C&P from the codeplex site. When I have a little more time I hope to add to this but for the time being click on the link at the bottom to find out more: http://www.codeplex.com/crmaccelerators/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=21449 

I feel compelled to write about other things but when you’re on a roll and good things keep coming out why change... 

 

The first of three accelerators (Analytics R1 for Microsoft CRM 4.0) was released on Codeplex on Monday, the dashboards and SQL server Analysis Services (SSAS) cube are for 2005. As usual the Microsoft team have inculded all of the relevant documentation at which I have taken the liberty of using a few screen shots.

 

            

 

Future releaseas look to be very exciting in particular the more advanced features coming out in R3

Release 2 (R2) includes:

·         SQL Server 2008 Dashboard reports

·         Simple SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services (SSAS) cube

·         Sales Pipeline trending analysis example (SQL 2005 & 2008)

Release 3 (R3) includes:

·         Enhanced SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) cube (SQL Server 2005 AND 2008)

·         Embedded data mining applications

·         Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server scorecards

·         Security synchronization plugin (and source code) to replicate the Microsoft Dynamics CRM security model to the enhanced SSAS cubes

 

I suppose seeing it was the last thing that I looked at before starting this blog, Accelerators for Dynamics CRM seems like a sensible starting point.

 

Whether you are a partner or a customer these add-ons can be of great benefit, mainly because they are FREE.

 

As the MS CRM community expands so do the extra's that are available. If you are like me even the best thought out plans to provide aditional functionality for MS CRM can tend to take a while due to the fact that customers come along and of course they come first and the R&D get set aside.

 

Enter Microsoft (MS), the guys at MS are doing a great job in assisting the MS CRM community. Released in October and November this year were the following accelerators:

Have a look and try downloading them, code and documentation are available. I find that loading them up into a VPC image to demo they work a treat as a POC. There are a number of other accelerators due for release and it is worth noting that they all follow the SDK therefore all supported by Microsoft.

 

Other accelerators due for release are:

       Analytics

       Extends business intelligence for Microsoft Dynamics CRM by delivering sales, service and operations dashboards.

       E-Service Portal

       A configurable self-service portal for enhanced customer service through Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

       Enterprise Search

       Rapidly configure portal views of CRM data within SharePoint (MOSS) and expose this data to MOSS enterprise search.

       Business Productivity

       A collection of time-saving productivity customizations for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0

       Sales Methodologies

       Practical Guidance for adoption of third-party sales methodologies such as SPI Solution Selling, Target Account Selling (TAS)

       and Miller Heiman)