Microsoft Dynamics CRM


Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management software package developed by Microsoft. The product focuses mainly on sales, marketing, and service sectors, but Microsoft has been marketing Dynamics CRM as a CRM platform and has been encouraging partners to use its once proprietary, now Open Source framework to customize it. It is part of the Microsoft Dynamics family of business applications.
Dynamics CRM is a server-client application, which, like Microsoft SharePoint, is primarily an IIS-based web application which also supports extensive web services interfaces. Clients access Dynamics CRM either by using a browser or by a thick client plug-in to Microsoft Outlook. Besides Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox browsers are fully supported since Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 12.
The current version is Dynamics 365. The name and licensing changed with the update from Dynamics 2016. Microsoft Dynamics CRM currently has over 40,000 customers.

History

Microsoft Dynamics CRM first began in 2001 with the acquisition of iCommunicate, a web based CRM company with only 10 employees. With this collaboration, the development of a modern, web based CRM application began to form. In 2003 Microsoft CRM 1.0 was released offering basic contact management and email campaign functionality aimed at the small and medium business market.
Microsoft CRM 1.0
Microsoft CRM 1.0 was released in January 2003, with name Microsoft Business Solutions Customer Relationship Management 1.0.
But soon the name was changed to Microsoft CRM 1.0.
;Microsoft CRM 1.2
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0
;Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
;Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011
;Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013
;Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015
;Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016
;Microsoft Dynamics 365

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.0

Versions

This edition is only allowed 5 CALs maximum,it is not possible to add more CALs. If more CALs are needed, an upgrade to Professional or Enterprise should be done. Also all the server roles are installed on 1 machine and cannot be separated. You can only create 1 organization in this version and the use of external connectors is not allowed. This version is ideal for small organizations that can use it with the SQL Server Work group Edition and on a Windows Small Business Server.
The Professional Edition has the same functionality as the Work group Edition except there is no limit on the CALs. If the installation profile calls for supporting either multiple organizations or servers, the Enterprise Edition is required.
Has the same functionality as the Professional Edition but without limits. This version is to be used when multiple divisions should be accessing CRM from one platform.
This edition is actually an Enterprise Edition that is configured to accept Internal user requests from AD and external user requests through IFD. This version is mostly implemented by Microsoft Partners that offer Hosted CRM functionality, when letting external users connect to this CRM version through the Internet.

Licensing

Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers two types of licenses: Server license and Client Access License. Each deployment should have at least one server license and one CAL. CAL is also known as a user license.
There are two types of Client CAL:
Read Only Licenses
New in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 are readonly licenses. Users that do not have to have write permissions can be assigned Read Only licenses. These licenses are cheaper because they do not allow any write operations on the records. If later a user should be able to perform a write operation, a step-up license can be bought to upgrade the Read-Only license to a Full Client Access License.
Full Use Licenses
Full Use Licenses are licenses where the client has read, write and update permissions.
External Connector Licenses
Whenever an application reads or writes data from/in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, an external connector license is required. External Connector licenses are only valid when bought for a Professional or Enterprise edition. It is not allowed to use them with a Workgroup Edition.
These also come in three forms:
Dynamics CRM version 4.0 adds a number of new features, including support for duplicate data detection and other enhancements. Perhaps most importantly, CRM 4.0 provides true multi-tenancy, which will allow the creation of multiple organizations on a single server. CRM 4.0 was released with the following improvements:
Microsoft publishes updates for Microsoft Dynamics CRM every two months. At the time of writing, CRM 4.0 Rollup 21 is available. For CRM 2011, rollup 18 is available. For CRM 2013, rollup 3 is available which was introduced after an SP1 releases.

Accelerators for Microsoft Dynamics CRM

In order to maximize the integration with other products and to enable basic templating, Microsoft released the Accelerators, a set of basic vertical solution templates that can be used to extend Microsoft Dynamics CRM in a few directions. These accelerators could be downloaded from the CodePlex website and adapted by the organization itself.
This was eventually retired February 28, 2013.

Support and End of life

Mainstream Support for Microsoft Dynamics 4.0 ended on April 9th, 2013.
Extended support for Microsoft Dynamics 4.0 ended on April 10th, 2018.,

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is available as a cloud offering or an on-premises installation by a partner/customer. As in CRM 4 these versions can be highly customized using advanced extensions. New feature set includes – Visualizations, Dashboards, Document Management, Grid Filters, Dialogs, Recurring Appointments, Custom Activities, Goal Management, Fetch based Reports, MAPI based Outlook clients, FLS, etc.
The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 RTW/RTM is available since January and mid February 2011 respectively. 41 languages are supported.
Microsoft SharePoint integration
Since the 2011 version, it is possible to store and manage documents in the context of Dynamics CRM records on a server that is running Microsoft SharePoint. This feature allows to use the advanced SharePoint framework for the content management infrastructure inside Dynamics CRM. With the SharePoint integration, it is also possible to share documents for external users with granted permission but no access to Dynamics CRM account.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 is available as a cloud offering, on-premises or a hybrid of cloud and on-premises installation by a partner/Customer.
On Sept. 16, 2014, Microsoft announced that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015, as well as updates to its Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and Microsoft Dynamics Marketing services, will be generally available in the fourth quarter of 2014. Microsoft also released a preview guide with details.


On Nov 30, 2014 Microsoft announced the general availability of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 and the 2015 Update of Microsoft Dynamics Marketing.


On Jan 6, 2015, Microsoft announced the availability of a CRM Cloud service specifically for US Government that is designed for FedRAMP compliance.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2016 was officially released on November 30, 2015. In the official press release Microsoft calls this “The most comprehensive upgrade ever for Dynamics CRM” and says it “includes advancements in intelligence, mobility and service, with significant productivity enhancements”. In June 2016 was developed a special application which sends scanned info from business cards into MS Dynamics CRM named Business Card Reader for MS Dynamics and Call Tracker application in 2017.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement

Microsoft Dynamics 365 was officially released on November 1,2016. The product is presented as a revolution, combining Microsoft business products.
The software that was known as Microsoft Dynamics CRM, is now known as Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement. This software contains the following applications:
The offerings Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations and Dynamics 365 Business Central cover the ERP needs, such as book-keeping, invoice and order handling and manufacturing.
The strategy is to let the customers choose the module they need.
Microsoft proposes a general offer, called Dynamics 365 Plan, a Customer Engagement Plan for CRM applications and a unified operations Plan for ERP applications.
In Dynamics 365 version 9.0.0.1 many notable features like Virtual entities in Dynamics 365, Auto Numbering Attributes, Multi Select Options sets etc. were introduced.
The latest update called the 'October Update' was released in October 2018 and was called Dynamics 365, with version number 9.1.0.0035
For more information: Dynamics 365

Community

The CRM community consists of professionals, typically employees of Dynamics Partners, End-users and MS MVPs.
The Dynamics CRM User Group is the largest, user-led community for companies using the software.
eXtremeCRM is the premier event focused exclusively on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and dedicated to advancing best practices and strategies for Microsoft Dynamics CRM organizations.

Events

CRMUG Summit
eXtremeCRM event