Dynamics CRM 3.0 to 4.0 UPGRADE Tips, Findings and Recommendations - Part 1

Line of Business core application upgrades can be a very tenuous time for a system admin. Luckily we have been doing a lot of CRM 4.0 related work: Installations, upgrades, code version moves and just general poking around (technical term). We are going to start posting our findings and recommendations to share with our loyal readers, if any are out there. Hopefully they will bring someone some enjoyment.

Many thanks to our team for pulling these together. New Versions and the associated hassles with new installations, upgrades and bugs can be a tough couple weeks as one learns the ins and outs of the new process. We fortunately have quite a few spare servers and development boxes that we can test and retest and train on before ‘go-time’ in front of a client. Even with all the training we cannot prepare for all the wrinkles a field/production system might contain. This is the time to shine and why we get paid the big bucks ;-).

Here are our first set of findings and recommendations around upgrading from CRM 3.0 to 4.0.

-CRM 4.0 has some many great enhancements and productivity features that it is worth it to me to do the upgrade even if it breaks some things.

-Be very careful, back everything up (DBs, Web configs, ISV configs, etc), test on a dev environment if at all possible. Image the entire server if you can.

-With good backups to the core DB and Metabase in 3.0 you can roll the system back using the Redeployment wizard if necessary.

-Installs and Upgrades are largely about “Conditioning” the Domain and Server to properly and efficiently accept the CRM code. Spending a lot of time making sure ht system and domain and environment are properly configured is a very important step. If done correctly then the application largely installs itself.

-An upgrade can break many customizations that users might really like. So run a test before if at all possible.

-CRM will open just fine, but the URL to navigate to will be a little different…it includes the company name as well, for example: http://titan:5555/productivegap/loader.aspx

-Custom reports that had been deployed and working in CRM 3.0 do not show up in the Reports section of CRM. The Custom Reports still exist in the Report Manager list, but not in CRM automatically. Added the reports to CRM manually, and the reports seem to be working fine including a custom sub report

-Opened an Account and received a generic error. There was no ‘OnLoad’ type of error, etc. like in CRM 3.0. The error was related to Field Level Security. This is not allowed at all in CRM 4.0, and the MSCRMServices is no longer available, see this blog: Click Here

-Javascript that shows the Products on an IFrame on a tab instead of the Navigation Bar works perfectly

Call us if you need help. 512-498-1005 - Regards, Jon Petrucelli

Do you want to get into the Microsoft CRM LIVE beta program.

Let me know.  Call 512-498-1005.  They are expanding the program and taking more early adopters in.  Price is free.!!!  Cant beat that. 

For more info, read the CRM Team Blog article. 

Choice Begins Today - Say good-bye to the one-size-fits-all and one-way CRM systems of yesterday, and say hello to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Live. Beginning today, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Live has officially reached our second early-access release and is expanding access for Microsoft customers and partners located in the United States and Canada. Within this expanded program, Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers and partners can combine the power of online services with their everyday productivity solutions to manage customer information and business processes with ease. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Live – designed on our new, multi-tenant, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 architecture, equips your organization with a solution for fast implementation and adoption, delivers a flexible and agile business application that adapts quickly and easily to your unique business needs, and most importantly, enhances your everyday productivity tools like Microsoft Office Outlook, Word and Excel by equipping your with real-time business insight and customer intelligence so you can make critical business decisions with ease.

Regards, Jon Petrucelli

CRM 4.0 - Language Pack UI Installation Pack Details

From Menno - By installing a Language Pack on the server that is running Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 and then enabling the language in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Web application, users can view Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 in a language other than the base language of the installation.

Follow these instructions to get the packs:

-Access the download page (display languages are available for each 4.0 language version)

-Select the ‘Language Pack’ from the “Change Language” dropdown in the Quick Details section on the download landing page.

Once installed the users can go to their CRM 4.0 browser interface, Workplace, Personalize Workplace, Languages Tab, and then select the desired language.  We have some Multi National clients that this is a huge deal for.  Great improvement! 

Jon

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Multi Language - First language packs now available for download

 The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Team today announced that the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 English, German and Spanish language packs are now available for download. 

 

Dynamics CRM 4.0 Installation Video

Another Great Video from Channel 9 and the CRM team.   John O’Donnell walks you through the simple installation of MS CRM 4.0.  These guys are really putting out some amazing content.  Great Stuff and Kudos to them for sharing so much and helping evangelize!  There is just no way any individual partner could put this much high quality content out.  Enjoy - http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=364853

What's New in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 - Great overview information here on the new upgrades and enhancements.

Published: January 2, 2008 - Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 business software is a complete customer relationship management (CRM) solution that provides the capabilities that organizations need to gain and retain competitive advantage in today's business world.  Microsoft relies on customers to guide product evolution. To this end, the Microsoft Dynamics CRM team spent significant time listening to customers and observing how they use CRM. The results of this research have helped us bring our customers Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. Here's a quick look at the latest Microsoft Dynamics CRM features.

        Improved end-user benefits     
        Enhanced integration with Microsoft Office     
        Greater support for global business    
        Flexible hosting scenarios with multi-tenant installations     
        Improved availability, performance, and scalability    

Dynamics CRM 4.0 SDK now available online

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 SDK is now ready for download. The documentation is critical in for both programmers and for others.  There are loads of examples of code and real world scenarios.  Everyone that is an admin or super user should know where this doc is and how to use it to get answers.  There is also a lot of info about the new features etc.  This is usually a live doc kept on MSDN and it gets updated with new info every few months.  Very powerful information source.  Check it out. 

Channel 9 - John O'Donnell Demos the Dynamics CRM 4.0 Data Migration Wizard

John O'Donnell, who is a Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist, demonstrates the new Data Migration Manager tool in Microsoft Dynamics 4.0 showing how the new Data Migration Manager is used to import and link multiple entities from CSV files.

John O-Donnell blogs at http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde.

       

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 online event

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is THE RIGHT CHOICE for marketing, sales & customer service success Discover how Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 can help you deepen customer relationships and stay competitive. With Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 you can: ·      ... [StartDate: 2/7/2008 9:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada); EndDate: 2/7/2008 11:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada); RegistrationFee: No; PrimaryLanguage: English; TargetAudience: Business Decision Maker; ]

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Happy New Year 2008

Happy New year to everyone!  Thanks to all our clients and partners out there.  We have had a great year in 2007 and we owe that all to our great clients and partners.  Without them we would not be in business for sure.  We have again grown the business 100+ percent in 2007 and we expect that same growth in 2008.  CRM 4.0 has just launched and we have already seen significant traction.  The new version really filled in some gaps and challenges in the 3.0 version specifically on Data Migration, Multi-National, Many-to-Many Relationships and much more.  All the clients we have shown CRM 4.0 to have been very excited and interested about the new version.  Let me know if you want a demo or consult.  We believe 2008 holds a lot of promise for our team and for CRM version 4.0.  It has already started off with a bang at the end of December and we expect that momentum to increase in January and February! 

Best wishes to all readers in the New Year.  Jon Petrucelli - President and Founder - ProductiveGap Corp - www.productivegap.com