CRM UK - the official blog of the CRM specialists at TSG

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Now Available for On-Premise Deployment

Following the release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online earlier in the year, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is now available for on-premise deployment. This is the first time the cloud version of the product has been released before the on-premise version, but if you feel on-premise suits your business model better, it’s now an option!

Here’s a copy of the official press release from Microsoft. If you need further information on Microsoft Dynamics CRM online or on-premise, or choosing between the two, please don’t hesitate to contact Concentrix.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Released for On-Premises and Partner-Hosted Deployments

Microsoft delivers the Power of Productivity for customers across all deployment models; raises bar for performance and scalability with 150,000-concurrent-user benchmark.

REDMOND, Wash. — Feb. 16, 2011 — Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) today announced that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for on-premises and partner-hosted deployments has been completed and released for customer download. This release complements the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, which delivers Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 as an on-demand service from Microsoft’s datacenters and was launched into 40 markets and 41 languages in January. With a single multitenant code base across cloud and on-premises deployment models, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 delivers the Power of Productivity to sales, service and marketing organizations worldwide.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is now globally available and existing customers with active Microsoft Software Assurance agreements can access the new version immediately via the Microsoft Download Center.

In addition, Microsoft announced the new release scaled to 150,000 concurrent users in a single instance while delivering sub-second response times, once again raising the bar for performance and scalability in the CRM industry. The new benchmark results will be detailed in a Microsoft Dynamics CRM performance and scalability white paper that will be delivered in the coming weeks.

“The need to build deeper and more profitable relationships on a global scale remains a CIO top priority,” said Mark Barrett, senior vice president, CRM, Avanade. “The combination of Avanade’s deep experience in solution development and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 enables us to deliver comprehensive CRM capabilities to our clients through on-premises deployments as well as a software-as-a-service offering. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 provides a platform for us to help companies strengthen customer and partner relationships, increase productivity, and collaborate across the organization.”

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 provides customers and partners with a wide range of benefits, including point-and-click configurability, enterprise scalability, and easy interoperability to existing applications and databases. It delivers the Power of Productivity for users in organizations of all sizes through its focus on the following:

• Familiar experiences through a next-generation native Microsoft Outlook client, browser-based and mobile access, RoleTailored design, and advanced user personalization, improving user adoption and giving users easy access to the information they need to be successful.

• Intelligent experiences through guided process dialogs, inline business intelligence for performance and goal management, and real-time dashboards, providing the most up-to-date information critical to enabling sales, service and marketing professionals to do their jobs effectively.

• Connected experiences through flexible cloud development, Windows Azure interoperability, contextual Microsoft SharePoint capabilities and the new Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace, making it easy for customers and partners to configure and customize Microsoft Dynamics CRM to meet specific business needs.

“Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 brings a whole new level of productivity to sales, marketing and customer service departments,” said Terje Laugerud, CEO, CIBER International. “The focus on familiar, intelligent and connected experiences appeals to our customers and provides an ideal platform for CIBER to deliver innovative CRM solutions to customers in a range of industries.”

Integrated within Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace is available today in 20 markets and currently offers more than 1,400 partner offerings for solutions and services. This online catalog is an easy way for partners to market and distribute solutions to Microsoft Dynamics customers, whether online, on-premises or partner-hosted. The marketplace enables customers to quickly search, discover and apply industry-specific applications and solution extensions from Microsoft and its partners to help them accelerate and extend their CRM and ERP implementations. Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace is available in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, France, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

More information about partners and customers deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 can be found at http://crm.dynamics.com. Those who want to follow and engage with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM community can do so at @MSDynamicsCRM, #crm2011.

Sage 200 User Group, Partner Seminar and Business Intelligence Events

If you’re a Concentrix customer and you’re using Sage 50, Sage Line 100, MMS or Sage 200, you should have received an invite in the post to our next Sage 200 User Group. The User Group is being held at our head offices in Mountsorrel on Tuesday 15th March, and we'll be joined by a Senior Analyst from Sage, who'll be looking at using Sage 200 for Credit Control. We'll also be showing you a selection of add-on applications from Eureka, and every attendee will get a free Eureka add-ons starter pack!

Our Sage 200 User Groups receive excellent feedback so if you haven’t attended one before, please register and come along. There are of course refreshments and a free buffet lunch.

For members of the  Concentrix Professional Partnership Programme, we’re holding a Business Software Seminar on the 19th April 2011 at Concentrix. The seminar, which is free but exclusive to members of our Professional Partner Programme, will look at a selection of mid-market business software products and solutions which we think will be of interest .

We’re holding the seminar at our head offices near Loughborough, and if you’re a member if the programme, we’d love you to come along!

It will give you a great opportunity to:

- Ask questions about Sage mid-market accounting and ERP software, including the integrated business management suite Sage 200

- Find out about managed IT services and computing ‘in the cloud’

- Take a look at a new intranet solution based on Microsoft SharePoint

- Discuss any aspects of business software, IT or the Concentrix Professional Partnership Programme

A variety of Concentrix staff will be there on the day for help, advice or an informal chat. We’ll also be joined by representatives of Sage.

If you’re interested in Sage 200 Business Intelligence training, please note the February training day is now full. There are still a few places left on the 29th March session but please book soon to ensure a place – we are running it as first-come, first served and are limiting the places each day to make sure everyone gets the very best out of the training. Places are discounted for Concentrix customers already using Sage 200.

For more information about any of the above events, or for any other queries, please don’t hesitate to contact Concentrix.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011: Personalisation Counts

Here's the latest guest post from Concentrix Senior CRM Consultant, John Odell:

It has been some time since I last blogged, mainly because I have been so busy with a wide range of exciting projects and new opportunities. It shows the CRM software market is still incredibly bouyant, despite these days of austerity.

During these past few months the weather has been cold and, at times, challenging. Those Train Operating Companies that use our Microsoft Dynamics CRM Customer Care system have had their work cut out and have done admirably well both keeping the trains running and dealing with traveller’s feedback.

On these icy, dark days my thoughts have often wandered back to the hot days of summer 2010, to the heat wave in Washington DC where I was attending Microsoft’s annual World Partner Conference (WPC) and where I first got my hands on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. Eight months on and I haven’t stopped talking about (I get paid to talk about CRM, it’s what I do). The online version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is live and we are three weeks away from the on-premise launch. And people are excited, very excited. Especially us.

Concentrix is one of the UK’s leading CRM Partners and we are heavily involved in the launch of this new version – we’ve got a hat full of projects that we are building on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, both online and on-premise. We’ve been really impressed with the product and it’s a major step-up from Microsoft Dynamics CRM v4, which is an excellent product in its own right.

What I have been particularly impressed with is the “productivity” gains that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is going to deliver to end users. We can do much more to tailor the “user experience” than in other systems and put everything the user needs within a couple of clicks. The users can then take the system and really personalise how they use it – with lots of new features and tweaks to old favourites which makes it much more flexible and personable.

The reason that personalisation is so important is because, as CRM specialists we are interested in providing business process solutions that are successful. In order to be successful the solution has to be adopted by the user – and the more enthusiastically they use it the more successful it will be. The system has to appeal them, fit in with the way they work and make their life easier. I do a lot of work on user adoption and this personalised, role-tailored user experience is going to make my life easier too.

Having spent so much time working with and demonstrating Dynamics CRM 2011 I can’t wait to start using it myself when we upgrade from Dynamics CRM v4 in a few weeks. And I am really looking forward to seeing it in action - starting with our first wave of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online customers.

Concentrix is an independent Business Solutions provider proving CRM software, ERP software, Hardware, IT Infrastructure and Support.

For more information about any of the solutions provided by Concentrix, please contact us on 01509 410500 or email [email protected].  

Sage 200 Business Intelligence Training and Courses at Concentrix

Here’s a topic that crops up during our regular user groups, in casual conversation and as direct enquiries. It’s got to be one of the most frequent requests from our customers that are thinking about implementing, starting out or even those that have been using the product for some time – people want to know more about using business intelligence in Sage 200. This is because, well, business intelligence is a popular feature, and for a mid-market accounting and ERP solutions, something that Sage 200 does extremely well.

Sage 200 Business Intelligence is included as part of the standard Sage 200 suite. It enables you to produce meaningful reports quickly, provides informative dashboards and displays the information you need accurately and understandably. It includes multidimensional analysis, which means you can look at data from different angles, and all this helps you make better, more informed business decisions.

At the last Concentrix Sage 200 User Group we announced that we're running some Business Intelligence training courses, and because there's been a lot of interest we've scheduled two dates:

• 24th February 2011

• 29th March 2011

The Concentrix course will take you through the basics of using Sage 200 Business Intelligence, based around the Sage 200 Commercial modules. Both training days are at our Training Suite in our Mountsorrel, Loughborough, Leicestershire offices. Registration is at 9.30 am and we will finish at 4.30 pm, with an hour for lunch (lunch is included) .

If you’re an existing Concentrix customer using Sage 200, we can offer you the course at a specially discounted rate. Places are limited - we're restricting numbers to eight delegates each day, and are taking bookings on a first come, first served basis.

To book your place, please contact your Concentrix account manager with your preferred date(s) and number of delegates and we’ll be in touch (if you’re not an existing Concentrix customer please email [email protected] and we’ll see if we can fit you in).

We look forward to seeing you on one of our Sage 200 Business Intelligence courses!

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Launch, ERP in the Cloud, SharePoint Intranets – a Round Up of Concentrix January News

January was a busy month at Concentrix. The New Year kicked off with final preparations for the long-anticipated release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, beginning with the launch of the cloud version, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online on January 17th.

Cloud computing is maturing and we’re getting an increasing amount of enquiries about cloud ERP as well as cloud CRM. In fact to illustrate how important it’s becoming, Microsoft launched Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 ‘in the cloud’ before it launched the on-premise version (the on-premise version is due for release on Feb 28th).

As a service to our customers and to mark the launch of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, we held our first Microsoft Dynamics CRM User Group for a selection of our existing clients. We invited a small number of customers to our offices on the 19th January that have been using previous versions of the software for a while now.

As well as giving an introduction to the new version of the software, the User Group kept delegates up to date with all the latest inside news from Concentrix and the latest developments in the CRM field generally, and of course an in-depth look at Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.

The User Group was fully interactive and we kept the numbers small so that everyone had a chance to fully participate. It included a session to ask questions, informally meet our CRM team and provide feedback on the product and the service we’re providing (and a good lunch!). Thanks to everyone who managed to attend. Feedback was excellent and we will extend the invites to our whole Microsoft Dynamics CRM customer base for future events.

ERP in the cloud is also generating interest recently, particularly since we started offering Microsoft Dynamics NAV as a cloud ERP solution. We began this after the 2009 R2 release last December, and one of the reasons was because this enhancement made deploying and setting up Microsoft Dynamics NAV in the cloud much easier for business partners and developers. The cloud deployment offers the same functionality as Microsoft Dynamics NAV on-premise, and if you’re interested in there’s a recent post on the ERP Software Blog Why Choose Microsoft Dynamics NAV as a Cloud ERP Solution? – it would be great to hear your comments.

One of the key features of the latest versions of both Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics CRM are their integration with each other, and also integration with Microsoft SharePoint. If you haven’t already seen it, take a look at our new pre-configured SharePoint intranet solution called BizNetix, which is a great way to get your SharePoint project started. We’ve already installed the system in a variety of businesses. This includes our own! We use Biznetix within Concentrix as our own intranet and it’s helped a lot of our staff understand SharePoint better – as well as providing all the usual functions you’d expect from a company intranet. We have also introduced BizNetix to a number of our customers, including recent product user groups and had some excellent feedback.

On the subject of User Groups, the next Sage 200 User Group is scheduled for 15th March. If you’re a Concentrix client using Sage 200, Sage Line 100 or MMS you will receive your invite shortly. We are also running paid courses on using Sage 200 for Business Intelligence. The one-day courses will show you how to use the business intelligence functionality of Sage 200 to quickly and efficiently analyse data, make better and more informed business decisions, and gain an in-depth understanding of what's really happening throughout your business. For more information on these courses please contact your Concentrix account manager.

Back to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 launch, Microsoft is aiming for this product to become the leading mid-market cloud-based CRM solution. Concentrix believe it will have a significant impact in the UK. The product is strongly competitive in terms of price, power, flexibility and functionality in comparison with its main cloud competitors. Microsoft has invested literally billions of dollars in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, and a lot if this investment has been in worldwide infrastructure to support its cloud version. Microsoft is also running a switch campaign. If you are currently using a competitive CRM Solution, such as Salesforce.com or Oracle, you could receive £130 per user if you switch to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. Concentrix put out a press release earlier this week to support the belief that the product is going to shake things up in the UK (Launch of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Set to Shake Up the UK CRM Market). It will be interesting to see how competitive products such as SalesForce, Oracle and NetSuite react to the product launch and Microsoft’s price and go-to-market strategy.

Despite the strength of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Concentrix is committed to supplying solutions that meet the requirements of our clients, hence Concentrix remains and will continue to remain product agnostic. Products such as Sage CRM or FrontRange’s GoldMine are still often the right choice for customers – it depends on your business processes and what you are looking to achieve from a CRM solution.

For independent advice or help selecting an ERP or CRM solution, for an informal chat about SharePoint, or to find out more about any of the products, solutions and services we provide, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Concentrix.