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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Before we get too excited about what’s coming up in the New Year, we thought it would be nice to look back on all that has happened in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM world in 2009 – it’s certainly been a busy year!

6 January 2009 – Enterprise Search accelerator was released, allowing Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (MOSS) customers to view and search their CRM data directly from Sharepoint

8 February 2009 – Microsoft released update rollup 2 for Dynamics CRM 4.0

2 March 2009 – Microsoft Online Services Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) launched to the UK market, delivering competitively priced communication and collaboration tools (Exchange, Communicator, Sharepoint and LiveMeeting) as a subscription service.

5 March 2009 – The Business Productivity Newsfeed accelerator for CRM 4.0 was released on Codeplex, allowing dashboard reports to be generated to allow users to see at a glance summaries of recent activity in their CRM systems

12 March 2009 – Microsoft released update rollup 3 for Dynamics CRM 4.0

10-13 March 2009 – Microsoft Convergence conference took place in Louisiana, United States. It was reported that the number of CRM users worldwide exceeded 900000, from 18000 organisations

19 March 2009 – Microsoft released Internet Explorer 8

27 April 2009 – Business Productivity Workflow Tools accelerator launched for CRM 4.0, providing additional workflow capabilities around string handling, mathematical functions and HTML hyperlink creation

28 April 2009 – Following successful trials in the UK, Microsoft released the full Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) to UK customers.

7 May 2009 – Microsoft released update rollup 4 for Dynamics CRM 4.0

16 May 2009 – Business Data Auditing accelerator was released, providing basic auditing to allow organisations to see when their CRM records have been created, updated, assigned or deleted.

4 June 2009 – Microsoft and Intel announced that CRM 4.0 had been successfully scaled to over 50000 users with sub-second response times

2 July 2009 – Microsoft released update rollup 5 for Dynamics CRM 4.0

8 July 2009 – Microsoft released Mobile Express for Dynamics CRM 4.0, adding Mobile access to the platform

13 July 2009 – Microsoft announced at Worldwide Partner Conference 2009 that Dynamics CRM had passed the 1 million user mark. New sales and marketing programs for xRM were also announced

August 2009 – Further information began to become available about Microsoft’s eagerly anticipated social networking accelerator to allow data from social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to be analysed and updated from within CRM. Microsoft also published a white paper, “CRM and Social Networking : Engaging the Social Customer” to help businesses to understand how social networking might benefit them

26 August 2009 – Microsoft released update rollup 6 for Dynamics CRM 4.0. Mobile Express was also distributed as part of this update

4 September 2009 – The CRM Business published a new case study highlighting a new solution integrating the new Microsoft Online Services Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) with Dynamics CRM. This innovative solution combined the power of Dynamics CRM with cutting-edge collaboration tools, shared workspaces, mobile functionality, instant messaging and audio/video web conferencing.

8 October 2009 – Microsoft announced several leading global enterprises that had selected Microsoft Dynamics CRM as their solution of choice, including Barclays Bank Plc, Booz Allen Hamilton Inc, the City of London, Hard Rock International Inc, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Polaris Industries Inc and Vodafone Iceland.

13 October 2009 – Portal Integration and Partner Relationship Management (PRM) accelerators for CRM 4.0 became available on Codeplex

19 October 2009 – Social Networking Accelerator for CRM was released allowing Twitter integration – other social networks including Facebook and LinkedIn are to be added in the future.

22 October 2009 – Microsoft launched the new Windows 7 operating system in the UK. By the time that Windows 7 launched, all Microsoft Dynamics products were certified to run on both Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

27 October 2009 – Microsoft announced at Convergence 2009 Europe that CRM Online will be coming to the UK in the second half of 2010

3 November 2009 – Microsoft announced a pricing update for the Business Productivity Online Suite, reducing the full subscription for the standard suite (Exchange Online, Sharepoint Online, Live Meeting and Communicator) from £10.03/month to just £6.71/month per user

5 November 2009 – Microsoft released update rollup 7 for Dynamics CRM 4.0, delivering significant performance improvements for the Outlook CRM client and improving customer experience.

It has certainly been an exciting year! If you know of something which we might have missed from the above listing, please let us know so that we can include it.

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Hosted CRM software

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is available as a SaaS (Software as a Service) product, delivered over the internet as a subscription service.  Customers opting for this solution pay a simple monthly per-user fee for access to the system, and do not have to worry about maintaining servers or performing upgrades as everything is taken care of for them.  A Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4 system is quick to get up and running as there is no hardware to install / configure.  The data stored within the system is secure in an ISO27001 accredited data centre whilst being accessible from practically anywhere with an internet connection.  This hosted subscription-based model is attractive for many businesses as the up-front cost is generally much lower than with more traditional on-premise solutions, and the time needed to get up and running is minimal.

On the downside, Hosted CRM solutions are reliant on having a working internet connection, though the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Outlook Client does also allow for offline data synchronisation to users’ laptops and workstations.

Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 solutions do allow for some customisation, however customers with complex software customisation and development requirements may be better suited to an on-premise deployment to allow full server access.

On-Premise CRM software

Delivered as an On-Premise solution, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 allows the customer complete control.  Companies managing their own CRM solution on their own servers have more options when it comes to customising the software than those using Hosted CRM, and are able to decide themselves whether to apply upgrades.  Some businesses simply prefer their infrastructure to be managed in-house, keeping everything within their control.  It is still possible to allow users to access On-Premise Microsoft Dynamics CRM solutions over the internet if desired.

Installing CRM On-Premise does have a higher up-front cost, as in addition to the CRM licences companies also need to allow for the server hardware purchase, installation and ongoing maintenance as well as the implementation costs.

On-Premise Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementations use Active Directory for user authentication, meaning that users do not need to remember a separate username and password for CRM.

The best of both worlds

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 software is very flexible, and has been designed to change and grow with organisations over time.  Data and customisations can be migrated from a hosted solution to On-Premise and vice-versa as business needs change, eliminating the need to start again from scratch in the future.

So, which is better?

No two businesses are the same, and neither are two CRM systems.  Whether a hosted or on-premise CRM implementation is a better fit for your business depends upon your requirements, company size, existing in-house skills / resources and existing infrastructure.  On-Premise CRM software and Hosted CRM solutions both have their pros and cons – the key is identifying which option is the best fit for your business and your needs.

Contact us to discuss your needs or request a free trial

The CRM Business has a wealth of experience providing both On-Premise and Hosted CRM solutions for clients across all industry sectors, from small businesses with just a handful of users to large organisations with several hundred.  We understand that a successful CRM solution begins with understanding the people and processes involved and then shaping the technology to suit.

If you would like to discuss your requirements please don’t hesitate to contact us.  Alternatively, sign up for your free 30-day hosted CRM trial on our website.

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In summary:

• Sales Performance International (SPI) Solution Selling accelerator is now live.
• Miller Heiman accelerator is due to go live on 30 September 2009.
• Target Account Selling (TAS) accelerator is due to go live on 31 October 2009.
• Social Networking (Twitter) accelerator is now due to go live on 30 September 2009.
• Portal Integration accelerator is due to go live on 30 September 2009.
• Partner Relationship Management (PRM) accelerator is due to go live on 30 September 2009.
• Analytics R3 accelerator will be released on 31 October 2009, providing more advanced BI elements such as predictive analysis and PerformancePoint scorecards.

Full details are provided on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Team Blog.

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