CRM Software Blog» CRM Online

Microsoft Dynamics CRM – “CRM Anywhere”, Q2 2012 Update Announced

Ryan Plourde, AbleBridge — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:45:46 +0000

Microsoft’s commitment to accelerated, new feature releases of Microsoft Dynamics CRM every six months is exciting and this “CRM Anywhere” release is a testament to their “more innovation available more frequently” strategy.

We were impressed with the November 2011 Service Update (R7) but we wanted to call out some of the anticipated highlights for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Q2 2012 Service Update (R8) release, dubbed “CRM Anywhere”

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobility

This update includes a welcome, but rather surprising announcement, for Microsoft’s answer to a more robust mobile solution. Interestingly, Microsoft has partnered with CWR Mobility to take advantage of its 3^rd party product and bring its mobility strategy to market much faster than it could on its own. It seems as though Microsoft is licensing certain aspects of CWR but will be building off the platform – which is great news. Security role integration and native language localization seems to be Microsoft’s first priorities. AbleBridge is a CWR Mobility Partner and we do like their solution so we’re excited to see where it goes from here.

Cross Browser Support

Today Microsoft Dynamics CRM is only supported on Internet Explorer. This update will provide cross browser and cross platform capability for its web client. Safari running on PC, Mac, or iPad, Firefox running on PC or Mac, Chrome running on PC – this is BIG. We’re keenly interested to see how well this strategy will play with 1) Outlook integration – will it just work, or what disclaimers need to be considered? And 2) Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution development – will this be a build once deploy anywhere or build twice for cross browser supportability?

Along with a new mobility option and cross browser support, which we feel are the two biggest announcements; this update also includes enhanced Enterprise Scalability, Enhanced Social Capabilities and some other Enhancements around industry templates, business intelligence and an improved portal framework.

We’re going to see a lot more information come out about the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Q2 2012 Service Update but the announcement alone illustrates Microsoft’s continued commitment to their CRM mobility strategy.

AbleBridge is 100% focused on Microsoft Dynamics CRM and we’ve witnessed the evolution of the product for almost a decade. The latest release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 illustrates Microsoft’s commitment to a long term strategic vision for CRM and we couldn’t be more excited as a Microsoft Partner. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you realize the benefits of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

by AbleBridge, Massachusetts Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner

Microsoft Dynamics CRM – “CRM Anywhere”, Q2 2012 Update Announced is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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Why We LOVE ClickDimensions for Microsoft Dynamics CRM – Reason #3: Form Builder

P2 Automation — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:57:37 +0000

At P2 Automation we’re all about efficiency, so any time we find a solution that can shave a few minutes off of our day, we take it. With the ClickDimensions Form Builder tool, we can quickly create data capture forms on our website that tie information directly into our CRM system without writing a single line of code. No more time consuming HTML programming, or re-entering information from an email notification into CRM. Forms set up quickly and information flows automatically. Click this link to see how we created a simple Contact Us form using the ClickDimensions Form Builder tool.

by P2 Automation, Connecticut Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner

Why We LOVE ClickDimensions for Microsoft Dynamics CRM – Reason #3: Form Builder is a post from: CRM Software Blog

What Mobile Technology Trends Mean for Your CRM Software

Jim Drumm, Sikich — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:25:24 +0000

You can’t help but notice the major emphasis people are putting on mobile devices these days. They are the wave of the future, and one that can make businesses more productive and efficient. But what does this mean for your existing CRM software?

This means it’s time to accept mobility into your current customer service management, if you haven’t already. Your employees are probably already using their smart phones in order to conduct business more efficiently and effectively; it’s somewhat crucial to staying ahead of the competition these days. The question you want to ask is can you and should you connect those devices with your CRM software? We say, “Yes!”

Mobile Express for Microsoft Dynamics® CRM brings mobile functionality to a whole new level for businesses. Your sales force can have access to real-time account information from any web enabled mobile device. With this valuable information at hand, they can effectively meet the needs of your customers and even optimize on up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. Even when they’re on the road, they can quickly respond to customer requests or questions, ensuring enhanced customer support throughout your organization. Notifications and alerts can even help remind sales and customer service reps of important appointments or service calls. All this information is available through a customized, easy to read and manage mobile format.

Mobile technology trends have brought about a new way of doing business - a new and improved way, in our opinion. Microsoft Dynamics CRM enables businesses like yours to take advantage of this trend and contributes to the success of your business. And things just keep getting better. Microsoft just announced in their next service update of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, a new cloud-based, cross-platform native mobile client for Windows Phone 7.5, iPad, iPhone, Android, and Blackberry devices called Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile. Contact us at Sikich to learn more about the groundbreaking mobility functionality in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

By Jim Drumm with Sikich, Chicago IL Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner serving IL and MO

What Mobile Technology Trends Mean for Your CRM Software is a post from: CRM Software Blog

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Anywhere – Great New Features in the Next Service Update

Marcia Doron, Altico Advisors — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:16:04 +0000

Microsoft just announced what’s going to be in their next service update for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, codenamed “R8″, under the headline: CRM Anywhere.

The R8 service update is expected to be available Q2 2012 and is built on six broad themes: Mobility, Browser Flexibility, Social, Industry Templates, SQL Server 2012, Certifications.

Mobility
Microsoft will be launching a new product, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile, which will enable CRM Online, partner-hosted and on-premise customers with Internet-facing deployments to use CRM on up to three devices per user.

There will be native clients, which means offline support, on all the main mobile platforms: Windows Phone 7.5, iPhone & iPad, Android, BlackBerry. I haven’t seen any of the licensing details yet, but I understand that this is a subscription service (even for on-premise customers) for $30 per user per month.

Browser Flexibility
For years prospective customers have been crying out for multi-browser support and Microsoft has finally delivered! Once R8 hits your CRM server you’ll be able to access CRM using: Internet Explorer 7 or above on Windows 7, Vista and XP; Safari 5.1.1 or above on Mac OS-X or iOS5 ;Firefox 6 or above on Windows 7, Vista and XP or Mac OS-X or iOS5; Chrome 13 or above on Windows 7, Vista and XP.

Activity Feed Enhancements
In the Nov 2011 service update (codenamed “R7″) Microsoft released the new Activity Feeds feature which introduced some social enterprise features into CRM 2011. R8 introduces a series of enhancements to the Activity Feeds feature: like/dislike, enhanced filtering (e.g. @me, types of records I follow, record views), and an updated mobile activity feeds client for Windows Phone 7.5.

Industry Templates
Building on the work of Microsoft partners and its own consulting team, the Dynamics Labs will be releasing several industry templates into the Dynamics Marketplace. The first few templates will be: Wealth Management, Non-Profit, Health Sales Plans,,
Relationship Management for Health.

The templates will include data model customizations, dashboards, workflows and sample data. They’re designed to help customers in those industries visualise how Dynamics CRM can help their business, and speed up an implementation without necessarily being a fully-packaged vertical industry product.

SQL Server 2012
Microsoft’s own data centers have already been upgraded to SQL Server 2012 and the R8 service update brings official support for partners and customers wanting to upgrade their own deployments to SQL Server 2012. Additionally, there will be some new CRM features that make use of SQL Server 2012 new capabilities. For example: performance improvements, enhanced database recovery, next generation business intelligence (“Crescent”) such as pre-defined Power Pivot models, Power View reports, and time-animated reports.

Certifications
Certifications are critical to enterprise adoption and Microsoft has been working hard over the last year to ensure that its data centers and CRM Online service meets several important certification standards including: ISO27001, SAS 70 Type II, SOX, SSAE 16 SOC1, Safe Harbor, Data Processing Agreement, EU Model Clauses and HIPAA compliance (supported through Business Partner Agreements).

For More Information
Download the R8 Release Preview Guide from the Microsoft Dynamics CRM website: http://crmpublish.blob.core.windows.net/docs/ReleasePreviewGuide.pdf

Read the CRM Anywhere blog article by new CRM General Manager Dennis Michalis: https://community.dynamics.com/product/crm/crmnontechnical/b/crmconnection/archive/2012/02/06/crm-anywhere.aspx
By Marcia Nita Doron, Altico Advisors, Microsoft CRM partner serving Massachusetts (MA)

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Anywhere – Great New Features in the Next Service Update is a post from: CRM Software Blog

Microsoft CRM Mobile To Be Released Q2 2012

Tom Rogers, Intellitec Solutions — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:31:55 +0000

Microsoft Dynamics CRM has increasingly been the solution of choice for companies looking for a flexible and powerful sales, marketing, and customer service tool to grow their businesses. With the look and feel of Microsoft Office and a tight integration to Outlook, Word, and Excel, Microsoft CRM offers end-users an experience they are already familiar with, which lowers training costs and increases user adaptability. Now Microsoft CRM just became even better.

Microsoft announced that in the second quarter of 2012, a service update to Microsoft CRM will add an array of new features and functionality, including Microsoft CRM Mobile a full range off native apps for smart phones and tablets. This means that the power of Microsoft CRM can now be used on your iPhone, iPad, or Blackberry device, just to names a few. Microsoft CRM will also be supported on Safari, Chrome, and Firefox browsers. This will give a consistent look and feel for Microsoft CRM across the multiple platforms that a user may utilize.

Microsoft CRM was already the most cost effective CRM Solution on the market. With these new enhancements, it is also the most powerful solution available. To see these new enhancements, or to find out more about how Microsoft CRM can help your business, contact Intellitec Solutions at 866-504-4357 for a free needs analysis and demo.

By Intellitec Solutions, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner serving Delaware

Microsoft CRM Mobile To Be Released Q2 2012 is a post from: CRM Software Blog

SalesFUSION to Host B2B Marketing to CRM Integration Webinar with Expert Panel

SalesFUSION — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:49:05 +0000

B2B Marketing Experts Webinar – Industry experts share best practices – Click to Register. SalesFUSION, a leading Microsoft ISV Partner and Enterprise-class marketing automation platform, will host a unique live webinar on February 16th at 2PM EST. This session is focused on b2b marketing and how companies using Microsoft Dynamics CRM can improve their lead to sales management processes by integrating Marketing Automation into their CRM environment. The session will feature a panel of three b2b marketing experts who have successfully integrated Marketing Automation with their Dynamics CRM systems.

Integrating best-in-class marketing technology into CRM is becoming an imperative for many Dynamics users looking to improve their overall lead to sales revenue management capabilities. Our panel of industry experts will go beyond the marketing speak and share their recipes for success in building high-performance lead to sales processes in their Dynamics environment. The Speaker Panel will include:


			Pete Petersen, CIO of LexJet, will discuss how his compay identified over 750 new leads using SalesFUSION integrated with Microsoft Dynamics.

			Jason Schleweis, Interactive Marketing Specialist at Baxa, will discuss how he saved marketing budget by eliminating under-performing campaigns using marketing data from SalesFUSION combined with opportunity data from Dynamics CRM.

			Meghan Palacios – Marketing Director at CSG, will discuss how she collaborated with the sales team to develop a lead scoring program to improve the flow of leads from marketing to sales.

Session agenda

Marketing automation defined and demystified
B2B marketing trends that are here to stay
Keys to integrating marketing technology to Dynamic CRM
How to build a lead to revenue management model for your company
Live case studies from our expert panel
Live Q&A

Attendees to this session will be registered to win a new Amazon Kindle Fire and a $25 Gift Card. All attendees will receive printed copies of the 3 end-user case studiesLike Us on Facebook and you could win an iPad.

We hope you will join us for this event!

Kind Regards,
The SalesFUSION Team
www.salesfusion.com

SalesFUSION to Host B2B Marketing to CRM Integration Webinar with Expert Panel is a post from: CRM Software Blog

P2 Automation Joins Microsoft Cloud Champions Program

P2 Automation — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:35:57 +0000

This month, P2 Automation is happy to announce that we’ve been accepted into the Microsoft Cloud Champions Program. The Cloud Champions Program includes select Microsoft partners who have demonstrated an ability to deploy Microsoft cloud services including Office 365, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. As a member of this program, we now have access to additional sales, support, and technical resources that aren’t available to the general public, and we will pass these benefits along to our customers.

If you’d like to find out if Cloud Computing solutions from Microsoft are a fit for your organization, contact us today at (860) 426-8029, or sign up for a free 30-day Trial at http://www.tryoffice365.com/.

by P2 Automation, Connecticut Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner

P2 Automation Joins Microsoft Cloud Champions Program is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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Salesforce.com Shows Signs of Outgrowing Small-to-Medium Businesses; Should You Opt for Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics CRM Online?

Crestwood Associates — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:03:31 +0000

You’ve probably heard of Salesforce.com, the cloud-only CRM service that has gradually grown in popularity and size. It is now positioning itself to move beyond its CRM offerings into a complete platform-as-a-service (PaaS) with a socially-connected system of tools. Their marketing term for this is the “social enterprise” that will supposedly help transform companies into social businesses. Nevertheless, many of these changes seem to suggest Salesforce.com is losing touch with the Small-to-Medium customer, like you and me.

According to Laurie McCabe the new Salesforce.com Winter 2012 release will introduce 150 new features, all of which will work together to paint a new social enterprise structure for businesses. With several new database components, the new Chatter social service, a data analysis tool, and ongoing app development for multiple platforms, Salesforce has been busy building its new technology through development and acquisition. But all of that, McCabe explained, adds up to a lot of separate components to buy.

Salesforce claims it will offer an “all-you-can-eat” social enterprise buffet, allowing businesses to get all of the components for one price. The catch is that they have yet to reveal what that price is and have said they will deal with it on a “case-by-case basis”.

If you’re like us, you aren’t exactly rolling in cash like many of the big enterprises that have been largely unaffected by the recession. You have a limited budget, and one of the most attractive features of the cloud is the transparency in pricing. No company wants to feel like they are being had by a salesperson. Cloud services are supposed to eliminate the complex licensing schemes, additional hardware costs, and costly upgrades that traditional vendors often still cling to so vehemently.

Perhaps that is why so many of us are turning to Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM online. Unlike the competition, Dynamics CRM Online and Office 365 provide a stable set of components that work just as well offline as they do online. Furthermore, the subscription pricing is published right on the Office 365 website for small, midsize, and enterprise businesses. Dynamics CRM Online pricing is boldly shown on the landing page for all to see. I don’t know about you, but up front pricing goes a lot farther than someone telling me they’ll consider it “case-by-case”.

Just some food for thought as you consider moving to the cloud. If you have questions about Dynamics CRM Online and Office 365, please call or email us today.

Donna Krizik / Crestwood Associates LLC, an Illinois Dynamics CRM Partner

Ph: 847-394-8820 x43 Email: dkrizik@crestwood.com

Salesforce.com Shows Signs of Outgrowing Small-to-Medium Businesses; Should You Opt for Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics CRM Online? is a post from: CRM Software Blog

Transform your Business with Microsoft CRM and Cloud Computing on your Terms

Customer Effective Bloggers — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:59:03 +0000

Over the past few years, the financial services sector has experienced extraordinary change due to shrinking margins, mounting global competition, and increasing regulatory scrutiny. Even prior to these challenges, many firms were hindered by an unmanageable and inefficient legacy infrastructure consisting of disjointed business processes and multiple non-integrated applications. In such an evolving marketplace, financial institutions must focus on core competencies and waste-cutting without sacrificing the need to innovate and adapt. As they desperately seek out cost-effective technology solutions that can streamline their operations and offer them greater agility, flexibility, scalability, and real-time data, many firms are now turning to cloud computing.

Firms drawn to virtualization and cloud services are looking to trim capital expenditures, achieve economies of scale, and reduce time to market. IT departments that have undergone a cloud-based transformation are investing less on optimizing servers and additional hardware and capacity because they now selectively purchase additional services and scale only when needed as demand dictates. Furthermore, IT departments that have embraced the cloud are spending less time on running, patching, maintaining, and reactively supporting large data storage centers, hardware, and software. As a result, they can focus more on strategic initiatives and developing better products and applications to better support the business side’s growth and straight-through processing automation objectives. Finextra further affirms the increasing momentum of cloud computing by citing research from Gartner, which shows that 39 percent of surveyed CIOs at financial services firms “expect that more than half of all their transactions will be supported via cloud infrastructure and software as a service (SaaS) by 2015.”

With over 15 years of experience in cloud computing, “Microsoft invests over US$2 billion a year alone into the development of its Microsoft Dynamics products.” Included in its industry leading portfolio of cloud assets is Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. Delivered over the Internet, CRM Online can be up and running quickly and cost-effectively. Also, it is easy to learn and use and it supports widespread adoption because it provides a familiar Microsoft Office user interface and experience and it even operates within the friendly confines of Outlook. Additionally, its powerful suite of marketing, sales, and customer service functionality gives organizations valuable visibility into customer, prospect, and partner information.

As a reminder, though, CRM Online is not the only deployment option for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. Besides the on-demand online cloud hosted model, firms can still opt for an on-premise software installation or a hybrid solution of both the on- and off-premise models. Unlike its competitors, Microsoft provides its customers with the power of choice and recognizes that a firm’s business needs can change. Despite offering a superior CRM cloud solution, Microsoft understands that some firms may still want to extend investments in existing infrastructure, and thus they might have a more long-term timeline for transitioning CRM and other in-house applications to the cloud. Therefore, Microsoft grants firms the freedom to switch at any time from one deployment model to the other, regardless of what option was initially selected. Overall, firms are able to use their technology on their own terms and take advantage of the cloud when they are ready.

To better navigate the Cloud with Microsoft technology and explore your CRM options, please visit www.customereffective.com.

Post by: Kevin Wessels, Customer Effective

Transform your Business with Microsoft CRM and Cloud Computing on your Terms is a post from: CRM Software Blog

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SMB Cloud Adoption Study Statistics Show That Cloud Usage is On The Rise

Anya Ciecierski, CAL Business Solutions, Inc. — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:35:00 +0000

Businesses have clearly recognized the existence of cloud computing, and it would be difficult to find a business where buzzwords like “cloud” and “SaaS” are not being thrown around. But how many businesses are actually using the cloud or at least considering it? According to a Microsoft-sponsored study 39 percent of small to medium-sized businesses (SMB) expect to pay for cloud services within 3 years, an increase of 34 percent.

The study “SMB Cloud Adoption Study Dec 2010 – Global Report“, conducted by Edge Strategies, surveyed employees at 3,258 companies from all over the world. What it found is that 74 percent of those employees expected to use at least one cloud service (either paid or free) in 3 years, and 39 percent expect to pay for services.

The two largest areas of cloud usage used by respondents were accounting and payroll (20%), collaboration (17%), file/data storage and backup (15%), business class email (14%), and CRM (14%). Several other services, such as data archiving and web conferencing also accounted for more than 10 percent. The study also found that SMBs that use email through multiple methods (i.e. desktop app, browser, and mobile device) are more likely to adopt paid cloud services.

Of those SMBs that do not intend to use cloud services, 57 percent believe they have IT capabilities that are sufficient for current use. They believe their in-house IT solutions give them more control over applications and data. 53 percent stated that they did not know enough about cloud computing to make an informed decision. On the other hand, only 30 percent did not trust cloud services because of perceived unproven results, lack of data security, or higher cost, and only 15 percent viewed cloud services as unreliable in general.

The evidence from the study strongly indicates that most companies will continue to view on-premise software as an important component of their business IT solutions, while cloud computing will continue to play a significant role. Businesses that need both options should look to a service provider that can deliver both, and Microsoft is the obvious choice. Microsoft now offers on-premise solutions with Microsoft Dynamics CRM and also a cloud alternative with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. Both are interchangeable and also integrate well with other Microsoft products, such as Office Professional and Office 365.

By CAL Business Solutions, Connecticut Microsoft Dynamics Partner

SMB Cloud Adoption Study Statistics Show That Cloud Usage is On The Rise is a post from: CRM Software Blog

CRM Software Blog» CRM Online

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