CRM 2011 Autonumbering Solution

Project DescriptionThis is a solution for crm 2011 (hosted/on-premise) for autonumbering the configurated entity.

As an unmanaged solution, files included are:

1. A plugin for sequence generation : CRM.Plugin.SequenceGenerator
2. A custom entity for configuration: Counter
3. Three icons for the custom entity.

For more information:
http://crm2011autonumber.codeplex.com/

Diagnostics Tool for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

This tool basically starts to centralise CRM debugging in to one place. This is your hub… This is the place to come when CRM is dying with server exceptions… This is the light when there’s no hope. Give the logs produced from this tool to a developer and he’ll give you pointers

For more information:
http://www.crmcodex.com/2011/12/review-diagnostics-tool-for-microsoft-dynamics-crm-2011/

CRM 4 to CRM 2011 JavaScript Converter

Project Description

CRM 4 to CRM 2011 Javascript Converter helps convert scripts to the latest CRM 2011 Form scripting model. The converter uses an xml file that contains CRM4 and CRM5 nodes which allow the converter to find/replace
specific instances of text.

Usage
Simply paste your CRM 4 script into the left hand text area and click Convert.

For more information:http://crm2011scriptconvert.codeplex.com/

What is Social CRM ?

What is ‘social Customer Relationship Management (CRM)’?

‘Social CRM’ (or SCRM) is a term I guarantee you will start to hear more and more. Social CRM is an extension of traditional CRM but with more focus on the ‘social’ element of the process(es). Business is built around relationships and social CRM looks to bring social media platforms into the CRM process in order to grow relationships, listen, engage and turn communities into customers. You may hear SCRM referred to as ‘CRM 2.0’ or ‘Enterprise 2.0’.

How does social CRM affect companies and their customers?

Social networks allow businesses to build communities, listen and engage in conversions whilst having the ability to innovate based on prospects’ and customers’ insight. Businesses can themselves provide industry-specific insight
and support to prospects and customers and then start to build and strengthen relationships. We all buy from people we like and trust, social media can be a great way to nurture relationships and turn contacts into long-term customers.
These platforms give the customer new ways to communicate with you and can provide you with a new way of understanding your customer-base. The more you know about someone the easier it is to sell to them, social media allows businesses to get on a level with their customers and understand more about them, which can only be a good thing! With Social CRM customers have more control over the relationship, they have wider channels down which to express positive or negative comments and they have more of a say in how companies should provide their products and services.

Social CRM – The Market

According to Gartner, Inc. the social CRM market value will surpass $1 Billion in revenue by year-end 2012, this market is currently experience aggressive growth so it is possible for the market value to considerably exceed
this amount by year-end. Gartner, Inc. also predicts that by year-end 2013 B2B organisations using social CRM applications will represent 25% of all projects worldwide. We know that social CRM is an extension of traditional CRM; contentmanagementconnection.com estimates that the social CRM market is equivalent to 25% of the CRM market, in USD value.

What does all this mean for small businesses?

Its common knowledge that all of the fortune 500 companies have invested heavily in social business strategies. However these platforms, strategies and processes are not reserved for industry’s giants. Small businesses can
successfully adopt social business strategies by using social tools and processes. Social media platforms are great tools for researching, marketing and growing your products, services and brand. For the most part, the use of social
media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin is free. The ‘social’ approach to CRM really puts the ‘R’ (relationship) back into CRM – make sure your business is involved!

Thanks for this article:

http://www.theadminhub.com/2012/03/what_is_social_crm/

CRM Anywhere - Microsoft Dynamics CRM Q2 2012 Service Update "What's New Video".

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Q2 2012 Service Update "What's New Video". This is the video version of our Release Preview Guide. Includes great demos of mobility, BI and Analytics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HVqc5MthbI&feature=youtu.be

CRM 2011 Visual Ribbon Editor

Visual Ribbon Editor is a tool for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 that lets you edit CRM ribbons. This ribbon editor shows a preview of the CRM ribbon as you are editing it and allows you to easily modify the ribbon without needing to completely understand the underlying XML schema.

Main Features:

• Connects to CRM Online or On-Premise (on-premise should work but hasn't been tested)
• Edit entity ribbons or application ribbons.
• View a preview of the ribbon while editing as it will look in CRM.
• Add new custom buttons to existing groups.
• Add new custom groups to existing tabs.
• Define button text, tooltip, images. and appearance.
• Define button actions, enable rules, and display rules.
• Hide system buttons.
• Quickly save the ribbon back to CRM

For more information:
http://crmvisualribbonedit.codeplex.com/

Moving Form Labels Above the Field Instead of on Side of Field in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

I know that I have had trouble in the past when I make a new four column section, getting everything to fit on the form, and by default you need to re-size the form on open to even get everything to fit unless you can find a way to shrink your fields down. I know there are settings to change the amount of space given to the label, but I have found another way to tackle this.

Here is how it works:

1. The setting is at the section level. So, double-click on a section to bring up the section properties
   
   
   
2. Now, click on the formatting tab and scroll to the bottom to find the "Field Label Position" setting:
   
   
   
3. Now you just have to change the setting to "Top" and save and publish the form. You can repeat this for all sections on the form if you want to

It's as easy as that. Here's what it looks like when you are done and have published the form.

Hope it will help you out :).

Deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and CRM Online Solutions from Development through Test and Production Environments

This white paper explores deploying real-world Microsoft Dynamics CRM solutions
across test and production environments in reliable and repeatable ways by using
automation, together with some automation examples. The paper also highlights
the specific constraints that exist when deploying and testing solutions in the
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online environment.

For more information and Download:
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=27824

Configuring the List Component in SharePoint Online

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 List Component adds functionality to SharePoint which enables Document Management capabilities in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. In order to deploy the List Component Solution the following modifications to SharePoint are required:

• Run the following command in the SharePoint Management Console for a specific Web application: AllowHtcExtn.ps1 .
• Alternatively, set the Browser File Handling to Permissive to allow automatic execution of Web content. Only a farm administrator can change the Browser File Handling settings.

For more information:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/crm/archive/2011/11/08/configuring-the-list-component-in-sharepoint-online.aspx

Microsoft Dynamics CRM integration with SharePoint Online is here

Most notable from a Microsoft Dynamics CRM perspective, is that Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers can now take advantage of the rich SharePoint Online document management functionality directly within the Microsoft Dynamics CRM application. This provides users the ability to create SharePoint Online Document Libraries dynamically within CRM – when and where they are needed. Companies can add Document Management capabilities to entities such as Accounts, Opportunities, Cases or even custom entities in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

To take advantage of this functionality follow this link:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/crm/archive/2011/11/07/microsoft-dynamics-crm-integration-with-sharepoint-online-is-here.aspx

Configuring & Using “Dynamics CRM” Mobile App

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.

For more information:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/crm/archive/2011/11/14/configuring-amp-using-dynamics-crm-mobile-app.aspx

Quick Start guide for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for Outlook users

If you've installed Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online for Microsoft Office Outlook and are ready to begin using it, you can use this quick start guide to learn how to make the most of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online after it's integrated into Outlook. You can download, install, and configure it, and then track and send e-mail messages, use Outlook to do your Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online work, and add Outlook contacts to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=41&srcfamilyid=9438015b-b6a6-4210-819c-e4ea68ba0561&srcdisplaylang=en&u=http%3a%2f%2fdownload.microsoft.com%2fdownload%2f1%2fF%2fB%2f1FB59419-0423-40A0-A3D9-7F7CAD924346%2fQuick-Start-Guide_for_Microsoft-Dynamics-CRM-2011-for-Outlook.docx

Microsoft Link:
http://rc.crm.dynamics.com/rc/2011/en-us/online/5.0/gettingstarted_outlook_users.aspx

Quick Start guide for Microsoft Dynamics CRM business users

To help you get started quickly with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, we've collected some of the most common tasks that users can do to set up the system the way they want it. You can personalize Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, import data, run reports, filter lists, share records, assign records, and learn valuable keyboard shortcuts by reading this guide.

You can save this document to your computer or print it out. Each task has a link to more detailed information about how to do these tasks.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=41&srcfamilyid=94da4a25-889b-4b0a-8b1b-bfd0df7e7331&srcdisplaylang=en&u=http%3a%2f%2fdownload.microsoft.com%2fdownload%2f6%2f7%2fB%2f67B92B20-08E2-4DF9-B481-C6F522CF16AD%2fQuick-Start-Guide_for_Microsoft-Dynamics-CRM-2011.docx

Microsoft Link:
http://rc.crm.dynamics.com/rc/2011/en-us/online/5.0/gettingstarted_bus_users.aspx

Dynamics CRM - Getting started resources

Welcome to Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management application that is designed to help your organization acquire and retain customers and reduce the time that must be spent on administrative tasks.

The articles and videos listed within the following links will help you get started with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The first set of articles will help you work with the data that you already have. The second set will give you a quick set of steps to learn more about the different areas of the product. The final set has videos that will show how to set up and configure the settings in your system.

In case you have Micorosft Dynamics CRM Online access the following link:
http://rc.crm.dynamics.com/rc/2011/en-us/online/5.0/gettingstarted_resources.aspx

Otherwise access this link:
http://rc.crm.dynamics.com/rc/2011/en-us/on-prem/5.0/gettingstarted_resources.aspx

DisplayRule in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

Following an examination of Xrm.Page.ui.refreshRibbon() in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.

The Xrm.Page.ui.refreshRibbon() conceders only and not to as opposed to what has been written in the SDK .

The possible workaround is to define a that will check the attribute and hide a button and hide a button using JavaScript.

Microsoft has added several new features in Dynamics CRM 2011, this post will present two of those features:

• Dialog Management
• Goal Management

Those features might be very useful in your projects and implementations, therefore it's important that you'll learn and understand their capabilities.

The following videos will present those capabilities:

• Video: Use Goal Management (CRM users)
• Video: Use Goal Management (CRM Online users)
• Video: Create a dialog (CRM Online users )
• Video: Create a dialog (CRM On-premises users)

Drag And Drop Listbox and Product Price List Import Tool - Add-Ons

There are two interesting add-ons that i would like to share with you in this post.
The first is the "Drag and Drop Listbox" the second is the "Product Price List Import Tool".

Drag and Drop Listbox

“Drag And Drop Listbox” is an add-on for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. It allows users to setup two listboxes, one as Source (on left hand side with available values) and another as Target (on right hand side with chosen values). User can drag desired values from Source to Target listbox and can save a record with dragged values.

For more information please follow this link:
http://pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-IN/applications/drag-and-drop-listbox-12884936087

Product Price List Import Tool

You normally receive a Price list in an external document and without the presence of an inbuilt automated system you need to manually update the price of each of the products in the price list. This can be a very tedious and time-consuming job.

Using the Product Price List Import tool, it is easy to manage the Products/Prices in Dynamics. With a one-click import tool you can save a lot of time and it makes it easy to keep the product prices up-to-date.

It also allows you to create new products in Dynamics CRM that do not already exist in CRM before importing its price.

For more information please follow this link:
http://pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-IN/applications/product-price-list-import-tool-12884924568

Vote for the Changes and Suggestions You’d like in Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Ask your self a question: "How many times you've heard or asked yourselves i wish i had this feature or functionality in the system" ?

Now Microsoft would like to hear from you, what is still missing and can improve the usage and implementation of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

In Microsoft Connect site you can look for posted suggestions or requests and vote for them, that way the will get prioritized in the upcoming versions.

In case you didn’t find the relevant suggestion or request you can always open new one.

Here on the Microsoft Connect site are the Most popular CRM suggestions posted to date for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM team to consider as they work on version next:

https://connect.microsoft.com/dynamicssuggestions/Feedback

Is your voice being heard? You can start here:

https://connect.microsoft.com/dynamicssuggestions

Using the Plug-in Registration Tool for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

Summary

Do you have a need to extend Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online by writing and integrating custom code? Whether you are writing a plug-in or a custom workflow activity, you will use the Plug-in Registration tool, provided in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM SDK, to register your custom code with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM system. This article complements the documentation in the SDK by providing detailed information on how to use the Plug-in Registration tool to register custom code with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. However, registering custom workflow activities with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online is not supported using the registration tool or any other means.

For more information please review the following links:

• Using the Plug-in Registration Tool for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011
• Walkthrough: Register a Plug-in Using the Plug-in Registration Tool

Software Development Kit (SDK) for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

Please find below a link to download Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 SDK:

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=38

Software Development Kit (SDK) for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

Please find below a link to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 SDK:

Post:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh547453.aspx

Download:
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=24004

Update Rollup 21 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is available

Microsoft has released update rollup (UR) version no. 21 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

For more information, please find the link below:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2621054

Update Rollup 6 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is available

Microsoft has released update rollup (UR) version no. 6 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.

For more information, please find the link below:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2600640

Dynamics CRM 2011 Developer Training

This training kit is for .NET developers to learn the
development features of Dynamics CRM and help them build applications using
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and CRM Online. Microsoft Dynamics CRM uses familiar
components such as WCF & oData web service endpoints, JavaScript,
Silverlight, .NET 4, Workflow Foundation 4, SQL reporting and more; making it a
general purpose framework for line-of-business applications.

For more decription and download, please enter the following link:
http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/DynamicsCRM2011?page=1

Licensing Changes for CRM 2011

Employee Self-Service CAL (ESS)

A new type of CAL has been introduced to the model to allow for licensing internal users that use other applications to connect to CRM without using the CRM web or outlook user interfaces. This employee self-service CAL (ESS CAL) is particularly useful for line-of-business (LOB) xRM applications and for intranet portals that are connected to CRM.This license type is still a CAL, and that means that it is needed for every internal user. The good news is that it is approximately 10% of the cost of the full-use CAL.In the past, if you were to build a helpdesk portal for internal users, you would have to license every user in your organization for CRM, even if they were not actually using CRM. For example, you may have a helpdesk staff of 10 users supporting a company of 500 users. Without the ESS CAL, you would need 510 CRM full use CALs. With the new ESS CAL, you would need 10 full use CALs and 500 ESS CALs, representing a savings of just under 90%.There are some restrictions with the ESS CAL. First off, the obvious - the user can only access CRM through an application that uses the CRM SDK. They cannot access CRM using the CRM Outlook or Web UIs. There are also limitations on which SDK calls can be made. The ESS CAL can create, read, and update all entities in CRM but is restricted to not delete, assign, or share through the SDK. The good news is that it can change state, so the delete capability can be achieved by changing the state to InActive, which is probably best practice anyways, especially if you have turned on auditing and want your audit data to stick around...

Limited CAL

In CRM 4, there were two types of basic user CALs (not to be confused with device CALs). The full use CAL would allow the full use of all CRM capabilities, where the limited CAL allowed for read-only use.In CRM 2011, there are additional usage rights allowed for the limited CAL. For starters, it is not read-only any longer. Limited update capabilities are available on data that is owned (or assigned) to their user account. The use rights for broader system information in CRM remains read-only.For SPLA partners, the equivelent to the Limited CAL is the Limited SAL. It has the same use rights as the Limited CAL.

External Connector License

There have been changes made to the external connector license as well. Just for review, the external connector license is only applicable for users that are external to your organization - they cannot be employees or contractors acting on behalf of your organization. The external connector license was previously introduced to allow an external system to be able to connect to CRM and manipulate or query data through the SDK calls. The use of the external connector license has been quite popular since the Portal framework has been introduced and many organizations are building externally-facing websites that are integrated with their CRM system. The external connector remains an on-premise option only as the SPLA and CRM Online license models do not require an external connector, presumably because these are subscription models that include the rights to connect to CRM.The changes that have been made to the external connector is that the usage patterns have been aligned along the same restrictions of the new ESS CAL. That means that delete, assign, and share operations are no longer permissible with the external connector.

No Professional Server SKU

In CRM 4, there were two server SKUs for an on-prem install - Professional and Enterprise. The primary difference between the two is that the professional edition was limited to a single CRM organization, where the enterprise was capable of hosting multiple CRM organization databases. In CRM 2011, there is no more professional server SKU, and all CRM 2011 Server SKUs have the capability of multi-tenancy. This bodes well for the growth of xRM.

Market Impact

I think the license changes will have a significant positive impact for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. Many internal line-of-business applications that were disqualified as xRM candidates because of ballooning full-use CAL requirements will now be feasible. The new ESS CALs and expanded rights for Limited Use CALs will fill the needs of properly licensing these types of applications using a license cost that is more reasonable. This is very applicable in the portal space, which is the core competency of Adxstudio. The new ESS CAL will allow our customers to build more internal-facing portals that are integrated to CRM with much lower costs.