IMHO: Dream Force vs MS World Partner Conference

I have not posted anything on my blog for a while but these two events above made me boiling, so here it is, my new post.

Note: I have not been at any of these famous conferences physically. Why bother increase CO2 emission when you can watch everything online? I hope you agree. Here is my small recap of what is happing in these crazy world of CRM technology.

First of all watching WPC was an easy task, just go to a Microsoft page and stream the video for free. DreamForce decided to charge for their amazing remote experience and the price was…. your "Like" on Facebook. Do you realize how much "Like" is worth nowadays? Now all my friends will know what I watch, and Facebook page will bombard me with ads on CRM theme. Unbelievably expensive! However, my curiosity won, so I clicked "Like".

Both events were happening on a 360 degree stage, which probably tells a lot about the size of these events. DreamForce gathered 90 000 attendees, around 350 partners, where Microsoft WPC was attended by 14 000 memebers, including 9 000 channel partners. I think SaleForce did a pretty got job of attracting attention, especially for a just one product venue. Well, they are selling a sales force product, they better be good at what they do.

Back to the venues. Two similar stages and two the most important speakers: SF CEO Marc Benioff vs MS CEO Steve Ballmer and here are two major points of their key notes in my mind:

SalesForce - Social revolution. Get into your customer's mind by using the most popular social platforms and drive your sales force from there.
Microsoft - Technology revolution. Integrate and extend software experience to other surfaces, and use it for a limitless collaboration and sharing.

Both directions are pretty impressive and make me excited. I know MS CRM is lacking that social flavor but trust me, Microsoft will catch up on this pretty soon. What is good about SalesForce, it is very flexible and adjusts well to the market demand, but their CRM product is pretty expensive and doesn't have seamless integration with Outlook or robust reporting like Microsoft CRM does. Also SalesForce doesn't provide the ability to go on-premise and getting all your data out can be pretty tough.

However, users love SalesForce interface, it is pretty intuitive and highly customizable. Microsoft can be a little confusing and limited in terms of customization, but a lot of work is being done. I expect great results in the nearest future, since a lot of changes have been made recently. For example, making MS CRM a multi browser application opened doors to such opportunities like tablets, and with a new Microsoft tablet coming out MS CRM future gets even more exciting. I can defiantly see a spike in CRM sales after a new tablet comes out.

Short term I think SaleForce wins, it has trendy features, cool looks, and everyone is talking about it, but long term I think Microsoft has more capacity to grow, due to already establish market for Microsoft products, plus introducing all new recent collaboration features makes me believe it will catch up with SalesForce pretty soon.

  * A little note about Microsoft; WPC was not CRM focused but we can defiantly see what the trend is and where the company is going with its products.

Clouded by Sale Force :)

Gossip Corner: ExactTarget is failing to work with Dynamics CRM 2011

Bad news for someone with Dynamics CRM 2011 and a desire to have a working version of Exact Target. Based on the latest news Exact Target is still working on getting their product ready and there is no date set for the release yet. Nothing is left then to patiently wait. Here are some issues identified:

• Subscriber Key required for individual tracking in Dynamics CRM 2011
• Smart Capture not currently supported
• Profile Center not currently supported
• Subscription Center not currently supported
• No migration scripts available to transfer ET tracking data from 4.0 to 2011
• Outlook Toolbar not working properly
• Issues with high-volume sends (30,000+) with Dynamics CRM 2011 Online (NOTE not an issue with on-prem)

MS News: Sure Step 2012

Microsoft has just recently announced a "new and improved" Sure Step 2012. The main difference in this release is the focus on Dynamics AX 2012 and new content for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 On-premises and Online. Here are the main points:

• Accelerated Proof of Concept with CRM Online service – Provides scripts, demos, Delivery Guide, and related content for building a quick proof of concept or demo for a customer using the CRM Online 30-day trial. This supports rapid requirements definition and solution decision-making. Find this in the Decision Accelerator offering.

• Upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 – tools and templates to support the Upgrade project type, reflecting an Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 upgrade scenario.

• Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Implementation tools and templates are updated to reflect an Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 implementation scenario, including Fit/Gap analysis worksheet, estimator tool, requirements questionnaire, security configuration requirements template, and other valuable templates.

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Updates – new CRM artifacts including Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Upgrade Assessment, Database Sizing Tool, and Design Best Practices.

• Sure Step Optimization Offering – These services have been repackaged across all products to represent either discrete stand-alone services such as Developer Workshop or bundled services available to customers, such as Architecture Review, Project Governance and Delivery Review, and Upgrade Review.

You may find Sure Step 2012 with the latest tools, templates, and content on PartnerSource.

Article Source

MS CRM 2011: Can I use Firefox with CRM?

If you are not a fan of Internet Explorer and Firefox is your only browser, you can still use MS CRM with it. The trick is an extension, called IEtab. What it does, it embeds IE in a Firefox tab by using the XUL extension and the XPCOM plugin. It is compatible with the latest Firefox 3.0, free and easy to install.
Check it out!

Do Dynamics GP Year-End Closing Procedures Stress You Out?

Are you worried about the problems, steps, reports, and documents you need to process? MIG & Co is giving a free breakfast seminar where you can find out how CFOs, Controllers, and Accounting Managers can leverage Microsoft Dynamics GP to make year-end procedures run as smoothly as possible. Please come, I'm going to cover troubleshooting part as a speaker there.

MIG Breakfast Seminar:
Year-End Closing - Best Practices in Dynamics GP
Register Now
Date:
Wednesday,
September 28th
Location:
Microsoft Corporate Office
1290 Ave of the Americas
New York, NY
Cost:
No Charge
Agenda:
* Subject to change

8:30-9:00 AM
Registration and Breakfast

9:00-10:00 AM
Year-End Closing Procedures
& Best Practices

10:00 AM-10:30 PM
Q&A, User Group Discussions

Webinar: What is CustomerSource?

Microsoft Dynamics CustomerSource is an information-packed, password-protected site for customers who use Microsoft Dynamics products.
CustomerSource empowers you with tools and information that help you increase efficiency and productivity.

• Through self-help resources, such as Knowledge Base and technical documentation, CustomerSource can help you reduce support costs.
• Around-the-clock access to training provides you opportunities to learn at your convenience.
• Newsgroups offer a unique opportunity for you to share hard-won tips, to get answers to tough questions, or to broaden your understanding of your business management software.

Join my free presentation for the CustomerSource webinar to see a live demonstration, as I walk you through the CustomerSource website!

Connected. Empowered. Productive. CustomerSource.

New ERP Partner Service Plans

Microsoft is doing everything possible to improve partner’s efficiency. If previously they came up with partner certification rules, which reduced the amount of small inefficient partners, today they are focusing on improving the service area. To boost partner’s revenue and mitigate risk, Microsoft will be providing support plans based on a Business Revenue Recapture Rate results. BREP can be found at the Performance Metrics section at Voice. Microsoft is going to take partner’s Revenue Recapture Rate based on the time of contract renewal and calculat the amount of cases from there.

There will be two plan provided to a partner: Partner Advantage Plan and Partner Advantage Plus Plan. Partner Advantage Plus Plan will have more partner advisory, service account manager hours and extended support hours. With both plans partner will get 10 base support incidents. From there if BREP is 95% and above, partner will get 2 incidents per 20K, if it is in between 90% and 95%, partner will get 1 incident per 20K, and any partner with lower than 90% will not be eligible for support. Partners can improve BREP by renewing lapsed customers or deactivating customers that have gone out of business. Additional support cases can be purchased for 259$ per incident starting July. Until the end of this month any partner can purchase pack of cases using the old rate.

To provide superior services to customers, all support requests will be addressed based on the severity level, so partners can get support when they need it. This way partner can drive customer loyalty and satisfaction.