CRM News You Can Use February 2011

For people who use and customize Dynamics CRM

Dynamics CRM 2011 Released to Web

1. Improved user experience. Data grids with inline filtering and charts, easier querying of data and an improved Outlook client make for a more productive UI. 
2. Inline visualization describes how charts are integrated with data grids, and combined with one-click drill down it makes your information more discoverable and more actionable. Read about Charts, Views and Data Grids in CRM 2011…
3. Dashboards let you centrally deploy web pages combining charts and other web resources. They support drill down and … Here’s an example of applying dashboards to a particularly interesting custom entity: Web Analytics in Dynamics CRM 2011, Part 1… 
4. Goal management lets you define and manage targets for key indicators; track actual and in-progress attainments against targets. Here’s an Overview of Goal Management, and here’s an article specifically about interpreting the Goal Management Charts in Dynamics CRM 2011… 
5. Web Resources give us new and improved ways of customizing the user experience. They’re ”virtual files”, stored in the CRM database, and can be graphic images, style sheets, HTML pages, XML data…and Re-usable JScript libraries…
6. Dialogs are a new type of business process. In contrast to traditional workflows, dialogs are synchronous and sport a “prompt and response” UI that lets you create guided processes for sales, service, and other scenarios.Here’s a recap of my Extreme CRM 2010 session on What’s New in CRM 2011 Workflows…
7. Customization Improvements. If you customize Dynamics CRM the new version will improve your life in more ways than I really should include in one “reason to upgrade”, but here goes anyway: 7.1: Easier and More Powerful Entity Relationships, 7.2: Global Option Sets, 7.3: In-place Entity Customization and Filtered Lookups…
8. Improved Extensibility for Dynamics CRM Online. With the addition of Web Resources, Plugins and custom SSRS reports to Dynamics CRM Online, the feature-gap between the cloud and on-premise editions continues to narrow, which means you can choose your deployment option for the right reasons, such as not having to configure IFD if you go with Online!  

There’s a lot to like about the new version…and a lot to learn! Fortunately we’ve got some great options for you, described in the sidebar.

Cheers,

Richard Knudson
CRM Practice VP
Magenium Solutions
richard.knudson@magenium.com
http://www.dynamicscrmtrickbag.com/

 
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Options for Learning

We’ve been intensely focused on Dynamics CRM 2011 for months, and have some great new options to get you up to speed on the most important new features:

Beginning in February, my Dynamics CRM Essentials training transitions to a new subscription format: monthly four-hour sessions for business users and customizers, with new topics every month. This is a great way to make learning an ongoing experience, and I encourage you to check out the session topics for the Feb-April sessions and register today!

Solution Workshops




My Dynamics CRM 2011 Solution Workshops are to traditional training what an F16 is to a Sopwith Camel. Three-four day customized sessions for your team, learning CRM 2011 while building your solutions. Get more information here about the best way to ramp up your skills and solutions at the same time.