerSource you may have noticed this new information after submitting the support incident. A similar experience will appear if you are submitting a case from the Microsoft Premier Portal.

When presented with this information, please follow the steps provided to run the Diagnostic and upload the results to the Microsoft Dynamics support team. Diagnostics allow us to capture necessary product versions, system configuration, log files and other information to allow our support teams to more effectively and efficiently troubleshoot and solve support cases. Running Diagnostics and uploading these
results will reduce the number of questions support engineers will need to ask you, reduce the amount of information you need to manually gather and send us and ultimately allow us to resolve cases quicker. The Diagnostic will automatically capture and upload the information to our support teams. You do have the ability to view the information that is being collected prior to uploading to Microsoft.

More Information

The Diagnostic presented will depend on the Support Topic you choose. For example: Selecting CRM Client for Microsoft Office Outlook will provide you with a Diagnostic designed to capture troubleshooting information related to the CRM Client for Microsoft Office Outlook.

What is the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/What-is-the-Microsoft-Support-Diagnostic-Tool

Problem Steps Recorder

Another great way to speed up the time to resolution of your case is to capture the repro steps of your issue using the Problem Steps Recorder built into Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2. The Problem Steps Recorder captures a screenshot for each click. To start the Problem Steps Recorder click Start, type PSR, and then press the Enter key. Click Start Record and then reproduce your issue. Important: After you have reproduced the issue, make sure to click one more time so that the last screen is captured before you click Stop Record. Saving the output and attaching it to your case will help Support quickly understand the exact steps you took to reproduce your issue. The following video provides a demonstration:

Windows 7 Walkthrough: Problem Steps Recorder

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd320286

Notes: If there are more than 25 clicks to reproduce your issue, you will need to click the drop-down arrow to update the Settings for "Number of recent screen captures to store".

Dana Martens

Getting started guide for business users

crmblog — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:11:00 GMT

We know that new users of Dynamics CRM often have a lot to contend with when they start trying to get their work done on a daily basis in the software. We think those first few days could be a bit easier to adjust to if more information is available about how to use the product. To that end, we’ve put together a getting started guide for business users. Have a look, and let us know if we’ve helped answer some of your questions: http://rc.crm.dynamics.com/rc/2011/en-us/on-prem/5.0/gettingstarted_resources.aspx

Cheers

Tom Brush

Technical writer, Dynamics CRM

Introduction to the Activity Feeds Solution

crmblog — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 22:07:00 GMT

With Activity Feeds in the marketplace for several weeks now, we’re learning more about what customers need in terms of documentation supporting the feature. We’ve seen lots of interest in information about how to determine whether Activity Feeds could be useful feature for a given customer, how to get it, set it up, and customize it. We’ve tried our best to assemble all that information in one place, and we’re always looking to hear more about the questions people have about Activity Feeds. Keep them coming! For now, have a look at our introduction overview article: http://rc.crm.dynamics.com/rc/2011/en-us/on-prem/5.0/start_with_activity_feeds.aspx

Cheers

Tom Brush

Technical writer, Dynamics CRM

Video: introduction to Activity Feeds

crmblog — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:59:00 GMT

We’ve been hearing from customers who would like to know more about Activity Feeds, the new social-based communication tool offered in our fall release. People have told use they’d like to know more about everything from how to customize it down to just getting a basic sense of what we’re offering. We’re pleased to report that we have a video now that should give you a sense of what we have available, how to figure out whether it might be useful for your organization, and where you can get your hands on it. Watch the video: http://rc.crm.dynamics.com/rc/2011/en-us/on-prem/5.0/vid_activity_feeds_intro.aspx.

Cheers

Tom Brush

Technical writer, Dynamics CRM

Getting started for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online administrators

crmblog — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 21:55:00 GMT

After you've purchased Microsoft Dynamics CRM, but before the business users in your organization start using it, there are some basic tasks that you, as the Microsoft Dynamics CRM administrator, should complete. They’re summarized for you in this article, which details the very basic things you need to complete to get started.

If you’ve purchased Microsoft Dynamics CRM On-Premises, see this article. Or, if you’ve purchased Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, see this article.

Carola Klass

Amplify your selling power with Microsoft Dynamics CRM

crmblog — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:45:00 GMT

A great salesperson is priceless. You deserve a tool where the art of selling meets the science of winning. In this new video we focus on productivity from the perspective of the salesperson and what they need in a CRM application.

Great salespeople…

Understand the value of insight
Know how to rally a team
Appreciate flawless time management
Are always on
Exceed their goals

Microsoft Dynamics CRM amplifies your selling power by helping you focus on the right Opportunities, close deals faster. Sign up for a free trial today at crm.dynamics.com.

How does Microsoft Dynamics CRM Amplify your selling power? Tell Us!

Eric Boocock
Senior Technical Product Manager

Data…. The New Marketing Creative

crmblog — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:40:00 GMT

Data. You've got a LOT of it. You use it every day for reporting and analysis to determine effective campaign management to your clients and prospects. But with 600 Tweets, 20,000 Bing searches, and 700 Facebook posts per second, marketers are no longer in control of their brands, thanks to the real-time web. But that doesn't mean you have to accept defeat and succumb to these new challenges. By bringing your data together across channels, it's possible (even easy!) to successfully embrace real-time marketing and evolve campaign management to conversation management - turning previous challenges into ROI opportunities. The key simply lies in establishing data as the new marketing creative.

Connecting deeply with customers has been the marketers' mission for more than a century, and has developed from offline channels to online channels. Gone are the days when marketers could deploy a campaign to the masses based on common traits of the majority. In the era of real-time marketing, generic marketing messages are at best ignored, and at worst a reason for consumers to opt-out of a brand's messages forever. That's why the new era of real-time marketing isn't about print, broadcast, exported data, or interactions alone. It's about using what you know about your customers (key data insights) and listening to what they tell you through your interactions with them to develop marketing creative. Data- not colors and vector files-is the new creative of the real-time web.To engage in meaningful dialogue- regardless of whether one is conversing with a friend or a business prospect-one must first know something about the person he's talking to in order to build a healthy relationship. That's exactly why marketers need a combination of new and traditional data-from CRM and analytics to social and real-time web data-to effectively build relationships with their customers and maintain them across channels and over time. Marketers need to capture and use this winning combination of data to impact creative elements before they're even created. Brands will be able to deliver more targeted, relevant, and engaging messages- across channels, and specific to each customer's unique perspective.Seamless real-time integrations with your CRM system will not only eliminate the challenges of multiple data sources and disjointed databases-they will provide marketers with one view of their customers (and all of their customer data and insights). When this single view of all customers is further enhanced with the emerging forms of social and real-time web data, things like segmenting audiences, automating programs, and sending highly personalized messages on a large scale become easy.To learn more about maximizing the effectiveness of your marketing program check out why more than 400 organizations worldwide integrate Microsoft Dynamics CRM with ExactTarget to send targeted, relevant messages to their subscribers via email, mobile, social, and sites.How are you using Microsoft Dynamics CRM to effectively engage your customers and prospects?

ExactTarget

Create Sample Data for your Solution

crmblog — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:32:00 GMT

In This Post:

Problem statement
How to create and export CRM Data
How to create DataMap and save it
How to import sample data using SDK APIs
Conclusion
Further reading

Problem statement

You have created a solution using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Solutions framework and you want people to download it and try it. But without some sample data it may be difficult for people to understand how it is supposed to work.

This blog describes a way to create a script to install sample data for any Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011solution.

In order to create the sample data application you need to:

Create the sample data in the CRM System and export it using existing Data Export functionality.
Import it back in a new CRM System and create the Data Mappings
Export the Data Mappings
Use the Exported Data XML files plus the Data Mappings XML to create a C# application that can import the sample data in any Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2001 system that has our solution deployed.

Note: These steps require that you have some .NET programming experience.

How to create and export CRM Data

Let’s say you have a solution that has 2 entities: a household and a client.

For this example we will create 2 household instances and 2 client instances that we will export using Import/Export Functionality. To access the Export functionality, click Advanced Find and select, in our case, the Clients. Build the query to select the data that we want to export and launch the query as shown in the following screenshot.

Now we are ready the export the results using the Export Clients button from the Ribbon as shown in the following screenshot.

Save the export as an *.xls (Excel) file and repeat the operation for all the entities that you want to create sample data with. For this sample you would repeat it for households.

To be able to import the data using the SDK APIs, we need to transform all the xls files into xml. To do that, open each xls file in Excel, and choose save as XML Spreadsheet 2003 as shown in the following screenshot.

Now, you can compress the 2 xml files into a zip file as shown in the following screenshot.

Then you can import the zip back using the CRM Import feature with the purpose of creating the data map.

How to Create a DataMap and Save it

The next step is to create the DataMap.xml. Data maps show how to map your XML record data to Microsoft CRM entities and attributes.

To create the SampleDataMap, we will import the xml zip file data into CRM, and during that process, capture and save the DataMap created automatically by CRM. The following steps describe how:

1. Navigate to Settings/Data Management/ Imports

2. Click Import Data from the ribbon as shown in the following screenshot.

In the Import Data Wizard dialog box, browse to the zip file you created earlier.

4. Navigate the screens and by clicking next and fix all the mapping warnings :

5. On the Review Settings and Import Data screen give a name for the Data Map Name. For this exercise we will name it “SampleDataMap”.

6. Click Submit and now you are ready to export the data map xml.

7. Navigate to Settings/Data Management/ Data Maps and click Export to export the xml data map as shown in the following screenshot.

Now with all these xml files (entities XML + data map XML), we are ready to us the SDK to import the data in any system that has our solution deployed.

How to Import Sample Data using SDK APIs

With your Client.xml, Household.xml and SampleDataMap.xml you can write a console application to import the sample data in any organization that has your Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 solution.

Using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 SDK samples as source templates for the initial connection with CRM we can add additional code to import the sample data.

First we create the import request. Note that this creation doesn’t trigger the actual import. The import will be triggered at the end by calling “ImportRecordsImportRequest” SDK message. What we need to do is the following:

Create an import entity record
Create DataMap record
Import each sample data file xml
Parse
Transform
Call Import records that will actually perform the import sample data.

// create import id

Import import = new Import();

import.ModeCode = new OptionSetValue(0);// 0 -Excel

import.Name = "SampleDataImport";

import.SendNotification = false;

Guid importId = _serviceProxy.Create(imp);

Once you have the import id you can create the datamap. The datamap describes what attributes in the source xml files maps to what attributes in the CRM system. You will use the ImportMappingsImportMapRequest message to import the import map.

// create import file map

ImportMappingsImportMapRequest importMapReq = new ImportMappingsImportMapRequest();

importMapReq.MappingsXml = File.ReadAllText(@"C:\SampleDataImportMap.xml");

importMapReq.ReplaceIds = true;

ImportMappingsImportMapResponse importResponse = (ImportMappingsImportMapResponse)_serviceProxy.Execute(importMapReq);

Guid importMapId = importResponse.ImportMapId;

With references to the importId and the importMapId we can now import our sample data xml files. We will do this by using one helper method that can be used for all the sample files that we have.

// Create the import file 1

CreateImportFile(importId, importMapId, @"Account.xml", "account", "account");

The method implementation is shown below:

private void CreateImportFile(Guid importId, Guid importMapId, string filePath, string sourceEntityName, string targetEntityName)

{

ImportFile file = new ImportFile();

file.Content = File.ReadAllText(filePath);

file.Name = sourceEntityName;

file.FileTypeCode = new OptionSetValue(1);// excel

file.IsFirstRowHeader = true;

file.Source = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(filePath);

file.SourceEntityName = sourceEntityName;

file.ImportMapId = new EntityReference(ImportMap.EntityLogicalName, importMapId);

file.ImportId = new EntityReference(Import.EntityLogicalName, importId);

file.TargetEntityName = targetEntityName;

file.Size = file.Content.Length.ToString();

// Note: Process code 1 = "Process"

file.ProcessCode = new OptionSetValue(1);

file.UseSystemMap = true;

_serviceProxy.Create(file);

}

Once we imported all the sample files we are ready to:

Parse the data
Transform the data
Invoke the actual ImportRecords SDK

// Parse the import.

ParseImportRequest parseRequest = new ParseImportRequest();

parseRequest.ImportId = importId;

_serviceProxy.Execute(parseRequest);

// Transform the import.

TransformImportRequest transRequest = new TransformImportRequest();

transRequest.ImportId = importId;

TransformImportResponse transResponse = (TransformImportResponse)_serviceProxy.Execute(transRequest);

// Create an ImportRecordsImport request

ImportRecordsImportRequest request = new ImportRecordsImportRequest();

// Assign the request the id of the import we want to begin

request.ImportId = importId;

// Execute the request.

ImportRecordsImportResponse response = (ImportRecordsImportResponse)_serviceProxy.Execute(request);

Since the import data is an asynchronous operation, it takes some time to complete. We can pull the status of the operation by using something similar with the following code:

// Wait for the operation to complete by polling it's state every few seconds.

ColumnSet cols = new ColumnSet(new string[] { "statecode" });

// We try 50 times for example

for (int i = 0; i < 50; i++)

{

System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(2000);

AsyncOperation op = (AsyncOperation) _serviceProxy.Retrieve(AsyncOperation.EntityLogicalName, response.AsyncOperationId, cols);

if (op.StateCode.Value == AsyncOperationState.Completed)

{

break;

}

Conclusion

In this blog post we have shown that creating sample data for our Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 solution can be made easier if we create the sample data once, export it, and use SDK APIs to create a simple console application to import the sample data in any system that has our solution deployed.

You have created a solution using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Solutions framework and want to include sample data with it, the next step would be to create a Silverlight Web Resource that you expose in the configuration page for your solution which will allow your customers to import a set of sample data that will make it easier for them to understand how your solution works.

Further reading

Creating Custom Sample Data for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

Creating Custom Sample Data for CRM 2011 - Advanced

Doru Rotovei

Data management for Activity Feeds entities

crmblog — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:19:00 GMT

We just released Activity Feeds for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. With most new features come the additional amount of data introduced with it and this is also true for Activity Feeds.

Every time a user creates a post or a comment, a record is created. Every time an auto post is generated, another record is created. With this in mind, prior to releasing this feature we made sure that you have an easy way to manage the data generated by Activity Feeds.

We enable the Activity Feeds entity, Posts, for Bulk Delete jobs. You can create your own bulk delete jobs from the user interface or from the SDK to clean up the Activity Feeds data based on your criteria.

Here is a quick snapshot on creating bulk delete job from the UI to clean up Posts entities.

1. Under Settings -> Data Management -> Bulk Record Deletion, create a new bulk delete job.

2. The bulk delete wizards will lead you to the look up dialog, where you should select the Posts entity type.

3. You can define your search criteria by Source, ModifiedOn, CreatedBy, CreatedOn. For example, to delete AutoPost that has not been commented for X months, you can specify Source = AutoPost and Modified On Older Than X

4. Just like any bulk delete job, you can specify the frequency of the run. Continue to the wizard and Submit.

5. All running and completed bulk delete jobs are displayed in these Bulk Record Deletion grid, but the master (recurrence) record itself is displayed under System -> System Jobs under the Recurring System Jobs View.

Another way is to create bulk delete job from SDK. Here is a code snippet on triggering one bulk delete request from SDK to clean up Post entities.

QueryExpression query = new QueryExpression(Post.EntityLogicalName);

// create your filter criteria…

BulkDeleteRequest request = new BulkDeleteRequest();

request.QuerySet = new QueryExpression[] { query };

request.JobName = "Activity Feeds Data Management";

request.SendEmailNotification = false;

request.ToRecipients = new Guid[0];

request.CCRecipients = new Guid[0];

request.RecurrencePattern = string.Empty;

request.StartDateTime = DateTime.Now;

BulkDeleteResponse response = (BulkDeleteResponse)_serviceProxy.Execute(request);

So there you go, 2 ways to manage your Activity Feeds data. I hope you find this helpful.

Maya Widyasari

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Tester

Update Rollup 20 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

crmblog — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:05:00 GMT

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Sustained Engineering (SE) team released Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Update Rollup 20 on Thursday, November 10, 2011.

The links below will take you to the necessary information about Update Rollup 19.

Microsoft Download Center: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=28011

Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2550098

General details about Update Rollup 20

Update Rollup 20 is cumulative. However, the Update Rollup 20 CRM Client and Data Migration Client packages require Update Rollup 7 to be installed. For all other CRM components, you do not need

to install any previous Update Rollups prior to Update Rollup 20.
The Update Rollup 20 download contains updates for the 40 supported Language Packs. Prior to installing the Update Rollup 20 Language Pack, you must install the original Language Pack.
- If you have Language Packs installed, you should

Download the Update Rollup 20 Language Pack
Install the Update Rollup 20 Language Pack
De-provision the Language Pack
Re-provision the Language Pack

Information about how to avoid reboots when installing the CRM Outlook Client can be found in the Update Rollup 4 blog posting.
The Update Rollup 20 Client can be deployed before the server is upgraded to Update Rollup 20.
Steps to make the Update Rollup 20 Client available via AutoUpdate can be found in the Update Rollup 4 blog posting. The Link and Patch IDs can be found in KB article 2550098.
Each update rollup could have fixes that require manual configuration. Please see the “Hotfixes and updates that you have to enable or configure manually” section in KB article 2550098.

How to get support for Update Rollup 20

For support, please contact Microsoft Product Support. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[LN];CNTACTMS.

Note: In special cases, charges ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Cheers,

Matt Brown

Configuring & Using “Dynamics CRM” Mobile App

crmblog — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:03:00 GMT

Dynamics CRM Mobile App is recently released to the windows phone Marketplace. Here, in this article, I’ll try to explain how to take configure the app against your CRM Online & IFD organizations and its high level capabilities to use from the phone.

Configuring “Dynamics CRM” for your organization:

You can find “Dynamics CRM” app on your windows phone (7.5 Mango or higher) by searching in the Marketplace. It is a free app from Microsoft Corporation.

Once you install and launch the app, it will take you through the first run experience. You need to specify user name and password which you normally use to connect to your CRM Online instance from web client or outlook client.

I have provided the below screenshots to guide you with the step by step process.

You can also use the app to configure against IFD (Internet Facing Domain) environments. If you want to connect to an IFD organization, you need toggle the switch “Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online” (it becomes “Custom” as seen on the below screen) and enter your Server URL & Home realm URL. You can talk to your administrator if you don’t know what to put in for these fields.

Note: If your administrator doesn’t have a Home realm URL, you can leave it as blank.

Also, if you belong to more than one organization, you need to choose the right organization after entering your login details.

Using “Dynamics CRM” App:

You’ll get the full experience of app only when administrator enables Activity Feeds for your organization.

To know more about Activity Feeds, please take a look at recently released Microsoft Dynamics CRM Activity Feeds solution to the Dynamics Marketplace. You need to be running on UR5 or greater update to take advantage of Activity Feeds.

Once you configure the mobile app and activity feeds is enabled for your organization, it will not only help you stay on top of the situation but also helps with several other day to day CRM activities.

Here is a brief list of things you can do from your phone:

View latest Posts (both auto & user posts)
Make a Post or Comment
Delete a Post or Comment (if you have appropriate permissions)
Refresh a Post
Navigate between Posts(using left & right arrows appearing on screen)
Navigate between entities(by tapping blue text on the form)
View CRM entities (Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Users, Leads and Custom entities )
Pick a View for an entity
Search for a record
View a record in the form
Follow/Un-follow a record
Launch Email, Phone, Bing Maps tasks from record form
Ability to look at record wall next to the form itself
Change saved password (Settings -> change login)
Reconfigure the app to a different organization(Settings -> forget me)

You can also work with your system administrator or system customizer to do the following tasks.

Enable specific entities for Mobile
Choosing right columns to display for each entity view.

Note, by default, primary sort column and first column of the view are shown on the phone. If your first column is already the primary sort column then it will be replaced by second column of the view.

Additionally, you can setup personal views on your web or outlook client which will get downloaded to the phone after 24 hours. The same applies to any metadata changes that happen on the server.

Cheers,
Srikanth Nallamothu