CRM Insights Blog

Update Rollup 11 for CRM 4.0 is Now Available!

Microsoft has released Update Rollup 11 which has many updates and fixes. The build number of the update rollup packages for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 server, for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 client for Microsoft Office Outlook, and for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 E-mail Router is 4.0.7333.2861.

Prerequisites: You must have Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 installed to apply this update rollup. Update Rollup 7 is a prerequisite for Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Data Migration Manager.  For more information about Update Rollup 7, please view the Knowledge Base article 971782: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971782/

Please note: There is always risk in applying updates to existing production systems. It is important to review the improvements and repairs offered in each update rollup and evaluate for yourself whether there is benefit for your organization and weigh it against the risk.

For more information including installation instructions and a complete list of issues that are fixed in Update Rollup 11 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 981328: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981328/

Have questions or comments?  Post them below!

ChatterExchange for Salesforce Chatter!

Salesforce recently introduced Salesforce Chatter -- real-time enterprise collaboration. With the launch of Chatter comes Chatter Exchange -- a world where enterprise apps are as easy to use as Facebook. You can stay on top of what's happening in your company with real-time updates on people, groups, documents, and your application data. Chatter Apps include profiles, status updates, and real-time feeds, which make it easy to stay on top of what’s important to you and collaborate quickly across your organization. All of it fueling smarter-and faster-business decisions.

Top Chatter Apps include:

• ServiceMax Suite - Field Service On Demand: Control, monitor, and track all field service activities to increase service revenue, control costs, and turn post-sales service into a competitive advantage.
• Google Alerts to Chatter: This application requests Google Alerts for your accounts, then turns those Alert emails into posts on that account's chatter feed.
• ChatMetrix + Chatter: ChatMetrix answers the question "What's Hot In My Chatter Network Lately?" with such tools as a tag cloud, a dynamic graph, and a bar chart showing how frequently words are appearing in your Chatter feed.
• FinancialForce Accounting: Sales and Finance collaboration - Chatter integration moves Finance into the heart of the business, to avoid problems and improve customer service.
• Appirio Professional Services Enterprise: Manage your people, customers, projects and transactions with an end-to-end services management application. Chatter-enabled to bring real-time collaboration to your services teams.

To review and demo more Chatter Apps, please visit: http://sites.force.com/appexchange/results?type=Apps&filter=a0L30000002WuiyEAC&sort=6

Have questions or comments?  Post them below!

Microsoft CRM productivity tools

Dynamics CRM may have some neat features in it, but Microsoft clearly leaves room for functional improvement which leave space for enterprising ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) to create what Dynamics CRM users crave. 

Take for instance solutions offered by Stunnware.  Recent offerings from Michael at Stunnware include things like filtered views, filtered lookups and a host of other tools.  The solutions offered from Stunnware include those for consumption by the end user but also many more geared to the developer and administrator of a Dynamics CRM system.  Indulge yourself at Stunnware's website, walk away with some great java script samples and see what else they have that may fill a functionality hole that your organization has been wrestling with.

Creating a salesforce.com domain name using My Domain

Using My Domain, your organization can select a custom Salesforce.com domain name that highlights your brand, or a different term that represents your business. Using a custom domain name provides other important advantages, such as increased security and better support for single sign-on.

Your domain name will use the standard URL format, including:

• The protocol: https://
• The subdomain prefix: your brand or term
• The domain: my.salesforce.com

For example, the login URL for a company called Universal Containers would be: https://universalcontainers.my.salesforce.com/. You can use up to 40 characters.

It's a snap to set up a custom domain name. After you decide on the name or term you want to use, My Domain checks to make sure your subdomain is available. Then it registers the domain name and publishes it to the internet. After a brief period, you'll receive an email to let you know your new domain name is ready for testing. Log in using the new URL and test the URLs for other pages in the application.

Please note: My Domain is currently available through a limited release program. All customers can select and register a domain name, but some customers will be required to wait for permission from salesforce.com before they can roll it out to users.

For questions and more information, please feel free to post below.

Microsoft CRM Tip & Trick: Improving Microsoft CRM's user interface

When building forms in Microsoft CRM one of the simpler ways to improve the user interface is often overlooked:  Section Formatting.  Most people blow right past the Formatting tab on the section creation dialog box.  By selecting the fixed width formatting option, it makes the user interface a little more conducive to fitting data fields into the given space.

 

A hosted integration solution for Microsoft Dynamics CRM

When we started integrating systems with Boomi, the key to our relationship with them was the ability to offer a hosted integration solution that would work with the two CRM applications that we consult on: Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Salesforce CRM. Boomi now offers integration adapters for both Salesforce and Dynamics CRM -- the Dynamics CRM solution being a fairly recent addition to their offering. Their Dynamics CRM adapter works for both the on-premise and on-demand versions offered by Microsoft. They still offer connections to key financial packages like Peachtree, QuickBooks, MAS 90/200/500 and Dynamics GP as well as the larger enterprise systems like Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP.

Salesforce.com is busy assembling the puzzle with Jigsaw

Salesforce has acquired JigSaw. Jigsaw Data Fusion provides automated data hygiene and management with unlimited access to millions of business contacts. And now that Jigsaw is a salesforce.com company, Jigsaw Data Fusion's power to keep your data clean and provide new leads will only get better!

 Jigsaw has a reputation for having the most accurate and complete company data available. This is a perfect fit for most of us. I suspect that there will be a much tighter integration between Salesforce and Jigsaw and possibly some reduction in cost as well.

Here are some comments from Salesforce web site:

• "Salesforce.com is excited to bring the data services industry into the era of Cloud 2," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. "With Jigsaw, we'll make it as easy as Wikipedia to source data, as easy as iTunes to buy data and as easy as Facebook to stay updated as the data changes."

• "Companies are utilizing crowd-sourced data services in the cloud more than ever because it offers the best quality information," said Jim Fowler, CEO, Jigsaw. "This is an exciting opportunity for all of us at Jigsaw, and will help us accelerate our ability to bring cloud-based data services to a wider audience."

With Jigsaw Data Fusion you can:

• Turn previously unusable records into new leads.
• Stay on top of the changes to your business contact data by automatically synchronizing updates to individual or company records.
• Keep your pipeline full with unlimited access to fresh, accurate business leads.

Questions or comments on this acquisition?  Post them below!

Salesforce Mobile Lite is Weightier

Some Salesforce CRM users have discovered this already, but it bears repeating. 

The Spring '09 release made the Mobile Lite version available for all editions. Salesforce has recently upgraded their free version of their mobile offering to include more objects and functionality.  Currently, Mobile Lite users can view, create, edit, and delete accounts, assets, contacts, leads, opportunities, events, tasks, cases, and solutions. They also have access to their dashboards and Salesforce Chatter feeds.  Many of these objects were read-only until recently.  

Setup of this client is exceptionally easy.  Less than 5 minutes of  your administrator's time and about the same per device and the end user is enjoying the freedom that makes the PDA device worth the intrusion into one's personal life. 

Take a couple minutes to view this link for a quick peek at the Salesforce.com mobile client of today.  

In the interest of full disclosure, you would still have to purchase the full version if you are in need of making custom objects available on your team's mobile devices or if you are interested refining or differentiating the mobile interface for one or more users.  Regardless, the free, Mobile Lite version is amazing and adds huge value for the end user who asks the question, "why do I want to use Salesforce?".

Why Salesforce Chatter is a Game Changer

Recently salesforce.com did a follow-up to the Chatter announcement at the last DreamForce. I have to admit that I did not really understand the value of the Chatter product at the time. This is in part due to the fact that I am not a heavy Facebook user. To be honest I never have the time or the interest to spend my free time in front of a computer.

The April event, however, has opened my eyes to the possibilities that this product offers. It truly is a game changer for most of our customers in the way that they use Salesforce. The following is a list of reasons why I believe this to be true.

• A large majority of our customers are Facebook users and are used to social networking. They understand the terminology, it's navigation, and its benefits. Adoption of Chatter will be easy for them.
• In almost every single engagement that I am involved with management is looking for the ability to see what's going on within the enterprise and to be notified of any changes that may be considered mission-critical. They wanted to be quickly streamed in and they also want to be able to opt in or out of discussions that they deem important. Chatter does this like no other product I've ever seen.
• This social networking environment would be available on the desktop and on Salesforce Mobile as well. You will be able to stay in touch regardless of your location.
• Companies are always looking to find one application to bring the whole enterprise in to work collaboratively. Whether you're in sales, customer service, finance, engineering, or any other business unit your ability to be part of this social net will positively affect customer satisfaction, profitability, product or service delivery etc.

If you are interested in learning more about Chatter please feel free to post a comment below.  Now is the time to start planning for the next major shift in the way that you do business -- I do not believe that I'm understating its importance. You will see more about this in my future blogs.

Building a Culture of Accountability

What does the lack of accountability cost your organization?

If you're like most sales managers and leaders today, you've experienced a fair amount of frustration in your attempts to get your people to step up and be accountable.

Harvest Solutions, in conjunction with Next Level, Inc, is hosting a workshop on May 18th  to help you, as a leader, build a culture whereby everyone in the sales organization does his or her part to ensure they hit their numbers, plain and simple.

Come learn how to do a better job of getting your team to be fiercely focused on all that must be done to hold themselves accountable to having a big year!

Join us on Tuesday, May 18th where you'll learn:

• the importance of knowing your people's personal goals
• the definition and implementation of fierce accountability
• why traditional accountability models fail
• how to stamp out excuse-making in your organization

We hope to see you on May 18th - Register today!