1. Seek out the right executive sponsor. Having the right executive sponsor on your implementation project can help drive goals and adoption.
2. Define your current sales process, but don’t change it. We find that most companies don’t really follow a formal sales process and are unable to put what they do into an actual workflow. When implementing a new solution, they try to also push a new, standardized process into place although it hasn’t been communicated yet across their departments. This causes a lot of problems and ultimately leads to implementation failure. If you are trying to get a CRM solution up and running fast, you should stcik with the current sales process, and leave it as is. This doesn’t mean you can’t have a long term plan, but if your focus is on a rapid implementation and quick ROI than this is not the time to change your sales process.
3. Training. A new customer management solution is not effective unless your people know how to use it and actually do use it to streamline their daily tasks and increase productivity. The TM Group’s CRM Classroom and online training courses review the important aspects of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, such as customization & configuration, workflows, and extending CRM. We take training seriously because we know the key to adoption with  CRM solution is that everyone understands how to use it.
4. Get comfortable with the basics before the “WOW” features. CRM functionality can be pretty awesome and most people want the cool stuff right away before focusing on the basics. This can backfire quickly and we know that getting comfortable with CRM’s basic features helps increase user adoption rate and sets the stage to add “WOW” features later on.
5. Realistic expectations. Setting timelines that you can actually reach helps set the stage for a more successful implementation. It also keeps the morale high because you’re achieving progress, getting you to the final goal quickly. Decide if you want to hire a consulant to guide you through the implementation process, or if you’ll try a more do it yourself approach like our ReadySetGo for Microsoft Dynamics CRM approach.

These tips should help minimize the main issues during an implementation, such as resistance to change, lack of perceived benefit, and resistance to use technology. If you have any questions on how to successfully deploy CRM, please contact us at andreed@tmgroupinc.com or 888.482.2864.

By The TM Group, Michigan  Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM Partner for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics SL and SharePoint

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We have guided our clients through a high number of Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementations and in doing so, have discovered certain little things lacking in Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s standard functionality that in every implementation we have to customize or modify.   To avoid these frustrations, greater streamline the implementation process, and save our client’s money, we’ve created the CRM Starter for Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Here are just a few examples of the features of The TM Group’s CRM Starter:

• Standardized Customer Views: Most of our clients need or want to customize the view for their account and contact information in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. We have built this right into the CRM Starter so that no matter where the client does the look up, inside or outside of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the same format is available, making queries quick and easy.
• Opportunity Revenue Estimates: When your sales team adds an opportunity in Microsoft Dynamics CRM at a certain % to close in the sales cycle, Microsoft Dynamics CRM will now automatically calculate the weighted percentage of revenue you’re estimated to receive from that opportunity. This feature of the CRM Starter lets you know where you’re at in the sales pipeline in relation to how much you will probably be closing at any given time.
• Less Data Entry: Entering new accounts and/or contacts into Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be a tedious task. Our Zip Code enhancement of the CRM Starter makes this just a little easier. When you put in the zip code for a new contact, the city and state are automatically populated.
• Import Verification: When users are importing information, this feature of the CRM Starter verifies the accuracy of the data, helping reduce entry error and save time from dealing with inaccuracies in the software.

We have found that the CRM Starter for Microsoft Dynamics is a huge value-add to our clients. By implementing the CRM Starter up-front, our CRM consulting team can also better focus on our clients’ business processes and spend less time on fixing things that we have had to modify or customize repeatedly in previous implementations. It has helped us deepen our experience as a Microsoft Dynamics CRM consulting partner, and in-turn provided many helpful benefits back to our clients.

 The CRM Starter from The TM Group is continuously improving. We continue to discover new enhancements as we go and add them to the CRM Starter for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This tool saves clients a lot of time and money with a low cost of $25/user with $2,500 maximum cost.

 By The TM Group, Michigan  Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM Partner for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, GP, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics SL and SharePoint

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The spreadsheets didn’t provide cohesive insight into their distributor chain and really limited their business. They sell to authorized contractors and have different grades of products. So, while one contractor carries just one line of products, another contractor may carry all three. It was extremely difficult to see who sold what, where they were located, and their sales history. This made planning almost impossible and managers were unable to make informed business decisions.

MailChimp also had its problems. When our client sent bulk emails, the recipient’s mail server would automatically flag them as junk mail. So even if they were able to send communications, given their limited view into their distribution channel, it was unlikely the distributors received the emails.

The TM Group is a Certified Microsoft Dynamics Partner with dual Gold competencies in ERP and CRM based out of Michigan and came to the rescue with Microsoft Dynamics® CRM. Microsoft Dynamics CRM allows our client to track a lot more information about their business and the distributors with whom they work. This allows them to create targeted emails lists. They can now see what distributors sell what products, what region they’re in, and even the customers they sold the product to. They can also rank their distributors to see how much business they do and track all the different relationships they have with other distributors. If the end customer fills out a warranty card, that gets sent to our client, the manufacturer of the product. Now our client can see which contractor did the work as well as track the end customer to maintain proper communications, increasing customer service and support. For example, they can send an email three years after an end customer purchased their product to see how it’s working. Microsoft Dynamics CRM added visibility into their end customer, helping their manufacturing process. They know what products are hot, as well as which ones are not, so they can effectively plan what to manufacture at what time of year.

 In addition to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, we helped our client implement SalesFUSION, an e-marketing automation tool that works seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. SalesFUSION can be used stand-alone, but when coupled with a customer relationship management tool such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, much greater marketing power is realized.  Unlike MailChimp, SalesFUSION shows up as a recognizable domain and doesn’t get flagged as SPAM. This alone was a huge improvement for our client’s communication with their distributor chain. But because SalesFUSION is fully integrated with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, it also shows our client a vast amount of information they never had insight to before. The targeted lists created in CRM help our client tailor specific and relevant messages to their distributors. This clearer communication has streamlined their working relationships and improved supply chain efficiency. Our client can also do more sales education with their distributors, making sure they have the right selling points about the specific line of products they sell. This benefit helps our client’s distributors sell more of their product, increasing the profitability for both entities.

 In addition to their existing distributors, our client can now market to potential distributors effectively. SalesFUSION has advanced tracking capabilities that allows them to track how many emails they sent, who specifically opened the emails, how long they had it opened, if they downloaded a whitepaper, or watched educational videos, and more. They can now track all the stats about the email they send out as well as what happened afterward. This insight helps them decide whether something they sent out was helpful or whether they need to change it out.

 Our client has made a huge transition from a non-targeted, ineffective marketing and communication system to a comprehensive tool that tells a lot about how effective they’re being with the information they send. The power of SalesFUSION and Microsoft Dynamics CRM together gives our client measurable results so they can fine-tune their marketing programs and ultimately grow their business.

 By The TM Group, Michigan  Dual Gold Certified Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM Partner for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint

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 Currently, our client mostly sells direct, but they are a startup company and looking to sell more through distributors. In this prospecting phase, they need to track the marketing and sales component of their business closely. They need to identify who is a quality prospect as well as who isn’t so they can focus their time and resources on what will help them grow, helping more people along the way.

 To build up their prospect database, they started using an outside telemarketing firm. Since they’re working with a third party on this initiative, the notes from the callers need to be detailed as well as easy to track. So, they started working with a partner to help them manage their client and prospect databases. Their partner also set them up with an email marketing service. Our client quickly became frustrated with the email solution because it couldn’t provide the metrics they needed. For example, they needed to see if someone watches a video on their website, but their email solution wasn’t able to provide that level of insight. They quickly became frustrated with their partner as well because they didn’t receive the proper training. This resulted in miscommunications for tracking important phone calls, unclear reporting, as well as navigation frustration within their software. For example, their telemarketing firm had to navigate through the system, making 5 to 10 clicks to simply enter their notes for a particular contact.

 As a Certified Microsoft Dynamics Partner with dual Gold competencies in ERP and CRM based out of Michigan, the TM Group created a custom piece to their Microsoft Dynamics® CRM solution so they could add phone calls on the first screen they saw. A seamless workflow would be created right when their telemarketing firm made a call. Within the contact screen, they can see contact info as well as enter in a phone call record. Their telemarketing firm can type in their notes, click ‘save’, and a record is automatically created in CRM. There’s also a frame that shows all the phone calls in the contact form instead of clicking somewhere else and navigating far from it.

 The TM Group also replaced their email marketing solution that couldn’t produce the metrics they needed. They helped them implement SalesFUSION, which integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. When they enter a contact in CRM, that contact automatically goes to SalesFUSION so their contact database is always up to date. With SalesFUSION in place, they could see who watched a video on their website. Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides a button on every contact where you can click SalesFUSION and it will bring up their information, such as activity on their website, how many emails were sent to them, what they’ve downloaded,  as well as what type of telemarketing activity correlates with their record. This deep insight has already allowed our client to optimize their marketing and find their ideal clients.

 They are actually so happy with the customized functionality, that we’re now working on setting up service cases in CRM so they can attend to their existing client needs quickly and effectively. Right now, they don’t have insight, resources, or tracking capabilities for when customers call in with questions about their devices. By adding service cases in CRM, they will be able to track cases through to resolution, follow up accordingly, and check past scenarios to help answer current issues.

 There are so many ways we can help you make Microsoft Dynamics CRM work for your organization. Whether it is finding the best customers or keeping your current customers satisfied, we’ll find a way. If you’re interested in learning more, we’ll be spotlighting some key add-on solutions for Microsoft Dynamics CRM at our upcoming Microsoft Dynamics Conference called Vision 2011.  Vision 2011 takes place on October 11, 2011 at the Michigan State University (MSU) Management Education Center in Troy, Michigan.  It is open to organizations using Microsoft Dynamics or those considering new CRM or ERP solutions and provides an excellent in-depth view of Microsoft Dynamics.  No cost to attend, but reservations are required. For more information, call Andree Dolan at 888.482.2864 or email andreed@tmgroupinc.com.

 By The TM Group, Michigan  Dual Gold Certified Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM Partner for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint

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As you can see, this is a lot to track and before we got involved, they were managing all their donation information within Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access. The information they tracked included information about who made the donation as well as how much was given lifetime to date. They also had a separate spreadsheet to track donations for specific events and to help in their event management. Their information was extremely fragmented and difficult to access for everyone in their organization. On top of this, only one person in the organization used Microsoft Access so all their information relied on whether that one person was available to prepare the data. They found themselves wasting a lot of time manually entering vital information as well as manipulating the data to show what they needed to know on a daily basis.

This company already had Dynamics GP in place, so as their Microsoft Dynamics Partner with dual Gold competencies in ERP and CRM based out of Michigan, we at The TM Group recommended adding Microsoft Dynamics CRM to the mix as well as an add-on association and donor management solution called Altai. We also set our client up with not-for-profit licensing available through Microsoft that allowed them to make the investment without ‘breaking the bank’.

With Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Altai, they now have a fully integrated system that includes:

Donation Management: With CRM and Altai in place, our client is able to automatically track donations and all the details associated. They can see what individual or organization made the donation, how much it was, and what cause it was made for. They always have real-time insight into how much money is available, allowing everyone to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Their new solution allows them to create screens to take donations and once entered, CRM and Altai manage and manipulate the data for them. They no longer need to manually enter data into multiple spreadsheets and then manipulate the data to find what they need. Because they have such insight into donations, it also helps them be more proactive in requesting donations from their previous sponsors.

Event Management: This organization holds three major events each year, including a golf outing, an awards ceremony, and an annual charity auction.  A lot of management goes into planning these events. For example, sponsors receive x amount of tickets based upon sponsorship level. They also need to track event registrations, sponsorships, and specific donations related to the event which could entail food, venue, or other in-kind donations. Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Altai help them track every detail of their events, streamlining the planning process. It has also allowes them to take in more donations and receive higher sponsorships due to the enhanced management capabilities.

Our client’s job is not to figure out how to use their IT solution. Their job is creating a better life for disabled persons. With Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Altai in place, they now have the information they need at their fingertips and can do their jobs right and make a difference.

By The TM Group, Michigan Microsoft Dynamics Partner with Dual Competencies in ERP and CRM for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint

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Because they had three companies essentially operating independently, they couldn’t take advantage of cross-selling opportunities. Since everything was managed offline, they didn’t know if a potential customer looking at marble counter tops may have previously purchased their landscaping services. Since they are both a wholesaler and a retailer, they work with contractors and end customers. So if an end customer worked with one of their contractors, they had no way of currently tracking it. They knew this lack of insight was causing them to miss out on sales opportunities and was ultimately affecting their bottom line.

As a Certified Microsoft Dynamics Partner with dual Gold competencies in ERP and CRM based out of Michigan, The TM Group was able to help this wholesaler/retailer with Microsoft Dynamics® CRM. Salesforce.com was also in the running for their potential solution, but here are two main reasons why they chose Microsoft Dynamics CRM in the end:

1. Microsoft Dynamics CRM proved to be much more scalable. The TM Group was able to create a job scheduling piece specific for their needs out of Microsoft Dynamics CRM that streamlined project management and brought all their information into one place. Salesforce.com could not compete with their out-of-the-box offering.
2. Microsoft Dynamics CRM also integrates seamlessly with Microsoft SharePoint, an intuitive document management solution. Microsoft SharePoint Online makes it easy for this company to manage their documentation along with each of their projects. By just a click to a link, they can access every piece of documentation right within their CRM solution. No additional training needed, but streamlined document management guaranteed. This interoperability was not possible with Salesforce.com.

With Microsoft Dynamics CRM, better customer insight is helping this company create more opportunities by marketing to the right contractors and end customers. They now have insight into who works directly with their contractors, giving them better knowledge of who their target market is. With a better handle on their marketing, they’re confident in the sustainability of their operation and no longer feel like something is missing.

The TM Group was also able to provide extensive data clean up. Previously, one of their customers might have existed in several places and now exists only once in Microsoft Dynamics CRM with complete information behind it. Each contact in their existing data system was “Geo Coded” providing a unique longitude and latitude for each customer. Duplicate customers were then matched up by Geo Code, Address (using a Levenshtein Distance algorithm to handle misspellings) and/or name. This allowed the TM Group to, with a great deal of accuracy, identify and handle duplicate customers regardless of primary contact name or address misspellings. Each contact was identified as a “master” and associated to any number of duplicates, which were verified and removed.

Job scheduling and management is also much easier with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The TM Group was able to create a workflow in CRM giving full insight into projects. It’s easy to view the activities and stages for a project as well as afterward so customer representatives follow up appropriately. Non CRM users even get notification and/or reminder emails prompting them to stay on task for specific jobs so they complete their jobs on time. This has enhanced their customer service and ensures the longevity of their operations.

This success story is proof of the efficiencies possible with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. If you are interested in learning more about our Microsoft Dynamics CRM consulting, custom development, and custom integration services, please feel free to contact us.

By The TM Group, Michigan  Dual Gold Certified Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM Partner for Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint

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Part of this high demand for new CRM solutions is because Microsoft has some extremely aggressive pricing offers ….like a $34/month per user for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online and $200 rebate/per user for new purchases of 15 licenses or more.  These hot Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 deals are especially appealing to CFOs and owners of companies who have to carefully balance tight IT budgets against the urgent need of sales and marketing teams to get in the game of reaching their target customers by integrating traditional marketing campaigns with social media marketing.  And Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is great at that (more later)!

So for anyone researching your options for a new CRM system, we thought it might make sense to share a summary of the really cool things our CRM team at The TM Group learned at Convergence 2011 about Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.  I recommend talking with your local Microsoft Dynamics CRM expert about these great new features.  Or feel free to contact me at andreed@tmgroupinc.com or 888.482.2864, and we’re happy to help as well

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Release Schedule Changing and Other News from CRM User Group.

At the Microsoft Dynamics CRM User Group General Session we learned that the release schedule for CRM will be accelerating to an update every six to nine months for those that would like to take advantage of the enhancements to the application. The next releases are scheduled for the fall of 2011 and spring of 2012. Several other interesting items from the CRM User Group general session include:

• The next releases will have enhancements to mobility for any device, more social collaborations capabilities, and optimizing business decision making capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
• They also announced that Microsoft Dynamics CRM now has more than 1.7 Million Users and 27,000 customers in 80 countries.
• There is a Forrester Research paper coming out this month on the Total Impact of Dynamics CRM 2011 on companies utilizing on-premise or the online versions of the application. The study found some interesting statistics of how companies are benefiting from Dynamics CRM 2011: 50% sales efficiency gains, 1 FTE in service savings, $200k + savings in marketing, and 16+/hours/month IT productivity savings.

The Developers Guide to Reporting in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

CRM 2011 now allows for Fetch XML to be used for writing reports. Any Advanced View can be the basis for writing reports. Create an Advanced View then use the export to Fetch XML feature the results can then be used in the report design tool. Requirements are CRM 2011, BIDS 2008 and R2 is recommended, CRM 2011 Report Authoring Extensions, and CRM 2011 SDK.

Complex Business Process Management in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.  

A new feature for CRM 2011 is DIALOGS. A DIALOG is an interactive form which can be launched from any record to facilitate information gathering, record creation, script/process adherence or it can be used to simplify complex forms! DIALOGS can be used to standardize processes, enforce repeatable processes, easily apply special handling of information for customers, and gather all the required information during prospecting in a conversational format.

Reasons to Upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.

The new CRM Outlook Ad-In provides much of the same functionality of Outlook with the CRM records; creating email rules, marking emails for follow up, and creating tasks from emails. With CRM 2011 you also get:

•   Dashboards and Visualizations
•   Audit Tracking
•   Data Filtered Views
•   Native Integration to SharePoint
•   Multiple Forms – provides the ability to present the same form to multiple audiences differently.
•   Inline Visualizations – graphical representation of Advanced View which is dynamic and changes result set depending on which part of the visualization is selected.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Data Management Best Practices.

CRM 2011 provides new functionality for handling the importing of data:

•   Multiple Excel spreadsheets can be placed into a zip file and imported all together.
•   All the fields  to be imported into CRM do not need to have been created in CRM they can be created dynamically on the fly.
•   Export to Excel now allows data to be marked for reimport. Accounts as example could be exported and the Territory field updated in Excel then reimported into CRM.

The TM Group is a Michigan-based Dual Gold Certified Microsoft Dynamics Partner for Dynamics ERP and Dynamics CRM and Silver Certified for Portals & Collaboration.

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Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is a highly flexible tool for companies to manage their marketing, sales, and customer service initiatives.  As we speak to construction and specialty trade companies, however, we often hear the initial question “How can Microsoft Dynamics CRM be extended to meet our unique needs in the construction industry?”  At the TM Group, a dual Gold Certified Microsoft Dynamics partner for CRM and ERP, we work closely with WennSoft, a Microsoft Dynamics independent software developer,  who now provides an answer to that question with an out-of-the-box solution–the Construction Accelerator for Dynamics CRM 2011.  WennSoft, developed this to address contractor’s needs as well as to further extend the value that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 delivers into the construction and specialty trades market.

The Construction Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides sales and marketing functionality that is unique to the construction and specialty trades industries.  Some examples include:

• Dashboards.  Sales Manager and Sales Representative dashboards to help them have the right information at their fingertips.
• Prospect Data Collection.  Provides sales reps the ability to easily collect data about a prospect’s locations (e.g., type of building, type of heating and cooling, # of floors, etc.) as well as the equipment at those locations (e.g. type, serial numbers, model numbers, etc.).  Use this data to market to your prospect pool as well as more effectively on board a new customer.
• Bid Management.  Manage bids by line of business (e.g., T&M service calls, maintenance contracts, and projects/jobs) as well as by role (e.g., prime contractor with subs, sole bidder, subcontractor to a prime, etc.).  Track due date and time, other division engagement, sales process and probabilities.
• Subcontractor and Supplier Bids.  Track all bids that subcontractors and suppliers provide to you as part of your bid to the end customer.
• 3^rd party Relationships.  Manage 3^rd party relationships such as property managers.  Bids can be tracked to both end customers and 3^rd parties so you’re always clear to whom you’re bidding.
• Unique Workflows.  Numerous workflows help facilitate the bidding process such as auto-notification of a lead estimator to help put a bid together or auto-notification of additional departments or divisions within a company when they should be engaged on a bid.
• Competitor Tracking.  Track industry centric skills for your competitors.

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Construction Accelerator by WennSoft, works with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and can be deployed either as an on-premise or in the cloud solution.  If this sounds of interest to you or your customers, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at kenj@tmgroupinc.com or call 888.482.2864.  You can learn more at  www.wennsoft.com/crmaccelerators.   

By The TM Group, a Michigan Microsoft Dynamics Gold Certified Partner for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics NAV and SharePoint.

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Their key issues were:

• The business development branches had been working as separate entities which resulted in duplication of work and little communication about complimentary initiatives.
•  There was no central place to log, plan and/or store communication efforts with clients and prospects.
• There were multiple data entry points for the same information, including systems that did not communicate and multiple spreadsheets used for reporting purposes.
•  There was no universal access to marketing materials and forms.

The business development staff did not know where a specific proposal was in the proposal creation process.  This loose process resulted in lost time trying to track down specific proposal statuses.

To address these issues, the firm asked us to assist in deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.  The solution was designed with all offices using the same CRM database yet each office was only able to see information for their own business unit.  This provided the security to keep all office communications and sales proposals separated, but allowed roll-up sales reporting for the corporate office.  Through a custom workflow, the business development team was now able to manage all proposal requests, know the individual status of any individual proposal, and was able to report to management with a sales opportunity pipeline.

Marketing initiatives are now also managed in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.  Individual marketing programs were set up as Microsoft Dynamics CRM marketing campaigns and all direct communication is now tracked to a contact level.  Even better, marketing campaign results are linked directly to individual sales opportunities, which is invaluable information for the marketing team – they now know which marketing campaigns were the most successful.  Our client can now plan, deploy and measure their marketing all in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, which makes life much easier for both the marketing and sales teams.

By The TM Group, a Michigan Gold Certified Microsoft Dynamcis CRM and ERP partner

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This greatly improves and streamlines a number of things.  For example, the document merger within Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 to an Office product like Word creates numerous possibilities:

• With the connection to Exchange Online, documents can be emailed to your customers, perhaps while you are still verbally communicating.
• With the connection to SharePoint Online, creation of documents can be stored in a repository that non-CRM users can immediately access. 
• With the connection into Lync Online, CRM users can target specific CRM contacts for a webinar or whiteboard discussions, then immediately attach a record of it to the specific contact records. 

The benefits of Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online are definitely there, but which type of cloud will work best for your business?

• Public Cloud: a service provider makes resources, such as applications and storage, available to the general public over the Internet.
• Private Cloud: a proprietary network or data center that uses cloud computing technologies, such as virtualization. A private cloud is managed by the organization it serves.

Ultimately, you can get more functionality with Private Cloud services, but you need to determine what your company needs and where it is going. Create a software roadmap for your business, complete with a detailed timeline of where you will be in 5-10 years. This will help you make the decision whether to go public or private. Keep in mind that the public cloud has some restrictions for customization.  The good news is that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online does allow for custom reports, custom workflows, and custom plug-ins .

For more information about how Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online works closely with all of Microsoft’s cloud solutions, please contact Ken Jacobsen at kenj@tmgroupinc.com or call us at 888.482.2864.  We’re happy to share our experiences with guiding clients successfully through the private vs. public cloud debate.

By The TM Group, a Michigan Microsoft Dynamics Partner for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Dynamics NAV and SharePoint.

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