Sept 12, 2011 – Like most people, I don’t generally like taking tests. But like some people, sometimes I really like taking tests. For me, the fun tests are the ones where you know the subject matter well, the questions are reasonably well-written, and are about important concepts. I put the Dynamics CRM 2011 Customization and Configuration exam (#MB2-866) in this category. Here’s a quick prep-guide. Enjoy!

July 20, 2011 – Security roles are an (obviously!) important part of the security model in Dynamics CRM. This article explains security roles, how they fit into the overall security model, and covers some of the trickier concepts and most frequent questions I get on the topic.

7/11/11 – The CRM 2011 core certification exams are out, and this article will become my repository for information about them. Starting with the basics, here are links to the Microsoft exam pages, a little commentary, and some related content.

This topic accounts for about 20% of the total score on the Dynamics CRM 2011 Customization and Configuration exam. Overall, users, teams, business units and security are significantly different in CRM 2011 compared to 4.0. Some of the issues highlighted here have come up a couple of times recently on customer engagements I’ve been working [...]

May 8, 2011 – When it comes to customizing Dynamics CRM, I get more questions about many-to-many relationships than almost any other topic. This article is my attempt to summarize the three main approaches you can use to create “N:N” relationships in Dynamics CRM 2011, and to provide guidance on when to use them.

The terms “customizing” and “extending” are code-words for “getting Dynamics CRM to do more stuff than it does out of the box”. They’re actually pretty well-defined concepts, however, and here’s my attempt at summarizing the concepts and clarifying what we mean by extending Dynamics CRM.

May 23, 2010 – Dynamics CRM 4.0 is a great platform for building custom apps, and if you’re interested in learning how to do that, I’ve got some good options for you. Here’s a short summary.

Dec. 3, 2009: Announcing the Dynamics CRM Essentials series: training so good you’ll forget how efficient it is!

I’ve posted articles previously on the Dynamics CRM 4.0 Applications exam, and the Customization and Configuration exam, and it was recently pointed out to me that I’d never posted one on the Installation and
Deployment exam.
Sorry! I didn’t mean to disrespect this exam (even though I didn’t like it as much as the Customization and Configuration [...]

It’s been a while since I posted an “all-up CRM 4 training and certification” article, so without further ado, here it is, starting with the core skills areas:
Applications

Course: Applications in Dynamics CRM 4.0
Link to MS course page: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/syllabi/8913b.aspx
Certification exam: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exams/dynamics/632.mspx
Editorial comments:  The Applications class is quite good (if you get a good instructor!), but it [...]