Marc J. Wolenik - Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Unleashed

Marc Wolenik
Damian Sinay
Rajya Bhaiya

800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240 USA

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Unleashed

Copyright 2012 by Sams Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

ISBN-13: 978-0-672-33538-9

ISBN-10: 0-672-33538-7

Associate Publisher
Greg Wiegand

Acquisitions Editor
Loretta Yates

Development Editor
Sondra Scott

Managing Editor
Sandra Schroeder

Project Editor
Seth Kerney

Copy Editor
Mike Henry

Indexer
Tim Wright

Proofreader
Apostrophe Editing Services

Technical Editor
Dylan Haskins

Publishing Coordinator
Cindy Teeters

Book Designer
Gary Adair

Compositor
Mark Shirar

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file.

First Printing: September 2011

Trademarks

All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Sams Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

Warning and Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an as is basis. The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book.

Bulk Sales

Pearson offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales. For more information, please contact:

U.S. Corporate and Government Sales
1-800-382-3419

For sales outside of the U.S., please contact:

International Sales
+1-317-581-3793

Marc Wolenik is the CEO of Webfortisa Microsoft Gold Certified CRM Partner headquartered in San Francisco and with offices in Los Angeles and Seattle.

Rajya Vardhan Bhaiya is the CTO at Webfortis, and he is certified in MCPS, MCSD, MCAD for .NET, MCNPS, and MCTS in SharePoint. His primary focus is .NET development focused specifically in SharePoint and CRM development. Rajya has extensive experience working with technologies such as SharePoint, VoIP systems, Office Communicator, and specifically how they integrate with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM system. Rajyas working experience spans the gamut from simple out-of-the-box environments to complex projects with various integration points and complex customizations.

Damian Sinay, MCP, MCSD, MCAD for .NET, MCTS in SQL Server 2005, SharePoint 2007 and TFS 2010, and MBS CRM 3.0 and 4.0 certified professional, is a partner of Webfortis, a Microsoft Gold CRM Partner consulting company in northern California. Damian is currently a development manager, CRM expert, and a senior .NET developer. He has extensive experience working with all related technologies that make up Dynamics CRM, having worked on projects involving extremely complex customizations, integrations, and implementations for Dynamics CRM customers.

As with any project of this type, there are many people that provide help and assistance in all shapes and forms that make up the end result that helps us and the book be successful. Our partnerships and relationships with the folks at Microsoft and other partners inspire us and drive us for continual improvement on a daily basis.

I would like to acknowledge the team at Webfortis for their interest, participation, and overall acceptance that committing to the community of Dynamics CRM users and administrators is the strongest way to differentiate.

Marc

I want to especially thank Damian and Marc for their support and patience with the book.

Raj

I want to especially thank Marc for all the patience and help he had while working on the book, as well as to the entire Webfortis team for all their effort on our projects. Finally, I want to dedicate this book to my family; without their support, I would never have had the time to write this book.

Damian

As the reader of this book, you are our most important critic and commentator. We value your opinion and want to know what were doing right, what we could do better, what areas youd like to see us publish in, and any other words of wisdom youre willing to pass our way.

As an editor-in-chief for Sams Publishing, I welcome your comments. You can email or write me directly to let me know what you did or didnt like about this bookas well as what we can do to make our books better.

Please note that I cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic of this book. We do have a User Services group, however, where I will forward specific technical questions related to the book.

When you write, please be sure to include this books title and author as well as your name, email address, and phone number. I will carefully review your comments and share them with the author and editors who worked on the book.

Email:

Mail: Greg Wiegand
Editor-in-Chief
Sams Publishing
800 East 96th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46240 USA

Visit our website and register this book at informit.com/register for convenient access to any updates, downloads, or errata that might be available for this book.

Microsoft took the full three years between the release of its last version (version 4.0) of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to release this next version, CRM 2011, and it shows.

CRM 2011 brings to the table more than 500 new featuresmost, if not all, are outlined within this book. Although every one of those features is an improvement over the previous version, there are a few that really stand out and make this system a game changer with regard to functionality and competition. A few of our personal favorites are

Native real-time charting and dashboarding in

Improved user interface in

Native SharePoint integration in

Outlook 2010 Integration options in

Additionally, there is one feature that changes not only how this product can be used, but also is indicative of Microsofts entire position with regard to computing: the dedication to cloud computing.

Microsoft announced at its World Partner Conference (WPC) in July 2010, that it was all in with regard to cloud computing. What this means is that the future is here and applications that previously required extensive infrastructure, IT staff, and multiple supporting applications are no longer necessary. Instead, Microsoft is leading the charge with applications such as CRM, SharePoint, Exchange, and even Office as hosted solutions that can be rented from Microsoft.