The CRM Business - BlogSite

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 – The Power of Productivity

BeckyCarr — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 12:03:22 +0000

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 (formerly codenamed CRM 5) is due to release in the near future.

According to announcements made at the Worldwide Partner Conference and on Microsoft’s website the public beta will be available in September 2010.

As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner specialising in Dynamics CRM and Online Services, we are quite excited about the additional functionality which this latest release will deliver.

CRM 2011 will be available to UK customers as both On-premise and Online options. Features will include:

Enhanced Outlook CRM client

Deeper integration with the Microsoft Office suite, specifically the contextual navigation ribbon, promise to further improve user experience.
Role-tailored design, helping to reduce on-screen clutter
Additional personalisation options, allowing users to customise views to meet their needs

Intelligent Reporting

Customisable, real-time dashboards
Enhanced data visualisation
Flexible goal and process management

Improved Connectivity and Customisation

Cloud-ready
Solution management, allowing packaging and distribution of “collections” of customisations and extensions.
CRM Marketplace, allowing customers to find, purchase and deploy packaged solutions.

We expect to share more CRM 2011 and CRM Online information as we approach launch date – add your name to our Dynamics CRM 2011 Online mailing list to be the first to know.

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Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online coming to UK

BeckyCarr — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:29:41 +0000

Microsoft announced at the Worldwide Partner conference on 12 July 2010 that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online public beta will be released in September 2010.

We will be publishing the latest updates on our CRM Online pages. Register now to receive updates from us as more news becomes available.

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Update Rollup 12 released for Microsoft CRM 4.0

BeckyCarr — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 09:01:27 +0000

Microsoft last week released update rollup 12 for Dynamics CRM 4.0, bringing further enhancements and bug fixes for the platform.

In order to remain up to date, we recommend that customers with both on-premise and hosted Microsoft CRM systems apply the CRM rollup updates to their machines periodically. If you are unsure, please contact us to discuss your individual situation.

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New Office for The CRM Business in Sheffield

BeckyCarr — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:56:57 +0000

Please be aware that as of Monday 2nd August 2010 our Sheffield office has moved to the new Electric Works building on Sheffield Digital Campus.

Our new address is:
The CRM Business
Electric Works
Sheffield Digital Campus
Sheffield
S1 2BJ

Our main contact telephone numbers remain unchanged:
Sales – 0870 766 9875
Support – 0870 803 3523

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What is cloud computing, and how can I benefit?

BeckyCarr — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:50:50 +0000

Cloud computing is the concept of internet-based computing.

Cloud computing frees companies from the burden of traditional IT systems, making it much easier for businesses of all sizes to benefit from the latest technologies and applications.

Traditional IT systems usually require significant investment in server infrastructure, software, storage and staff. Cloud applications run in shared data centres, managed and maintained by experts. Cloud software is provided by companies such as Microsoft and can be activated in minutes or hours rather than the lengthy software and hardware purchase, development and testing cycles usually associated with traditional applications.

The idea of storing data and running software in a data centre miles away is not entirely new – users of online mail services such as Hotmail and Gmail have been doing this for years. The difference is that now, industry leaders such as Microsoft and Amazon are investing heavily to build new data centres with the capacity to host many more applications (CRM, business collaboration software, HR applications) than was previously possible. This means that businesses of all sizes can now choose to run their software applications in the cloud, removing the worry of managing and maintaining servers onsite whilst allowing access to the latest software versions.

Alongside the lower costs and shorter setup times associated with cloud computing, businesses can also benefit from much greater flexibility. The cloud’s subscription-based model allows customers to increase capacity or add additional users as required. In the past this simply was not possible – businesses had to decide when purchasing a server, for example, to allow additional capacity for future expansion. With cloud computing this is not necessary; customers pay only for what they use.

Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite

The Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite is a set of Microsoft hosted messaging and collaboration solutions including Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Office Live Meeting, and Microsoft Office Communications Online. These online services are designed to give your business streamlined communication with high availability, comprehensive security, and simplified IT management.

The full suite is available to UK customers with pricing starting from just £6.71/user per month.

To learn more or to get started with a free 30-day BPOS trial visit http://www.thebposbusiness.com

Microsoft Dynamics CRM – hosted

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is highly customisable customer relationship management system which integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Outlook and other business systems, providing valuable insight to aid businesses in nurturing existing client relationships and forging new ones. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is available to UK customers as an online hosted solution from The CRM Business.

Hosted CRM pricing starts at just £37.50/user per month.

To learn more or to get started with a free 30-day Microsoft CRM trial visit http://www.thecrmbusiness.com

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Microsoft Dynamics CRM cited as leader by Forrester Research

BeckyCarr — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:31:21 +0000

Microsoft last week announced that Dynamics CRM has earned recognition as a leader from Forrester Research Inc., a leading independent research firm.

This latest research indicates that customers across organisations of all sizes are again investing to improve customer management capabilities which they have neglected during the last 18 months, and are looking to pick the best CRM solution to help their businesses capitalise on the economic upturn.

Forrester evaluated 19 different CRM systems, and gave Dynamics CRM high marks for ease of use and relatively fast deployment times.

The full press release is available on Microsoft’s website: Microsoft Dynamics CRM cited as a Leader by Independent Research Firm.

UK customers can request a free Microsoft Dynamics CRM trial or demonstration by contacting The CRM Business.

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Update Rollup 11 released for Dynamics CRM 4.0

BeckyCarr — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:21:39 +0000

Microsoft today released update rollup 11 for Dynamics CRM 4.0, bringing further enhancements and bug fixes for the platform.

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Microsoft BPOS – How time flies

BeckyCarr — Mon, 24 May 2010 09:18:49 +0000

How time flies! It has been over a year already since Microsoft BPOS became available to UK customers.

The competitively priced suite of cloud-hosted communication and collaboration tools (comprising Exchange, Sharepoint, Live Meeting and Office Communicator) has proved a hit with customers, allowing subscription-based access to the latest Microsoft technologies without the usual infrastructure and maintenance worries.

We have been involved with BPOS since early in the beta testing for the UK, and are proud to work with a steadily increasing customer base integrating BPOS with Dynamics CRM to deliver big benefits and tangible savings. As businesses look to reduce costs, 2010 looks to be an exciting year for Microsoft BPOS. Subscriptions to the full suite start from just £6.71/user per month.

Visit our BPOS Business site to learn more about Microsoft BPOS or to sign up for your 30-day free trial.

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Is Microsoft CRM 4.0 Outlook add-in compatible with Office 2010?

BeckyCarr — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:38:21 +0000

With today’s business launch of Microsoft Office 2010, existing Microsoft CRM users may well be wondering whether the CRM Outlook add-in will work with Office 2010 if they decide to upgrade.

In short, the answer to this is “yes”. We have been testing Office 2010 beta internally at The CRM Business for the past few months with Dynamics CRM 4.0 and the latest rollups installed, and have been very pleased with the results.

Existing Microsoft CRM users upgrading to Office 2010 should be aware that they will need to use the 32-bit version of Office 2010. Microsoft Office 2010 64-bit versions will not be supported in Dynamics CRM 4.0.

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Customer Portal Accelerator released for Microsoft Dynamics CRM

BeckyCarr — Mon, 10 May 2010 10:28:16 +0000

A new Customer Portal accelerator has just been released for Dynamics CRM 4.0 systems, combining all of the functionality previously released in the eService, Event Management and Portal Integration accelerators with powerful new Content Management capabilities.

This exciting new functionality for Microsoft CRM works with all deployment models (currently on-premise and partner hosted in the UK) and can be turned on or off to meet customer requirements.

Customers can choose to deploy their portal either in the cloud with Windows Azure, or on their own existing web servers.

Please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss how this latest functionality could be added to your existing Microsoft CRM systems.

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