This entry was posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 8:40 pm and is filed under Dynamics CRM 4.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
CRM 4 -The ultimate business platform?
So as the latest edition of Microsoft CRM is making its way into the hearts of its customers how does it compare with its previous release of version 3? If you haven’t been introduced to Microsoft CRM 4 you should check out the feature list that is available now. It is really shaping up to becoming a great business platform. So what makes it so special?
Typically software has certain limitations. CRM breaks the typical mold of a business application because it can not only stores information on your customers but provides features not available with typical software. Let me explain. It is a business platform because it is:
1.) Easy to customize – With the customization tools built-in to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4 you don’t need an application developer or software engineer to help create additional windows or additional fields to store the information that is important to your organization.
2.) Easy to report from – In CRM 4 the best way to generate report from your custom developments is easier than ever. Sometimes business applications are great, but they lack the reporting needs of most organizations. This usually results in costly custom report development and which requires maintenance between editions of the business software. Microsoft CRM 4 helps solve this gap with a report wizard built right into it and it is easy enough for anyone to use. Also, getting data out of any entity of CRM 4 is as easy as clicking the export to excel button.
3.) Easy to import data into – So after you create the additional pieces for information storage how do you get bulk information into the software? This is a huge issue with most platforms and if you have alot of information that is required to be entered it normally requires data integration software or a developer. Every entity in Microsoft CRM 4 is available to import to, and you can easily map new fields of data into CRM 4.
4.) Easy to create workflow that automates business processes – Business process automation also? Most business software leaves out this step entirely! Not only do you normally want to define business processess, but you want to remove headache of tedious tasks for your users. With workflow in CRM 4 it is easy to not only drive processes, but complete orchestrations that make your daily life at work for your users more productive.
5.) Has a great interface that has complete security built into it – Security an issue? Not in CRM 4. basically if your users don’t have access to it they cannot even see it. Microsoft CRM 4’s interface is completely based around access and provides an easy way to control how your users access the system. If your users can use outlook they will quickly become familiar with Dynamics CRM 4.
So taking that into consideration compare that with your average business platform and see how it stacks up. In my opinion as more and more companies use CRM complete processes will evolve for vertical business uses. It is an exciting time to be onboard with Microsoft CRM with this latest edition.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
