Microsoft Dynamics CRM UK Reseller: MSCRM 3.0

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Developer Center

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:30:09 GMT

The Dynamics CRM Sandbox I blogged about below is no more!

There is a new Developer Center for CRM at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/dynamics/crm and hopefully the examples I posted on the Sandbox will be available on the GotDotNet User Samples site http://www.gotdotnet.com/community/usersamples/

More on this on the Microsoft CRM Team Blog

Microsoft Partner of the Year

Mon, 28 May 2007 18:14:50 GMT

One of the things missed when I stopped blogging was our winning a Worldwide Partner of the Year award for 2006. We won the Small Business Specialist category for Technical Innovation for our CRM implementation on Small Business Server at Britsafe Security.

We also won one of the of the best in show awards from CRN.

Whilst we didn't generate lots of new business directly from the awards I has helped us in terms of demonstrating our competency in Microsoft CRM and it helped raise our profile within Microsoft.

I was a more than a little disappointed in our local news media who didn't want to know unless we paid for advertising....

Neglect

Mon, 28 May 2007 18:01:23 GMT

One of the reasons I started this blog was to give people an idea as to the sort of work I do and to hopefully share some of things I have learnt. Good examples of this was the problems found installing CRM 3.0 on SBS and how the SBS community worked out the solution.

As well as having our own CRM customers, Vigence assists other Microsoft partners in implementing CRM for their customers eiither taking on whole projects or providing specialist skills such as in SDK programming, workflow and callouts. We also provide specialist skills to Microsoft Consulting Services on large Enterprise projects.

The reason we do this work with parners is partly because it gives us exposure to projects and customers we as a niche specialist would not nornally be engaged in e.g., Commerce Server and CRM integration, andpartly because we want CRM to be successful. We work with a number of Dynamics AX partners, a couple of large Systems Integrators as well as Microsoft "classic" parners.

The downside of this is that I generally cannot talk or blog about the customers or the projects and I had to stop blogging for a while because of the nature of one project and got out of the habit. So I will be blogging more frequently now and hope to impart some of the things I have learnt.

Postcode Address Lookup Sample

Thu, 24 May 2007 15:42:30 GMT

I have posted a sample solution which integrates Microsoft CRM with Postcode Anywhere for address lookup based on postcode at the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM Sandbox on Codeplex http://www.codeplex.com/crm

This solution shows how you can call web services using Javascript from a CRM form.

Sharepoint Integration Approaches

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 07:16:31 GMT

Sharepoint is one of those things that is under appreciated for its capabilities and usefulness. Sharepoint is:

an intranet site
an extranet site
a document store
a team working site
a replacement for shared drives
a central point to access all systems
managing business processes
what we use to manage CRM projects
many other things - see Applications for Sharepoint

There are several different ways Sharepoint and Microsoft CRM can interact including:

Using a Sharepoint page as a Dashboard replacement for the CRM Homepage
Using a Sharepoint Document Library for holding CRM documents
Creating a Sharepoint Sub Site for each CRM record
Displaying CRM data in Sharepoint Lists
Displaying CRM Reports in Sharepoint using SQL Reporting Services web parts
Displaying Microsoft CRM data in custom Sharepoint web parts
Use Microsoft Office web parts to display Microsoft CRM data in Sharepoint
Use Business Scorecard Manager to create KPIs on CRM data and display in Sharepoint

We are seeing a great deal of interest in SharePoint alongside CRM 3.0 and thus knowing and understanding SharePoint and its SDK are another skill set required by a CRM Developer. I will be blogging more on SharePoint integration going deeper into the methods listed above.

Laptops for CRM 3.0 Development and Demos

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 19:33:40 GMT

Following my post on using Virtual PC for CRM 3.0 Development we are refreshing our laptops to the following spec:

Core Duo processor
2Gb RAM
160Gb+ Hard Drive
Widescreen display as least 1400 x 1050 resolution
DVD writer

We have had a look around and these are the contenders:

Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi
Sony Vaio FE11S
Dell Inspiron 9400
Asus A6Ja

Anyone else have any suggestions?

Working with Microsoft CRM 3.0 Book

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 19:28:49 GMT

I finally received my copy of the new Working with Microsoft CRM 3.0 book by Sonoma Partners.

I haven't had chance to read any of it yet but from an initial flick through it is aimed squarely at the technical implementer and covers in depth the areas in CRM 3.0 you would need to get your CRM system up and running.

This is more of a how to rather than why book and is definitely not for the end user. A full review to follow.

Developing solutions for CRM 3.0

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 17:46:29 GMT

With CRM 1.2 we used the SDK extensively to develop add-ons to either add functionality (e.g. linking multiple contacts to a case) or to reduce the number of clicks (generate quotes as a PDF email attachment). We also made extensive use of Post-Callouts. All this took lots of time, effort and cost. To a certain extent much of this effort went on filling in the gaps in CRM 1.2 which customers did not, I think, appreciate. Combined with other product issues (the Outlook client being a major one) we found much of our early effort focused on technical issues and not helping the customer make the most of CRM as much as we would have liked. I would like to think we overcame this and our later CRM 1.2 projects were very successful.

For CRM 1.2 we used Visual Studio .NET 2003 on our laptops with the Microsoft.CRM.Platform.Proxy.dll and Microsoft.CRM.Platform.Types.dll copied into the bin directory and added to the project. This was simple and we could develop solutions for many different customers at the same time. We have a bank of servers with multiple environments loaded onto the hard disks and we switched between them as required.

CRM 3.0's ability to create new entities and relationships will reduce the amount of SDK code we have to write in some areas significantly especially in add-on ASP.NET applications. The added functionality in Workflow around dates again reduces or eliminates code we had to write in 1.2 in posturl and post-callouts. However, we are finding more being done in OnLoad and OnSave events in Javascript and also the use of new entities reduces the level of code required. There are now many more points at which customisations can be made and it is key to decide the approach, or combination of techniques, to be applied to each problem. The outcome is that the skill requirements of a CRM developer have changed and it is much more complex now than under 1.2.

A major question when developing for CRM 3.0 is whether to use .NET 1.1 or .NET 2.0. To a certain extent CRM 3.0 forces our hand as both .NET Assemblies for Workflow and Pre/Post-Callouts must use .NET 1.1 but anything else can use .NET 2.0. We have standardised on .NET 1.1 and Visual Studio .NET 2003. The only exception is when deep Office integration is required and Visual Studio Tools for Office is needed in which case the added functionality of Visual Studio .NET 2005 will be used.

With CRM 3.0's move to the use of web services we can now check code at compile time instead of run time. However, we must be connected to the CRM server to do this and thus this can be complicated when trying to work at home or in the office away from the customer's system, so much so it becomes impractical.

We have therefore switched to using Virtual PC creating an image containing the CRM server and a development environment so we can work on different customers more easily both for demos and development. Using Virtual PC has come in very useful recently when developing Sharepoint integration - I was able to easily switch between Sharepoint Services and Sharepoint Portal Server on different images running alongside the CRM image on the same machine so I could fully test the solution.

To save time in the future I am building a standard image including:

Windows 2003 SP1
AD and DNS
SQL 2000 Standard
Sharepoint Services
Visual Studio .NET 2003
SQL Reporting Services
SQL Reporting Services Addin for Visual Studio
CRM 3.0 Server
CRM 3.0 SDK

I am also building a standard client PC image containing:

XP SP2
Outlook 2003
Word 2003
Excel 2003
CRM 3.0 Thin Client

I have gone for a separate Outlook client PC for development and testing rather than install Outlook on the server to reduce the server footprint when doing the main development. However for demos it can be useful to have everything on one image e.g:

Windows 2003 SP1
AD and DNS
SQL 2000 Standard
SQL Reporting Services
CRM 3.0 Server
Outlook 2003
Word 2003
Excel 2003
CRM 3.0 Thin Client

To install the Outlook client on the CRM server I am indebted to Simon Hutson who has described the steps required.

I have bought one of these to hold the many virtual images as they take up so much disk space!

Update: Ben Vollmer's tips on speeding up Virtual PC for Microsoft CRM

Microsoft CRM 3.0 Default Values Wizard

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 17:44:24 GMT

The latest update for Microsoft CRM 3.0 is on Microsoft Downloads

Microsoft CRM 3.0 includes improved handling of Boolean and picklist (drop-down list) fields. In Microsoft CRM 1.2, when a Boolean or picklist field value in the database was a null value, the system-wide default for the field was displayed in the user interface. In Microsoft CRM 3.0, the displayed value will reflect the value that is actually in the database.

If you have used bulk import, data migration, workflow, or custom software to add data to Microsoft CRM 1.2 you might have null values in your database for Boolean and picklist fields. This tool will make sure that these fields display as before

CRM 3.0 Launch Today

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 00:38:08 GMT

Today, 6th December, is the official launch of Microsoft CRM 3.0 so expect to see lots of press articles and commentaries over the next week or so.

Microsoft CRM 3.0 Desktop Client Using Terminal Server

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 00:30:53 GMT

Microsoft have released a deployment package that helps install and configure the desktop CRM 3.0 client in a Windows 2003 Terminal Services environment. See Microsoft Downloads for details.

Upgrading from CRM 1.2 Standard

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 11:23:25 GMT

Customers who have CRM 1.2 Standard editions of either Sales, Service or Suite will get the full functionality of 3.0 in either Professional or SBE editions (see below) when they upgrade.

Microsoft had been circumspect as to what standard users would have in 3.0 saying "customers who have CRM 1.2 Standard will receive equal or better rights to the next release of Microsoft CRM". The upshot is that they get much improved rights. The downside is that if the customer wants to add licences they are going to have to pay a lot more than they did before.

CRM 3.0 Editions and Upgrade Options

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 11:01:47 GMT

Microsoft CRM 3.0 is available in two editions:

Professional
Small Business Edition

The differences between the two versions are:

the Small Business Edition (SBE) is only available for Small Business Server 2003 Premium
the SBE version is limited to 75 users
the external connector is only available with the Professional version
the SBE version integrates with the SBS server console, fax service and health monitor
the SBE version includes a wizard to help you get an initial configuration
the SBE version includes data migration from Microsoft Office Business Contact Manager

If you want to install CRM 3.0 on anything other than the SBS server you need the professional version even if your domain server is SBS.

If you have 1.2 now (and have software assurance) you may have the choice to upgrade to either the Professional or SBE versions depending under which license option the 1.2 licenses were bought:

Select and Enterprise customers will be provided with 3.0 Professional and will receive new CDs with their subscription kit
Open, Open Value and FPP customers have the choice of either Professional or SBE
Customers who purchased under the SBS offers for 1.2 will be provided with SBE

My opinion is that unless you are on SBS and plan to remain with SBS for at least a couple of years you should opt for the Professional version. If you are on SBS and want to move CRM onto a different server then you need the Professional version. I am doing this for one customer right now and will be posting on the experiences later.

If you choose SBE and later need to move to professional there is a (chargeable) upgrade but this upgrade is only available under certain licensing options. Contact your reseller for more details.

Customers who have bought CRM 1.2 under Open Licensing will need to order new 3.0 CDs from their reseller to get their 3.0 license and registration key - the 3.0 license keys are included with the CDs. There is a nominal charge for the CD media ~ £20-30 but in addition your reseller will be required to perform some admin work to obtain the license and may charge for this. I checked with UK distributors and the earliest they will have the media is 19th December so customers will not be able to upgrade until at least then.

CRM 3.0 Pricing

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 10:34:38 GMT

The pricing for Microsoft CRM 3.0 has been released. There are lots of different pricing options following the different Microsoft licensing options e.g. FPP, OEM, Open, Open Value, Select etc.

We mostly sell Microsoft CRM under Open Business/Open Volume which comes with 2 years Software Assurance. We generally sold Sales Professional or Customer Service Professional with the odd Sales Standard in 1.2. In 3.0 there is no such Sales/Service or Standard/Professional split in licenses. So customers will get all functionality even if they do not require it.

Comparing 1.2 prices last month for Sales pro with 3.0 pricing this month for the single SKU in Open Licensing, the price per user has risen by around 18-25% depending on the number of licenses bought

The biggest rise is in the server module which comes in around double the 1.2 price for a single server module. This boosts the effective price per user when looking at small number of users. I have just re-quoted for a 6 user Sales system; in November this was just under £5,000 but now costs £6,000 i.e., around £1,000 per user.

Therefore there has been a significant price rise. Customers get a lot more for their money with extra functionality and access to Customer Service and Marketing which they would not have had before but for many customers this is a big rise. I think we will have to wait and see the effect.

The good news is that the Small Business Edition for Small Business Server remains attractively priced. The server module has risen by about £50 but the user license has actually fallen by a few pounds. A 6 user system on SBS in under half the cost of the non SBS version.

If you are a partner and want to know more about the CRM 3.0 Pricing there is information at https://partner.microsoft.com/global/productssolutions/business/40023291

Updated 3.0 Help Update

Sat, 03 Dec 2005 11:05:46 GMT

There is an update to the Microsoft CRM 3.0 Online Help at Microsoft Downloads

Implementation Guide Update

Sat, 03 Dec 2005 11:04:31 GMT

There is an updated version of the Implementation Guide available on Microsoft Downloads

SDK 3.0 Published

Sat, 03 Dec 2005 11:02:57 GMT

Microsoft have published an updated version of the SDK on Microsoft Downloads

CRM SBE on SBS 2003 SP1 Update

Wed, 23 Nov 2005 04:03:39 GMT

Further to my post earlier this week about problems with CRM 3.0 on SBS 2003 with Service Pack 1 there is still not a definitive answer but it appears the solution has a number of parts:

Disable the lookback check as described in KB896861 and reboot
Add the CRM website (I normally use http://crm) to the Allowed sites for Popups in IE on the server. In Internet Explorer, Select Tools menu and select Pop-up Blocker and click on Pop-up Blocker Settings. Enter the CRM website URL and click on Add then Close.
Add the CRM website to either the Intranet Zone or Trusted Sites on the server. In Internet Explorer, Select Tools menu and select Internet Options. Click on Security Tab. Highlight Trusted Sites and click on Sites button. Enter the CRM website URL and click on Add and then Close
If you create a website for CRM make sure Scripts are enabled
In IIS, in the default website make sure all IP addresses/computers are granted access - the default is to restrict to just the server's own IP Addresses
If you have installed ISA 2004, in IIS on the default website remove the binding to 127.0.0.1 and set IP Addresses to All Unassigned.
Make sure the SSL certificate URL is correctly configured and you can access this URL with https:// from your server
Use Network Service as the user to run CRM processes when installing

CRM 3.0 Partner Benefits

Mon, 21 Nov 2005 11:47:56 GMT

Microsoft Partners are being provided with the following CRM 3.0 Licenses

Gold Certified - 100 Internal use users licences
Certified - 25 Internal use users licences
MBS Competency - additional 25 Internal use users licences
MSDN Subscriber Downloads - 10 internal development and testing user licences
Registered Partners with Action Pack - 10 Internal use users licences for SBE edition

This is an increase on the licences provided for CRM 1.2 and should encourage more partners to make use of CRM 3.0

First CRM 3.0 Customer Install

Sun, 20 Nov 2005 23:43:28 GMT

I installed CRM 3.0 on a customer's system on Friday. This was a brand new installation on a relatively new server so went pretty smoothly apart from a problem with the SSL certificate which wasn't correctly configured. I had pre-configured the system ready for 3.0 with a new website and crm admin and mail users and all fixes and service packs so I was fairly confident it would go OK. One thing that caught me out is the new reboot at the end of the installation.

The first CRM 3.0 upgrade we will be doing is on our own CRM system hopefully next week.

CRM SBE on SBS2003 SP1 Problems

Sun, 20 Nov 2005 23:33:54 GMT

Many people are having problems installing CRM 3.0 on SBS2003 with SP1. This was first reported at the UK Small Business Specialist Community forum put has been picked up by the SBS Diva and others.

Partner CRM Keys Incorrect

Sun, 20 Nov 2005 23:29:16 GMT

For Microsoft partners: The keys for CRM shipped with the November certified partner mailer are invalid and new keys will be incluced in the December shipment along with CRM media

Microsoft CRM 3.0 RTM Available on MSDN

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 13:18:49 GMT

Spotted by Ronald Lemmen Microsoft CRM 3.0 is available on MSDN Subscriber Downloads so certified partners and customers with MSDN Universal can download the RTM ISO images.

Interestingly there are two sets of ISO images:

Professional Editions
Small Business Edition

From what I could see the Early Access programme Professional and SBE edition disks were identical so will be having a look to see if there are any differences

Microsoft CRM 3.0 is Complete

Wed, 02 Nov 2005 11:43:55 GMT

News from various sources (now including Microsoft) is that Microsoft CRM 3.0 was released to manufacture (which means existing customers will be able to upgrade very soon) yesterday and that it will be generally available to new customers from 1st December.

This has not been publicised as there is no software to download yet so don't start asking your MS reps and resellers for a week or so.

Ronald Lemmen has some more news

But how could Microsoft go from beta to RTM in a week? Brad Wilson (GM, Microsoft CRM Business) answers:

Last week we announced the third drop of our Early Access program for Microsoft CRM 3.0. We released our TAP2 build in July, our TAP3 build in early October on our field readiness tour, and our RC2 build last week. This last pre-release drop was picked up by the press as our “beta”, despite the fact that it wasn’t a “beta” in the traditional sense.
We’ve now received the great news that our development team has over-delivered on their commitments by shipping CRM 3.0 early. We simply need to ensure that people understand what our Early Access program was about, and to stress the fact that we’re giving the people what they want (a production-ready version of CRM 3.0) sooner

Microsoft CRM 3.0 Still on Track

Fri, 28 Oct 2005 12:44:09 GMT

After some scaremongering from Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft have insisted that CRM is on track to RTM within 60 days. More at Microsoft Watch.

Microsoft CRM 3.0 Beta Released

Wed, 26 Oct 2005 23:31:28 GMT

Finally the wait is almost over and MSCRM 3.0 Beta has been released and after a 3 hour download I finally have it ready to install.

This is not a public beta but is available to Microsoft partners at all levels: Registered, Certified and Gold to enable learning and familiarisation and is being called an Early Access Program (EAP). Partners can demo the beta to customers but it must not be installed on a customer sites.

Other restrictions:

English Only
A Beta installation cannot be upgraded to the released code. Customisations can be exported from the beta installation and imported into a released installation but data cannot so do not use the Beta for your production system

More details at http://www.mscrmearlyaccess.com/

We have been involved through Alpha and TAP releases for what has been almost a year and at last we can talk about it freely. I will be posting more on 3.0 soon.

Update: The http://www.mscrmearlyaccess.com/ site has not been updated with the Beta download. If you have access to the TAP release you can download the Beta from http://beta.microsoft.com.

Update: The http://www.mscrmearlyaccess.com/ site has now been updated and you can download the beta software plus lots of resources to help you get started

Microsoft CRM 3.0 Beta

Mon, 24 Oct 2005 23:49:07 GMT

Where is it?

Microsoft CRM 3.0 Implementation Guide

Sun, 23 Oct 2005 12:56:46 GMT

As well as the SDK for 3.0, Microsoft have released the 3.0 Implementation Guide

What's New in Microsoft CRM 3.0

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 09:19:05 GMT

Thanks to Sonoma Partners spotting that in the CRM 3.0 SDK is a list of new features and capabilities of CRM 3.0.

Marketing Automation

Marketing list management
Campaign templates
Campaign management

Service Management

Service scheduling engine
Global appointment book for resource and workforce planning

User Interface

Faster data input with fewer clicks, in-line notes, attachments, and the save and new command
Faster data access (roll-up, quick find, advanced find)
Data cleanliness (merge)
Richer activity model (activity management)
Intuitive unified toolbar across all grids

Integration with Microsoft Office

Seamless integration, full functionality in Outlook
IBF to surface CRM data and actions in Office
Reporting through Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Access

Integration with Microsoft Outlook

The premier Microsoft CRM client for sales, service, and marketing
New online only multi-user Outlook client
Support for custom entities
Control over which data can go offline and which data is synchronized
Faster page load
Faster synchronization

Reporting

SQL Reporting Services Report Engine
Filtered database views for other reporting tools
Strong Microsoft Office integration and analysis

"No Fail" setup

Environmental Diagnostics Wizard for validation
Repair and rollback support
Group policy support for desktops using Microsoft CRM Sales for Outlook
Ability to create new report servers or connect to existing ones

Small Business deployments

"Name and Key" installation - the rest is automated
Optimized for Windows Small Business Server 2003

IT improvements

Leverage Active Directory for authentication only
New Exchange architecture for e-mail tracking and routing
Enhanced application security
Fault tolerance support for Microsoft CRM, e-mail, and database servers

Customization tools

Customize activities
Customize, rename, add, and delete new entities
Add and delete new attributes
Increased capacity for new attributes
Customize cascading behavior for operations
Customize relationships and mappings
Workflow for business process automation

Application extensibility

Extend the application UI – Navigation, toolbar, grid actions in a single configuration file for both Web and Outlook clients
Outlook menu extensions
Transactional callouts on mid-tier for business logic
Write client side code for enhanced usability
Call Web services from workflow for cross-system support

New SDK

New Web service architecture based on service-oriented architecture (SOA) and WSDL standards
APIs to support ISVs such as import, export, and publish APIs

Microsoft CRM 3.0 Preliminary SDK Released

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 09:04:13 GMT

Microsoft have released a preliminary version of the SDK for CRM 3.0 for developers, system customizers and report writers.

The SDK includes:

Server Programming Guide – A guide for developers writing server side code, custom business logic, integration modules, workflow assemblies and more. This guide provides an architectural overview of Microsoft CRM, the entity model, security model, Web services, and sample code.
Client Programming Guide – A guide for developers customizing the Web client or the Microsoft CRM client for Outlook, including scripting, integration of custom Web pages, and sample code.
Report Writers Guide - A guide for developers writing reports for Microsoft CRM using Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services Report Designer.

Download it here

Why Buy Microsoft CRM 1.2?

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 18:10:39 GMT

With Microsoft CRM 3.0 coming out soon and having loads of new features and be easier to user and easier to install with better integration in Outlook why should anyone buy Microsoft CRM now? Why not wait?

Well first of all Microsoft are offering a couple of incentives:

Buy one and get three free: Any customer that purchases any module of CRM 1.2 Professional today gets full-suite rights to the next release of Microsoft CRM i.e. buy a sales pro module today and get Sales, Service, Service Scheduling and Marketing in 3.0.
Existing customers with 1.2 will be able to upgrade when CRM 3.0 is Released to Manufacturing (RTM) which is due around end October/early November. Customers waiting for 3.0 will have to wait until General Availability (GA) which is likely to be January 2006.

Secondly, if there are good business reasons for needing CRM then doing nothing for a few months could be costing you money and lost opportunities.

Thirdly, upgrading from 1.2 to 3.0 is straightforward. See my earlier post which shows how much effort Microsoft is putting into the upgrade process.

Fourthly, we find that many organisations take a couple of months to get used to CRM and roll it out across the company. Most customers take a while to start exploring the capabilities of CRM and thus will not need th extra capabilities for a couple of months and thus can start now with 1.2.

We are advising companies to look at pilot on 1.2 now and rollout with 3.0. For some customers we are buying 1.2 now and are working with them to implement on 3.0

Microsoft have a whitepaper on why you should invest in CRM today which you can download here.

Microsoft CRM Flash Demo and Upgrade Video

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 15:46:05 GMT

Available to partners only is a flash demo to download and also a 'cute' CRM upgrade video

See here for more details

Microsoft 3.0 Data Sheet

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 15:33:19 GMT

Microsoft are starting to provide more information on 3.0 with a data sheet (View or Download)

Microsoft CRM 3.0 Screenshots

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 14:57:44 GMT

Sonoma Partners spotted that the upgrade white papers, see my previous post, include screenshots of the CRM 3.0 User Interface. Although we have access to the pre-release software we are not allowed, under NDA, to share anything with you about the new version but as Microsoft have published these I see no reason why they should not be more widely disseminated.

Screen Shots at Sonoma Partners Blog

Upgrading to Microsoft CRM 3.0

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 14:44:06 GMT

Microsoft have started feeding out information on upgrading CRM to the new version 3.0 due out later this year.

Upgrade 3.0 Best Practices White Paper (Word)

Upgrading Supported Microsoft CRM 1.2 Environments to Microsoft CRM 3.0

Upgrade Scenarios for Unsupported Microsoft CRM 1.2 Environments (Word)

Upgrading Unsupported Microsoft CRM 1.2 Environments to Microsoft CRM 3.0

Microsoft CRM 3.0 Upgrade Advisor

The Microsoft CRM 3.0 Upgrade Advisor is a diagnostic tool that you can use to determine if your Microsoft CRM 1.2 installation can be upgraded to Microsoft CRM 3.0

CRM 3.0

Thu, 14 Jul 2005 10:30:28 GMT

Sonoma Partners have share some thoughts on Microsoft CRM 3.0 here from the Microsoft Partner Conference last week. There was massive interest in 3.0 and the new features and UI were well received.

Two Recorded Webcasts About CRM 3 Features

Thu, 14 Jul 2005 10:09:20 GMT

From ICU MSCRM

These are very in-depth and information-packed webcasts from TechEd 2005 in June.

Overview of Changes

SDK and Integration

Microsoft CRM 3.0

Wed, 13 Jul 2005 12:38:08 GMT

Microsoft has finally named the next version of Microsoft CRM to be released later this year as 3.0.

First some history. Microsoft CRM 1.0 was released in early 2003 in the US only. v1.1 was due for release in summer 2003 primarily for International English customers. The 1.1 release was cancelled and instead 16 language versions were added and the Outlook client revamped and released as version 1.2 in January 2004. There was a feature pack update around August 2004 that could have been a new point version given the additional functionality provided with the mobile client, Integration with MS Office and other tools.

Late in 2004 we were part of the Alpha program for v2.0 of CRM 2005 as it was then known. The feedback from the Alpha testing was mixed in that it added lots of new functionality which we could see as being of benefit to our customers but there were still niggles around Workflow and the Outlook issues, such as working under Terminal Services, had not been addressed. Microsoft took this on board and given that another release to fix these would be around 18 months away took the decision to resolve these issues for the next release. I blogged about this at the time.

Since then Microsoft have made a lot of improvements and added further functionality so that I think they can justifiably call this version 3.0 since there was a version 2 and this new release has a lot of differences. I am sure there will be lots of comments about the version number jump but having been through all the versions to date I don't have an issue with missing out a public 2.0 release.

The Microsoft Press Release has more details