HUH?!?!?

In trying to find a solution to a particularly irksome programming issue, I decided to download and check out the Silverlight SDK to see what might be. As part of the process I was asked to install the “Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0”…sure why not. However imagine my surprise when in the menu of applications I can install through this gizmo, appeared Sugar CRM!!

I realize Microsoft is a huge company and it is not always possible for everyone to know everything everyone else is doing, but should a Microsoft install program REALLY give users the option to install a competitor to one of its fastest growing products?!?! What’s next, an option to install Linux???

XRM Solution 1 - Staffing

Hello all:

I have been developing vertical solution accelerators on top of Dynamics CRM for years, and now this has an actual name in “XRM”. In the next series of articles I will be posting about Vertical Accelerators I have developed either alone or jointly. These accelerators can greatly aid a CRM deployment as they give us a head-start on deployment and can cut down on the overall configurations/customizations required for the project. Please contact us at john@straumanngroup.com if you would like more information on one of our accelerators.

In the next few weeks I will be posting articles on XRM for:

Staffing
Call Center
Financial Services
Insurance
Manufacturing
Municipals
Professional Services

This first post is for the Staffing/ Human Resources vertical, allowing a user to track candidates, job orders, resumes, etc.

I posted a “click-through” demo on my LiveDrive which shows some of the solution,

http://cid-c986ac6b4918eaed.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/XRM

and if you would like more information please contact us at john@straumanngroup.com.

Cheers.

John.

XRM: Sports Team Management

I help coach an Under-18 rugby team, and one of our challenges is compiling lists of players who are available for games. So I have started developing an XRM solution to help with this process. Eventually this is something that could be used by any amateur sports team to manage players, communications, etc. Here is a screen of the portal WIP…

CRM News Headlines

Hi all:

A customer recently asked about having a scrolling news headline display in CRM, so I mocked this up...

Dynamics CRM Record Locking

Hi all:

Another little project I have been hacking at, the ability to have a record "lock" when it is opened to avoid save collisions. So...

User A opens a record

User B opens the same record, it is "locked"...fields are read-only, buttons and action menu removed. Note that we could still create activities and all the functions on the Nav Bar, but hey this is a POC! :)

User A closes the record

User B can now edit

As long as user A has the record open, it will stay locked.

Outlook Utilities

Hi all:

I've also been working on some utilities for Outlook and CRM to enable enhanced usability of CRM functions from within Outlook.

The first screen shows a panel displaying CRM contacts when creating a new Outlook message, and mail recipients can be added to the "To" box by simply clicking a name.



The next screen shows the user receiving an email, and they can right-click and choose "Show CRM Contact" and the contact screen from CRM will load. This saves leaving the email, going to Sales, Clicking contacts, etc.

Dynamics CRM Dashboards

Hi all:

I've been working on creating some easily deployable dashbaords for Dynamics CRM, and here are some of the early WIPs...

Please feel free to contact me if you would like information on including my dashboards in your CRM deployment. john@straumanngroup.com

Dynamics CRM on the MAC

Since my wife INSISTS on using Macintosh computers, I have been developing an interface to Dynamics CRM that works on OS X.

It has been coming along so if you need to access Dynamics CRM from Apple machines please feel free to contact me! mailto:john@straumanngroup.%3Cremove%3E.com Please ntoe I am getting a lot of responses so I will get back to you ASAP.

Also note that I am also in progress for a version that works on the iPhone.

CRM on Windows 7

Hi all:


Of course I *had* to install Windows 7 Beta, and then I *had* to try to install CRM on it:

The install was very smooth...

***DISCLAIMER*** This post does NOT mean that CRM on Windows 7 is supported by Microsoft!!! Windows 7 is in Beta! Test this at your own risk.

Live Earth Views = a Forest of Billboards

Hi all:
The other day I was playing with Live Earth and it occurred to me that all those building tops are potential billboards. I thought it would be cool to start a company offering services to create rooftop advertising displays, but the logistics could be quite challenging.

So then I thought what about just using code to insert advertising images on the building tops in the images.

For example, this view shows the Microsoft Canada Head Office in Mississauga.



The next View shows the building, but with the Microsoft logo superimposed on the rooftop…

Hmmmm.

I am a PC

To MAC lovers everywhere I have asked "If they wanted to do a commerical to show Mac users are cool, then why did they not pick a cool guy to be in the commerical??" IMO the MAC guy is a geek and doesn't make me think of Macs as cool machines.

My wife has a MAC G5 and a PowerBook, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that her machines are also no more reliable, no faster, no more resistant to crashes, etc., than an average PC.

Now the Windows team is calling on you to join the "I am a PC" campaign...

http://imapc.lifewithoutwalls.com/

IAMAPC...

Setting up a “mirror” of a production environment for dev/testing

I recently needed to set up a “mirror” of a production system for use in development and testing. I had worked with the Redeployment tool in CRM v3 and I was interested to see how v4 worked. I was very happy when the v4 tool was *very* easy to use, and here are the steps I followed.

1. Used SQL 2005 to do a backup of the CRM v4 production databases
2. Using the VPC image distributed by Microsoft, I copied the .bak file to the VPC. I then did a restore of the database files to the VPC SQL instance. For some reason the SQL GUI did not work, so I used the following command (Names changed):
restore database OrgName_MSCRM from disk='C:\Temp\OrgName_MSCRM.bak' WITH MOVE 'OrgName_MSCRM' TO 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\ OrgName _MSCRM.mdf', MOVE ' OrgName _MSCRM_log' TO 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\ OrgName _MSCRM_log.LDF'

3. Once the DB was successfully restored on the VPC image, I fired up the CRM Deployment Manager, right-clicked on the “Organizations” item, and selected “Import Organization”
4. The next step asked me to specify the SQL server, and as soon as I did that the deployment manager found the organization I wanted to import
5. The next screen asked me for a name and a display name
6. Next input was the report server URL
7. The next steps involved the mapping of users. There are several options for this tep, I chose to simply “Manually Map Users”, and the only user I mapped was the Administrator which was mapped to the Litwareinc Administrator on the VPC. I got a warning that “All users are not mapped. Do you wish to continue?” and just clicked “Yes”
8. The next screen was simply the tasks verification screen, so I clicked “Next” and then on the next screen “Import”
9. And that was it! It took a bit of time and at the end I am able to access the org via http://moss:5555/orgname/loader.aspx

You can see the screens here but please note names are hidden:

http://www.mscrmguy.com/redeploy/redeploy.html

GM OnStar

Continuing the OnStar story, my wife got set up with GM and received this report via email. Click here for a full size shot!

This service rocks.

GM and OnStar take customer service to a new level

As a lifelong GM fan, I have observed the company’s recent struggles with sadness. Lately GM has been making some very good cars, but unfortunately public perception is that imports are better.
We recently were in the new car market as our Explorer is getting on 10 years old. We were looking for a car with decent people space, but with today’s gas prices we were leery of a full sized SUV. In the end we decided on a GM CUV - crossover utility vehicle- and in addition to being the car we liked best, we also got the absolute best service from that particular GM dealer. “Leggat Pontiac, Buick, GMC”.
So after buying the car and getting started with GMs interactive service, OnStar, I wonder why GM does not put a lot more energy into promoting this fantastic service.

The other day we were in Niagara Falls taking the girls to MarineLand, and we wanted to find a Starbucks. Our navigation system can find things like that, as can most navigation systems today, but OnStar took it one step further. Without ever taking my hands off the wheel I called OnStar and asked about the nearest Starbucks. The OnStar representative not only found it in about 2 seconds, she then said “Would you like me to guide you turn-by-turn, or should I send the directions to your car?” We asked to have the direction sent and presto! The directions came through on our cars navigation system.

OnStar also functions as a cell phone from the car, they can unlock the doors automatically if the keys are locked inside, they can run diagnostics remotely, and the car can even automatically call for help in the event of an accident.

In today’s competitive market, a service like this that is heads and shoulders above anything any other manufacturer offers is a serious advantage. GM, get the word out!

MVP For Dynamics CRM

Hello all:



I am very happy to annouce that I have been selected as a CRM MVP for FY 2009.

CRM Gadget for Vista

I have finally gotten around to updating the Vista gadget for Dynamics CRM v4. You can get the new files here: http://thestraumanns.mine.nu/accounts_gadget.zip

Just copy all the files into the accounts.gadget directory, and then in both accountsv4.html and contactsv4.html, make the following changes:

StraumannGroup must change to your org name
straumannsrvr2:5555 must change to your CRM server name and port (2 places)

and that should be it.


The original article is here:

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/gadgets/DynamicsCRMGadget.aspx

Cheap case = hard upgrades!

Cheap Case = Hard Upgrade

Here’s a tip from my system builder days. I recently upgraded my workstation and made the mistake of getting a cheap case. My thinking was “Well it just sits under my desk, so who cares what it looks like??” BIG MISTAKE! I just tried to put in a new hard drive since VPCs eat up space, and what a gong show!
In order to get the new drive into the cheap case, I had to remove:
The other 2 hard drives
All the RAM chips
The Motherboard power supply cable
The IDE cables to the CD drives
The video card
The USB extension card

So what should have taken 30 seconds ended up taking me over a half hour. And of course the scary part of removing everything, is wondering whether I it all back correctly!

So, if upgrading and buying a new case, don’t judge a case by it’s cover! You might not care what it looks like but ALWAYS asks the folks in the shop about expandability and the ease of changing components.

Visual C++ Runtime Error

Visual C++ RunTime Error I did an upgrade from v3->v4 the other day and all seemed well until one of the clients encountered this error:

Ouch.

A little digging revealed that there is a HotFix that would possibly fix this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948045/EN-US/

and that fixed the issue.

Install Dynamics CRM 4 on SBS 2003 R2

Installing CRM v4 on SBS 2003 R2 with SQL 2005 Workgroup Edition

If you need to install on SBS 2003 R2 beware this error:

"Setup requires that cumulative update package 2 for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 be installed on this computer. This update is required when you install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Server on Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Workgroup Edition."

This update package is only obtainable from support via a web request. They actually responded to my request very quickly, but be aware of this and if needed request the HotFix in advance to be prepared!

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941450

Microsoft Dynamics Community

There is a nice new site for Dynamics here:

http://www.cashinwithdynamics.com/

If you decide to sign up, please enter my user name, jstraumann, as your referral code!