Photo post confusion

Sorry folks, there was a mix up and some family pics were posted to the wrong blog.  My apologies. 

 

Regards, Jon Petrucelli

 

CRM Showing Stronger Growth Than ERP, says Microsoft Senior Executive

BY News Editor

PUBLISHED: December 1, 2007

Microsoft credits strong growth in CRM for putting MS Business Solutions over the $1 billion mark in fiscal 2007.

As for ERP, well, the silence following all the kudos for CRM may well have spoken volumes.

According to Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division, speaking at a recent session with securities analysts, the accomplishment was "fueled by greater than 50 per cent growth with Dynamics CRM. In fact, we sold more than 85,000 seats of Dynamics CRM in the last quarter."

He congratulated his division by repeating the number: "85,000. That's about the same as SalesForce.com."

The boost in CRM sales means, "We have 11,000 customers and 475,000 people using on-premise Dynamics CRM. This fall, we're launching Dynamics Live CRM, a new software as a service offering, it runs in Microsoft data centers, can also be hosted by our partners. It's offered in a subscription form."

Dynamics CRM "can handle multiple business models simultaneously…to give customers choice in terms of deployment." And it can be hosted by partners.

Rakes didn't say as much about ERP, which suggests it's not showing as much promise as CRM. He simply noted, "We're bringing updated versions of our ERP products, Dynamics AX and NAV to market."

Looking ahead, he said "We're going to continue to see strong growth in our Microsoft Business Solutins business, both ERP and CRM."

For the full text of his presentation, see: http://www.microsoft.com/msft/speech/FY07/RaikesFAM2007.mspx

Regards, Jon Petrucelli

Dynamics CRM 4.0 Mobile Interface pending update to the v3.0 Mobile Express/Thin-Client.

Many of our clients have been asking about the pending release and roadmap for the Mobility client and the GP connector.  We are being told that the mobility client is being worked on and will be released soon.  No word on the connectors. 

 

I was in a briefing on CRM 4.0 last summer at the Partner Conference and they stated that the mobility access is a "cornerstone" of 4.0 so I expect them to enhance the express/thin client a bunch and release that in the coming months.  I have used mobility and you really don't need it for too much but it is nice to have.  It is definitely a feature that is required to compete in the market.  It comes free with MS CRM which is a great price for the value.  Most competitors charge for extending your data to mobile devices. 

 

The reason it is not as vital as some people believe is that MS CRM works through your outlook and specifically unifies your individual and corporate CONTACTs Data.  MS CRM Connects and Unifies investments in Outlook, Exchange, and Active Directory.  So if you set it up normally you or another person in your organization can update a contact in CRM and that flows through to the Outlook contacts and that flows through to your mobile contacts on your active synch enabled phone/PDA.  I am sure you are using Windows Mobile instead of Blackberry....If not you really should try cause it is a lot better value.

 

It doesn't really matter what you use because when you update an Outlook record in outlook or in CRM is synchs the records which also synchs through EXCHANGE to your mobile device.  So you have "One Truth" on the contact information.  That is the beauty of MS CRM embedded in the Outlook and Exchange stack applications.  Embedded not integrated.  They are designed to work together as one business enabling platform/system.

 

So people have access to the contact info on the go.  This is mostly what people need it for.  It also supports custom entities/extensions which is great.  PDAs do not really lend themselves to massive data input/reports/interactions.  So I doubt you are going to do 1000 or 100 words of typing on the mobile client or run your daily business.  I have mostly seen field service and sales people use it for a quick check of account address info and then also maybe reviewing the funnel and opportunities. 

 

I have yet to seen a cold call rep go mobile to smile and dial 50 calls.  If you have let me know.  That does not seem optimal utilization of time and resources 

 

So MOBILE is really for quick looks and quick entry.  The thin client is really optimal for that. 

 

Regards, Jon Petrucelli

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Training guides and links and information

Here is a great post about MS CRM and all the various training available to the community.  There is a TON.  I have been through this and it is very good now and they will continue to enhance and build on it for years! 

 

There are at least 500 hours of training available to full clients.  That is a lot of information.  Trust me, I have been through a lot of it getting triple certified  Last Fall I went to the Microsoft Redmond Center for 5 days immersion on 4.0 and we previewed much of this training materials.  Thankfully the new content and materials and product is a lot better than the old 1.0 and 1.2 training.  Back then it still had the Great Plains logo on the materials.  I think I still have my manuals from the early days. 

 

Here is the catch.  Training is a must but it cannot replace the real world experience on the product with clients.

 

From a Technical perspective: All this training and studying cannot replace the experience on the product and the experience of bending your mind around client problems and requirements to figure out what is the OPTIMAL way to solve them.  The key term here is optimal.  This is critical because pretty much anything can be done in MS CRM but you do not always want to do what can be done.  Certain areas of the system and outside the SDK should be treaded on very lightly because the long term sustainability of the client system can be greatly impacted if you do not do things optimally.  Explore all the normal options before recommending the last resort: crack the code and go crazy.

 

From a Business Perspective: You must have the experience not only on the product but also with the business processes and domain knowledge to be able to hold your own in discovery, design, and envisioning meetings with VPs of Sales and Marketing and Business leaders.  These are the decision makers that ultimately decide your success and failure and pay the bills.  You have got to be able to engage them on their ground and gain a "trusted advisor" relationship footing.  If they do not respect you they will not listen, if they don't listen then the project can quickly become a low priority or get out of control.  When these things happen you can almost guarantee they will be having a meeting in 6 months and blame the product for all the problems in their business.

 

Training is awesome but there is not substitute for experience and cycles in front of clients solving their problems optimally!

 

Regards, Jon Petrucelli

We received an Award from Microsoft - The "Compete to WIN" Award

I am proud to announce that last week (Jan 23rd approx) we were awarded the South Central Area (TX and 4 other states) 2008-H1 COMPETE TO WIN Award.  This is especially encouraging as the pool of nominations included all MS products not just CRM or Dynamics. 

 

The award revolves around competing effectively against many of the alternative CRM products in the market.  We went head-to-head and won the business against Seibel, EPICOR and SalesForce.com (many times).  We defeated these worthy competitors by selling the very real and evident value of MS CRM.  It was an intense 6 months but very rewarding with licenses and projects implemented. 

 

I want to especially thank Brett Bergman, Dale Schlagel and Daniel Hunter at Microsoft.  We worked with them on a daily basis to get all the clients signed.  December especially was a tornado of business with the impending launch of CRM 4.0!

 

Regards, Jon Petrucelli

MS Dynamics CRM 4.0 Email Routing, Connector and Management Advancements and Enhancements

One of the big problems in CRM 3.0 was the email integration/management.  There were huge improvements over version 1 and 1.2 but there were still many opportunities to streamline the process and configuration.  Well MSFT really worked on this and I am happy to say the Email management functions and features and architecture has been greatly enhanced.  I am sure we will discover opportunities for improvement" but I have to say I am very impressed with the new Email management system in CRM 4.0. 

 

The CRM TEAM did a great write up on all the enhancements here: CLICK HERE

 

It really lays out a high level guide all the changes, enhancements and advancements.  I highly recommend any admin start looking here.  The Implementation and Installation guides will help with the most detailed readings.  The best way to learn is to install and start testing and "poking around" 

 

Regards, Jon Petrucelli

From CRM Buzz: How Companies Waste Leads

How Companies Waste Leads – My Take: The net-net of the story is that companies should better manage and track their leads. The recommendations are to Have a CRM system (Me thinks that is a good idea ;-)) and then to have a formal tracking and nurture program that retains the warm leads. Sales people get caught up on HOT leads and may not facilitate a long term nurture strategy so the company should maintain this. Good ideas. Well written too.

 

Marketing expert, Patty Azzarello, shares two basic principals that will keep you from wasting leads. Follow her advice and you will maximize your investment in marketing and close more business.

View article...

Bill Gates Last day video - This is too funny. You gotta see this.

http://alexbarnett.net/blog/archive/2008/01/17/billg-last-full-day-at-microsoft-has-come-and-gone.aspx

 

Click the link and then hit the play button.  I watched a few last week and the sound was all messed up.  This is the best one with the sound I have heard.  Very funny and loads of cameos.  At the Conventions they always have funny self deprecating humor like this.  Its worth ten mins. 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM LIVE is coming and will offer clients more choice than ever before!

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Live delivers a fast, flexible and familiar customer management solution for businesses looking to combine the power of online services with the richness of their everyday productivity applications. This solution is optimized for business work groups or departments who want to have their customer relationships managed by Microsoft.  We have been in the beta/Early Adopter program for months and have found the platform to be very stable and reliable.  It is pretty much CRM 4.0 but you just do not have to host the servers.  There are a few limitations around loading code onto the server and some other things, but essentially it is the exact same application.

The Pricing is better than almost every other Hosted CRM provider but still expensive over 2-3 years TCO.  Hosted runs about $40-$60/month per users.  Still much cheaper than competition.  But On premise runs about $35/user if you spread the payments over 3 years.  But with the on-premise solution there are additional costs for the platform you do not have with CRM LIVE.  I personally think the on-premise will still be the best for situations above 25-30 users.  They typically want more specific requirements and have more existing infrastructure.  So this will be an easy decision.  $50/user for 100 users is $5000/month = $60,000 per year.  You can get a lot of work done on premise for the approximate $40,000 less the on-premise software would cost over 3 years. 

We think the CRM LIVE pricing will be very compelling for certain folks with less than 10 users or they do not want a lot of infrastructure.  There is a lot of cost to care and feed a server, a lot more than just the purchase price.  So we think this will be very compelling and will also give us one great software Application (MS CRM 4.0) that can be consumed and delivered in whatever manner is best for the client.  You see On-premise or On-Demand is just a delivery mode, and should not be considered a business model or application value point.  Think of it like Cable versus Direct TV or Cellular vs. land line phone.  They are delivery models and you pick the one that meets your needs and requirements. 

The great thing about CRM 4.0 (TITAN) will be that it is offered in either and a client can run both or move back and forth from one platform to the next.  The data, configurations and customizations are all easily portable from one delivery platform to the next.  This is a huge advantage and a huge benefit to the clients.  Very few enterprise application providers can boast this delivery platform choice and portability.  Most of the zealots/bigots have painted themselves into a corner railing against one mode or the other. 

So fir the first time a client can chose an enterprise class application like MS CRM 4.0 and chose the best price points per user and the correct delivery model for their particular business or group.  They will also have flexibility to change platforms as needed for business or seasonal changes. 

This new delivery model is expected to release (Release to Web – RTW) on or around the month or March 2008.  In the past the CRM LIVE team was referring to March as the RTW date but most recently they have been messaging SPRING 2008.  So not sure what that means.  Right now people can get admitted to the Early Access 2 program (EA2).  This just opened to more people last week.  So call us if you want to get signed up – 512-498-1005. 

Jon Petrucelli

Dynamics CRM 4.0 System Requirements Details

The bottom line on hardware and software requirements: Get solid hardware for the CRM server. Especially if you are trying to do it right. 2GB RAM, Large HD and fast processor are so cheap nowadays that it is worth it. At a minimum make sure you have the room to add RAM. You also want to make sure you have fast seek times and fast speeds on your Hard Drive. This is a DB drive application and the server largely handles the db load. RAID 10 with striped and mirrored arrays is a good way to configure the RAID array of hard drives. This will give the best data seek times on the DB. Great info below.

The hardware and software requirements described below are provided as general requirements. Individual factors to consider that can affect these requirements include:

•	Number of servers involved and how they are configured
•	Dependency of Microsoft Dynamics CRM on Microsoft SQL Server 2005
•	Number of users the Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementation will support
•	Integration of Microsoft Dynamics CRM with Microsoft Exchange servers
•	Performance of your servers and the local area network (LAN)
•	Whether or not you already have Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services installed

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Implementation Guide provides detailed information about the installation and implementation requirements for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. The following additional installation topics are covered in Chapter 3 of the guide:

•	Multiple-server deployment (including hardware recommendations for Microsoft SQL Server and Exchange Server)
•	Single-server deployment
•	Installing Microsoft Dynamics CRM on a virtual machine
•	Using special and extended characters
•	Planning server requirements for reporting

Read all the details here: http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/crm/product/systemrequirements.mspx

Regards, Jon Petrucelli