Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Unleashed (Adobe Reader)

by Marc Wolenik, Damian Sinay

Overview

Microsoft® Dynamics CRM 4.0 Unleashed presents start-to-finish guidance for planning, customizing, deploying, integrating, and managing Dynamics CRM in your unique business and technical environment. Authored by two leading Microsoft Dynamics implementers, this book systematically explains how the system works, why it works that way, and how you can leverage it to its fullest advantage.

 

The authors present clear examples, proven best practices, and pitfalls to avoid in using every significant Dynamics CRM capability. The far-reaching coverage ranges from Dynamics CRM’s sales, marketing, and customer service features to its automated workflows; from Outlook and Office integration to reporting and security. The authors offer independent insight into Dynamics CRM’s most powerful new features, from its improved interface to its new mail merge and data migration tools.

 

This book is for every IT professional who intends to work with Dynamics CRM, regardless of their experience with Dynamics or other CRM solutions. The authors provide example-rich, realistic coverage of advanced Dynamics customization, extensibility, and integration: information that is available nowhere else.

 

Detailed information on how to…

• Set up, configure, and maintain all facets of Dynamics CRM in any organization or industry
• Thoroughly understand both the on-premise and hosted versions of Dynamics CRM
• Make the most of Dynamics’ new features, including email, the Outlook client, Internet Facing Deployment (IFD), and relationships
• Manage sales leads, opportunities, accounts, contacts, marketing lists, sales collateral, campaigns, quotes, orders, and invoices
• Improve customer service by integrating schedules, cases, contacts, product/service information, and more
• Build powerful automated workflows that streamline key sales tasks and liberate salespeople for more effective selling
• Efficiently administer and secure any Dynamics CRM implementation
• Drive greater value by integrating Dynamics CRM with Microsoft Office productivity tools
• Customize and extend Dynamics CRM using Visual Studio, .NET, and custom plug-ins and add-ons

ON THE WEB:

Download all of this book’s examples and source code at informit.com/title/9780672329708

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780132715225
Publisher:	Pearson Education
Publication date:	04/15/2004
Series:	Unleashed
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	864
File size:	50 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Marc J. Wolenik is founder and CEO of Webfortis, a Northern California consulting company and Microsoft Gold Certified Partner that specializes in solutions built with Dynamics CRM. He has extensive experience with CRM implementation, integration, and migration for companies of all sizes, and is deeply involved in building custom vertical solutions around the Dynamics platform.

 

Damian Sinay is a Webfortis partner. Currently a development manager with senior .NET development responsibilities, he has extensive experience working with all Dynamics CRM technologies. He has participated in Dynamics CRM projects involving extremely complex customizations, integrations, and implementations.

Table of Contents

Introduction    1

1 New Features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM    3

2 Why Businesses Need a CRM System    15

3 The Evolution of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0    23

4 Requirements for CRM 4.0    37

5 Setting Up CRM 4.0    55

6 Data Migration and Conversion    89

7 Common Functions    137

8 Working with Customers    179

9 Working with the Workplace    199

10 Working with Sales    241

11 Working with Marketing    283

12 Working with Service    307

13 Reporting    341

14 Settings and Configuration    375

15 E-mail Configuration    467

16 Configuration and Customization Tools    493

17 Forms Authentication    505

18 Advanced Reporting    523

19 Customizing Entities    549

20 Workflow Development    597

21 Plug-Ins    641

22 Web Services    681

23 ISV Customizations    721

24 Interacting with Custom Web Applications    735

25 Migrating Data from Other Systems to Microsoft Dynamics CRM    759

26 Third-Party Add-On Options    781

27 Other Microsoft Dynamics Products    799

Appendix    807

Index    813

Preface

Introduction

When Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) released Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Version 1.0 in early 2003, it was the start of something big.

Today the MBS division has been renamed to Dynamics and features some of the most robust applications in the Microsoft arsenal.

In addition to CRM, the Dynamics division has acquired a rich set of offerings and now includes Axapta (AX), Great Plains (GP), Navision (NAV), and Solomon (SL), as well as several other business-management and enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions.

Utilizing the unifying force of Microsoft has enabled these previously disparate applications to work together and empower users and organizations of all sizes.

As a result of this consolidation, Microsoft Dynamics CRM has definitely improved, and its current form leaves its predecessors in the dust. With its vastly improved performance, architecture, and multitenancy capabilities, Microsoft Dynamics CRM delivers on the promise from Microsoft to "work the way you do."

Microsoft Dynamics CRM leverages several Microsoft technologies:

• Windows Server/Small Business Server (SBS)

• SQL Server

• SQL Server Reporting Services (SRS)

• Exchange (optionally)

• Internet Information System (IIS)

• Outlook

• Internet Explorer

• .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.0

Therefore, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is not really one application, like Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word. Rather, it is the integration of some or all of these applications into a business solution that delivers a powerful product that is fully customizable, extensible, scalable and simple to use and administer.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM gives users the following options:

• "Use It'

• "Get It"

• "Buy It"

With Use It, Microsoft Dynamics CRM functionality is available through Outlook, Internet Explorer, Mobile, custom portals, and UIs. With Get It, users have the option to use it as a service (Software as a Service SaaS model that delivers functionality to users via a web site) or a dedicated on-site application. With Buy It, users can rent Microsoft Dynamics (via the SaaS model) or purchase it for use on-site.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is available in three options:

• CRM Live

• On Premise

• Partner Hosted

Chapter 3, "The Evolution of CRM 4.0," explains these options in greater detail, but for now, CRM Live is the Microsoft SaaS service; On Premise is when your organization owns Microsoft Dynamics CRM in house; and Partner Hosted is the use of Microsoft Dynamics CRM in the same SaaS model as CRM Live, but with different options (per partner) for security, access, and integrated solutions.

In this book, we show you how to get the most from your CRM system. We will delve into how Microsoft Dynamics CRM works, explain why you should set up certain features, and explore advanced configuration and customization options.

CRM has the potential to change how well you work. Let us show you how.

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