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

10 Facts About Microsoft Dynamics NAV

Earlier this month Concentrix added Microsoft Dynamics NAV to its product portfolio (there’s a posting of the press release here). For those not familiar with Microsoft Dynamics NAV, here are 10 interesting facts:

1) Microsoft prefers the “NAV” part of the product name to be pronounced as individual letters, that is “N. A. V.”

2) The original product was first traded in the UK in 1996

3) It’s used in over 150 countries

4) It used to be known as Navision, and was acquired by Microsoft in July 2002

5) The product was renamed “Microsoft Dynamics NAV” in December 2005

6) Worldwide, Microsoft Dynamics NAV has over 1 250 000 licenced users

7) It has over 1800 certified add-on solutions, and this amount is growing all the time

8) The current roadmap setting out the future development of the product goes to 2017 and beyond

9) It has integrated CRM functionality, but this is not the same as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, which is a separate and distinctly different product

10) As part of the development of the Role Tailored User Experience, Microsoft interviews real people in real life work situations. It interviewed over 2000 people for the release of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009.

By offering both Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Sage 200, Concentrix can give ‘product agnostic’ advice to businesses looking to implement an accounts or ERP solution. In other words, we’ll help you choose the most suitable option to meet your business requirements, rather than try and shoe-horn in a solution that’s not necessarily the best fit for your objectives, processes or staff.

For more information about Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Sage 200 or Microsoft Dynamics CRM, please visit our main website or don’t hesitate to contact us.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Future Developments

Microsoft CRM is a ‘future proof’ product. In other words, Microsoft is committed to investing in, developing, supporting and enhancing the product for many years to come.

Recently (in August 2009), Microsoft released their latest Statement of Direction for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. The document outlines the future direction of Microsoft Dynamics CRM through to its next major release (known as Microsoft Dynamics CRM “V.Next”) which is due in 2010.

The way in which Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is put together means it supports multi-language and multi-currency requirements as. It also delivers extensive reporting through Microsoft SQL Server® and enterprise workflow through Windows® Workflow Foundation.

Microsoft’s primary goal from the very first release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM has been to deliver a solution that users feel comfortable working with and is a natural part of their daily work activities. Their key objective was, and still remains, to drive maximum user adoption of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM by delivering it through standard and familiar Microsoft desktop applications that users know and understand.

Microsoft remain committed to delivering a CRM solution that:

- Drives maximum user productivity

- Provides business insight and collaboration, no matter what the person’s role is within the business or organisation

- Builds on and enhances the core sales, service and marketing capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics CRM

- Continues to provide a flexible and scalable business solution platform

Some of the areas Microsoft highlighted in the document that they are looking to enhance until the release of ‘Microsoft Dynamics CRM V. Next’ include:

Mobility

There are already a number of mobile applications for Microsoft Dynamics CRM available from Microsoft or Concentrix. They have also released mobile express for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.

Accelerators

During late 2008 and early 2009 Microsoft released the first wave of accelerators for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. Accelerators for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 are a range of free-of-charge add-on solutions. Each accelerator extends the functionality of marketing, sales and service capabilities. Additionally, CRM Accelerators provide the building blocks for all kinds of xRM applications. Microsoft will be releasing another group of accelerators during the second half of 2009.

xRM

Many organisations have adopted Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 as a generic business application development platform. It enables you to rapidly configure a tailored business application not associated with the traditional customer relationship management pillars of sales, service and marketing. Examples of these applications include human resource management, vendor management, helpdesks, public sector management, and grant management. Microsoft refers to these types of solutions as “xRM”.

BizTalk® Server Integration

A new release of Microsoft BizTalk® Server Adapter for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is targeted for Q3 2009.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 for Microsoft Outlook

New and enhanced capabilities will be made available for using Microsoft Dynamics CRM through Outlook.

The Next Service Update

The next service update for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 will be made available sometime in November 2009 and will deliver new options in areas such as:

- Access to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online through a range of mobile devices including Windows Mobile and RIM Blackberry (via Mobile Express)

- Extended business intelligence capabilities for further analysis of CRM data

- In-page guidance to provide an even richer experience for new users

- Additional storage capacity for customers to accommodate even larger databases

Concentrix provides Microsoft Dynamics CRM as a hosted CRM solution as well as on-premise (here's a brief guide to hosted or on-premise CRM).

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is part of the Microsoft Dynamics suite of products. Concentrix also supplies Microsoft Dynamics NAV, a fully integrated business management solution. To fiind out more, don’t hesitate to contact Concentrix.

Sage 200 and Sage CRM Disaster Recovery Licence – giving you complete peace of mind if the worst happened.

The majority of organisations are aware of the security risk posed from both external and internal sources and have processes in place to protect against them. It is very unusual, for example to find an organisation which does not have virus protection or an anti-spam solution. But, often because an organisation has these security measures in place they get lured into a false sense of security and believe that their entire system and therefore the data which is stored on it is safe.

However, in reality if an IT system is damaged or destroyed by a fire or flood or if a building is damaged by a serious storm, the company’s data wouldn’t be covered. This has the potential to cause significant negative impacts on a business’s profitability, as a company’s data is its most important asset. And whilst insurance companies will pay out for new servers and computers, they cannot do anything to recover data which is lost.  At best, it is likely to take a number of weeks if not months to rebuild critical business management systems from scratch.

Concentrix recommends investing in a Sage Disaster Recovery licence to ensure your Sage 200 or Sage CRM solution and all the data held within it is completely safe. This will give you all the back-up, security and peace of mind that you need.

For more information about Sage Disaster Recovery Licenses and how it can protect your organisation, please contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected]

Sage ACT! 2010 is launched!

Building on the success of previous versions of the software, Sage ACT! 2010 is more efficient, easier to use and will provide even more real business benefits. The latest release of the software has a number of major improvements including: customisable opportunities, redesigned navigation and e-marketing.

As a contact management tool, Sage ACT! is unbeatable.  It is a proven long-standing and robust product with over 2.8 million customers worldwide.

When it comes to CRM software, Sage ACT! provides fantastic value as  an entry level product. It is ideal for those wanting to trial CRM in their business or those who simply want to set out the CRM culture in their organisation.

Sage ACT! 2010 provides all the tools you need to start building and maintaining successful customer relationships,

To find out more about Sage ACT! 2010 or to request your free trial, please contact Concentrix on 01509 410500 or email [email protected].

Sage 200 User Group

Thank you to all those who attended our Sage 200 User Group on 15^th September 2009.  The feedback we received was excellent. We hope you found the event informative.

If you have any questions about Sage 200, or need further information, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01509 410500.

To download any of the presentations from the day please click on the following links and enter the password which you will have been sent via email.

Download Business Intelligence Slides

Download Information Management Slides

 

 

Safeguard the future of your business

There is no denying that the current economic climate has made business tough. There is more and more competition for less and less business, so getting that all important order is becoming increasingly difficult. So how can you ensure that your organisation makes it through to the other side of the current economic situation?

There are number of things you could do:

Option One:  Do nothing different and continue to do what you have always done. However, it could be argued that this is an extremely risky strategy to adopt especially when your competitors are likely to be increasing their activity.

Option Two: Invest in a new or update an existing finance system. After all, one of the key reasons that many businesses fail is because of bad financial management. But although this might help your cash flow, it is not likely to have an impact on your prospects who will be being hit hard by your competitors and their marketing efforts.

Option Three: Increase your own marketing activity. This must be targeted and specific, there is absolutely no point in sending out blanket marketing messages.  Untargeted campaigns are an expensive waste of time!

Option Four: Invest in a CRM system. This will enable you to keep all your key customer information in one place. It will provide your staff with increased knowledge which will enable them to deliver exceptional customer service.  Happy customers are more likely to stay loyal and the recurring revenue which they generate could be your life line.

Option Five: Invest in a fully integrated solution which will connect front and back office functions and provide transparency throughout the organisation. Many integrated solutions have the option to  add a  Business Intelligence modules. This will give you a clear view of what is happening within your organisation and will enable you to make more informed business decisions. What’s more, with a fully integrated solution, you get all of the benefits of a CRM and Finance solution embedded into one system.

Having considered all of the alternatives, it is evident that doing nothing is not an option, something has to be done to increase efficiency, effectiveness and ultimately the profitability of an organisation.

While there are significant benefits of implementing a standalone CRM or Accounts system, these are likely to be magnified by implementing an integrated solution. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is a fully integrated  solution which will enable an organisation to work from one centralised source of data. Microsoft Dynamics NAV has built in functionality which offers powerful tools for every element of business including:

- Financials

- Sales and Marketing

- Jobs and Project Management

- HR Management

- Supply Chain Management

- Manufacturing

- Business Intelligence

There are significant benefits of implementing Microsoft Dynamics NAV including:

- It helps staff to stay connected whilst mobile. This means that you can create and manage detailed contact information and relevant activities directly within Microsoft Outlook in the office, on the road or whilst working offline, and then synchronise the information with Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

- Microsoft NAV provides you with customer information whenever you need it

- The reporting tools in Microsoft NAV mean that you can quickly and effectively analyse performance.

- Enables Sales and Marketing staff to work together, as calendars, customer information and to do lists can be shared.

Concentrix takes a product agnostic approach to supplying integrated solutions and provides Microsoft Dynamics NAV as well as Sage 200 Suite. This enables us to ensure that you get the solution which matches your business requirements.

For more information about Microsoft Dynamics NAV or The Sage 200 Suite, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01509 410500 or email [email protected]

How CRM, Accounts and Business Management Software Help Prevent Business Failure

The world renowned leadership and management expert and co-author of The One Minute Manager, Dr Ken Blanchard, recently stated that he believes that there are two main reasons why new businesses fail:

- Because they are bad at financial management: In business you have to sell more than you spend. This sounds simple but a lot of people get so involved with the company that they keep spending money but they have a fundamental problem – they have no customers!

- Because they are bad at managing people – both their own employees and their customers.

However, help is at hand, providing a company is prepared to invest in an accounts and CRM solution:

- Accounts and Business Management Software will help you manage your finances

- CRM software will help you manage your customers and staff

Both CRM and Accounts solutions will bring significant advantages to an organisation as all their key data will be held in one place. Subsequently there will be no duplication of effort in terms of inputting information. Also because all information is stored in one place there will be no conflicting records.  In addition because all customer information is stored in one place all staff will be able to access it and as result staff will be empowered with knowledge and the customer experience will be improved. What’s more, a happy customer is much more likely to become loyal, therefore providing the company with long term profit making potential. However, it is important to remember that simply implementing a solution and leaving it will have no impact, a complete cultural shift is needed, if a solution is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation.

The alternative to investing in two separate systems is to invest in an integrated solution such as Microsoft Dynamics NAV or the Sage 200 Suite. With a fully integrated solution, you can manage your whole organisation using one piece of software. And, because fully integrated solutions work throughout a business, they will provide information from any area in the company to anyone else who needs it.

So what is CRM?

Customer Relationship Management is a way of improving business efficiency. It is all about building and strengthening customer relationships to keep them coming back, while helping businesses gain new customers.

Essentially, a CRM system will help an organisation manage its relationships with its customers and employees and this will help to overcome one of the major issues which Dr Ken Blanchard mentions as being a key cause of businesses failing.  Properly implemented, a CRM system will streamline internal business processes and by effectively integrating your marketing, sales and customer service functions, a CRM system will make it easier for everyone inside your company to work together and share critical information – irrespective of company size.

Customer Relationship Management will bring significant advantages to an organisation including:

- Business Management becomes more proficient as data in the CRM system is inherently well organised.

- More customers return for repeat business because staff deal with their queries efficiently and effectively

- Sales bring in more revenue by keeping a solid grasp on potential sales opportunities

(If you need more information on this there's a full article "What is CRM" is the Concentrix website knowledge base)

Accounts Solutions

The majority of organisations have some sort of accounting system in place as they are seen as a must have for the day-to-day operation of a business. However, Dr Ken Blanchard says that bad financial management is a cause of businesses failing.  It is therefore imperative to ensure that your solution is fit for purpose.

An accounting solution should help you to keep a firm grasp of your finances and enable you to overt any problems from arising, by ensuring that you get paid and pay your suppliers on time, subsequently maintaining a healthy cash flow.

Integrated Solutions

Essentially an integrated solution magnifies the benefits of those felt from the stand alone accounts/CRM system.

By implementing an integrated solution, all information relating to contacts would be stored centrally and will therefore improve knowledge, productivity and ultimately profitability. The central source of information will empower staff to deliver excellent customer service and therefore the customer experience will be improved. Integrated solution will also help organisations prevent different departments working in silos and will therefore enable companies to use their knowledge to create a competitive advantage.

About Concentrix

Concentrix is a leading Business Management Software, Customer Relationship Management Software and IT Solutions provider, based in the heart of the Midlands in Leicestershire.

As CRM specialists Concentrix provides the best in breed CRM solutions including Microsoft CRM, Sage CRM and FrontRange’ GoldMine. The Concentrix Product Portfolio also includes the full range of Sage accounting, Sage finance and Sage Enterprise Products. These include Sage 50, Sage line 100 and Sage 200.

Concentrix also provides both Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Sage 200 which are fully integrated solutions.

How to find out more

Concentrix takes a product agnostic approach to supplying both CRM and ERP solutions and this enables us to ensure that you get a solution which matches your requirements.

For help, advice or more information about any of our CRM, Accounts or Fully integrated solutions, please contact us on 01509 410500 or email [email protected]

Microsoft Dynamics NAV – the Complete Business Management Solution

Accounting and CRM systems have become pivotal to the success of organisations in recent years. Both bring significant advantages to a company. However, finance and CRM systems generally operate in very different ways. Financial systems are generally quantitative in nature, with users arguably seeing customers as a line on a sales ledger. However users of CRM systems very much focus on the building of relationships with customers and therefore the communication which occurs between the customer and the organisation. 

As a result, companies can ultimately end up using two separate systems in parallel – one for front office functions and one for back office functions and this has the potential to cause significant problems within an organisation. Especially when staff see customers differently. For example, staff using the back office system may see a customer as a recurring bad payer, whereas staff using the front office system may see the customer as a potential big revenue earner.

However this does not need to be the case. Through implementing a fully integrated solution an organisation can connect both front and back office systems to provide one centralised system which the company can work from. This provides a number of advantages including reduced duplication of effort, more accurate customer information and therefore greater efficiency and effectiveness.

Microsoft Dynamics NAV is a fully integrated solution which enables you to manage your entire business using one piece of software. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is about much more than Finance and CRM, there are modules to cover every aspect of business including:

- Financials

- Sales and Marketing

- Jobs and Project Management

- Service Management

- HR Management

- Supply Chain Management

- Manufacturing

- Business Intelligence

What’s more, it is easy to use and will help you to:

- Increase Productivity

- Easily Produce visuals, tables and reports

- Make your processes transparent and efficient

- Grow your business

Concentrix recommends Microsoft Dynamics NAV because:

- It is cost-effective, robust and flexible

- We can deploy it quickly, and above all correctly, so it meets the needs of your business. And when deployed correctly, Microsoft Dynamics NAV delivers rapid ROI

- It's extremely flexible. Concentrix can rapidly adapt Microsoft Dynamics NAV to your precise business processes, simplifying and streamlining the way your whole organisation works

There's a massive range of industry and process specific add-on applications available. These add powerful sector and process specific functionality to Microsoft Dynamics NAV - no matter what industry or area you are in or how specialised your processes are. And, all the add-ons supplied by Concentrix are tested, approved and certified by Microsoft.

Concentrix is an independent Business Solutions specialist based in the heart of the Midlands in Leicestershire. Concentrix takes a product agnostic approach to implementing Business Management Solutions and provides a number of products including Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Sage 200, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage CRM and FrontRange’s GoldMine.

For more information about Microsoft Dynamics NAV, or any of the other products provided by Concentrix, contact us on 01509 410500 or email info@ concentrix.co.uk

How to get started with CRM Webinar – 10th September 2009

Just a quick reminder that Concentrix in association with B2B Marketing is delivering a free webinar called “How to Get Started with CRM” on 10^th September 2009 at 3.30pm (BST).

The webinar will discuss the key factors which you need to consider when planning and implementing a new CRM system. These range from setting objectives, developing KPI’s, performing a business assessment and choosing the right software to manage the project, deployment,  potential pitfalls, measuring success and much more.

To register for the webinar, please visit http://www.b2bm.biz/webcast or for more information, please contact [email protected]

Hosted CRM: the easiest and quickest way to get CRM working for your business

“Cloud Computing”, “Software as a Service (SaaS)”, a “Hosted Solution” – call it what you like, but using professionally hosted business software is increasingly popular in successful UK companies.

Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM from Concentrix is a quick, convenient and hassle-free way to get up and running with this leading business application. There’s no need to buy extra computers to run the software, employ highly skilled technical staff to look after the system, or worry about things like security – it’s all done by us.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is one of the most feature-rich, powerful and flexible CRM products available. Used by businesses large and small, Microsoft Dynamics CRM improves the way your business operates, the way your business communicates and the way your business competes. What’s more it’s easy to use - there’s no steep learning curve because it works directly with software you’re already familiar with, like Microsoft Outlook.

Find out more about hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM:

- Download the free Microsoft whitepaper “Hosted CRM gives Small and Medium Enterprises Big Business Customer Management”

- Request a Concentrix Hosted CRM factsheet - email: [email protected]

 

- Ask about an unrestricted, free 14-day trial of the software – email: [email protected]- because it’s a hosted system, we’ll get you up and running almost straight away!