DYNAMICS CRM AS AN xRM DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM Jim Novak Solution Architect Celedon Partners, LLC

AGENDA 1.What is Microsoft Dynamics CRM? 2.Some Technical Details and History 3.What is xRM? 4.How can users extend Dynamics CRM? 5.How can developers extend Dynamics CRM? 6.Custom Dev vs. the xRM Platform 7. xRM in Action… Some demos

WHAT IS MICROSOFT DYNAMICS CRM? “Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft. Out of the box, the product focuses mainly on Sales, Marketing, and Service (help desk) sectors, but Microsoft has been marketing Dynamics CRM as an XRM platform and has been encouraging partners to use its proprietary (.NET based) framework to customize it.” via Wikipedia, Microsoft Dynamics CRM  Out of the box Sales and Marketing solution for small, mid and enterprise customers  Big competitor to the familiar Salesforce.com CRM solution

SOME TECHNICAL DETAILS AND HISTORY Technical platform  Fully managed code,.NET Framework 4.5+ on latest release  SQL Server based, SQL Server 2012 fully supported  Integrated with Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services  Available On Premise and Online  Web based UI with mobile support and Outlook integration History  Platform originally built as an extensible business framework  Originally designed as an application platform by iConnect out of Baltimore  Microsoft liked the CRM proof of concept, so they acquired the platform and the team joined the Microsoft product team  xRM still at the core of the platform

WHAT IS xRM? “Take the ‘C’ out of ‘CRM’ and you‘re left with Microsoft Dynamics Relationship Management— and that‘s the right way to think about this product. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is not just about sales and marketing. It‘s a platform for developing line of business applications—applications that manage and track information and processes around real world objects.” via Microsoft Dynamics CRM as a Business Application Platform whitepaper  Translate - xRM means “Anything” Relationship Management  Treat CRM as a flexible, adaptable platform for any LOB applications  One business application platform, supporting many applications  This means shared resources and familiar platform for cross application users

Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides a powerful rapid development platform easily integrated into existing systems… the core of xRM! xRM PLATFORM Rapid Application Platform XRM SharePoint ASP.NET Legacy DB/App Legacy DB/App Mobile Web Office Social Cloud Apps

HOW CAN USERS EXTEND DYNAMICS CRM?  Customizations – Configuration based updates to the CRM platform  Metadata – configure and extend the underlying data model  Entities - An entity is a container for data, each containing a set of attributes  Attributes - An attribute is a container for a piece of data in an entity  Relationship - A relationship defines an association between two entities  Entity Forms and Business Rules – forms designer for entity specific data entry  Workflows – workflow designer for hooking into the entity event model  Business Process flows –designer for guided business processes  Reports – built in report designer for SSRS hosted reports No option listed requires development time, skills nor tools

HOW CAN DEVS EXTEND DYNAMICS CRM?  Forms JavaScript – extend entity forms via JavaScript web resources  Web Resources – extend forms and dialogs via custom HTML pages  Plugins – hook into the platform execution pipeline  Workflows – extend workflow pipeline with custom workflows  Custom Reports – download and modify SSRS reports  Services – access to schema and solution data via web services  Custom Portals – provide custom user interface for CRM data and services Each option requires a level of development effort and developer skills to implement

CUSTOM DEV VS. THE xRM PLATFORM Pros  Powerful rapid development platform  Increased developer productivity  Less development investment in time and effort  Supported by Microsoft, a full SDK and active developer and user communities  Many supported add-on solutions by vendors  Consolidated IT infrastructure and improved IT Staff efficiency through a known, supported platform Cons  Learning curve for developers  Lack of some functionality  Some limits to extensibility

xRM IN ACTION… SOME DEMOS  Custom Entity – Simple custom entity owned by a system user  Custom Form – Custom fields and navigation for new entity  JavaScript and Web Resource – demonstrate  Business Process – sample  Custom Plugin – auto generate field values on create  Custom Portal – access and update via a website

APPENDIX References, notes and further reading

REFERENCES  Business users – Microsoft Dynamics CRM home Home page for Microsoft Dynamics CRM  Developers - MSDN Online Community Microsoft Dynamics CRM section of MSDN with documentation and examples  Software Development Kit Online Microsoft Dynamics CRM SDK online, including documentation and examples  Training & Adoption Kit for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Microsoft Dynamics CRM Training slides, ebooks and presentations  CRM User Group Third party CRM user group, connecting to other users, developers for training and discussions  Celedon Partners Check out the Celedon Partners blog!

CRM EXTENSIBILITY ARCHITECTURE  Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides a powerful extensibility platform  Business Entity customizations  Security model configuration  User interface extensions  Plugin execution pipeline  Web services  Reports and SQL views

SharePoint xRM Unstructured & Semi-structured Data Social Engagement & Collaboration Information Evolution & Storage Informal RulesEnterprise Search Across Teams & Domains Structured Relational Data Interactions, Activities & Tasks Information Generation & Analytics Formalized Processes Data Query & Filter Within Teams & Domains SHAREPOINT AND DYNAMICS CRM  Microsoft offers powerful complementary, integrated platforms with Dynamics CRM and SharePoint