Ben Riga's Deep Shift

Whoops! I've been heads down working on something else and didn't notice that Charles had posted the last of the four Channel 9 videos we recorded. 

In this final segment, Phil Richardson and Barry Givens (both Senior Program Manager Leads) walk through Dynamics CRM Reporting with Rory (actually Phil kinda takes over here for a few minutes :-o  ). Dynamics CRM takes full advantage of SQL Server Reporting Services (SRS) and takes it even farther by adding capabilities that even end-users can use. Barry and Phil walk through the end-user features but also show how you can take reports so much further by pulling them into Visual Studio Report Designer.

Have a look at the Channel 9 Video here:
CRM 4.0 Reporting with Barry Givens and Phil Richardson

Last week, I pointed out a few Channel 9 segments on the soon-to-be-released Dynamics CRM 4.0.  Another installment was published today that gives a great overview of how Workflow Foundation is used in CRM 4.0.  This was my favorite of the segments.  That may be because I got to be in front of the camera :) interviewing Praveen Upadhyay (Program Manager for Dynamics CRM Workflow).

Praveen breaks the CRM workflow investments into 3 basic areas: Making Workflow substantially easier for the end-user, Providing a rich framework for business logic construction and leveraging the power of Windows Workflow Foundation

I like to think of CRM as “Giving Workflow Foundation something to do."  Where do I come up with these? :)

Have a look at the video here:
http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=358172

Yesterday I pointed you to a Channel 9 CRM 4.0 overview video with Phil Richardson.  Today the Channel 9 team released the next video in this series we recorded.  In this segment, Phil Richardson (Senior Program Manager Lead) hangs out with Rory Blyth. He dives a lot deeper into the metadata and customization of forms. He also dives straight into Visual Studio to show off some of the deep web service capabilities of Dynamics CRM and finally he touches on workflow but we’ll see a lot more of that in the next segment.

Have a look at the Channel 9 Video here:
CRM 4.0 Deep Dive with Phil Richardson

Back in April we gave you a taste of some of the interesting work going on in Dynamics CRM group. That was a pretty good high-level view. We wanted to fill in some of the details for developers so we asked the Dynamics CRM team into the studio to chat about some of the cool stuff coming in CRM 4.0 (a.k.a. “Titan”). We filmed 4 segments that go into various aspects of the developer experience.

In the first segment, Phil Richardson (Senior Program Manager Lead) gives us a fast tour of the Web and Outlook UI. He also gives a nice overview of the Dynamics CRM platform including the ease with which a developer can customize a solution’s metadata (creating custom entities and attributes) as well as creating and customizing forms.

Have a look at this on Channel 9:
http://channel9.msdn.com/showpost.aspx?postid=356796

Menno te Koppele rightly pointed out on his blog today that he'd done a ton of work to help get the CRM "Titan" CTP3 VPC just right.  Oops!  Lets give credit where credit is due.  Creating a VPC is easy; creating one that rocks isn't.  Menno, who is a partner technology specialist in our US West Region, has spent a lot of time fine tuning some of the other CRM VPC's.  He's helped me out a couple of times when we were putting out VPC's.

Thanks Menno!

A Freaky Microsoft Dynamics CRM Blog : Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 - Virtual PC Image (CTP3 Beta Release)

If you're an ISV building cool stuff on Dynamics CRM or Dynamics AX and are planning to attend Convergence EMEA drop me a note.  I'd love to meet up and see what you've been up to.  I'll be in Copenhagen from Oct 21st through Oct 25th.

Conferences can be a real drain between travel, jet lag, long hours.  I fight that by soaking up the positive energy from the many partners working on the Dynamics platform.  It's the thing I enjoy most about Convergence conferences; meeting up with ISV partners that are doing new and interesting things.  

This conference I'm going to try and grab some of the partners on video so the readers of this blog (both of you :) ) can see some of this cool stuff.

If you're attending Convergence drop me a note via my blog contact form.  Give me a little information about your self and when would be a good time to meet.

Lynn and Glenn from Channel 9's geekSpeak show will be interviewing Aaron Elder from Ascentium.  This looks like it'll be an interesting interactive webcast on custom development with the Dynamics CRM platform.

For those that don't know Aaron he was one of the original engineers on Dynamics CRM.  He did some good work on a product called iCommunicate that Microsoft acquired in 2001.  He left Microsoft to help found Invoke Systems in order to focus on building systems on the CRM platform.  Invoke was recently acquired by Ascentium.  Aaron is now Chief CRM Architect for Ascentium as well as a CRM MVP. 

I'm sure he'll have some interesting insights on developing with Dynamics CRM.  He'll probably have some nice tidbits on Titan as well. This is an interactive webcast (no scripted demos or marketing decks here!) so be sure to register so that you can ask your questions and join the conversation.

To register for this event:  MSDN Webcast: MSDN geekSpeak: Custom Development on Microsoft Dynamics CRM with Aaron Elder (Level 200)

I've had quite a few partners ping me offline asking about access to the bits.  We finally released the bits today as a VPC for any Dynamics partner to download via PartnerSource (requires login).  PartnerSource is a portal available to partners who focus on Microsoft Dynamics and related business products.

Of course, if you are an ISV partner you should definitely contact your Partner Account Manager to ask them to invite you to join Metro.  Metro is the early access program we run in Developer and Platform Evangelism.  It'll get you access to the bits as well as early adopter product support and even training.  The nice thing about Metro is that once you join you'll have access to all our early access products not just Dynamics.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0: Virtual PC Image - CTP3 Beta Release (Requires Login)

All last week I highlighted some of the early adopters of Dynamics CRM "Titan".  Well, I found one more ISV that I think is pretty cool.  WebTrends, one of the top Web analytics firms, has been been playing with Titan.  No video though.

WebTrends, a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, provides enterprise-class Web analytics and deep intelligence to help organizations deliver unique marketing to unique visitors. Established in 1995 and now a veteran in the Web analytics industry, WebTrends sees tremendous opportunity ahead for enterprise marketing technology.

One of the most valuable opportunities for improved enterprise marketing is the integration of online and offline customer data, or the tying together of Web analytics with customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning systems.

“Even though customer online activity is relevant and valuable to sales, service, and executive management, Web analytics has traditionally been a marketing-only operation,” says Greg Drew, President and CEO of WebTrends. “We wanted to build a comprehensive marketing system that maintains best-of-breed functionality.”

To extend the value of its Web analytics solution, WebTrends worked with Microsoft Gold Certified Partners ExactTarget and Customer Effective on tie-ins for Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM 3.0. Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers ISVs (independent software vendors), VARs (value added resellers), and business analysts a business application platform upon which they can build a wide range of applications. WebTrends and its partners are also working with a pre-release version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, code named “Titan,” to ensure their integrations will work with the upcoming version.

The WebTrends integration takes Web analytics data from the WebTrends Marketing Warehouse, based on Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005, and makes relevant customer online activity available from within Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Using the new solution, people in marketing, sales, service, and executive management see Web analytics data associated with an individual customer, an account, an industry, or geography. The new data also feeds into an “Interactions” view in Microsoft Dynamics CRM—built by Customer Effective that incorporates all points of customer contact, including Web interactions, telephone calls, e-mails, and Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 meetings and notes.

Using Windows® Workflow Foundation, part of Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0, the WebTrends integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM also automates the routing of customer leads and requests for information to appropriate salespeople or service representatives. For example, when a visitor to a company’s Web site requests information about a product, that request is automatically routed to a salesperson in the appropriate geographic region or product group.

Check out the solution brief.

All this week I'm highlighting some of the early adopters of Dynamics CRM "Titan".  For your enjoyment, today I'm showcasing Relational Database Technology (RDT).

Relational Database Technology: Insurance Software Provider Bolsters Product with Enhanced CRM Capabilities

Established in 1991, Microsoft^® Gold Certified Partner RDT provides insurance systems and ratings software to major insurers and large brokers. RDT’s Landscape solution is based on Microsoft technologies and offers a modern, component-based alternative to insurance companies’ legacy systems. Based near London, RDT counts four major U.K. insurers among its customers, and estimates 3,000 people use its flagship Landscape solution.

RDT is committed to keeping Landscape leading-edge in terms of technology. The company releases updated versions every six months to incorporate new developments and customer input. Over the past several years, RDT added more customer relationship management (CRM) functionality—such as contact information and account notes—to enable large insurers to manage their brokers more effectively. RDT realizes that CRM will play an increasingly significant role in its solution as insurers require more control over their sales channels.

“Many of our improvements focus on allowing insurers to optimize their broker relationships. They need to target accounts that meet a certain criteria for a marketing or sales campaign, for instance,” says Mark Bates, Managing Director for RDT. “In discussions with our Microsoft application development consultant—provided through our Microsoft Services contract—we learned that Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM could offer superior CRM functionality that would be relatively easy to incorporate into our solution.”

RDT began working with a pre-release version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM—code name “Titan” — to explore integration opportunities with its Landscape software. “We replaced much of the custom CRM functionality that we had built ourselves with components from Microsoft Dynamics CRM,” says Bates.

RDT’s integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM improves customers’ ability to execute and track marketing and sales campaigns, and ties into the business intelligence solution RDT built using Microsoft^® SQL Server™ 2005 Analysis Services and Reporting Services. RDT used the sophisticated business entity modeling available in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM business application platform to associate Landscape data with entities in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The result is increased automation; account activity in Landscape automatically triggers appropriate workflow tasks in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, such as inclusion in marketing e-mail campaigns. “Microsoft Dynamics CRM makes it easier for Landscape users to execute marketing and sales campaigns, and have greater confidence in the results,” says Bates.

Because Landscape is built using Microsoft technology such as Microsoft^® .NET Framework 3.0 and SQL Server 2005, RDT developers were able to use their existing skills to integrate the product with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Adding CRM reports to RDT’s existing SQL Server 2005-based reporting system was as simple as adding another tab to the reporting screen. “We were able to accomplish a huge amount of work with just two developers in a couple of months,” says Bates.

All this week I'm highlighting some of the early adopters of Dynamics CRM "Titan".  For your enjoyment, today I'm showcasing Upside Software. 

Upside Software: Maker of Contract Lifecycle Software Poised to Help Clients Slash Sales Cycle

Upside Software develops and markets contract lifecycle management (CLM) software solutions that seamlessly integrate customer relationship management (CRM) with the contract lifecycle. The company is a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner in a worldwide network of independent software vendors (ISVs) that sell, implement, and support business management software for Microsoft Dynamics™.

Upside Software serves customers around the world in every industry with its multi-language and multi-currency CLM software called UpsideContract. The company developed the software to let sales staff and corporate legal counsel participate together in the contract negotiation and ratification process.

Ashif Mawji, CEO and President of Upside Software, states, “In the past, typically, a salesperson worked in a CRM program throughout the engagement. But once a deal closed, she or he was often out of the loop. During the contract phase, the salesperson might not be able to see upsell opportunities or potential issues, or lend valuable insight.” When introduced to the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, code named “Titan,” Mawji saw an opportunity to involve salespeople in—and significantly streamline—the contract process.

Working with a pre-release version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM “Titan,” a small team of programmers is creating a new version of UpsideContract CLM that will integrate with and extend the capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

UpsideContract for Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a web-based, enterprise-level CLM solution that streamlines commitment management, including optimization of the sales and supplier contracts. The solution is an integral part of the overall customer and supplier relationship management. Now, the salesperson can see and participate in the contract process.

The Upside Software programmers are relying on iframes to develop the application. Iframes are a client extension feature that programmers can use to insert a Web page within a Microsoft Dynamics CRM–based form. Doing so exposes custom functionality within the form. Mawji states, “Iframes help us avoid countless hours of development work.” UpsideContract for Microsoft Dynamics CRM will be released shortly after Microsoft releases Microsoft Dynamics CRM, code named “Titan.”

Check out the solution brief.

All this week I'll be highlighting some of the early adopters of Dynamics CRM "Titan".  For your enjoyment, today I'm showcasing Relevance Software. 

Relevance Software - A Financial Trading Firm Builds Specialized Stockbroker Solution

“We wanted to build an integrated solution that would present sales traders with all of the relevant data and tools they need to provide a high level of service to their customers,” says Mark Adams, Director of Product Development for Relevance Software. “To improve efficiency, we set out to establish CRM as the centerpiece of the daily workflow to ensure greater efficiency, structure, accountability, and scalability of the business platform.”

Relevance Software built its new solution, Relevance X-Stream, on the Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM business application platform. The rich-client software combines traders’ essential tools—financial market data from Bloomberg and Reuters, and trading system access—with CRM functionality. The result is a customized desktop application with profiled views of customer accounts and relevant data and tools.

Relevance X-Stream uses the data modeling capabilities of the latest release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, code named “Titan,” to create sophisticated customer profiles. The solution takes advantage of Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Analysis and Reporting Services to provide reports built from profiled data. Sensitive client information is protected with the roles-based security model of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Relevance X-Stream features a rich user interface built using Windows Forms, combining financial market data feeds routed through Microsoft BizTalk® Server 2006 and CRM data pulled up through Web services available in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform.

Check out the solution brief.

All this week I'll be highlighting some of the early adopters of Dynamics CRM "Titan".  For your enjoyment, today I'm showcasing ExactTarget.  ExactTarget is more of a service than an ISV but today that's what an ISV looks like.

ExactTarget Enables Data-Driven E-Mail Campaigns with a Dynamics CRM Solution

Microsoft® Certified Partner ExactTarget is a leading provider of on-demand e-mail marketing solutions. The company believes that e-mail marketing is relevant only when driven by accurate customer data. “The more you know about your customers, the more relevant you can make your message,” explains Scott Thomas, Director of Partnerships for ExactTarget. “To have successful e-mail marketing campaigns, our clients need to create e-mail messages that are personalized and contain dynamic content. This information is stored in the customer databases.”

ExactTarget wanted to simplify how its clients link customer data to e-mail campaigns by creating a marketing tool that would integrate with ExactTarget clients’ most commonly used customer relationship management (CRM) software: Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM.

“We were excited to work with Microsoft Dynamics CRM ‘Titan’ for several reasons,” explains Peter McCormick, Co-founder and Vice President of Partnerships for ExactTarget. “Because we’re already a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider, we thought Microsoft was making a great move in delivering a live version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. We liked the integration of Windows® Workflow Foundation and how a single code base would support on-premise, partner-hosted, and Microsoft Dynamics Live CRM deployment.”

With Microsoft technology already well-embedded throughout the company, ExactTarget software developers quickly became familiar with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM business application platform. In ten months, a small team of developers created ExactTarget for Microsoft Dynamics CRM—an e-mail marketing solution that includes all the tools necessary to create, deliver, and track compelling e-mail messages that leverage customers’ lead, contact, and account data.

Check out the solution brief.

All this week I'll be highlighting some of the early adopters of Dynamics CRM "Titan".  For your enjoyment, today I'm showcasing GaleForce Solutions.

GaleForce Solutions Empowers Financial Services Companies with Enhanced CRM Solutions

As adoption rates for Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM increase, and as customer relationship management (CRM) software makers consolidate, Kirk Herrington, CEO of GaleForce Solutions, saw an opportunity to develop deep vertical solutions for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. To accomplish this goal, Herrington founded GaleForce Solutions in 2003, which now employs 20 people from its headquarters in Vancouver, Canada.

GaleForce Solutions, a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, extends and tailors Microsoft Dynamics CRM for customers in the financial services industry. CRM solutions from GaleForce are custom-designed for wealth management, insurance, investment banking, capital-markets firms, and commercial and retail banking. With these tailored solutions, GaleForce customers can quickly gain insight into customer behavior, improve customer satisfaction and grow revenues. GaleForce had solutions based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, but wanted to offer customers more deployment options and rich new capabilities available on the upcoming version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

GaleForce plans to release the next version of its financial services solutions within 90 days of when Microsoft releases Microsoft Dynamics CRM “Titan”—expected in the second half of 2007. By working with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM business application platform now, GaleForce is getting a head start on architecting and developing its next generation applications and as a result will get to market sooner.

Check out the solution brief.

In honor of the release of CTP3 of Dynamics CRM "Titan" I thought I'd show some of the partners that are working with it in it's early stages.  Over the next 5 days I'll post a few videos and links.  Let me know what you think via the comments or email.