Introduction, “Mobile CRM” Backgrounder

At the August meeting of the Dynamics CRM User Group (www.DynamicsCRMUserGroup.com ) we held our second session on Mobility Solutions for Dynamics CRM. Microsoft’s Bob Piskule presented on the Microsoft product, Mobile Express; and Ben Mitchell presented on TenDigits’ flagship product, Mobile Access.

Here’s the introduction I gave, with some background on why “mobile CRM” matters, and of course a gracious introduction to our awesome presenters:

Bob Piskule on Microsoft’s Mobile Express

The redoubtable Bob Piskule of Microsoft (bob.piskule@microsoft.com ) gave a nice presentation and demo on Microsoft’s product, Mobile Express. This is an entirely server-based free add-on to the Dynamics CRM 4.0 on-premise product. As you will see if you compare it to TenDigits’ product, it’s got a lot of the features that characterize these “all server, thin client” approaches to mobile CRM:

• It’s inexpensive (free, in fact)
• Easy to deploy (all you need is a browser)
• Does not leverage any mobile device-specific functionality (browser only!)
• Somewhat limited, baseline feature set

Here’s a link to Bob’s presentation: Bob Piskule on Microsoft Mobile Express for Dynamics CRM 4.0.

Ben Mitchell on TenDigits’ Mobile Access

The TenDigits product (www.TenDigits.com ) is, in my opinion, the most impressive mobile solution we’ve seen in our DCRMUG CRM Mobile So-Hot Summer series. It’s really at the opposite end of the spectrum from Mobile Express and the SoftBridge Bridge2CRM product:

• It’s a “rich client” solution, meaning you need to install code on and download data to the mobile device; definitely not a browser-only solution.
• It costs more.
• It exploits native functionality of the various mobile devices it runs on.
• It has a lot more functionality.

So while there’s a price to pay for all the functionality, it will probably be a good tradeoff for people who spend a lot of time interacting in one way or another with CRM data via their mobile device.

To paraphrase Bob Piskule, for users needing infrequent or “casual” access to mobile CRM, the thin client approach will probably be fine. But if you depend on mobile CRM day in and out, the rich client approach will be the way to go.

I have not used Mobile Access yet, so I can’t provide a thorough review. [For me, iPhone support is a hard requirement, and TenDigits isn't quite there yet...] But until I can, here are two of my favorite Mobile Access features:

• They’ve built a custom workflow action, so you can build a standard CRM 4.0 workflow that sends what they refer to as a “Smart Actionable Alert” to a user with a mobile device. In the example Ben showed, the mobile user would get a popup notification on the BlackBerry, with configurable alert text and a link to the “regarding” CRM record (like an account record that had just been placed on credit hold).
• They tap into the native functionality of the mobile device to make “doing CRM” a more natural extension of the mobile experience. So rather than having to explicitly navigate to CRM on the mobile client, you just send an email or make a phone call, the way you normally would. Then, an extra option shows up on the mobile device menu, allowing you essentially to attach the activity to a “regarding” record in CRM.

I want Mobile Access! (But not enough to give up my iPhone!)

Here’s the link to Ben’s presentation on MobileAccess from TenDigits.