Post Launch Response to MS CRM 2011
There are many who wish that Microsoft takes to its enterprise business with renewed vigour and thus shifts its focus from the consumer market. On the contrary, one finds that a large number of the business centred features and concepts are now consumer oriented rather than keeping them focussed on businesses.
The beta version of MS CRM 2011 was released in the later half of 2010. It has managed to create a stir amongst industry watchers and beta testers. A number of improvements have already been made in this version. These include an updated version of the Microsoft Outlook Client. The addition of Microsoft Office Contextual CRM Ribbon for the sake of Office navigation and heightened user experience, user personalisation and customised design have all contributed to making it more user friendly. Advanced features incorporated into the scheme of things include:
Ensuring Tight Integration with Microsoft Office
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 presents new Office 2010 contextual ribbon for Microsoft Dynamics CRM browser client and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. The latest release allows the CRM to take complete advantage of the native Outlook functionality, conditional formatting and previews. The user can flag the existing CRM records similar to the function in Outlook email.
Brand New Business Intelligence Functionality
The brand new real time dashboards that are available in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 offer great business intelligence functionality. Users can constantly monitor business performance by configuring multiple dashboards. These dashboards can be created for shared or individual use and comprise inline charts along with drill-down intelligence to navigate data.
Improved Configuration Capabilities
Microsoft has introduced several small but significant changes into Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and this makes it easier for business establishments to devise solutions either for their own use or for the use of third parties. Some of the key features include data auditing, custom activities and field level security.
Advanced Personalisation Options for the User
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 allows the user to configure their workspaces to meet the information requirements. Personalisation enables the user to set up a default tab and pane that can display the CRM Online. Users can combine the personalised features with a new dashboard feature for default view.
Sharing and Customisation
It introduces what is otherwise known amongst vendors as ‘solutions’. These are the methods adopted to ensure that they can be shared with others. Users can also generate a solution or import the same from a developer who is not a part of the in-house team.
Cloud Development and Deployment
It also allows the developers to make use of Windows Azure that is necessary for creating and subsequently deploying the code for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. These can be done by using tools like Visual Studio. Developers also make use of the Microsoft.Net Framework to include Windows Communication Foundation, Microsoft Silverlight and .NET Language Integrated Query or LINQ.
Role based Forms and Views
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 presents views and forms based on different user roles. This ensures that the users can access the information that they need faster than ever before.
The new software is meant for both on-premises and cloud-based deployments. Several companies offer their services as a CRM Partner .
Author Bio: Brian Terrace is a business consultant. He has published several articles on the recent launch of MS CRM 2011 and has reviewed the product for prospective users.
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