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Why Move to Microsoft CRM - by Thomas Payne

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 – I’ll just call it Microsoft CRM from here, is a great product. It not only enables Information Systems to deliver our traditional custom built business solutions, but enables us to deliver them more quickly, more simply and more cost effectively, while also providing an extremely flexible platform for both the client and us to modify. Microsoft CRM fulfils many tactical needs within businesses, but we think it should be looked on as a solution that can grow with your business, be customised to drive your business more successfully, and above all is a solution that can be used to run your business long term.

What is Microsoft CRM

For those that have a basic knowledge of Microsoft CRM, then move on quickly to the next section. This is a quick tour around what the solution provides. This list shows what Microsoft CRM can do with a vanilla install - at least what it does at the high level as it is a complex product, and it would take a book to cover fully how it works.

• It enables most business to manage their sales processes, including their pipeline of opportunities, quotes, orders even through to invoicing. It also supports management of leads for telesales or other activities. There is sophisticated quota management and reports available.
  On its own, if you have a sales team without any centralised systems, Microsoft CRM gives major benefits over using just Outlook.
• It fulfils the needs of the marketing department, with quick campaigns and full marketing campaigns, which support marketing professionals and provide reports upon the success of the campaigns, and how they match to budgets.
• It enables a business to manage its customer services function. This could be purely managing client issues as they arise, through to managing service level agreements or scheduling people and resources to fulfil pieces of work.
• One of the most important aspects is that the solution is fully customisable, and is a platform that can be expanded. So all of the above functionality can be changed to function the way your business works. Additionally, Microsoft CRM provides a platform to enable us to deliver functionality to cover all other aspects of the business, say the production process for an advertising sales company, or the management of house sales for an estate agent, or management of recruitment. So the processes in the back office can added to the solution easily. The last section deals fully with the technicalities of what can be achieved. The architecture of the solution is fantastic, and a great platform to be moving forward with.
  Not only are the entities, forms, and views customisable, just as important are the Workflow features built into the product that enable business processes to be implemented, but also monitored and exceptions actions carried out if they are not done.
• Second is that the CRM solution uses tools that your staff are used to. Microsoft CRM has an Outlook Client, integrates with Microsoft Office, works independently in a browser, and can be configured to run on mobile devices, either mobile through an “offline Outlook” model on laptops, or offline on Windows Mobile devices such as Pocket PCs. The learning curve for Microsoft CRM can and should be much less than proprietary solutions and more importantly, the user acceptance is much easier to gain.
• Thirdly, a business today survives on having information in a format that can be reported on. Using the power of SQL Server, the central repository contains all the data and using Reporting Services it is easy to provider reports to your users.
• Lastly, Microsoft CRM has been built to be simple for your IT department over its entire lifecycle. It supports upgrades which include all of your customisations being upgraded with the solution. A simple data migration framework aids getting up and running quickly, and there are infrastructure tools to make installing easier.

In Summary the flexibility Microsoft has built in to the solution means that as your business changes, CRM can be quickly and simply adapted to support your business. Or in marketing speak, it is an agile solution for agile businesses!!

For business why is Microsoft CRM such a good product

What is it about Microsoft CRM that makes is such a compelling application? Initially one thinks of CRM as primarily a sales, customer service and marketing solution. However almost all businesses have clients, suppliers and partners so almost all businesses could use Microsoft CRM to one degree or another. I guess the best way to look at this is by demonstrating how different businesses could use it

1. A small service based business
   We have installed several clients with the “out of the box” functionality, and it has improved the way they operate by centralising all of those contact lists, and keeping all the emails filed correctly, without any additional manual intervention. Generally for smaller businesses it can be used out of the box, with a few minor customisations, such as name changes, and views customised to the way you work. It can contain all the clients, suppliers, partners and any other categories of companies and contacts that a business wants to store.
   • As you can guess, we use Microsoft CRM internally. So for example, we use Opportunities for managing our pipeline, and store all of our clients, suppliers and partners within CRM.
   • We use the email integration with Exchange Server for storing client communications (both in and out). With CRM 3.0 you can store the majority of all email communications in CRM. Basically CRM becomes the filing cabinet of communications, with the communications linked appropriately.
   • Businesses can use Quick Campaigns for mail-shots to their clients, suppliers or both, and then can monitor the response rates. This does not just have to be sales activities but could be for support announcements, or invites to training activities.
   • The customer service functionality enables small businesses to quickly manage all of their ongoing communications with clients (and / or suppliers depending upon the business), as well as logging all customer service issues that arise.
   • We use SharePoint sites for client portals for communicating documents and collaborating with our clients. These can be embedded by hyperlinking within CRM into the solution. Other web based solutions (e.g. Sharepoint WebParts) or web pages can be put into CRM , for example a map showing the location of the customer or person.
   • Small business can take the Reporting Services reports and modify them to give the specific reports they wish.

2. Medium sized web recruitment business
   Once you get to a certain size, the basics are not necessarily enough. Here we begin to see the real power of Microsoft CRM. As well as handling the basic functionality as mentioned above, there are processes within a company that become repetitive, that need to be handled more efficiently. Here Microsoft CRM becomes a platform that can be used to deliver core business processes in a repetitive and reliable manner.
   • For a recruitment company you could create a “Permanent Vacancy” and a “Candidate” entity within CRM. All communications to both the client and the prospective candidates then get logged within the system. All interviews are coordinated through the activities within CRM, as well as follow up phone calls, etc. Each of the two entities can have their own data as well as being linked to each other, and having links to other entities within CRM. A process can be put in place, ensuring the correct business activities are performed, to ensure that the steps required for permanent recruitment are followed - steps such as verifying addresses, employment history, residency status.
   • For an accountancy firm, you could create the entities for managing “Company Annual Returns” or “Tax Returns” for individuals, and activities around making sure these were fulfilled correctly.

3. Department of a large corporate
   Several of our customers are large corporates, which generally have ERP solutions in place. Quite often they find that, in a department, they have different needs to manage their part of the business than can be accommodated centrally. We then see that Microsoft CRM fits in to fill the gaps that the central system cannot.

Technically why is Microsoft CRM such a good product

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is primarily a customer relationship management tool that works extremely well by integrating with the MS Office toolset and leveraging from the Microsoft Server Family of products.

1. Four Clients in One Solution
   • Web Client
     The primary look and feel of the whole of CRM, whether within Internet Explorer, or within Outlook, is that of a web based application. Using the full power of .NET, and the browser, a very sophisticated client interface has been built.
   • Outlook Client
     The Outlook client is one of the key wins of this solution over its competition. I was at my son’s football match, and met a friend in the industry who works for a large insurance company, and he said “We are looking at Microsoft CRM just because it works within Outlook, no training for the users”. The embedding of Microsoft CRM into Outlook, so that CRM contacts are your Outlook contacts, your CRM appointments and tasks are Outlook appointments and tasks, is an extremely compelling argument.
   • Offline Outlook Client
     Not only does this functionality exist within Outlook when you are in the office, but it works almost the same as “cached mode” Outlook. CRM data can be synchronised when connected to allow offline usage by field workers, or sales staff.
   • Pocket PC Client
     The last client in the jigsaw is a Pocket PC, Mobile edition. This enables wireless communication, and will therefore enable the CRM information to become available to a different type of user in the field.

2. Core Architecture
   Personally, one of the reasons why I like Microsoft CRM, is that I think they have produced a first class application, built with fundamental principles in place that allow it to be easily taken forwards.
   • Architecturally, CRM has been built to be a platform that is customisable and upgradeable. It uses a meta data driven approach, with many extensibility hooks built into the core framework, enabling developers and super users easily to make changes to the solution.
   • CRM is Microsoft’s first full .NET application. CRM 3.0 is the flagship application for .NET 2.0, and can use SQL 2005 as well as SQL 2000.
   • Fundamentally there has been a huge investment in Microsoft CRM to date and it is expected to pervade throughout their business platforms.
   • Microsoft has created a scalable solution that has been built and tested to support hundreds and even thousands of clients. Although it is aimed at the SME marketplace, it can scale to support the needs of much larger businesses or departments.
   • The links to Outlook, Exchange and MS Office benefit from the fact that the solution is a through and through Microsoft product.
   • Security. Did I forget to mention security? Well, there is a reasonably complex security architecture within Microsoft CRM, but one that goes across the whole application including reporting. So if you set that a user cannot see the contacts in another business unit, then they will not get to see them, whichever way they come into the system.

3. Customisation Options
   This list gives a summary of the key customisations that can be performed with Microsoft CRM.
   • Existing Entities can have their attributes modified, new attributes added, and new relationships defined to suit your business. Forms and Views based on the entities can be created and modified.
   • New Custom Entities can be created with attributes, relationships, forms and views
   • The CRM platform supports “pre-save” and “post-save” event handlers, which support .net assemblies so that almost anything is possible, e.g. Post Office Address File lookups, calling external interfaces for population of data.
   • Data Mappings mechanism, when creating a new entity it can be “created” from an existing entity by mapping the fields from one to another. So if say a registered candidate applies for a job, then the mapping to be a respondent (which could be handled by a different entity) can be automated through the tools.
   • Microsoft CRM Workflow. Within CRM there is a powerful workflow engine, that will automatically perform certain actions, as statuses of entities change with the solution. This include activities being completed, or timed events. The workflow also can call .net assemblies so again the power is reasonably unlimited as to what can be achieved.
   • The reports within CRM are delivered using Reporting Services. By using the Reporting Services tools, it is possible to customise and deliver reports within the solution. Reports can sometimes be used as part of the GUI to ensure efficient business processes.
   • Lastly on the customisation front, there is a full API to enable most functions available within the system to be called. This can be called as a web service, and I think as a .net assembly.