Microsoft Dynamics AX-GP-NAV-CRM: Trends & International Recommendations

Microsoft Dynamics project - or formerly referred as Project Green should unify and modulate all Microsoft Business Solutions ERP applications: Microsoft Great Plains/Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Navision (former Attain) Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft (Navision) Axapta/Microsoft Dynamics AX. The challenge of unification probably will result in quality change for the unified interface, such as Web/Business portal/Microsoft Outlook & MS Office integration, Deployment of new technologies, such as Microsoft Sharepoint with workflow automation. Plus the development platform for Microsoft Dynamics products should shift from proprietary tools, such as Microsoft Dexterity, C/SIDE, MorphX (no confirmation for Axapta yet - but we guess it should follow) to C# and VB.Net with VisualStudio. In this small article we will try to orient IT managers in Microsoft Business Solutions MRP products selection for international and regional markets.

o Microsoft Dynamics GP. The regional markets for Great Plains 9.0 and following Microsoft Dynamics GP 10.0 version will narrow: United States, United Kingdom, Canada: both English and French speaking, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other English speaking countries in Asia, Africa and Worldwide, plus Spanish Speaking Latin America. Microsoft Dynamics GP 10 will not be available for Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland - the last version localized for these European countries will be 9.0 - June 2006

o Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Currently Navision has very good presence in Europe, including East Europe: Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovakia. Microsoft also localized Navision for new markets, where it just moved in: Brazil for example - it was interesting development in Brazil - first Microsoft probed Solomon, then Microsoft Great Plains 7.5 and in 2004 replaced it with localized Navision

o Microsoft Dynamics AX. Microsoft Axapta, opposite to Navision or Great Plains where market shares are gained/divided and competition is based on renovations and product improvements, Axapta has great potential yet to be deployed, coming from its modern and very futuristic system design and architecture. Being targeted to upper mid-market and corporate clients Axapta shows very good progress on emerging markets: in Russia for example the number of Axapta installation is similar and comparable with the number of Navision installations. Plus, in 2005 large number of Microsoft Business Solutions gold certified partners rushed into Axapta consulting arena - this is seen in the USA, UK, Australia and continental Europe. In Brazil currently MBS in local Portuguese Axapta launching mode - localized for Brazilian tax code

o Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Is planned as front CRM solution for the majority of Microsoft Dynamics ERP system: integration with Microsoft Dynamics GP is available for GP 7.5, 8.0, 9.0 and CRM 1.2 and 3.0, Microsoft Navision - through third party integrations, Axapta integration is planned. Microsoft has Microsoft CRM as worldwide product, so you should not have any doubts regarding your regional market.

o Competition. Oracle is on the way with Oracle Fusion project, aiming on Oracle Financials/Applications/E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, JDEdwards and potentially Siebel integration. SAP with the purchase of new mid and small market ERP: SAP Business One and Mendocino - for SAP R/3 is catching up

Please do not hesitate to call or email us: USA 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918 help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com [http://www.greatplains.com.mx] [http://www.enterlogix.com.br] ) - Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta MS CRM, Oracle Financials and IBM Lotus Domino Partner, serving corporate customers in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Healthcare, Distribution & Logistics, Hospitality, Banking & Finance, Wholesale & Retail, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Placement & Recruiting, Advertising & Publishing, Textile, Pharmaceutical, Non-Profit, Beverages, Conglomerates, Apparels, Durables, Manufacturing and having locations in multiple states and internationally. We are serving USA Nationwide: CA, IL, NY, FL, AZ, CO, TX, WI, WA, MI, MA, MO, LA, NM, MN, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Diego, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Minneapolis, Washington, Baltimore, New Orleans, Austin, Kansas City.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Implementation - Leveraging MS Office & Outlook User Experience

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, as well as Microsoft CRM 1.2 has so-called MS Outlook client snap-ins. Also it uses MSDE installed on local machine (usually meaning laptop of the traveling MS CRM user) to store replicated MS CRM data for using it offline. It is probably true statement for each MRP, ERP or CRM system implementation, that it is not an easy process, part of the complexity and challenge comes from the need for users to get used and accommodate themselves to new user interface of the system, being implemented. In this small article we will show the ways how Microsoft decides this problem.

o Microsoft Outlook users experience. This would not be a big paradox to say that "normal" office computer user spends a lot of her/his time working in Microsoft Outlook: sending/receiving/reading/replying emails, working with calendar: appointments, to-dos, etc. And spending so much time working with MS Outlook, user can now intuitively accept new snap-ins.

o Intuitive User Interface. It is probably not winning by being overall intuitive, but considering huge number of Outlook users and their familiarity with the interface - the idea to capitalize on the user skills comes natural. Looking back to 1999, when beta versions of MS CRM were in the popularization mode among Microsoft partners, the idea of having Outlook client for MS CRM was not met with applauding, but now we are slowly realizing the envision and foundation strategy. So, the idea is - save on user training (or even nullify user training cost) - users will naturally understand how to use Microsoft Dynamics CRM Outlook client interface.

o SAP & Microsoft Office. SAP has a project with Microsoft, where Microsoft is bridging mySAP & R/3 with Microsoft Office. As Microsoft Project Green (or current name is Microsoft Dynamics NAV, AX, GP, CRM, SL) the integration with Microsoft middleware, meaning MS Office, including Sharepoint, SQL Server and other technologies nowadays attributed to MS Windows platform, other leading ERP vendors realized the game rules. Microsoft CRM is obviously ahead of competition in this direction, being among the first Microsoft applications, staking on MS Office integration.

o Competition with SAP Business One. There are analytical prognoses, pointing out to the fact that such brightly designed applications as SAP Business One could be losing the ground if the owning software vendor doesn't invest into the background technologies. The situation is kind of funny, because Microsoft holds the majority of the market of these technologies, and SAP Business One needs to be a friend to Microsoft to integrate with MS Office platform.

o CRM Market of the Future. On the wave of CRM vendors acquisitions and consolidation we could expect asymmetric answer from Microsoft competitors, where the market might be dramatically taken over (or retaken back from Microsoft CRM successes)

You can always have us help you with the implementation & customization. Call us: 1-866-528-0577 , 1-630-961-5918.

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies (http://www.albaspectrum.com) ? Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta MS CRM, Oracle Financials, SAP Business One and IBM Lotus Domino Partner, serving corporate customers in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Healthcare, Distribution & Logistics, Hospitality, Banking & Finance, Wholesale & Retail, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Placement & Recruiting, Advertising & Publishing, Textile, Pharmaceutical, Non-Profit, Beverages, Conglomerates, Apparels, Durables, Manufacturing and having locations in multiple states and internationally.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM, GP, NAV, AX: Project Green - Preliminary Review

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta, Solomon and CRM are strategically renamed into Microsoft Dynamics GP. NAV, AX, SL, CRM respectively. We had huge number of calls from current and potential customers who needed to know the answers on a set of very obvious and logical questions. In this small article we'll try to communicate our opinion and what we know from Microsoft channel. As an example we will be focusing on Microsoft Dynamics GP and CRM.

o Versioning. You should not expect version nullification (or coming back to version 1.0). All the products will be released with their expected versions: Great Plains 9.0, Microsoft CRM 3.0, etc. So - you should not expect revolution - it will be evolution as it should be.

o Pricing. This is more delicate questions, and we need to wait a bit with Microsoft to confirm the price schema for the Microsoft Dynamics products. As we know Microsoft SQL Server Standard and Enterprise price list will increase in average 25% in December with the release of MS SQL Server 2005. So if you plan to optimize the cost - you should purchase MS SQL 2000 or if you have it - be sure that you have (or purchase) software insurance - in this case you will have upgrade to MS SQL 2005 and you should do it before December.

o Customization. The paradigm shift is toward Microsoft Business Portal, especially for Great Plains and Solomon, where you will see employee self service functionality, plus Fixed Assets (GP). Also BP is Microsoft Sharepoint application and so it is ready for your developers (compare to IBM Lotus Notes Domono - now you can go ahead with Workflow and document approval cycle design). Also applications will be exposed to XML web services - GP through eConnect or Object Integration manager

o Upgrade. Great Plains is strong in its upgrade path. You should expect Microsoft Great Plains Utilities to do upgrade - we will confirm the versions path in the future releases. Microsoft CRM 1.2 will have direct upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0

Pease do not hesitate to call us: 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, help@albaspectrum.com

Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer at Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ) - Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, Navision, Axapta MS CRM, Oracle Financials and IBM Lotus Domino Partner, serving corporate customers in the following industries: Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Healthcare, Distribution & Logistics, Hospitality, Banking & Finance, Wholesale & Retail, Chemicals, Oil & Gas, Placement & Recruiting, Advertising & Publishing, Textile, Pharmaceutical, Non-Profit, Beverages, Conglomerates, Apparels, Durables, Manufacturing and having locations in multiple states and internationally. We are serving USA Nationwide: CA, IL, NY, FL, AZ, CO, TX, WI, WA, MI, MA, MO, LA, NM, MN, Europe: Germany, France, Belgium, Poland, Russia, Middle East (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, OAE, Bahrain), Asia: China, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, South & Central America: Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Chili, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico

Getting Your Personnel Started With Microsoft Dynamics CRM For Outlook

Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Office Outlook is an add-in that is installed on a desktop or laptop computer. CRM for Outlook brings Dynamics CRM into the every-day Outlook experience by displaying the CRM areas as sub-folders in the Outlook mail folders. With a few exceptions, all of the same functionality is available, including set-up and configuration features.

One of the biggest advantages is that, after the add-in is installed, Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook can send and receive CRM e-mail from Outlook, which simplifies your organization's e-mail setup for CRM. With one click, Outlook e-mail messages can be tracked in Microsoft Dynamics CRM and linked to customer records.

To get your personnel started you'll need to do the following task:

1. Set up user records to manage e-mail with Outlook.

Your personnel then have two tasks to complete:

1. Install Dynamics CRM for Outlook on their computers.

2. Set up their personal options to allow Outlook to send e-mail on their behalf.

o In the Navigation Pane, click Settings, click Administration, and then click Users.

o Double-click a user record. The User form appears.

o Under E-mail Access Configuration, select MCRM for Outlook. E-mail is sent and received with Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

o Click Save and Close.

After you set up your personnel to use Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook, you need to inform them that they need to install Dynamics CRM for Outlook. If your organization uses workflow or mail merge, to send mail automatically on behalf of users, each person needs to set the personal option to allow Outlook to send e-mail with the personnel's name as the sender.

As a suggestion, create an e-mail template with the boilerplate. You can send direct e-mail to new users, which they will receive in Outlook. Step-by-step procedures on how to create e-mail templates and send direct e-mail are in the Help. You will need to provide your company URL [yourcompanyURL] for CRM in the e-mail message.

GT Kimberly is an ardent follower of IT Software News. He is a regular reader of news happenings of Big Companies like Microsoft, Google etc..

Microsoft Dynamic CRM Makes Customer Relationship Management a Snap!

Every business which depends on customers depends on successful customer relationship management (CRM). Tracking leads, orders, sales and projecting this data in a meaningful way to facilitate business decision-making is why Microsoft developed its MS CRM application. At root, CRM is a matter of three basic operations: locating and developing relationships with new customers; keeping those customers happy; and enhancing these customer relationships so as to make your business more profitable. Finding new customers is one thing but it's quite another thing to cultivate customer loyalty by anticipating the customer's individual needs and providing them in a timely manner.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM was designed to centralize customer correspondence and information; to make that information instantly available to the members of your staff who need it, when they need it; and to identify overarching trends and opportunities to make business decision-making easier and more profitable. Microsoft Dynamics CRM can help businesses of all sizes, in no matter what industry, to build more productive and fruitful relationships with its current customers and to identify and create relationships with new customers. Microsoft includes all of the best CRM practices in its various features and modules, with all of the familiarity, flexibility, and functionality for which Microsoft is renowned. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is easily adapted to the methods which your business already uses; it maximizes the effectiveness of what you are already doing, and provides new avenues and capabilities beyond what you could have possibility achieved without it.

There are five basic module components which enable the MS Dynamics CRM application to address the customer relationship management needs of your unique business: CRM for sales enhances the productivity and output of your sales representatives, CRM for marketing transforms raw data into the knowledge which optimizes your marketing strategy and profitability, CRM for customer service enables your staff to keep on top of customer needs, and to build long-term customer relationships, CRM analytics facilitates better business decision-making by collecting and analyzing sales and marketing data and CRM workflow assists in automating repetitive but necessary administrative tasks to streamline the business process.

No matter whether your business has only a few employees, or many thousand scattered throughout the world, Microsoft Dynamic CRM will give you a competitive edge. There are different editions and possible deployment options which can be tailored to your individual needs and resources. In fact, individual customization is what MS Dynamics CRM is all about. Smaller businesses have found that Software as a Service providers can be an invaluable, and cost-effective, way to establish and implement a CRM plan designed just or them.

Since customer feedback is the key to Microsoft Dynamic CRM effectiveness, every new MS Dynamics CRM application release includes new MS CRM application enhancements and features. Check it out today - how can you do business without it?

Get Connected With Microsoft Dynamics CRM

There are many different customer relationship management software options but none quite as superior or affordable as Microsoft CRM and you can choose between a locally installed program or you can get connected and have Microsoft do the hosting.

Microsoft CRM Connected provides you with all of the benefits of the stand alone software. Of course each method has their pros and cons. The biggest problem with hosted software is an ongoing expense month after month that never goes away.

Locally hosted has a larger cash outlay in the beginning but then it's over with and you have minimum costs associated with it. It really comes down to which method fits your budget the best.

There is no question that the hosted CRM Connection solution gets you up and running faster and easier but then again you have no control over your software or your data which is stored somewhere else. Connecting to the host can be a perfect solution for smaller businesses that don't have an IT department but want the benefits of a sophisticated reliable and flexible CRM package.

Each year more and more businesses decide to turn to ASP or Application Service Providers for their IT infrastructure and to host their applications and never has there been such an excellent CRM choice then with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. It's great that Microsoft offers choice to their customers depending on individual company needs. The new connected version changes the dynamics completely.

You can access Microsoft CRM Connected from any web connection and you can integrate your Microsoft Outlook on your local server with your Microsoft CRM connected. It's easy to set up, and you can customize it to your personal needs. It's very flexible and you can also add Microsoft Business Solutions Financials to your integrated system. In fact there are also some third party applications that can be integrated. Add as many users as you like.

Whether your business runs 9 to 5 or is open 24/7 you have secure access to your online Microsoft CRM anytime, anywhere. And with your CRM software sitting on the web you don't have to concern yourself with installing software, managing it, or upgrading it. Then again remember nothings for free and if you are going to be paying for the service of hosting. The simple pricing scheme can be easier on your pocket book initially but then you'll pay forever.

Sure software is a big investment for any company and packages as complex, complete, and integrated as Microsoft CRM can be a bit hard on the budget - between hardware, software, and training the pocket book can become taxed to the limit. But - and this is a big BUT because this is an investment that you can write off and you don't have an ongoing monthly expense.

Choosing the web based software may reduce your costs and training is just a matter of end user. Just open up, log in, and get to work and it doesn't matter where you access it from. So whether you have one business location or locations around the world you will stay connected. On the other hand you will not really understand your software nor will you be in complete control of your software or data.

I know what you're thinking - "If I outsource my stuff to Microsoft Dynamics CRM I don't have to worry about a implementation." Well sure but then again a good stand alone system leaves you as secure as a hosted site. Stuff can happen whether on a hosted site or stand alone and the key is to have a good backup system in place.

So really you can see where each has it's pros and cons. Should you get connected with Microsoft Dynamics CRM . or should you go stand alone. It really depends on your business and your budget. What's for sure is that when you invest in Microsoft Dynamics CRM you never have to worry again about your customer relationship software.

Sayed, is the lead CRM Analyst. His company provides, Dynamics CRM. Sayed can be reached at Tel : (905) 815- 1995 ext 22, email: aSayed@cqsolutions.com.

MB2-631 - Benefits of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Customization and Configuration Exam

Microsoft is one of the reputed vendors in the information technology background and the certifications offered from Microsoft are accepted worldwide and has its international value. Candidates in both IT as well as non- IT background are willing to study these certification courses in order to have their careers to be in a right path as well as in successful path. This certification can be said as the most technical and complex in nature among all Microsoft certifications. So, it requires maximum training to the candidates to practice for this exam for successfully passing.

Exam topic outline/ objectives:

For all examinations, objectives/ exam topic outlines play an important role for the candidates to practice for the examination. The following are the MB2-631 exam objectives and they are:

1) Configuration deployment

2) Forms and customizing views

3) Entities and customizing attributes

4) Relationship and customize mapping

5) Maintenance of organization

Examination consists of 50 multiple choice questions and no adaptive or case study type questions. Exam includes questions from all sections and candidates should concentrate on all sections because marks are calculated from each section. Minimum mark should be scored in each section in order to pass the MB2-631 exam.

Benefits of MB2-631 exam:

The benefits of MB2-631 exam are as follows. They are:

1) Candidates who hold this certification are capable of dealing with several aspects as well as problems in the networks

2) Candidates can also able to perform with various aspects such deploying, controlling and troubleshooting the branch network in any organization (maybe for a standard level organization).

3) If any network problems persist in a company, then professionals who have their MB2-631 certification can solve these problems. Thus, all companies are hiring to take care the networking operations in an organizations because big multinational companies should always be in touch for giving updates and the work should not postponed because of network issues. From this, it is guaranteed that the candidates can get placed in any company after certifying with this certification.

As Microsoft is a reputed organization, the certificates from Microsoft have international value and also it is accepted worldwide. So, candidates can use this certification in any part of the world for searching jobs.

Author recommends SelfTestEngine as Exam preparation Tool developed by ExamsExpert for Certification Exam Preparation like MB2-631 and MB2-631 exam. Visit to download free trial now!