Microsoft CRM is now on the scene and it is increasing its market share, due to the Microsoft Business Solutions muscles and marketing strategy. It is tightly integrated with other Microsoft Business Solutions products such as Microsoft Great Plains, Solomon, Navision.
If you are programmer or database administrator who is asked: how do we modify Microsoft CRM ? read this article and you will have the clues for further research.
1. Microsoft CRM SDK ? this is software development kit with C# and partly VB.net code samples ? it is supported by Microsoft Business Solutions technical support. It is based on web service calls, if you are C# .NET developer ? you are excellently positioned to do this type of customizations. This is the preferred modification scenario and this should be easily upgradeable customization. VB.Net examples will be available soon.
2. Legacy SQL Data integration. This is also easy and safe. If you have SQL database, sitting on the same or linked SQL Server ? you can create ASPX .Net application and simply integrate it into CRM. You can place it on the navigation bar or menu in isv.config ? please refer to MS CRM SDK
3. Legacy ASP integration ? this is somewhat more sophisticated. You have to deploy HTTP handler to be a middle party between CRM which is .Net based and ASP which is legacy IIS. The trick is ? you have to have INI file with security settings to penetrate into MS CRM with proper credentials, calling web service.
4. Microsoft Exchange Programming. Microsoft CRM has Exchange connector ? which moves CRM incoming email to MS if it has GUID in its subject. You can alter this logic (for instance - move email to CRM if it doesn't have GUID but it is from the sender who is contact or account in MS CRM). Refer to MS Exchange SDK onsyncsave event handling. Then simply apply some MS CRM SDK programming - you need some COM+ objects creation and VB programming experience.
5. Direct SQL touch ? in #4 above I described you the scenario with MS Exchange handlers ? this would be ideal world if MS CRM SDK does the job. But ? in real world this is not always true ? you have to do direct flags correction in CRM database (like making Activity closed, moving email attachments/octet streams, etc). This is not supported by MBS technical support ? but you can rescue to this technique if you have to get job done.
6. MS CRM Customization tool ? this is rather end-user tool and we don't describe it here ? read the manual. We've described above the options to use when this tool doesn't do the job
7. Crystal Reports - feel free to create Crystal report - tables and views structure is self explanatory. Try to avoid the temptation to create your own SQL view or stored procedure in MS CRM database, instead - create custom database and place your view and stored proc in it.
Happy modifying!
About The Author
Andrew Karasev is Chief Technology Officer in Alba Spectrum Technologies ? USA nationwide Microsoft CRM, Microsoft Great Plains customization company, based in Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta, and Miami and having locations in multiple states and internationally www.albaspectrum.com, he is Dexterity, SQL, VB/C#.Net, Crystal Reports and Microsoft CRM SDK developer.
If you want us to do the job - give us a call 1-866-528-0577! help@albaspectrum.com
Remember nice and prosperous Clinton era? When you implemented innovative... Read More
User interfaces and accessibility are some of the most important... Read More
Spyware is like the new technological nuclear weapon on the... Read More
Are you a whiz at calculating financial information? Not the... Read More
The first topic we are going to discuss... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains may be recommended for international freight forwarding... Read More
There are two major WYSIWYG(What You See Is What You... Read More
Sticky Noteshttp://www.deprice.com/stickynote.htmWith StickyNote 9.0, you can create beautiful 3D notes... Read More
If you copy something from a Web site or elsewhere...... Read More
Customer Relationship Management, abbreviated "CRM," is the term for a... Read More
If you've been using MySQL database to store your important... Read More
The vast majority of us will have, at some point,... Read More
Most computer users use spreadsheets software such as Microsoft Excel... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions ? Great Plains has captured the US... Read More
Small can be beautiful! Working with Knoppix for the past... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions is now in process of creating so... Read More
Research bears that less than 70 percent of development projects... Read More
Mapping Software Improves Data VisualizationFrom the outset, it is important... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains has substantial mid-market share in the USA... Read More
Looking at all the ads which promise to get rid... Read More
Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more... Read More
While several preventive maintenance software manufacturers offer free trials for... Read More
Some introduction into Great Plains Software products, now Microsoft Business... Read More
Microsoft Office program is a programming tool called Visual Basic... Read More
It is now common thing when large corporation selects mid-market... Read More
Intro This concise article will tell you in plain English... Read More
The intentions of this short tutorial are not to teach... Read More
Domino server is a buffer between the operation system and... Read More
Words we choose to describe things and phenomena often show... Read More
People often ask me: What image file formats will Photoshop... Read More
Every organization which creates collaborative documents, whether they are budgets,... Read More
Learning how to program software seems like a daunting task... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains fits to majority of horizontals and retail... Read More
XML parser is a software module to read documents and... Read More
Introduction: The creating of a computer program involves a number... Read More
I have yet to see a business that, sometimes in... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies... Read More
What is Spyware?Spyware monitors your surfing habits and sends the... Read More
Bar charts, bar graphs, and any other chart or graph... Read More
The US House of Representatives has recently passed the "Spy... Read More
In order to implement VLANs in a network environment, you'll... Read More
An integral part of any quality CRM system is lead... Read More
Most people don't use Photoshop to its fullest capabilities. Here... Read More
Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular,... Read More
Intro This concise article will tell you in plain English... Read More
Configuring PPP PAP AuthenticationNow we know how the ISDN link... Read More
Now there are Three Steps To Heaven Just listen and... Read More
We all take the computer for granted. I mean, all... Read More
Here is some free software tools to help you build... Read More
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Hawaii (HMSA) found itself... Read More
Microsoft Office program is a programming tool called Visual Basic... Read More
There are two major WYSIWYG(What You See Is What You... Read More
C/SIDE (Client/Server Integrated Development Environment) - The core of... Read More
Language development computer: Computer-based method for aiding language development seems... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft Retail Management System (Microsoft RMS)... Read More
OEComplete is a utility for managing the personal information of... Read More
We all already got used to computer monitoring both at... Read More
It's no secret that software companies operate in a very... Read More
Microsoft released Service Pack 2 (SP2) for the Windows XP... Read More
Shareware is software that you can try before you buy;... Read More
Around the same time Microsoft made its move with .Net... Read More
Ok... Where to start?Well, I guess I will start at... Read More
We'll give you non formal view, based on our consulting... Read More
Writing software manuals is boring, isn't it? We often think:... Read More
Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a software development methodology. In... Read More
I've been active in the Cisco Certification track for four... Read More
Software |