Microsoft Dynamics CRM - The Danish blog : CRM links

First issue: Dynamics Sure Step Journal

martinhj@microsoft.com — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:07:00 GMT

This newsletter is in Danish as it is targeting the Danish Partner Channel.

Så er den her! Den første udgave af Dynamics Sure Step Journal! God fornøjelse :-)

Dynamics SureStep er Microsofts tilbud til vores Dynamics-partnere om et fælles metodeværktøj. Et partner-værktøj til at gøre det nemt, hurtigt og effektivt at sælge, implementere og supportere vores Microsoft Dynamics-produkter.

Metoden understøtter processen fra salg over analyse og design og hjælper også med den efterfølgende support-forretning. Vi har samlet alt vores materiale på vores globale Dynamics Sure Step portal. Her kan du downloade selve metoden (browserbaseret applikation), referencehistorier fra kunder og partnere, marketingmaterialer og diverse hjælpeværktøjer.

Vi har oprettet et dedikeret Sure Step site på den danske del af PartnerSource. Det finder du her.

Skal du bruge et hurtigt overblik over, hvad Dynamics Sure Step er så klik ind og se vores webbaserede introduktion. På 45 min. gives et indblik i metoden, hvordan den kan anvendes og hvilke fordele, der kan opnås. Bemærk, at det kræver adgang til Partner Learning Center (PLC).

Skal du i gang med Dynamics Sure Step? Eller ønsker du en ”temperatur-måling” på implementeringen af metoden? Så se mere omkring Sure Step Adoption, der giver en let tilgængelig grafisk implementeringsguide, samt et on-line analyseværktøj som du kan bruge i din udvikling.

Såvel vore træningspartnere som Microsoft tilbyder løbende træning og kurser i Dynamics Sure Step. Følg med på PLC og PartnerSource og sørg for at være tilmeldt vores nyhedsmail via Insights. Du kan frit hente kursusmateriale (engelsk) fra vores globale Dynamics Sure Step portal. Der findes produktspecifikt materiale til Dynamics AX, NAV og CRM.

Har du behov for marketingsmateriale så findes hhv. kunderettet factsheet og en kundeportal (begge på engelsk). Relevant dansk materiale i form af præsentationer, fact sheets m.v. vil blive placeret på det danske Sure Step site.

Bemærk! Vi forudsætter, at du har en Partner Service Plan for at kunne få adgang til at bruge og anvende Dynamics Sure Step.

Med venlig hilsen
Thomas Halse, Dynamics SureStep Lead

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

Partner support (for Denmark)

martinhj@microsoft.com — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:52:00 GMT

This blog post is for the Danish partners only - or more precisely, the content that it is referring to, is.

Her på bloggen har vi nu samlet kontaktoplysninger fra bl.a. GPSD for dig som partner. Du finder dem på deres helt egen side via linket her og med link nede til højre.

Så har du altid bl.a. email-adresser og telefonnumre lige ved hånden.

Vi ønsker dig fortsat god dag og god fornøjelse med CRM :-)

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

Success with Microsoft Dynamics implementations - new valuable web site

martinhj@microsoft.com — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:52:00 GMT

With our new web site you can experience more success with Microsoft Dynamics by becoming more knowledgeable about better implementations.

A new web site and content is now available to help prospect customers learn more about how to be more successful with their Microsoft Dynamics investment by working with an experienced Microsoft partner that follows a proven methodology like Sure Step. This site is an integral part of the Sure Step strategy - to get prospect customers to ask partners the right questions about implementation processes and drive additional partner adoption of Sure Step.

Are you a partner?
For partners, this site helps communicate and justify to your customers the need for providing value-added services like training programs, fit gap analysis, etc. Also available is a to-customer fact sheet for Sure Step (through-partner co-branded) to help partners further position Sure Step to your prospect customers.

Are you a prospect customer?
For prospect customers, this site provides valuable information in the form of scenarios, case studies, sample implementation project documents and a reference guide. Before a customer buys a Microsoft Dynamics solution, the site provides information on what they can do to get more out of the investment. Customers are encouraged to work with an experienced Microsoft partner that follows a proven implementation methodology like sure step to address five success areas in an implementation project, including:

Securing Executive Commitment
Arriving at a Smart Budget
Undergoing Change Management
Ensuring Strong Project Management
Making Solution Modifications Manageable

Where to go?
Go here for more information and success
Go to Sure Step on PartnerSource

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

Announcement: The New Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Virtual PC Image Released (April 2009)

martinhj@microsoft.com — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:14:00 GMT

We are happy to announce that the brand new CRM 4.0 VPC now is available for download!

Among the content you will find:

The Accelerators for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 List Web Part
Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2
Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 and PerformancePoint Server Excel Add-In
and much more cool stuff! :-)

The Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) image will run until August 12th, 2010.

Together with the VPC you will also find demonstration scripts for assistance and inspiration with your demos.

Link to PartnerSource for download

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

Accelerators for Microsoft Dynamics CRM - Business Productivity released!

martinhj@microsoft.com — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:09:00 GMT

The next accelerator has been released and renamed:

The Newsfeed Business Productivity Accelerator turns Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 into the hub of business activity, letting users keep up to date on events happening across the organization. The Newsfeed Business Productivity Accelerator drives user adoption by presenting CRM data to users in a way that is appealing and interactive, drawing them into the application and encouraging use.

What is it?
The Newsfeed Business Productivity Accelerator is a single report - a Dashboard - that can be used as-is after it has been uploaded to Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

The newsfeed is largely made up of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Activities so any user creating activities in Microsoft Dynamics CRM will automatically be creating newsfeed items. Additional newsfeed items can be created when different events happen in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Any user with the permission to create workflow processes can configure new newsfeed items to be added to the dashboard.

NB: Currently this version of the Newsfeed Business Productivity Accelerator will only work with the On-Premise edition of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.

Get it here: http://www.codeplex.com/crmaccelerators.

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

Announcement: Sure Step Spring 2009 Release Now Available!

martinhj@microsoft.com — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:11:00 GMT

The Sure Step Team is happy to announce that the Sure Step Spring 2009 Release is available to partners today. In this release there are several new features to help partners deliver Microsoft Dynamics solutions on time, on budget and on spec. In the current economy, customers are looking for more efficient implementations to realize faster ROI with their Microsoft Dynamics solutions. And, this newest release of Sure Step will help partners deliver!

What‘s new in the spring 2009 release of Sure Step?
With the spring 2009 release of Sure Step, consultants for both presales and implementations will find valuable new questionnaires, requirements gathering documents, fit gap analysis guidance, product-focused testing scripts, and a variety of new templates across all implementation phases. The updates, which are most valuable to partners serving customers in the mid-market, include:

The “Standard” project type, which has been simplified, makes it easier for partners to use Sure Step for the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics solutions for mid-market customers.
A view of “key deliverables” for each project enables partners serving the mid-market the ability to more quickly and easily adapt Sure Step to their existing Microsoft Dynamics practice.
A new search tool makes it easier for partners to quickly find the right guidance for any implementation situation.
Role-tailored and product-specific guidance developed by partners provides even more best practices that can be applied to projects.
Improved product upgrade guidance helps set the stage for successful technical upgrades to current and future Microsoft Dynamics releases.
Additional Product-specific best practices, templates and tools included to make Sure Step compliant with all latest product releases including CRM Online

Go to PartnerSource for more information

Update now
Update to the spring 2009 release of Sure Step from within your client, or download/update at PartnerSource > Partner Essentials > Sure Step.
English content is available currently; additional languages will be released in a rolling schedule over the next two months. Please look to newsletters (Insights) or ‘Check for Updates’ in the Sure Step client for latest language releases.

Go to PartnerSource for Update

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

The Power of Choice - be a good host to your employees and customers (3/3) - How?

martinhj@microsoft.com — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:25:00 GMT

Welcome to the third and final part of the blog post series on The Power of Choice. In this post I’ll focus on how you and your customers get the train rolling. So, not much talk, just right down to the stuff you’ll benefit from on both levels of The Power of Choice - the company’s IT Environment and the users Access.

The Power of Choice - level 1: Environment
Different environments can co-exist and be adjusted to the needs of each company. Whether you or your customer wants full or partly hosting for the CRM (or any other IT) solution, the real Power of Choice is to be able to combine it with on-premise or prefer one over the other according to the IT and business strategies.

Microsoft is renewing the focus on the right platform, with Windows Azure as an offer to companies to escalate the use of the cloud. You can think of Windows Azure as a new service-based operating environment specifically targeted for this new cloud design point, striking the best possible balance between two seemingly opposing goals. Windows Azure will be the highest scale, highest availability, most economical, and most environmentally sensitive way of hosting services in the cloud.

So, the combination of Software and Services gets fuelled and rockets away with Azure.

Learn more on Windows Azure

The Power of Choice - level 2: Access
When it comes to the access for the users they have different opportunities as discussed in part one. Again, one or more of them as the correct and optimal choice according to the process or users role in question, will give highest level of benefits and best user experience. For mobile users there are several solutions available for accessing CRM and thereby the customer data to support the best dialogue and business with them. In addition to our own CRM Mobile Express solution and framework, here are some mobility vendors for CRM supporting Windows Mobile:

Logotec Engineering

softBRIDGE

Softtrends Mobile CRM+

TenDigits

For partners - The Software-plus-Services Roadmap for ISVs
A new online portal specifically for your hosted ISV customers, providing easy access to S+S resources across all Microsoft online properties from a single location. The portal is available at: http://www.microsoft.com/hosting/ISV/default.mspx.

More good resources

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile Express Datasheet

Microsoft Success Stories with Software + Services

Mobility in Microsoft Dynamics CRM

I hope this series was relevant and useful. And I wish you benefit and fun with The Power of Choice.

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

Welcome to the Microsoft Partner Learning Center

martinhj@microsoft.com — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:16:00 GMT

Prepare for the demands of tomorrow by building your skills today. Designed exclusively for the members of the Microsoft Partner Program, the Partner Learning Center allows you to choose from a wide variety of local classroom and online training, self-study resources, web-casts and more - all in one convenient location.

The content includes:

Product materials
Microsoft Press releases
Training paths - Easy and valuable guide for attaining Microsoft Partner Program competences
Classes of different topics, type and levels
And more

Where to go?
If you are a member of the Microsoft Partner Program, go here for the great world of learning Microsoft skills:

Denmark

International (US)

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

Improving Microsoft Dynamics CRM Performance with Microsoft SQL Server 2008

martinhj@microsoft.com — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 01:52:00 GMT

In addition to the blog post earlier today, here is more nice stuff from E2:

The Microsoft CRM E2 team is pleased to announce the release of the white paper ‘Improving Microsoft Dynamics CRM Performance and Securing Data with Microsoft SQL Server 2008’, which is now available for download here.

This document provides an overview of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 features that can be used in conjunction with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 to improve performance and secure the CRM database, together with benchmark results and recommendations for implementation.

E2 would like to thank the SQL Server Product Development Team and UK MCS for contributing to and reviewing this paper to help ensure that the information we’ve provided is accurate and comprehensive.

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Enterprise Customers?

martinhj@microsoft.com — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 08:56:00 GMT

Oh yeah! We even have an initiative just focusing on this. They go under the name CRM E2 - Engineering for Enterprise.

In this post you get great quick links for technical information, studies and recources plus more.

Recent Activities

Upcoming Conferences/Presentations

Convergence US 2009, New Orleans (March 2009)

Session: Microsoft Dynamics CRM – Built and Used by Microsoft
Chalk Talk: Enterprise Scalability and Performance with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

Happy New Year and two new releases!

martinhj@microsoft.com — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:16:00 GMT

Happy New Year everybody! :-)

2009 is here and lots of new information is waiting to get your way. First of all I will remind you, that two new accelerators have been released in R1 versions.

Analytics
With this extended BI for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 customers will get sales, service and operations dashboards. They will be able to view scorecards through SSRS, SharePoint and PerformancePoint Server plus browse pre-built OLAP cubes for deeper analysis.

Benefits include: Support and strengthen business insights to identify interest points and empower decisions, in short: Kick-off BI!

Enterprise Search
With this accelerator you can rapidly configure portal views of Microsoft Dynamics CRM data within SharePoint (MOSS) and expose this data to MOSS enterprise search. Users will be able to use one central unstructured search to find e-mails, documents, web content, and now Microsoft Dynamics CRM data!

Benefits include: Short-cut to enterprise search solutions and configure audience-specific SharePoint portals with CRM data.

Download and more information
Visit Codeplex here: http://www.codeplex.com/crmaccelerators.

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

Sure Step Service Pack 1 Now Available

martinhj@microsoft.com — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:01:00 GMT

This service pack is providing general improvements to the overall user experience, including:

Platform enhancements:

The Sure Step setup tool has been enhanced to permit the user to select the destination location for Sure Step documents during installation.
In the Documents and Projects views, phases show the number of files within them matching the filtering criteria.
The Reference pages have been updated with our new support information.

Content fixes:

Corrections have been made to content in all language packs including fixes to filtering issues, broken or unavailable links, and minor changes to text.
Some documents did not properly accept a user-supplied logo when the project logo wizard was applied. These documents have been identified and fixed.

Bug fixes:

A number of fixes have been instituted to regularize the experience of navigating the Sure Step client and viewing its content.

If you do not currently have Sure Step installed: Go to the Sure Step download page on PartnerSource.

Accelerate the adoption of Sure Step within your organization!
This 1-hour on-demand webcast introduces a process, tools and tips to help you drive the use of Sure Step. The faster and more thoroughly you adopt the concept, the faster you will reap the benefits of Sure Step: shorter sales cycles, increased wins, managed implementation risks and higher customer satisfaction. The webcast discusses the reasons why you should adopt Sure Step, how you should plan and prepare for the first use of Sure Step, the tools and resources that you can access, and finally how to use Sure Step to the max.

Go to https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/details.aspx?publisher=12&delivery=255322 to access the Webcast.

New Videos Featuring Sure Step and Services for Microsoft Dynamics Now Available
With a powerful, growing portfolio of options, Services for Microsoft Dynamics helps you and your customers increase efficiency, productivity, and profitability. In other words, everybody wins with Services for Microsoft Dynamics.

Business Ready Enhancement Plan, Customer Services, CustomerSource, Partner Services, Sure Step and Licensing - with these powerful services, it’s no wonder that Microsoft partners and customers worldwide see Microsoft as a strategic business partner for every stage of expansion and development. And by providing customers with access to the most robust services, partners can help them meet ever-higher business objectives.

So: Serve Up the best services to your customers. Go to Services on PartnerSource to view a series of videos about Services for Microsoft Dynamics, including Sure Step, to learn more about services available.

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

Channel 9 on Accelerators

martinhj@microsoft.com — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:24:00 GMT

Read the book or are you waiting for the movie? Here are four recommendations on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Accelerators now on Channel 9:

CRM Accelerators: An Introduction

CRM Accelerators: Enterprise Search

CRM Accelerators: Event Management

CRM Accelerators: Notifications (RSS)

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

Accelerators for Microsoft Dynamics CRM - eService released!

martinhj@microsoft.com — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:49:00 GMT

The eService Accelerator has now been added to the released accelerators!

Abstract: The eService accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 provides customer self-service capabilities (via a web portal) as a configurable out-of-the-box offering.

Get it here: http://www.codeplex.com/crmaccelerators.

That brings the list of downloadable avccelerators to:

CRM Notifications
eService
Event Management
Extended Sales Forecasting

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team

CRM 4.0: Performance and Scalability, looking into optimizing and maintaining

martinhj@microsoft.com — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:00:00 GMT

It’s time to put the focus on some technical background for the success with CRM for the customer. I from time to time get questions on the topics in this article. Therefore I have combined it and here you go – some key knowledge sources on the technical foundation for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.

Optimizing and Maintaining Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
This white paper details techniques, considerations, and best practices for optimizing and maintaining the performance of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 implementations.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ba826cee-eddf-4d6e-842d-27fd654ed893&DisplayLang=en

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Performance and Scalability White Papers
Microsoft, together with Unisys Corporation, completed benchmark testing of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 running on Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 operating system and Microsoft SQL Server® 2008 database software. Benchmark results demonstrate that Microsoft Dynamics CRM can scale to meet the needs of an enterprise.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5852b14a-394c-4898-8374-caf5e6479eb0&DisplayLang=en

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Suggested Hardware for Deployments of up to 500 Concurrent Users
Describes general hardware sizing information that will support Microsoft Dynamics CRM version 4.0 with up to 500 concurrent users in a single deployment on-premise model.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=3bf7ecda-7eaf-4f1c-bbfe-cae19bc8bb78&DisplayLang=en

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 system requirements
The hardware and software requirements described here are provided as general requirements. Individual factors can affect these requirements and must be considered.
http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/crm/product/systemrequirements.mspx

Enjoy! :-)

Martin Houlberg Jensen
CRM Evangelist
Microsoft Dynamics CRM team