Four points on why do you need a CRM

- Access any portion of your business i.e. Visibility
- Collaborate virually with anyone i.e. Sales, Marketing, Customers, Support
- View real-time reports and statistics of your business i.e, KPI, Trends, Sales
- Integrate virtually with any system

Dynamics CRM Long Term Vision (SoD)

This Statement of Direction (SoD) outlines the future direction and planned areas of innovation for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The intent of this paper is to help customers and partners establish appropriate plans and guidelines for their investments today, while keeping an eye on the horizon of future innovations being delivered by the Microsoft Dynamics CRM team. It is meant to be directional in nature – and articulates scenarios and solutions that are planned to be delivered over the next 36 months versus any particular product release or service update.

Statement of Direction (SoD) link

Release of Rollup 1 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013

There is a long list of fixes issued in Rollup 1 including:

• Publishing a CRM report fails as the parent report already links to another report with same name.
• Invalid Argument when navigating to view with related entity lookup. 
• The chart (for any other entity) does not display in Korean due to System.ArgumentException: "Value of 'Malgun Gothic, Segoe UI, 9.5px' is not valid for 'units'."
• Script error occurs when moving from a form. "Unable to get property 'get_filterType' of undefined or null reference"
• Disabling checkbox fields using the JavaScript API does not work.

Find full list of details on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Update Rollup 1 KB article here.

Help your sales teams stay connected

Customer relationship management (CRM) for sales empowers your sales force to manage and share sales intelligence across devices, channels, locations, departments, and time, for higher productivity, more targeted sales, and faster closing rates.

Keep your sales teams connected using Microsoft Dynamics CRM . Foster productive internal and external communities by enabling your people to share news, information, and best practices. Embedded Yammer and powerful file-sharing capabilities enable you to collaborate with your team in the context of the work at hand.

That way, your mobile sales reps continue to "work the deal" while on the road. Your field salespeople can arrive prepared for every meeting by accessing schedules and communications via the phones and tablets they choose to use. And, with access to real-time customer and partner information, they can deliver more impactful engagements.

Why Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013

MEA Dynamics CRM User Group

Welcome to MEA Dynamics CRM User Group.

The MEA Dynamics CRM User Group (CRMUG) provides training, education, and networking opportunities - connecting you with like-minded CRM users to leverage their experiences and best practices. By subscribing to the group you can get several opportunities including:

• Unlimited access to educational webinars
• Engage and collaborate with CRM community
• Join our discussion boards to post answers or post a question
• Read technical blogs to find solutions
• Social networking with other industry CRM experts
• Free attendance to user group meetings
• And many other stuff.

Be a member and get all the above opportunities.

MEA Dynamics CRM User Group

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2013 software requirements

Windows Server operating system

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2013 can be installed only on Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2012 64-bit-based computers.

Supported Windows Server 2012 editions

The following editions of the Windows Server 2012 operating system are supported for installing and running Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2013:

• Windows Server 2012 Datacenter
• Windows Server 2012 Standard

Supported Windows Server 2008 editions

The following editions of the Windows Server 2008 operating system are supported for installing and running Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2013:

• Windows Server 2008 Standard SP2 (x64 versions) or Windows Server 2008 Standard R2 SP1
• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise SP2 (x64 versions) or Windows Server 2008 Enterprise R2 SP1
• Windows Server 2008 Datacenter SP2 (x64 versions) or Windows Server 2008 Datacenter R2 SP1
• · Windows Web Server 2008 SP2 (x64 versions) or Windows Web Server 2008 R2 SP1

Important
Windows Server 2008 installed by using the Server Core installation option is not supported for installing and running Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Server.

Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based systems isn't supported for installing and running Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2013.

Important
The Windows Server 2003 family of operating systems aren't supported for installing and running Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2013.

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server editions aren't supported for installing and running Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2013.

Active Directory modes
The computer that Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2013 is running on must be a member in a domain that is running in one of the following Active Directory service forest and domain functional levels:

• Windows Server 2003 Interim
• Windows Server 2003 Native
• Windows Server 2008 Interim
• Windows Server 2008 Native
• Windows Server 2012

Internet Information Services (IIS)
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2013 supports Internet Information Services (IIS) versions 7, 7.5, and 8.0.

SQL Server editions
Any one of the following Microsoft SQL Server editions is required and must be installed on Windows Server 2008 (x64 SP2 or R2) versions or Windows Server 2012 64-bit-based computers, running, and available for Microsoft Dynamics CRM:

• Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Standard Edition, x64 SP3 or R2 SP2
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Enterprise Edition, x64 SP3 or R2 SP2
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Datacenter x64 SP3 or R2 SP2
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Developer x64 SP3 or R2 SP2 (for non-production environments only)
• Microsoft SQL Server 2012, Enterprise, 64-bit SP1
• Microsoft SQL Server 2012, Business Intelligence, 64-bit SP1
• Microsoft SQL Server 2012, Standard, 64-bit SP1

SQL Server Reporting Services
Specific Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services editions are used for reporting functionality.

Any one of the following Microsoft SQL Server editions is required and must be installed on Windows Server 2008 (x64 SP2 or R2) versions or Windows Server 2012 64-bit-based computers, running and available for Microsoft Dynamics CRM:

• Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Standard Edition, x64 SP3 or R2 SP2
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008, Enterprise Edition, x64 SP3 or R2 SP2
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Datacenter x64 SP3 or R2 SP2
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Developer x64 SP3 or R2 SP2 (for non-production environments only)
• Microsoft SQL Server 2012, Enterprise, 64-bit SP1
• Microsoft SQL Server 2012, Business Intelligence, 64-bit SP1
• Microsoft SQL Server 2012, Standard, 64-bit SP1

Software component prerequisites
The following components must be installed and running on the computer where Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Server will be installed:

Services
Indexing Service (Windows Server 2008)\ Windows Search (Windows Server 2012)

IIS Admin

• World Wide Web Publishing
• Windows Data Access Components (MDAC) 6.0 (This is the default version of MDAC with Windows Server 2008
• Microsoft ASP.NET (Must be registered, but does not have to be running.)

Note: If not installed, they are installed for a Full Server during Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server Setup.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server 2013 hardware requirements

Component	*Minimum	*Recommended
Processor	x64 architecture or compatible dual-core 1.5 GHz processor	Quad-core x64 architecture 2 GHz CPU or higher such as AMD Opteron or Intel Xeon systems
Memory	2-GB RAM	8-GB RAM or more
Hard disk	10 GB of available hard disk space Note Computers with more than 16GB of RAM will require more disk space for paging, hibernation, and dump files.	40 GB or more of available hard disk space Note Computers with more than 16GB of RAM will require more disk space for paging, hibernation, and dump files.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM delivers an average ROI of 243%*

This ROI Calculator will let you understand how Microsoft Dynamics CRM can deliver a booster shot directly to your bottom line.

What is ROI?

Return on investment (ROI) is a measure of investment cost to investment gain. Customer relationship management (CRM) helps to achieve a positive ROI through reduced costs and increased profitability while also increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty in the sales, marketing, and customer service fields.

Related Link

And for the lovers of CRM templates

Would you like to work on plethora of possibilities in CRM 2011/2013. Feel free to have look at the available templates from Microsoft Dynamics Labs, it's fun working and learning millions of ideas from these potential templates.

Related Link

License types in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 On-Premise and Online

With the release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 and the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Fall ’13 Update, Microsoft has introduced a new multi-tiered licensing model that extends the licensing flexibility that is currently offered to on-premises customers and introduces the same level of flexibility for online customers. This proves the organization's strategy towards customers success.

Reference Link

CONVERGENCE 2014 IS GOING TO BE AMAZING!

Convergence is that one moment in time when the Microsoft Dynamics community members come together to share “Aha!” moments. It’s their chance to network with other Dynamics users, see things for the first time, learn about the latest features and updates, get answers to tough questions from Microsoft product experts, and find new ways to stay ahead of their competition.

Dynamics CRM 2013 - On-Premise and Online Licencing Model

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online:
Software Subscription. You pay a monthly subscription fee per named user for on-demand software hosted by Microsoft. In this model your company does not own the software. Maintenance fees are included in the cost. Includes Sales, Service, Marketing Functionality.
5 user minimum

Licensing Model

• Professional at $65 per user per month and will include sales force automation, marketing and customer service. This is the traditional CRM suite and will be the most popular choice for most customers

• Basic at $30 per user per month and will include more limited sales, marketing and service for users who need to manage leads, accounts, contacts, cases and access custom applications or reporting

• Essential at $15 per user per month is intended for users who need to access to custom applications developed in house or by ISVs

Microsoft Dynamics CRM On Premise:
Software Purchase. You pay a one time fee to purchase the CRM server license and named user licenses and have it installed on your own servers/hardware. In this model your company owns the software. Includes Sales, Service, Marketing Functionality. No user minimum.

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server is $3938 per instance.

Licensing Model

• Professional version is priced at $984 per user and $787 per device
• Basic version is $342 per user and $236 per device 
• Essential version is $79 per user or device

Free non-production instances and free storage in Dynamics CRM Online 2013

As some of you have already noticed, with Dynamics CRM Online 2013, we offer a free non-production instance and free storage.  Exciting, isn’t it? If you are not aware of this offering, please read on to learn more about this and how the non-production instance and free storage tie up with your CRM application.

Get the full details on MSDN site MSDN site.

Unleash the power of CRM 2013 - Go For A 'Free Trial '

Try Free

Analyse market trends. Redefine sales performance. Create customer loyalty. All within Microsoft's trusted cloud.

Hey where is Duplicate Detection in CRM 2013

So what is Duplicate Detection? Provides the ability to show potential duplicate records on the client side when creating or updating records

But unfortunately this has been removed from CRM 2013 :( hopefully Microsoft will bring this feature back.

I can't go back to my customers and tell them this sad story, so instead of jumping directly to a conclusion I tried my luck on internet and think what, I found a solution on Microsoft CodePlex open source site.

Enjoy!

Related Link