CRM 2011 add-on solution for Finance / Insurance sector?

I have a list of CRM 2011 add-on solutions for Finance / Insurance sector, try to beat the Oracle Financials. See below:

UK based vendors:
http://dynamics-crm.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-gb/applications/uk-and-worldwide-microsoft-dynamics-crm-for-financial-services-12884910408
http://dynamics-crm.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-GB/applications/consultcrm-microsoft-crm-for-financial-services-4294996711

US based vendors:
http://dynamics.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-GB/PartnerDetails.aspx?PartnerId=4295509793&ProductId=4295028573&CurrentTab=1
http://dynamics.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-us/applications/crm-for-financial-services-wealth-entry-edition-4294993420
http://dynamics-crm.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-us/applications/insurance-benefits-brokers-solution-for-microsoft-dynamics-crm-4294971329

Please contact me (jim.wang^csc.com) along with your product introduction if your company base in the UK and has such solutions; or want to sell the product in the UK market.

Thanks!

Customer Portal 2011 - An error has occurred while loading content required for this feature

It's just a quick post here, hopefully to save your time: if you deploy the Customer Portal for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 on a Windows Server 2008 machine or VM, and get this error message when editing the page: "An error has occurred while loading content required for this feature"

Windows Event log doesn't say anything about it, but if you fiddler it, you will find a 404 error related on a Cms.svc endpoint:

Solution:

To solve this issue, firstly make sure you have installed the WCF activation features.

Also you have installed Windows Server 2008 R2 + SP1 , you need to install the Microsoft .NET Framework 4 KB2468871

Thanks MVP Shan McArthur from Adxstudio to point out on his blog:

mSketch: Dynamics CRM 2011 Designer's Tool - Using Microsoft Expression Blend with Sketchflow

I have been asked to test the Magnetism mSketch application - a mockup tool for Microsoft Dynamics CRM using Microsoft Expression Blend with Sketchflow.

That is something I were looking for - to have a "CRM template" on Sketchflow, I'm so pleased to see it - well done Magnetism guys!

Imagine how quickly a CRM designer can draw a CRM screen quickly without doing the CRM form customisations, collect feedbacks from team/customer and get the design signed off quickly:

The designer opens the Microsoft Expression Blend 4 with Sketchflow, create a new Silverlight Sketchflow Application project , then drag-and-drop CRM elements on several screens, publish the design on to SharePoint site for the team/customer review, team/customer write comments/feedbacks directly onto the design, designer make changes accordingly, export the design into Microsoft Word document directly, email customer and get it signed off.

The Microsoft Expression Blend 4 with Sketchflow can do all above except the "CRM elements" - but where to get it? The mSketch helps here!

The current version of mSketch provides a Microsoft Expression project, you need to open the project first and then create your Silverlight Sketchflow Application project, and then copy/paste the CRM elements from 7 screens that comes with mSketch.

Here is the mSketch user guideline.

I hope in the next version, it can provide a installation package. Once installed, create a CRM mockup library in the Assets list of the Microsoft Expression Blend. The CRM mockup library provide the following elements for designers to allow quickly drag-and-drop, i.e.:

• Global Icon Elements

• Top Ribbon Bar Elements

• Left Navigation Panel Elements

• Entity Left Navigation Panel Elements

• Entity Form Elements

• Entity View Elements
• Field Control Elements(textbox, lookup, picklist etc.)

mSketch is a handy tool for CRM designer and architectures.

Moving forward, I also hope the tool can provide more interactive actions with developers, i.e.: perform more CRM Form functions in Sketchflow.

MVP Summit 2011

It's great to meet CRM MVPs in Bellevue, WA last week.
Great thanks to the CRM product group and communities, congratulate to the successful launch of CRM 2011 and CRM 2011 Online!

Great product for the clouding solutions!

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. ;-)