Microsoft CRM 4.0 - Trial Product Downloads available Now!

Microsoft has released its latest CRM trial software on the Internet for downloads!

"Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is available as a 90-day trial version at the Microsoft Downloads center. The download page will be updated with new languages as they are released."

Download the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Trial Versions in either 32 or 64-bit!
Download the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook (For On-Premise and Hosted Editions) 32 bit!

Download the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Data Migration Manager 32 bit!
Download the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 E-mail Router (On-Premise and Hosted Editions) in either 32 or 64-bit!

Source:
http://blogs.msdn.com/crm/archive/2007/12/18/microsoft-dynamics-crm-4-0-ready-for-download.aspx

Microsoft CRM and Silverlight - "Adding client side business logic to CRM forms using Silverlight managed code"

Silverlight is an exciting technology with a very high degree of highlight and focus for web technology enthusiasts because it has the potential to bring to the web user an enhanced, lifted and interesting user experience.

Microsoft CRM, being a technology that is closely shaped by business processes, has also a very strong focus on usability. CRM technology is data and information based, and how well we utilise the information from these systems is, in my opinion, very closely tied with the effectiveness of usability.

Microsoft CRM is a very exciting and fun product to develop (technically and business wise) with because it offers the flexibility and power to adapt to a business's needs. Just imagine if we surface the information from CRM and create new applications to embed within the CRM application, the possibilities that I see are quiet "uniquely" cool and awesome!

I found the following post by Arash, which talks about developing a basic Silverlight 1.1 (Javascript and C# Managed code) application. This is the starting point for the imaginations to become a reality...

http://blog.arash.cc/post/Adding-client-side-business-logic-to-CRM-forms-using-Silverlight-managed-code.aspx

Microsoft CRM 4.0 - Get Ready for 4.0 Titan (Part 2)

Because the NDA agreements have dropped (meaning that details of the Titan CTP can now be publicly released):
http://www.stunnware.com/crm2/topic.aspx?id=TitanBeta2

Hence, now we will get some new screen shots. Stunnware's post is a good source:
http://www.stunnware.com/crm2/topic.aspx?id=TitanBeta3

Philip Richardson, the Microsoft CRM Lead Program Manager, has actually created a load of Screencasts:

Titan: Import/Export Customizations

Titan Screencast: Add Multiple Users

Titan: Web Import

Titan: Duplicate Detection

Simon Hutson's blog also talks about some technical aspects of Events/Call-outs (now known as Plug ins)

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Tidbits - Advanced Events

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Tidbits - Event Architecture

Stay tuned for more information. =)
I may start posting about various aspects of the Titan myself =)

Microsoft CRM 3.0 - How to Videos for Users

I came across some very useful videos hosted on YouTube in around June 2007 by a company called "CRM On Target". Although they are for CRM 3.0, I'm sure there are still many people who will find these training videos useful. Enjoy!

Microsoft CRM: Importing Sales Lead Records


Microsoft CRM: Importing Contact Records


Microsoft CRM: Creating a New Field


Microsoft CRM: Creating an Activity Related View


Microsoft CRM: 'Send Direct Email' Button in Outlook


Microsoft CRM: Assigning Tasks from Outlook

Microsoft CRM 3.0 - Awesome CRM Search "Vista CRM Search Gadget "

I was browsing around, and came back to this blog which I read a while back. It was posted back in April 14th this year, but only now I had the chance to go thru what Joris has done for the CRM community.

Its a CRM Search application that consists of a Vista Gadget, and a search web application. Whats awesome is you can add it into IE7 as a search provider! The search works across multi entities, so it makes things very convenient.

Hum.... why does it looks like an application I saw in the latest CRM 3.0 demo VPC?

Vista CRM Search Gadget
http://blogs.msdn.com/joris_kalz/pages/Vista-Microsoft-CRM-Search-Gadget.aspx

Microsoft CRM 4.0 - Get Ready for 4.0 Titan

The word "Titan" has been mentioned many time already, but because it is still in its CTP3 stage, people who have been involved in the CTP3 have not been able to say much about the product due to agreements with Microsoft. That being said, there have been quiet alot of resources available online, which I thought I'd link into a single article.


CRM Titan Books:
Working with Microsoft Dynamics(TM) CRM 4.0
http://www.amazon.com/Working-Microsoft-Dynamics-CRM-4-0/dp/0735623783/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_a/002-5076879-0816004

Programming Microsoft Dynamics(TM) CRM 4.0 Developer Reference
http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Microsoft-Dynamics-Developer-Reference/dp/0735624275/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b/002-5076879-0816004


Sneak Peaks
ISVs on Titan
https://owa.uniqueworld.net/OWA/redir.aspx?URL=http%3a%2f%2fblogs.msdn.com%2fcrm%2farchive%2f2007%2f09%2f10%2fvideos-crm-isvs-talk-about-titan.aspx

Titan Screencasts from Phillip Richardson
On this particular blog from the CRM Team Blog, they give out very strong highlights of the features that will be part of 4.0 Titan.
http://blogs.msdn.com/crm/archive/2007/10/03/titan-first-look-videos.aspx

Feature Peaks
Guy Riddle's Blog "Titan" NDA Lifted
http://guyriddle.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!5D4E0DC4D1513384!210.entry

Training
Metro - CRM ISV Training (Only for ISVs enrolled into the Early Adopter programme)
http://guyriddle.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!5D4E0DC4D1513384!211.entry

Microsoft CRM 3.0 - Call-Outs in CRM to create new SharePoint Sites

This article was kept in my draft stash for quite some time now, and I found it really useful and relevant to another post, which I published not long ago.

This article is a technical tutorial on developing call-outs for Microsoft CRM to create new SharePoint sites. Call-outs are custom "logic" that is executed as a result of a CRM workflow reponse.

The article is listed below:
The purpose of the integration is to create collaboration sites on SharePoint 2007 as new accounts or opportunities are created in Microsoft CRM
http://www.codeproject.com/useritems/MOSS_2007-CRM_Integration.asp

Microsoft SharePoint 2007 - SharePoint Configured as a CRM Tool (DIY tutorial)

This is an interesting flash movie that teaches on how to customise a SharePoint Site as a CRM application.
http://www.sharepointhosting.com/tutorials/sharepoint-sales-crm/sharepoint-sales-crm.html

Microsoft CRM 3.0 - Third Party Tool to extend Document Management capabilities of CRM using SharePoint

In a previous post, I've discussed about hosting a SharePoint Site as a tab within an iframe in a CRM entity UI. Many people are not developers, and so would need to rely on third party products. KWizCom have always been creating some very good SharePoint add-on products and this time they've created something for just that purpose I mentioned. They created a product which they call the "CRM Connector to SharePoint".

This product not only places a SharePoint site into an entity, but it also creates a new SharePoint site for every entity you create (for the more technical, it comes with a call-out/plug-in for CRM). It supports MOSS 2007, SPS 2003, WSSv3 and WSSv2.

For more information, see the following extract from http://www.kwizcom.com/ProductPage.asp?ProductID=186&ProductSubNodeID=192:

KWizCom CRM Connecor to SharePoint, now supports MOSS 2007 - enables users to better manage documents linked to any CRM entity (Account, Lead, Product etc.).
These document management capabilities are based on Microsoft SharePoint Services, and provide CRM users with the ability to:

• Create document libraries and folders
• Link documents to any CRM entity
• Search for documents from within MS CRM interface
• Expose documents to users who are NOT CRM users
  (and do not have CRM client license)
• Enables sharing applications beyond a single team-site scope

Microsoft SharePoint 2007 - SharePoint Configured as a CRM Tool?

When SharePoint was first released I recall having a conversation with a fellow colleague about the possibility of customising SharePoint as a CRM application.

A company called "BPA" did exactly just that, and named the product "Easy CRM SharePoint" (Easy CRM software solution for Microsoft SharePoint). They have flash demonstrations for this CRM application, and it proves to be very interesting indeed! Click on this link to see it: http://software.crm-sharepoint.com/default.aspx.

So how did they do it? Does it integrate core CRM functionality into Outlook? Would it be better than Microsoft CRM 3.0 itself? Well, having a bit of a look into it, it appears they've used a series of lists, calendars and custom web parts to contribute to CRM functionality. They've even got lists of reports, offline access, an Outlook connector (to attach emails to items) and more. However, as compared to Microsoft CRM 3.0, it does seem like a little child, but I'll leave that to you to judge.