A thought - the 'xRM Services' for Business Productivity & Collaboration

Microsoft has been very generous in the past few years to enhance functionalities of Windows Servers, i.e.: IIS, Hyper-V, SharePoint Services etc.

I have been thinking for a while and suggested Microsoft the possibility to split the xRM Services from Dynamics CRM; and to make it free, just like the WSS(SharePoint Foundation) and MOSS(SharePoint Server). The xRM Services could be just a 'relational system' base on the entity framework using SQL Express etc.

The major reason for this idea is: Many organisations use the Microsoft Dynamics CRM as a xRM platform, and they are not interested in the classic CRM modules (Sales/Services/Marketing), so they don't want to pay the full license. In my opinion, the "xRM Services" will not only benefit to many organisations, also it will be good for the Dynamics CRM market in long term.

It's just a thought, let's see how it goes.

Happy New Year 2011!

Dynamics CRM 2011 beta released today - The Power of Productivity

The Dynamics CRM 2011 beta is released today!

Software Advice: 15 Favourites Microsoft Dynamics CRM Industry Solutions

Lauren Carlson has recently posted a blog about the 15 Favourites Microsoft Dynamics CRM Industry Solutions:

When most industry observers hear customer relationship management (CRM), they think of applications for sales, service and marketing. However, actual CRM software users think of the much more specific functionality required to do business in their industry. For example, sales software used by a pharmaceutical rep to track FDA-related information will vary greatly from that used by a cattle rancher to track their herd. Yes, there’s an app for that.

To meet these unique industry requirements, Microsoft has called on hundreds of partners that resell, customize and implement Microsoft Dynamics CRM. These value-added resellers (VARs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) are extending the core Dynamics CRM applications to meet the unique needs of companies in a range of vertical markets. There are now over 750 certified industry solutions built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The breadth of industry solutions available is impressive – a testament to the scope and sophistication of the Microsoft partner channel.

To demonstrate the specificity of these solutions, we decided to highlight some of our favorite Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner solutions. For easy navigation, we’ve linked each industry to its corresponding solution:

Advertising	Financial Services	Non-Profit
Agriculture	Healthcare	Pharmaceuticals
Automotive	Hospitality/Travel	Public Sector
Construction	Insurance	Real Estate
Distribution	Legal	Retail

Read more: http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/crm/microsoft-dynamics-crm-industry-solutions-our-20-favorites-1082010/#ixzz0xYTF2cHC

Register to receive a notification of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Public Beta

Register to receive a notification of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Public Beta

From Microsoft Website: "As announced at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference on July 12, 2010, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 - formerly codenamed "CRM5" - will be publicly available as a beta release in September 2010 for both online and on-premises deployments.

The Power of Productivity

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 delivers "The Power of Productivity" through familiar, intelligent and connectedexperiences for people inside and outside an organization.

......"

http://crm.dynamics.com/crm2011beta

Download: CRM 4.0 Diagnostics Tool - alternative link

Just in case you find the original link for the CRM 4.0 Diagnostics Tool has been removed, you can download it from here: CrmDiagTool4.zip

Also use the Stunnware CrmTraceLogViewer.zip to analyse a trace file.


KB907490: How to enable tracing in Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Happy Chinese New Year! 2010 - The Year of The Tiger

p.s.: Ancient Chinese believe that the markings on the forehead of tigers resemble the Chinese character for "Wang", or King, which is my family name. ;-)

SharePoint 2010 Beta Learning Path

My first project in the new year is about SharePoint 2010 development - it's new to everyone. Although having experience on SharePoint 2003/2007, the best plan is keep my knowledge up to date, which is the I.T. spirit I like!

First thing first, get myself a 64bit virtualisable laptop computer with 4GB RAM to set up a development environment:

1. Install Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise 64bit version with Hyper-V;

2. Install Hyper-V and Web Server role services;

3. Install SharePoint Foundation 2010 on the Stand Along Installation;

4. Install Office 2010 and SharePoint Designer 2010;

5. Install Visual Studio 2010.

For the performance issue, I choose to install the SharePoint Server 2010 on a Hyper-V image:

6. Create a new image on Hyper-V, install Windows Server 2008 R2 on that image with SQL Server 2008 R2 and SharePoint Server 2010.

So now I have both SharePoint 2010 Foundation and Serve development environment. Next, find some free online training materials.

What I have looked at are (at January 2010):

MSDEV: A First Look at Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010

Microsoft SharePoint 2010: Overview for TDM's
Microsoft SharePoint 2010: Overview for Developers
Microsoft SharePoint 2010: Overview for Implementers
Microsoft SharePoint 2010: Developing with Visual Studio 2010
Microsoft SharePoint 2010: Developing with SharePoint Designer

MSDN: Get Started Developing on SharePoint 2010

Module 1: Getting Started: Building Web Parts in SharePoint 2010
Module 2: What Developers Need to Know About SharePoint 2010
Module 3: Building Blocks for Web Part Development in SharePoint 2010
Module 4: Accessing SharePoint 2010 Data and Objects with Server-Side APIs
Module 5: Accessing SharePoint 2010 Data and Objects with Client-Side APIs
Module 6: Accessing External Data with Business Connectivity Services in SharePoint 2010
Module 7: Developing Business Processes with SharePoint 2010 Workflows
Module 8: Creating Silverlight User Interfaces for SharePoint 2010 Solutions
Module 9: Sandboxed Solutions for Web Parts in SharePoint 2010
Module 10: Creating Dialog Boxes and Ribbon Controls for SharePoint 2010

CHANNEL9: SharePoint 2010 Developer

SharePoint 2010 Developer Roadmap
Visual Studio 2010 Tools for SharePoint 2010
UI Enhancements
Lists and Schemas
LINQ to SharePoint
Client Object Model
Workflow
Services Architecture
Accessing External Data
Enterprise Content Management
Extending Search
PerformancePoint Services
Sandboxed Solutions
SharePoint 2010 Security

Microsoft download:

SharePoint 2010 Beta Developer Training Kit
SharePoint 2010 Reference: Software Development Kit
SharePoint 2010: Professional Developer Evaluation Guide and Walkthroughs
SharePoint 2010: Getting Started with Development on SharePoint 2010 Hands-on Labs in C# and Visual Basic

Online resources:

SharePoint 2010 Forum
SharePoint Developer Center
Microsoft SharePoint Team Blog
Microsoft SharePoint Developer Documentation Team Blog

I think it's enough for me to start working on SharePoint 2010.

Happy New Year!