Dynamics University Q3 Fall 2013

DynamicsUniversity.com 1

Fall 2013Providing Learning Opportunities for Microsoft Dynamics Users

DYNAMICSUNIVERSITY

®

MOBILE GOINGPros and Cons of Paid vs Out-of-the-Box

Cloud HostingEvaluating Providers

THE WEB CLIENT & WINDOWS AZURE

Microsoft Dynamics

REPORTING:

GET ON THE Creating an online presence for your organizationMAP

Using the Right Tools

PREVIEW 2013 CRM

2 Dynamics University Fall 2013

Dynamics UniversityDynamics University represents the culmination of great ideas and content from the best reselling Microsoft Dynamics partners with a focus on helping Microsoft Dynamics customers achieve more for less. The idea for Dynamics University was born out of a desire to drive greater educational offerings within the Microsoft Dynamics community.

Partner

Advanced Solutions & Consulting Solana Beach, CA www.solutionsco.com Business Ready Solutions Durham, NC www.businessreadysolutions.net

Cargas Systems Lancaster, PA www.cargas.com

Express Information Systems San Antonio, TX www.expressinfo.com Integrated Business Group Altamonte Springs, FL www.ibgnet.com

Knaster Technology Group Englewood, CO www.theknastergroup.com

Summit Group Software West Fargo, ND www.summitgroupsoftware.com The Resource Group Renton, WA www.resgroup.com

The TM Group Farmington Hills, MI www.tmgroupinc.com Turnkey Technologies, Inc. Chesterfield, MO www.turnkeytec.com

Location Website Products

GP CRM RMS SL NAV AX


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WelcomeJudy Thomas

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Fall 2013

Customer FeatureVA Enterprises

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Debits & Creditsfor gp users

43The BookshelfNow Discover Your Strengths

36Tips & Tricksfor crm users

32

Interviewa conversation with Daryl Anderson

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CLOUD HOSTING Should you move to the cloud? Evaluating providers

CRM LICENSE CHANGESReview of online price changes

INVEST IN YOUR EMPLOYEESComponents of successful software training programs

PREVIEW ORION The release of Microsoft

Dynamics CRM 2013

GOING MOBILEPros and Cons of paid vs.

out-of-the-box options

ENGAGING CUSTOMERSUsing GP and CRM to bring

value to the customer

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22 GET ON THE MAPCreating an online presence for your organization

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creditsDynamics University is a free magazine

published four times a year.

Request a subscription by going to dynamicsuniversity.com.

Josh BehlExecutive Editor

Geniece KizimaEditor in Chief l Design & Layout

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Contact Us1405 Prairie Parkway, Suite A

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27NINJA MANEUVERS Adapt resources to meet

market demands

UPGRADE TIPS AND CONSIDERATIONS

What to know when moving from CRM 2011 to CRM 2013

SALES & CRMReview of several best practices

MYTH BUSTING Tailoring for GP is easier than you think

SOCIAL STRATEGYSocial networking and media

REPORTING: USING THE RIGHT TOOLGP tools, what they are, and what they do

40SIMPLE AND EASY

PAYROLL PROCESSINGRockton Software takes the pain

out of payroll

ENABLING THE MODERN MARKETERUsing the right tools24

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elcome to this issue of Dynamics University Magazine. Fall is here, the baseball season is well over the halfway point, college and professional football seasons are starting, and the start of educational calendars is just around the corner. From a software point-of-view, now is time when most organizations are doing final planning for the projects they want to accomplish before the end of the calendar year. Many organizations are finalizing operating budgets for the next budget year and looking at completing requests for new or add-on software.

In this issue, many of our partners have provided information on the upcoming release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Dynamics GP on the Azure platform, and a multitude of articles on new products, services, tips and tools to make your software lives more productive.

Many Dynamics University partners recently attended Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference where we were treated to a glance into Microsoft’s vision for technology additions and improvements across all of the Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM products. It’s a very exciting time to be a partner in this marketplace with changes and new functionality coming from all directions. Our clients are going to be the recipients of these exciting developments.

We encourage you to take time to read this issue to gain some incredible insights into the way the software can shine and help your business. Dynamics University Magazine first published in the spring of 2012. With every issue since, we’ve received more and more input from readers letting us know they really enjoy content and the blog site because they are unlike any other in the industry. Our collective Dynamics University teams are really putting their creativity and expertise into their contributions in the hope we are providing valuable information.

As you read the articles this quarter, think about the myriad of ways your organization needs to improve processes. What needs to happen with the software you utilize to make those improvements happen? Work with your Microsoft Dynamics partner to develop and continue your vision. If you have projects planned for 4th quarter and into next year, make sure to give yourselves enough lead time to ensure a successful implementation, planning, and execu-tion timeframe. Prioritize the items that are needed sooner than later to make sure you are not trying to change too many things at the same time.

When the leaves turn their majestic colors and thoughts turn to the final months of the year, we hope that positive change and growth comes your way in the form of learning from the contents in this issue. Just as you do at home, consider this time of year your fall learning and improvement season. We are here to help you reach your goals.

Thanks for being a loyal reader of Dynamics University Magazine – you are the reason we are all here – we appreciate your business!

Judy Thomas, PresidentThe TM Group, Inc.

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ar too often, companies spend thousands of dollars implementing a new solution yet fail to invest in the essential training or education to arm their staff with the necessary skills. This significantly hurts the chances of realizing the potential return on investment (ROI) that could otherwise be attained. Dynamics University partners are dedicated to providing the tools, knowledge, and learning opportunities to meet this need.

Fall is a great time to think of going back to school and with that in mind here are a few ideas to make sure your organization is getting the most out of their Microsoft Dynamics solution.

Training is the Answer Training is a key component in accel-erating the adoption of new tech-nology and the performance of staff. Without proper training, an imple-mentation will take longer, adaptation will be more problematic, and frustra-tion will be higher. It is unfortunate when companies spend significant dollars to implement new technology and then try to optimize the budget by cutting training. This undermines the entire project’s potential success.

Once the critical areas requiring skill development are identified, training is used where it works best – to develop skills and abilities through practice and feedback. The aim of training is to develop software application skills in a shorter period and reduce errors when using the software. A training plan should be developed that includes everyone who will either support or use the new system.

Invest in yourComponents of a Successful Training Program Include:

Business process reengineering training and team training prior to project work. Extensive documentation. Appropriate timing, coordinating between project schedule, trainer availability and trainee availability. Appropriate training forum (class-room, computer-based, one-on-one). Building upon and coordinating with existing training expertise within the institution (staff de-velopment offices, professional development centers, IT training programs).Function-specific and broad-view training.Cross-functional training to en-sure user understanding of in-stitution-wide processes, new workflows, and interdependencies between units in addition to basic system functions. Testing the training as part of a pilot implementation and making adjustments prior to full imple-mentation. An in-house training curriculum to continue the training cycle beyond implementation. The curriculum should be dynamic, mirroring the dynamic nature of the organiza-tion, its processes and systems.

Project planners should be aware that, when training commences, and as the system is deployed, the final training requirements will often exceed initial expectations.

Defining a Power UserA common strategy that helps many companies is defining one or more power users as part of implementing a new solution. Defining a few key resources and investing extra in the training and resources to support their expertise and knowledge is a great strategy. Power users help in-crease the organizational knowledge and become the go to person for questions. This helps get questions answered quickly and typically at a lower cost than to outside resources.

Try Something NewLaunching in October 2013 will be the Dynamics University Community Portal. Registering for a free login to the Dynamics University Community Portal will provide a social platform for networking and asking/answering questions.

A later phase will include the ability to test your knowledge by watching recorded training tutorials and taking an online quiz for each level. Users will start at Level 1 (introduction) and work their way to higher level content. To make it even more fun, users accumulate points by posting questions, answering questions, and attaining higher levels for each product.

This gamification strategy for training will provide a level of competition. The social environment is designed to provide a unique learning opportunity and networking tool to our Dynamics University readers.

By Eric Gjerdevig, Summit Group Software

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Invest in your

Watch the Dynamics University site in early October for the chance to be one of the first members of the new Dynamics University Community Portal and a chance to win a number of fun prizes.

Dynamics University is dedicated to bringing new and unique training offerings to our community. Through hundreds of valuable classroom and online training courses each quarter along with our new Community Por-tal, we are here to meet all of your training needs. Contact your local Dynamics University partner today!


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n 1882, John D. Rockefeller established the first family office in order to manage his family’s invest-ment, property, and philanthropic interests. Today, hundreds of single family offices exist in the United States alone.

VA Enterprises is such an organization. VA Enterprises was formally established in 2000 to address the needs of Amway Corporation, its co-founder Jay Van Andel, and his four children. Now, VA Enterprises manages a diverse portfolio of assets and investments - including a private island resort in the British Virgin Islands.

The Complexity of Family OfficesWhile there are several well-known investment and portfolio management software packages to track family office funds, investments, gains and losses, that software alone cannot meet the complex needs of managing the finances of multiple properties, asset classes, companies and ownership interests. Therefore, typical family offices may run many separate applications which become cumbersome to maintain and produce separate silos of data and information.

Family offices such as VA Enterprises also have complex security and privacy concerns. These clients often have complex hierarchies and unique privacy needs – even within the family unit. Complicated security models need to be built based on numerous factors such as ownership percentage and partnership participation.

Leveraging Microsoft Dynamics to Meet the Needs of Today’s Family Office

By Christopher Tepper, The TM Group

ENTERPRISESVA


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Wanted: 24/7 Access Another growing request and requirement for family offic-es are systems that can provide around-the-clock access, including remote and mobile access, to financial data and pertinent documents.

Not long ago, VA Enterprises (like most family offices) would mail or email packets of financial information to family members – a process that is not only labor-inten-sive and expensive but also slow. By today’s standards, the information was outdated when it reached the family members or their constituents.

A Dynamic SolutionVA Enterprises CFO Mark Bugge believes his primary responsibility is to provide accurate, timely, and secure information to family members in an efficient and effec-tive manner. The best way to achieve this is to eliminate the silos of data and take an integrated approach to systems. Mark recognized that Microsoft is uniquely qual-ified to provide an end-to-end, integrated solution from the Windows operating system - to the SQL database - to the financial hub Microsoft Dynamics GP - to Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Dynamics CRM for relationship management and collaboration.

In 2007, VA Enterprises began working with The TM Group to replace its legacy ERP and financial applications with Microsoft Dynamics GP for accounting, fixed assets, payroll and employee expense management. At the same time, VA Enterprises noticed it was quickly running out of space for filing cabinets and decided to go paperless. VA Enterprises was able to eliminate a room full of 50 filing cabinets by scanning everything from financial documents to contracts and legal paperwork into an integrated docu-ment management solution.

Now, when a family member requests a specific doc-ument or questions a certain expense, VA Enterprises staff can easily search for it electronically and forward it

instead of digging through filing cabinets hoping to find it filed correctly. Expenses are also passed through a workflow system where the approver can easily see an electronic copy of the document.

VA Enterprises still requires industry-specific applications such as hotel management and food & beverage applica-tions for its luxury resort in the Caribbean, but thanks to Microsoft Dynamics GP’s integration capabilities and vast array of integrated ISV products, information is passed from these systems to Microsoft Dynamics GP. VA Enter-prises runs a daily “flash report” with sales and occupancy information provided by the hotel management system directly from Microsoft Dynamics GP. Resort expenses are entered remotely into Microsoft Dynamics GP from the island with appropriate supporting documents scanned and attached. That information is then routed through the workflow for approval and payment processing at the corporate office in Michigan.

With Microsoft Dynamics GP as the financial hub, VA Enterprises is now able to design better and more useful reports and dashboards for family members and constit-uents.

What’s Next for VA EnterprisesVA Enterprises continues to use technology to improve efficiency and provide better information and customer service for the family members. With this in mind, VA En-terprises is starting to design a relationship management and collaboration solution based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM. In addition to family members, assorted companies and investment managers regularly interact with the fam-ily office. The TM Group is working with VA Enterprises to develop a well-designed Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution to track the correspondence and activities of all meetings, phone calls and emails so that when someone requests information, staff members will have access to a complete picture of what has transpired.

By Christopher Tepper, The TM Group

ENTERPRISESVA



ne topic that repeatedly comes up during a Microsoft Dynamics CRM project is mobility. With the need for anywhere/anytime/any device access, companies want to understand options and what is needed to make information accessible with mobile devices.

GOING

OUT-OF-THE-BOX OPTIONSThe Microsoft Dynamics CRM Outlook Client can download a portion of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM database to a computer allowing access to records and the ability to create new records while the user is waiting in the airport terminal, for example. When an internet connection is available, it will sync the changes.

PROS: Easy to use; same user interface as online.CONS: Requires a laptop.

Mobile Express is available on all mobile devices that support HTML 4 and JavaScript. Using the device browser, log in to Microsoft Dynamics CRM to access.

PROS: Access to all Microsoft Dynamics CRM data including custom fields and entities.CONS: Dated user interface; hard to use; no offline ability.

The Sales for iPad experience provides access to the default sales entities: Leads, Accounts, Contacts, and Opportunities. It also has dashboard capabilities and can show the What’s New section.

PROS: Portable with a good display area; consistent user interface; easy to use.CONS: Cannot customize; only available for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

MOBILEBy Dave Packard, Cargas Systems, Inc.

PROS+

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DynamicsUniversity.com 11DynamicsUniversity.com 11

CONS -SHOULD YOU GO MOBILE? If users are asking for it, certainly consider it. Mobile access can boost user adoption, increase pro-ductivity, and improve data quality but only if done right.

HOW CAN YOU KNOW? Look at the end users. What role(s) can use mobile access? How will they use it? How much access is needed? How much updating will be done via mobile? Users are not going to type the notes of a three-hour meeting into a smartphone, so determine how they will they use it. Ride along with them for a day or two and evaluate where and how it could fit. If it improves their role, access, or data updates, then even just one of those three may make it a good investment.

WHICH OPTION IS BEST FOR ME? Start with the free options. If leaning toward an app, give a test group of users Mobile Express for a month and get feedback on what they want to see and how it is used. If it is only used for looking up con-tacts, then stick with one of the free options. If users are quickly updating records on the go, entering good data in the organization’s system, and getting more done, then investigating a more robust app could be worth it.

PAID OPTIONSAn off-the-shelf ISV solution (i.e. Resco and CWR) is a pre-packaged application available to purchase allowing users to get as close to the online Microsoft Dynamics CRM experience as possible on their phone or tablet.

PROS: Customizable; easy-to-use user interface; offline capabilities.CONS: Requires additional cost per user; user interface cannot be changed.

A custom-built application is an ‘App’ built specifi-cally for an organization. A good mobile partner can help determine exactly what is needed to build an app that fits an organization’s business process.

PROS: Built specifically for an organization.CONS: Expensive; long time to market.


• Cut Costs • Be Compliant • Stay Secure

GET YOURDYNAMICSSERVERSOUT OF THE OFFICEAND INTO THECLOUD TODAY.

myappsanywhere.com/go-cloud

By Amiee Keenan, Myappsanywhere

hat if your business had an extra $130,000 to spend over the next three years*? Would you hire a new employee? Invest in a new location? Spend more money on advertising?

Companies that have moved their business servers to the cloud are experiencing just this sort of economic windfall and a move to the cloud is easier—and safer—than one might think.

When considering the cloud, business leaders often think first of the benefits of hosted applications—business software delivered to desktops via the internet. As these applications have an internet delivery mod-el, the most visible benefit of moving business software to the cloud is that the software will be available via any internet location, whether that means a local coffee shop, an employee’s home office, or from the road.

Hosting business software in the cloud offers a far greater benefit than just remote access. Because cloud applications are delivered via a secure internet connection, there is no need to sink valuable resources into hardware investments onsite and upgrades to business applications are often included in monthly costs; thus, eliminating expensive software renewal fees.

Since cloud services are typically offered on a predictable cycle, moving to the cloud also helps businesses budget for IT costs. If a business expe-riences major shifts in the number of users (i.e., tax season, holiday retail staffing needs or emergency response needs), cloud applications can enable businesses to scale up licenses for heavier traffic or scale down for lulls in action. The cloud enables businesses to pay for the software and services they are actually using rather than for peak usage needs.

SELECTING A CLOUD SERVICE PROVIDER

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By Amiee Keenan, Myappsanywhere

SHOULD YOU MOVESo how does an organization start to get Microsoft Dynamics servers out of the office and into the cloud? Start by evaluating the technology and determining what the business will need. Before contacting a cloud service provider, prepare by answering these questions:

1. Is the organization a good candidate for the cloud? Companies with aging equipment, season-al swings or 10 percent or greater expected annual growth are good candidates as are businesses testing new geographies and companies with a mobile work-force.

2. Is the organization subject to regulatory compli-ance demands? If the organization is subject to regula-tory compliance demands (i.e., FFIEC, GLBA, SEC, HIPAA or PCI), look for a cloud service provider whose cloud operates in an SSAE 16 attested data center that could help the regulated business pass audits, inspections, and checkpoints to ensure security compliances are met.

3. How much uptime should be expected? Cloud service providers measure the amount of time their systems—and the organization’s cloud—will be avail-able per year based on what is called uptime. Uptime is actually defined by downtime—the amount of time the cloud will not be available. Thus, 99.999 percent uptime means that an organization will have approximately 26 seconds of downtime a month, or 5.26 minutes of downtime a year. For 99.99 percent uptime, the num-bers grow to 4.32 minutes of downtime a month, or 52.56 minutes a year. Determine what is acceptable for the business before searching for the cloud service provider.

4. Does the organization have enough internet bandwidth? The typical company should plan for 100 Kbps per user. If your company needs more bandwidth, high-speed internet is inexpensive, readily available, and no longer a costly roadblock for business owners.

5. Does the organization have or need custom appli-cations? Depending on the industry, companies may need applications for project management, supply chain management, ticket printing, or point-of-sale. A good cloud service provider will be able to integrate custom software.

CHOOSING A PROVIDERWith these answers in hand, organizations can begin to evaluate which cloud service provider is right for the business. Ask the following questions when engaging a provider:

1. Does the provider have a solid reputation? Look for a provider that is established in both the business and cloud community. Ask about their service record and talk to references to see if customers had a positive experi-ence in their cloud migration.

2. What sort of support does the provider offer? Not all hosting providers offer around-the-clock support. Look for a provider that will be available to answer questions 24 hours a day, every day of the year—even on holidays. Be sure to ask if support is included in the costs or if there is an additional charge for after hours.

3. What are the associated costs? Check for all the fees (one-time fees, monthly fees, usage fees, etc.) and make sure they are clearly spelled out in the contract.

4. Will the organization own the data? Not all cloud service providers allow customers to maintain ownership of their data, so before signing, find out what happens if the organization decides to leave their cloud environ-ment.

5. Does the organization understand the details of the agreement? Look for a service-level agreement that will ensure that guaranteed uptime and a financial penalty on the vendor in the event of failure to meet uptime.

The decision to move ERP solutions from on-premise to the cloud isn’t an easy one, but if the cloud is a good fit for the business, the rewards can be substantial—both for the business bottom line and future growth.

*Myappsanywhere customers regularly record as much as 58 percent in savings over three years, with some saving more than $130,000 in three years. Cost savings estimates are for 33 users at 36 months using Microsoft Dynamics cloud-based solutions versus Microsoft Dynamics solutions hosted on-premise.

SERVICE PROVIDER


The Web Client & By Eric Gjerdevig, Summit Group Software

I recently sat down with Daryl Anderson from Microsoft to hear about Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 and the exciting efforts around the web-client and support for Windows Azure.

Windows Azure Platfrom



Eric: Can you tell our readers a little about yourself?

Daryl: I started with Great Plains Software 20 years ago this Decem-ber and have been with Microsoft since the acquisition of Great Plains in 2001. My first 8+ years was on the support side of things. Since then, I’ve been in various positions on the development team. My current role is Senior Program Manager and I’m primarily focused on deployment, hosting, multi-tenant features, and web client. Although I’m a CPA, most of my career has been focused on the architecture and system side of the application.

Eric: Can you tell us about what you’ve recently been working on?

Daryl: For the Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 release, I worked primarily on the multi-tenant features such as named system database, web client, and the ability to deploy Microsoft Dynamics GP in that type of envi-ronment. Right now, I’m working on enhancements to the web client for the future Microsoft Dynamics GP releases.

I’ve also spent a lot of time working with the Windows Azure team to sup-port deploying Microsoft Dynamics GP on the Windows Azure platform. That all became possible over the last six months as Microsoft has pushed out the new infrastructure services features with Windows Azure.

Eric: How does Microsoft Dynamics GP on Azure differ from a solution from other cloud providers?

Daryl: It’s actually very similar. Windows Azure is simply providing the infrastructure. The customer or partner is in control of the system.

A big difference is the virtually unlim-ited scale and redundancy that the Windows Azure platform brings to the table. For many customers or part-ners it can be hard to manage large scale growth. Windows Azure pro-vides the ability to increase process-ing power, memory, or disk space in a matter of minutes. The flexibility to scale is our greatest asset.

As of July 1, 2013 partners can offer session based applications through Remote Desktop Services (RDS) if you have access to subscriber access licenses (SALs) through a Microsoft Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA). Up until recently, that was the big difference between Azure and other deployment option – we didn’t provide RDS outside of administrative purposes. Now that has changed.

Another important factor is how skills transfer to a Windows Azure environ-ment. Customers and partners are not relearning a new application or deployment model. It’s simply using virtual machines in Windows Azure. It’s the same infrastructure compo-nents – just sitting somewhere else.

Eric: Most of our readers are probably still not using the web client for Microsoft Dynamics GP. Where do you see this going?

Daryl: From my aspect, there is a learning curve around the deploy-ment for our customer and partner community. We are working to ex-pand that knowledge, though, and are starting to see a lot more customers moving in that direction. A big factor is that many clients historically have an investment in remote desktop services (RDS).

So what is their benefit of moving to the web client over their existing investment? With a remote desktop session, users had to have Microsoft Office installed and licensed on the RDS server even though the user may have already had it on their client. With the web client, users are simply using their existing licensed Office components. We are also continuing to add functionality as we go forward and working with ISV’s to get their solutions ready. Those solutions are critical to our customers. I think, based on the web client benefits and as the RDS environments need to be updated and replaced, web client deployments will expand significantly.

Eric: What’s driving the move to the cloud?

Daryl: I think ERP isn’t always the primary driver of moving to the cloud. Many organizations look at the cloud for other solutions such as email or CRM. As part of those efforts, moving ERP becomes another logical thing to look at.

Another factor is integration with oth-er technologies and the stack. Com-panies that don’t have the experience to setup and manage the integration points will likely push more items to the cloud to simplify the management of it. Removing the complexity and freeing up their time to focus on core competencies of the business. I think that is one of the biggest benefits I see.

Windows Azure Platfrom

Interview, continued on page 18


rion has a new name. This fall, the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 release will be known as Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 (for on-premise) and Microsoft Dynamics Online Fall ’13 (for online subscribers).

For online subscribers, the notification bar already notified some customers of the upgrade and when it will happen. This is the beauty of being in the cloud. Upgrades are automatic.

For on-premise, the time to upgrade will be up to the organization. It will be easier to upgrade from Micro-soft Dynamics CRM 2011 than leaping from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 though.

Users will find (unlike the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Polaris release that provided new features for online customers only) Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 will allow both platforms to have the same feature set.

Now for the larger updates planned for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013…

NEW USER EXPERIENCE The biggest change, by far, is the updated user expe-rience (UI). It is basically a complete overhaul. Before worry sets in, don’t panic. Just go slow. There are distinct advantages that will help with user adoption.

Previously, there were two common complaints about Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011: 1) The number of clicks needed; and 2) the number of pop-ups encountered. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 addresses these issues with a flattened process form that trims down the clicks and virtually eliminates the pop-ups. It provides a fluid transition from one entity to the next as defined by busi-ness processes, so users can seamlessly transition from Lead to Opportunity to Close on one form. Custom enti-ties can also be included into this new process flow such as a new Project that flows from a Won opportunity.

Another new feature is Auto-Save. The system will save the form as users complete it – no need to click Save

anymore. NOTE: This will affect workflows and scripting so make sure to review those so it will work with this new functionality.

NO MORE CLASSIC FORMS AND RIBBON“Classic” forms and ribbon will no longer exist in Micro-soft Dynamics CRM 2013. The classic forms still were an option with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Polaris release but Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 is strictly the new process forms. The ribbon will no longer exist on the new forms as they give way to a sleeker UI that includes process bars that will quickly provide guidance on what has been done and what the next steps are.

BUSINESS PROCESSThe new UI will require a business process for theflow to work. The best part is that it is has several pre-packaged options to choose from that are customiz-able so the process in Microsoft Dynamics CRM can follow specific business process whether that is for sales or customer service. These processes also can be role-specific allowing individual users to follow the pro-cess for their specific job.

Stops are provided if certain stages are not completed. For example, if an opportunity requires a customer bud-get and it is not supplied, it can hold the opportunity in that stage until the budget is added.

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Polaris release provided one process making it nice to see that multiple options with the ability to customize each one.

PRICING STRUCTUREThe current Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online pricing is changing to a tiered pricing structure: Professional, Basic, and Essential. Microsoft

OORIONPREVIEW: MICROSOFT DYNAMICS 2013


By Dave Packard, Cargas Systems, Inc.


ORIONPREVIEW: MICROSOFT DYNAMICS 2013

believes the Professional license will best fit the needs of most users. Customers will be able to mix and match the license options based on what access each user needs allowing added flexibility that was not available in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. More detail on the licensing and pricing changes is found in the2013 Licensing Changes article in this issue of Dynamics University.

CUSTOM CODEThe Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Polaris release from earlier this year provided a preview of the new forms, but they had one major drawback—no ability to add custom code. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 will migrate all supported custom code from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011; although, modifications will likely need to be made such as around the new auto-save feature for forms, for example.

One important note is that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 will not support custom code from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 meaning that and upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 will be more of a leap than a jump.

FREE MOBILE APPSFollowing the release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, Windows 8 and iPad apps will be released. Like the Sales for iPad ex-perience, the apps are centered on the sales expe-rience and will be available in their respec-tive stores after release. A Windows Phone

Cont.


Orion, continued from page 17


Eric: Where do we go from here?

Daryl: Most customers still need to upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013. The upgrade has been very stable from the feedback we’ve received. There may be some confusion around the web client and desktop client co-existing. Organizations can use both within the same Microsoft Dynamics GP deployment – they are not solely limited to one or the other. For instance, you could have users in your corporate office using the desktop client while remote users are using the web client.

Later this year, Microsoft will release service pack 2.0 for Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013. This will bring the remaining functionality (example: manufacturing) to the web client.

app will be released and iPhone and Android apps are not expected until Quarter 1 of 2014. These apps are likely to be the beginning with more functionality being added in future releases.

OTHER NOTABLESBING MAPSOut-of-the-box Bing Map integration is here! Add the address and Bing Maps will display it right onthe form. This has been an often asked-for feature, so it is great to see it as default functionality.

YAMMERYammer is set to replace the Activity Feeds but the integration will still require purchasing the Yammer Enterprise level. Activity Feeds will still be available for those who choose not to add the per-user fee of Yammer Enterprise.

MARKETING PILOTMicrosoft purchased Marketing Pilot in October 2012. It will now integrate seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 and provide customers with a robust marketing solution that is more than marketing automation. It is “integrated marketing management” which means it includes agency management and document management tools along with the ability to manage social media campaigns like Facebook and Twitter – plus the traditional offline campaigns. Marketing Pilot is an add-on to Microsoft Dynamics CRM; however, it will be an additional cost. More information can be found at marketingpilot.com.

EMAIL ROUTERThe Email Router is being replaced with Server-Side Sync. The Email Router was the free additional soft-ware that basically integrated Microsoft Dynamics

CRM with Exchange allowing Microsoft Dynamics CRM to email on its own. One of the issues it had was it required an on-premise installation even if users were running Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and Ex-change Online. Server-Side Sync will replace the email router functionality and improve the sync of activities, contacts, and appointments with remote users.

One important note is that it works for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online with Exchange Online and Microsoft Dynamics CRM on-premise with Exchange 2010 or Exchange 2013. It will not work for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online with an on-premise Exchange or vice versa.

DASHBOARDSA great feature from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 will be given more real estate in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 in dashboards. This is a great addition to a powerful feature.

EDITABLE GRIDSThe Opportunity form is expected to support inline editable grids as well. This is a frequent customer request and it is exciting to see this rolling out.

When is the expected release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013? As mentioned above, some online customers are already scheduled for the update. But for on-premise customers, at the time of publication the expected release shared from Microsoft is October 2013.

There are many other features included in Micro-soft Dynamics CRM 2013 that are not covered here. Continue to check Microsoft and Dynamics University blogs for more information over the coming months.

Interview, continued from page 15


icrosoft Dynamics CRM 2013 is right around the corner. This new and exciting product will significantly change how customers interact with the application through a new user interface and process driven forms. Additionally, how customers buy Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 will also see some big changes.

Since the launch of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online in April 2008, Microsoft has offered a single license at a single price point. While this was simple, Microsoft offered different types of licenses for on-premises deployments. Going forward, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online customers will have the same flexibility. Microsoft plans to offer three new online licenses and give customers the ability to mix and match between the three.

To enable the mobile sales force, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 gives people the ability to access information on a variety of devices. Microsoft’s strategy is that organizations should not have to pay separately to access Microsoft Dynamics CRM information on a mobile device versus laptop. Included with Microsoft Dynamics CRM will be mobile applications with every online and on-premises license at no additional license fees for mobile access.

Microsoft plans to offer the following license options (price shown is per user per month) for the next release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online:

BASIC ($30*) For sales, service and marketing users who manage accounts, contacts, leads, cases and access custom applications well as

for business analysts who require reporting capabilities.


ESSENTIAL ($15*) For less frequent users who need to access custom applications developed in house or by partners.

PROFESSIONAL ($65*) For the core Microsoft Dynamics CRM users, who need the full capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics CRM including sales force automation as well as marketing and customer care.

2013 Licensing ChangesMicrosoft Dynamics CRM

* This pricing is from Microsoft at the time of publication and subject to change. Another change will be a five user minimum commitment.

Existing customers will stay on their current pricing through the end of their current subscription term. So, if an organization subscribed to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online in August 2013, the new pricing would not take effect until August of 2014. However, new customers starting in the September/October 2013 will be subject to the new pricing and minimum user counts.

At the time of production, the current answer provided by Microsoft in regards to charity/nonprofit pricing for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online is that the pricing will remain the same. Watch the Dynamics University blog for additional information on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 licensing and pricing updates.

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Why Integrate?Organizations today have a considerable number of tools available for researching future purchases. Consequently, sales teams should be equipped with the tools needed to know their customers and engage them in a way that is relevant and meaningful. Having access to thorough information about customers and products is a crucial element to empowering a sales team. Integrating the back office data of an ERP system with the front-line sales tools of a Microsoft Dynamics CRM system gives sales teams the complete, detailed picture they need to properly engage with, and bring value to, the customer.

Integrating Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynam-ics CRM is a simple way to strengthen the sales force. Unique tools have been developed to ease the process and eliminate most of the manual work involved with integrating key data which is already in the system wait-ing to be used. Organizations just need to bridge the gap

between the two and the Microsoft Dynamics CRM system becomes a high-powered database containing all the information the team needs to interact with customers.

Some key benefits of integrating Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM are the elimination of double data entry and improved data accuracy by reducing opportunities for errors. Integrating Microsoft Dynamics GP data with Microsoft Dynamics CRM gives the sales team a complete picture of the customer including credit limits and all past interactions with the organization. This eliminates the need for staff to constantly pull transactional data when sales people request “account summaries.” Finally, integrating Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM helps organizations better understand their customer’s overall needs and buying trends to improve service during each customer interaction.

Just Got EasierBy Rokas Varanavicius, Brad Vorbeck, and Michael Ramatowski

Engaging Customers

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Integration also provides additional ways to increase revenue. Cus-tomers can be smoothly moved through the sales process by gener-ating accurate sales quotes, creating and executing product-focused sales campaigns that maximize revenue by using inventory and pric-ing data, and by up-selling to customers and suggesting sales items from inventory to pair with current purchases. Integrating systems allows greater revenue margins by lowering the cost of selling. The lower cost of selling provides more flexibility on ways that resources can be allocated. Streamlining repetitive order processes and elimi-nating duplicate data entry frees up time that the sales team can now dedicate to revenue-generating activities. Shorten the sales cycle by automating the “Quote to Cash” processes. Activities spent between attracting customers and getting paid can be greatly reduced, which in turn gives the sales team more time to interact with customers and increase sales volumes.

Retaining customers is made easier with Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM integration. Benefits such as having real-time customer data meetings with that customer occur will help the team deliver a more meaningful sales message. Customer’s time is important and they will be pleased to see sales people came pre-pared by putting in the time to do some basic research about them and their needs.

Business intelligence and visibility is greatly improved when Microsoft Dynamics CRM has access to the data stored in Microsoft Dynamics GP. Complex data can be summarized and presented to users to help them better understand the customer. For example, daily order trans-actions can be rolled up to a month-over-month and year-over-year summary by product class, providing insights into buying trends.

What to Integrate?Different types of data can be integrated to empower the sales force in various ways. The data being integrated depends on a number of factors such as the total number of products offered, pricing policies, the general nature and seasonality of the business, and current Mic-rosoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Dynamics ERP functionality that is already rolled out. Ultimately, the data being integrated depends on the goals of the organization. However, as a general rule, the following objects/entities should be considered:

Customer Integration:General account/customer information such as primary address, ad-ditional addresses for shipping and billing, accounts receivable details, and credit limits should be considered for integration. Synchroniz-ing this information between Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM helps paint a complete picture and generate accurate sales orders.

Product Integration:Information such as products/items, price lists, price list items, and units of measure can be integrated for increasing visibility for the sales team, generating accurate quotes, executing product-based sales campaigns, and automating order processing.

Just Got EasierBy Rokas Varanavicius, Brad Vorbeck, and Michael Ramatowski

Customers

Engaging Customers, continued on page 42


elling on the Internet takes time and is a serious financial investment. In order to do so efficiently, it is important to provide customers with an online store to respond to; and, more importantly, one customers feel is secure. In addition to satisfying customers, businesses that choose to join the world of e-commerce must also have a web store that aligns with the organization’s current goals. This all starts with businesses choosing the right e-commerce platform to implement. Before any of this can take place, the decision to develop a web store must be finalized.

get on the map

By Giuseppe Ianni, Azox

What are you waiting for?Perhaps the biggest concern about this decision is what the return on the investment will be. With time, a web store will pay for itself with all the benefits that come with an e-commerce website that integrates with Microsoft Dynamics GP.

Greater ReachOperating solely as a brick and mortar store really limits a company’s market reach. Not only are cus-tomers restricted geographically, but also by hours of operation. Choosing to grow a business online not only launches it to the global market, but offers consumers a store that can be accessed 24/7/365. An increase in awareness of a business occurs as e-commerce website starts to show up on search engine results pages based on queries made by consumers.

Experience Cost SavingsFor starters, having an e-commerce website opens the door to other types of marketing and advertis-ing that have little or no cost. Organic search, social media, and blogging are a couple options. There is also PPC advertising. Aside from additional advertising and marketing options, a web store that inte-grates seamlessly with Microsoft Dynamics GP helps with inventory management, payment process-ing, other operational processes, and does not require a large team to run smoothly. While the initial startup might be a large investment, running an e-commerce website does not require a great deal of financial backing.

Improved Consumer ExperienceOffering customers more outlets for shopping not only will grow sales, but will improve a company’s reputation. There is no question that consumers are choosing to shop online more frequently. For some consumers, this means initial online research prior to visiting a brick and mortar store and then

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making the purchase. For other consumers, this means visiting a physical store, exploring and trying out products, then returning home and making purchases online. Whatever the case, the more companies give to their customers; the more companies receive in return in the form of profits.

Still not convinced?Still have concerns about adding an e-commerce website that inte-grates with Microsoft Dynamics GP, consider these statistics from ComScore:

• In 2011 e-commerce sales reached $161.5 billion. • In 2012, that number increase 15 percent to $186.2 billion. • In 2013, first quarter e-commerce sales were $50 billion, which is about 27% of last year’s total e-commerce sales.

This data points to one thing: E-commerce spending is on track for another record-breaking year.

Though the initial costs of opening up shop online may be high, the investment pays for itself in the long run. Having an Azox e-commerce solution integrated with Microsoft Dynamics GP drastically increases market reach, provides customers with the tools they crave and saves the organization money. Statistics also show that e-commerce spend-ing is on the rise, which means return on investment (ROI) should be at the bottom of the list of concerns when it comes time to decide whether or not to open up shop online. Let Azox help.

Azox Success Stories

Oaktree Products, a leading multi-line distributor of audiol-ogy and hearing aid supplies, accessories and equipment, implemented Azox eSource B2B e-commerce solution and experienced a 40 percent increase in revenue.

Diba Imports designs and manufactures women’s shoes. After hiring Azox to build their e-commerce website, the company saw an increase in productivity. Since orders placed online go directly to Microsoft Dynamics GP, staff members have more time for other activities which in turns saves money for the compa-ny. Azox helps the sales team by providing the most up-to-date product information and inventory allowing them to better serve customers.


“Marketers today just have things way too easy…” said No One, ever. In fact, with all the current channels and tactics customers use to engage with your brand, the modern marketer’s plate is incredibly diverse.

Note the reference to customers engaging with your brand. Accord-ing to a Gartner study, by the year 2020, customers will manage 85% of their relationships with business-es without ever having talked to a human. Shocking stat, maybe not so shocking after all. We live in an age where customers are doing more research before buying and they are able to get the answers they are looking for faster than ever. People are shopping online while they are physically shopping in stores, and they are experiencing what it’s like to be your customer before they are your customer.

So how to cut through the noise, streamline customer engagements, and use the right tools, to have the right communications, with the right people, at the right time? It comes through prioritizing on two separate levels, leveraging marketing tech-nologies to bridge the marketing activities to sales results.

PRIORITIZING RELEVANT AUDIENCE CONTENT When prioritizing marketing con-tent to be relevant to the audience, organizations are choosing which channels and tactics are the most ef-

fective methods for customers, and also for their operational budgets. The concept of inbound marketing is broken down into three stages: Attract, Convert, and Analyze.

Attracting customers isn’t just about driving traffic through bulk emails, ads, and calls. In fact, the partial goal of attracting customers and prospects shouldn’t be a focus until organizations have an experience in place to drive them to. Attracting customers is about creating really, REALLY compelling content, and making the content available to the audience when and where they want it.

Your organization may have some good content. How to get that into the hands of customers, to prove that the organization understands them and then offer a call to action when they are ready? The content is the carrot. Whether it’s a blog post, or a whitepaper, perhaps a spec sheet, or a webinar, creating content that customers want is only as ef-fective as their experience getting it, and the organization’s ability to track the success of the content created.

By Nick Waverek, Summit Group Software

Enabling themodern marketer

WITHOUTHAVING EVER TALKED TOHUMANS

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Email34%20%

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Social10%

Forms13%

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Conversion is simply a trade, a trade perhaps of customer information in exchange for content, or perhaps a trade of money for goods and ser-vices. Leveraging a CRM system for lead management and a marketing automation tool to drive new leads through customer experiences, allows organizations to follow the conversion from an anonymous visit to an identified lead, from a qualified lead to a new customer, and from existing customer expe-riences to increased revenues per customer.

PRIORITIZING CUSTOMERS AND LEADS When prioritizing customers and leads, utilize known information to analyze and score which opportu-nities are ripe for the picking and when to transition from marketing to sales. This data is used to figure out if more data is needed in order to move them along in the process or if they meet the profile of some-one who is ready to buy. Having that

data is how organizations can turn the traffic and content, into metrics that matter. Slice and dice data to create very targeted messaging for a precise segmentation because it is not about who you know, it’s about what you know about who you know, and how you use it to be relevant

By Nick Waverek, Summit Group Software

to them. Organizations will be able to use the data to see what they are doing really well, and where the customer experience needs improv-ing. Having really good data and a tool to analyze it isn’t about keeping an eye on your customer; it’s about

Enabling the

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INCREASE IN QUALIFIED LEADS.

seeing your business through your customers’ eyes, and optimizing the experience.

MARKETING TOOLSUsing the right tools, organizations can have that close-looped sales and marketing process, where tactics are not just a shot in the dark, and ROI isn’t just based on assumptions from traditional mar-keting metrics like open rates, or number of new leads. Drill down to more full cycle metrics, like gen-erated revenues, and conversion rates, and chances are there will be getting an increased marketing budget next quarter to keep up the good work. Having that closed-looped process is about turning “cost per _____”, into “revenue per _____”, and this cannot be done without having marketing and sales tools working together. So what are these magical Marketing Automation technologies and how do they work?

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Marketer, continued on page 46

“


ne question often asked during a Microsoft Dynamics CRM training or implementation is, “What are some best practices?” Finding out how oth-ers use Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a good discussion. It is true – no two companies are the same but there are common features that all sales executives can use to their advantage.

Here is a list of three Microsoft Dynamics CRM best practices recommended for sales professionals.

DashboardsPulling in data from the various Micro-soft Dynamics CRM entities into one cohesive view is extremely powerful. A well-built dashboard can provide one screen to use as the “home” page – access Accounts, Contacts, Activi-ties, Leads, Opportunity Pipeline, and Goals from one screen.

CRM By Dave Packard, Cargas Systems, Inc.

&With one glance, see year-to-date progress, sales pipeline, and tasks for the day. Plus, quickly find a Contact, Account, or Prospect from this single page.

If unsure about where to start, have the system administrator build a sys-tem dashboard for the sales role and let everyone test it out. Once users see how it works and what it can do, they can build their own. This is a great opportunity to get sales team members familiar with the Advanced Find functionality and all that it can do as well.

Dashboards are great tools for management to see how their team is doing. Scrolling through a few dashboards in the morning provides a complete sales overview in a few minutes with drill-down access to the data underneath.

What’s NewThis section is a social “wall” for organizations. By following relevant records, a user can see activities by other users occurring on that record.

When a new Case has been opened for an Account a user follows, it shows up on their wall. Their wall also shows

when that case is resolved. If an activity is not showing up, it can be customized to show the activities relevant to the organization.

A great practice for users is to start each day reviewing the sales dash-board – then evaluate their wall to see what happened to their accounts in the last 24 hours – catching any items that may have been missed.

ActivitiesThis is not a new feature, but rath-er a reinforcement of an old one. By scheduling all activities such as phone calls, tasks, and appointments in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, users can plan their day/week/month and show this list right in the dashboard. Rather than just recording what they did, they can schedule what they plan to do (i.e. follow up calls, appoint-ments, task, etc.) - always including due dates. This way dashboards can sort the activities by due date, giving a simple checklist for action items each morning – an automated way to organize the day.

By utilizing Dashboards, What’s New, and Activities, users can quickly orga-nize their day and keep focused on the pulse of the pipeline. Each area supports the other.

Develop the practice of starting each day with a dashboard, review the wall, and keep adding activities. You’ll be glad you did!

SalesSOME BEST PRACTICESo



ocial media is the transferring of information to the masses while social networking involves the engage-ment of individuals in some type of virtual relationship.

One does not have to look far to find stories in the media that make even the most lighthearted and permissive manager cringe. Whether it is a picture of a restaurant employee licking a stack of taco shells, or an airline enacting a policy to politely respond to all tweets received, regardless of the message tweeted, social media gaffes can inflict significant damage to an organization’s reputation. An organization’s reputa-tion is only one item to be concerned with however, what about the effect that social networking use in the workplace has upon the bottom line.

Consider a recent study published by the Ethics Resource Center where it was found that almost three-quarters (72%) of social networkers spend some amount of their workday on their social networks. In that same study 28% of em-ployees surveyed admitted that their personal social networking activities add up to at least an hour out of each workday. Any manager or business owner that

#socialstrategy

Social media is the transferring of information to the masses while

social networking involves the engagement of individuals in some

type of virtual relationship.

“

“

By Paul Johnson, Summit Group Software

does some quick math can figure out that this adds up to significant amounts being paid to employees for them to tend to their social networks!

So, does that mean that social networking and social media are bad for organizations? The answer to this is a resounding ‘no’! Social media and social networking are no longer an option, but now could be considered a requirement for many organizations. Whether it is Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yammer or any of the other media and networking sites, organizations are realizing

some definite benefits from adopting strategies to utilize these tools.

One of the main benefits of social media and social networking is the increased access to information for both customers and employ-ees. Whether it is a custom-er researching a product or service to purchase, or an

employee looking for answers or information related to their industry, one does not have to look far online without utilizing one of the social tools to acquire this information. According to an Inc. article in 2011, 28% of people surveyed reported they used social media sites to find information about new products and services.

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30% of respondents stated they used social media to eliminate products or services from contention in their buying decision. While no more than a year-and-a-half old, it is likely that these numbers have since increased significantly since the article was published.

It is not only customers that can achieve benefits from an organization adopting a social strategy. Social media and networks can be a significant source of information related to performance feedback at either the organiza-tional or employee level. Monitoring social sites for com-ments regarding the organization’s products or services has become commonplace for many. Many customers and potential customers are utilizing social sites to find, and potentially exclude, the organization’s products and services from their consideration. This can be turned into an opportunity! An organization’s response to feed-back, positive or negative, says a lot about their organi-zational values as long as this is a sincere response sent from an actual person monitoring the accounts.

The use of social networking sites internal to an organi-zation, such as Yammer or a private group on LinkedIn, can provide employees and managers alike with timely feedback and information regarding current events within the organization. This particularly holds true in sit-uations where there is a geographically dispersed work-force, or simply an organization with many employees. Encouraging and supporting a positive organizational culture where social tools are utilized internally allows all members of the network to remain abreast of pertinent information.

Employee recruiting is yet another valuable use of social sites. It is now easier than ever to target certain demo-graphics for positions based on their members’ interests or skill sets. Memberships within groups on sites such as LinkedIn or Facebook offer an effective conduit to target candidates with a certain skill-set or industry experience. Furthermore, the ease of forwarding on positions post-ed on social sites provides for the quick dissemination of these opportunities to audiences an organization may have been unable to reach previously.

Social media and social networking are here to stay, al-though it is inevitable that these will continue to morph and new social tools take their place. The importance and acceptance of these tools is likely to continue to in-crease and the time is now for organizations to consider and adopt a social media and social networking strategy. If an organization already has a social media strategy in place, then the message to take away is to remain diligent regarding the social media tools available and utilize these to benefit organizational growth.

Social Strategy, continued from page 27


iven the realities facing companies in the post-recession economy, growing businesses and those who lead those businesses require stealth, speed, and efficiency. These ninja maneuvers enable growing businesses to adapt resources (i.e., staff, production, sales efforts) to meet market demands.

There is a fine line between intelligent adaptation and total chaos. What sets flexible and resilient companies apart from their counterparts is their ability to build infrastructure to accommodate change rather than reacting carelessly to fluctuations in supply and demand.

There are three key maneuvers growing businesses use to achieve above-average growth and higher revenues: Outsourcing, automating, and utilizing cloud technology.

By Melanie Beckett, Avalara

USED BY GROWING BUSINESSES

Ninja Maneuvers

G

om 29

Cont.


Growing Businesses…Know What to Outsource

It is no secret that companies utilize outsourcing to meet the fluctuating demands of the marketplace. What is often less obvious is determining when to outsource and

which elements of the business to handle this way. The following three steps are often used by growing businesses to make crucial outsourcing decisions:

Step 1 – Identify Core CompetenciesTake a look at areas of the business where the company sees a high return for a reason-

able investment in time. These are likely the company’s core competencies. Identifying core competencies helps growing businesses determine which resources to outsource and which to

keep in-house. If employees are really good at a process, task or activity, and if it is core to the business, keep it in-house. If it is not core to the business, consider outsourcing.

Step 2 – Identify Time DrainsOnce the core competencies of the business are identified, the next step is to identify any internal systems or pro-cesses that utilize more resources than the business can afford. Some processes take significant time – either be-cause of lack of expertise or utilizing manual processes – when a faster automated process is available.

Step 3 – Understand the Impacts of Not Outsourcing Once the company’s core competencies and pinpointed time drains are identified, there is a better sense of which functions to outsource. In weighing the pros and cons of outsourcing, it is important to under-stand the impacts of not doing so. Potential negative impacts of failing to outsource include: Lower customer satisfaction, revenue loss, employee turnover, and greater risk exposure.

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Making sales tax less taxing.

Ninja Maneuver #1

Ninja Maneuver #2Growing Businesses…Automate

Unlike the automation introduced by Henry Ford (assembly lines), today’s automation uses technology to streamline key business processes. From inventory management–to sales–to finance, automation gives companies the ninja agility, flexibility and efficiency in a still recovering market. The alternative of handling these systems manually can stymie rather than promote growth.

Ninja, continued from page 29


Growing Businesses…Look to the Cloud

In the past several years, many companies have turned to cloud-based computing solutions (those hosted and operated on the web versus those that are on-premise) rather than their larger and often more expensive predecessors. Cloud-based solutions adapt more quickly to changes in operations and update automatically without a staff person having to manually track any changes or iterations.

It used to be that in order to automate; growing businesses had to buy on-premise software that was expensive to buy and came with expensive maintenance costs. It was a tough choice to make. Now, cloud software has made automation affordable and practical. For virtually any business process or function, there is a good bet that cloud software exists to meet the need. This is especially true when it comes to sales tax management.

Growing Businesses…Use AvaTax.

As businesses grow, they are likely to increase their sales tax liability. Whether they hire contractors in a new state or create affiliate relationships in another, a business might be liable to collect sales tax and not know it; or, do so incor-rectly and risk penalties and time-consuming audits. Manually figuring out accurate rates and keeping up with taxabil-ity and rule changes can be nearly impossible. Handling it in-house drains employee resources that could be used more efficiently in other areas.

Automating sales tax using the AvaTax suite of products lowers audit risk and decreases unplanned penalty expenses. Companies that partner with Avalara get a simplified sales tax process and guidance when it comes to sorting out tax-ability rules and requirements. Avalara’s suite of products replaces manual look-up tables, the need to stay on top of rules and regulations, substantially cuts down time to file and close the month, and gives users a system for exemption (reseller) certificate management.

AvaTax does it all! And when it comes to understanding and staying in compliance with taxability rules, we walk you through the changing landscape of sales tax.

The AvaTax suite includes:

• AvaTax Calc which provides address validation and delivers real-time sales tax calculations based on up-to-date sales and use tax rules including: Sourcing rules, product taxability, and jurisdiction assignment.

• AvaTax Certs is a complete exemption certificate management service. From wizard-driven online collection to associating the correct certificate with transactions, AvaTax Certs ensures organizations maintain compliance, and reduce audit risks.

• AvaTax Returns reduces the time companies spend on sales tax return processing. AvaTax Returns automatically processes e-file, hard-copy, and Streamlined Sales Tax returns for businesses of all sizes.

Avalara is an easy automation win for growing businesses. Over 10,000 businesses have outsourced and automated sales tax management to AvaTax. Learn how your business can stay ahead of the curve with sales tax management and contact Avalara today: www.avalara.com/dynamics.

Ninja Maneuver #3

BUSINESS Maneuver


gpDebits & Credits

The Reconcile to GL window was added to Microsoft Dynamics GP in version 10.0 and made a lot of payables and receivables users happy. This routine creates an Excel Spreadsheet comparing the sub-ledger activity with the GL. No entries are created, but the spreadsheet helps identify which transactions may cause the GL and sub-ledgers not to tie to each other. Now, in Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 the window helps reconcile inventory, and checkbooks as well as the previously available payables and receivables. In addition, users can now save each reconciliation spreadsheet to a pre-determined path and filename, thus saving the information for future reference. The window assigns a sequential Reconciliation number to each recon.

Enter a Reconciliation Date followed by the date range that is being reconciled – typically one month. Then select the Module from the drop down. For each module, users must select the GL Account or Accounts that they are reconciling the sub-ledger against. If the module Bank Reconciliation is chosen, a Checkbook must also be selected. Finally select the path and file name for the output file (Excel) that is created. Once clicking the Process button, an Excel sheet is created and users can review the Unmatched, Potentially Matched and Matched transactions as well as the balance info at the bottom of the spreadsheet to determine whether the sub-ledger ties to the GL. After the spreadsheet is created that particular reconciliation can be saved for future reference if needed. This feature alone is an excellent reason to upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013!

Ever wanted to deliver company financial statements to an executive team without having to take time out to generate, print or email the reports? Well it’s now possible! By leveraging the functionality within Management Reporter and Mic-rosoft Outlook, decision makers can easily view up to date financials by simply opening a folder.

Easy Five Step Process:

1. Generate each report to the Report Library within Management Reporter. Then open the report using Report Viewer and click on the Copy Link button.

2. Within Outlook, create a folder for Financial Statements. Within this folder create a folder for each report to distribute. Right click on the specific report folder and select Properties. Paste the information from the Copy Link into the Address box. Select to Show Home Page by default for this folder and click Apply. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each report.

3. Create a Report Group within Management Reporter. Select the Report Definitions to include in this group. A Report Group is only necessary to generate more than one report at a time.

4. Create a Report Schedule within Management Reporter. Schedule the Report Group or individual report to generate daily, weekly, monthly, or using another frequency.

5. Setup each team member’s Outlook folders using Step 2. Based on the report schedule frequency the reports will update automatically and can be viewed within Outlook at any time.

New and Improved Reconcile to GL Feature

View Financial Statements in Microsoft Outlook Using Management Reporter

By Linda Brock, The Knaster Technology Group

By Cheryl Aceto, Express Information Systems


gpIt can sometimes be difficult to record and reconcile credit card payments to vendors with the credit card statement. Fortunately, there are ways in Microsoft Dynamics GP to automate this process and provide reconciliation reports.

SETTING UP CREDIT CARDS FOR USE WITH PAYABLES

1. On the Administration Page, under Setup choose Company, click on Credit Cards.2. Click the checkbox beside Used by Company.3. Click the radio button beside Credit Card.4. Use the lookup for Vendor ID to choose the credit card vendor. a. Fabrikam Example: Vendor AMERICAN001 (America Charge)

PAYING A TRANSACTION USING A CREDIT CARD (MANUAL PAYMENT METHOD)

1. On the Purchasing Page, under Transactions, click Manual Payment.2. Use the Lookup to choose the vendor to pay by credit card.3. Use the default Payment Number or override it.4. Enter the payment date.5. In the Payment Method box, check the Credit Card radio button.6. Use the lookup to choose the appropriate credit card.7. Choose the checkbook.8. Enter a value in the Document Number field.*9. Enter an amount in the Amount field.10. Apply the payment to an invoice by clicking Apply, if applicable.11. Save and Post the record.

Alternately, users can also utilize the Credit Card field on the Payable Transaction Entry window to process a payment via credit card. Either method creates a corresponding voucher transaction on the Credit Card Vendor. Two Smart-Lists can then be created to verify the vouchers paid by credit card and keep track of the amount owed to the Credit Card Vendor.

*NOTE: For a consistent match between these two SmartLists, enter a unique value in the Document Number field when creating the payment to the outside vendor. This value will then show up in both SmartLists as the number in the Document Number field. When using Manual Payment, this field is called Document Number; when entering a payment onto the Payable Transaction Entry window, this field is called Receipt Number.

CREATING A SMARTLIST OF VENDORS PAID BY CREDIT CARD

1. Open SmartList.2. Click the + sign beside the Purchasing object.3. Click the + sign beside Payables Transaction Entry.4. Highlight the blank SmartList with an asterisk.5. Click Columns.

a. Remove the column Current Trx Amount.b. Add the column Document Amount.

Paying Vendors by Credit Card in Microsoft Dynamics GPBy Connie Shreiner, Cargas Systems

Cont.


c. Add the column Card Name.d. Click OK.

6. Click Search.a. Add the following restrictions to the list:

i. Document Type = Paymentii. Card Name = [Credit Card name]

b. Click OK.7. When the SmartList has produced results, save the columns and restrictions.

a. Click on the Favorites button and name the list.b. Click Add and choose Add Favorite.

CREATING A SMARTLIST OF TRANSACTIONS TO RECONCILE TO THE CREDIT CARD VENDOR STATEMENT

1. Open SmartList.2. Click the + sign beside the Purchasing object.3. Click the + sign beside Payables Transaction Entry.

a. Highlight the blank SmartList with an asterisk.4. Click Search.

a. Add the following restrictions to the list:i. Vendor ID = [Credit Card Vendor ID]ii. Document Type not equal to Paymentiii. Current Trx Amount not equal to 0(This last restriction produces only unpaid or partially paid values.)

5. When the SmartList has produced results, save the columns and restrictions.a. Click Favorites. b. Name the list.

Debits and Credits, continued from page 33


ou’ve worked hard to grow your business, implementing internal and external processes that make your organization so successful today. So why conform to software’s out of the box functionalities and take away some of your organization’s process related competitive advantages? Your organization does not come in one size, shape or color, so don’t try to make that out of the box software fit. That is truly one of the best rea-sons to use Microsoft Dynamics ERP software. Its flexibility allows your organization to make the software fit your requirements to achieve optimal efficiency for employees and customers.

Unfortunately though, the first reaction or thought people have to software customizations is typically, “no way, argh or $^@#$!” Everyone has heard the horror stories of cus-tomizations taking years and typically going over budget so many clients just live with changing or actually not working the way their business was designed.

By Elizabeth Bender, The Resource Group

Myth-Busting SOFTWARE CUSTOMIZATIONS

However, Microsoft Dynamics ability to be flexible and customized is a way to deliver the best possible solution for customers. Specifically, Microsoft Dynamics GP is well suited to be customized because of the tools available from Microsoft, which vary from Report Writer, Modifier, Modifier with VBA, SQL Reporting Services (SRS) reports, Excel Report Builder, Extender, Visual Studio Tools, and Dexterity. The most common customizations done to Microsoft Dynamics GP are adding or removing fields to existing windows or reports as well as adding new windows or reports to the software. And the beauty of using the Dexterity tool is that the new window(s) can be made to have the same look and feel as your software because the tool uses the same language that built Microsoft Dynamics GP.

This article discusses some of the common myths and fears of custom-izing software and how to ensure a successful customization project.

Myth #1 “When upgrading the software to the next version, the customization will have to be completely redone.”Microsoft Dynamics is well suited to be customized because of the tools available from Microsoft; and the process to update a customization is straightforward and does not require a redo on everything. A typical cus-tomization update to make compat-ible with the next version is usually two – six hours with minor testing.

Myth #2“Most customizations break business rules in the software and could come back to haunt us.”A good Microsoft Dynamics Partner will know and understand the busi-ness rules and database structure of the software. When outlining busi-ness requirements, the Partner will recognize and recommend possible issues and suggest proper work-arounds to achieve the goal.

Y

Myth-Busting, continued on page 47


With Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, there is not the luxury of using scheduled windows tasks on the server. So what to do if a workflow needs to run every X days, or on a specific date and time?

With some outside the box thinking, organizations can use default functionality in Microsoft Dynamics CRM online to create a scheduled workflow.

Here’s the trick. A new entity needs to be cre-ated, in this case a custom activity works best so that the “set regarding” field can be used and associated to basically any record type in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Perhaps the name of “scheduled workflow item” works for this entity. Then create a scheduled bulk delete that deletes all schedule workflow items created in past X days. And perhaps as this trick is adapted to other workflow an identifier is included on the activity for the workflow and a include that in the delete criteria.

Finally create the workflow for the Scheduled workflow item entity and trigger on delete. Use the workflow builder to create, update or do whatever should be related to the regarded record, and be sure to use the workflow to create a new scheduled workflow item to delete next time for triggering the next run of the workflow.

crmTips & TricksCreate a Workflow to Run On a Timed ScheduleBy Nick Waverek, Summit Group Software

CUSTOM ACTIVITY“Scheduled workflow item”

Set Regarding Field

An identifier for deletion

BULKDELETE

WORKFLOW

Run every X days

Delete “Scheduled workflow items” where created on is within past X days or other criteria

Workflow for “Scheduled workflow Item”

Triggered on Delete

Whatever workflowfunctions to run on using the regarded record.

Creates a new “Scheduled workflow item” for next scheduled bulk delete

DynamicsUniversity.com 37DynamicsUniversity.com 37

The Best Way to Find Neglected Accounts in Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a great tool for managing the sales process for new customer acquisitions and op-portunities. However, existing customers can be the best and most consistent source of business. If a process exists for following up on current customers, this existing customer base can be leveraged, not only for more business but also for referral sources. Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be used to manage exceptions such as lost revenue streams from accounts that have not done business in a specific period of time.

For example, consider accounts with no activity after 90 days. Dependent upon the objective for the use of information, there are various tools to use in Microsoft Dynamics CRM for extracting the information. If the purpose is for a salesperson to follow up on neglected accounts, a view or a chart can be created with a field for Last Activity Date that is updated by a workflow every time a new activity is completed for that account. As a salesperson calls on these accounts, they would fall off the neglected view list or chart. As a best practice, refresh the data in a view before performing any actions on the data set.

If the audience is management and/or executives, Microsoft Dynamics CRM has an out-of-the-box Neglected Accounts report, which produces a graph that is drillable into the information behind it. The report can be scheduled and sent to management on a weekly or monthly basis to inform management of neglected ac-counts without that executive having to log in to Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Another option is to create a marketing list, add all accounts to it, and then use Advanced Find to remove the accounts that have had an opportunity created in the past three months. Then do the same for accounts with any associated activities in the past three months. The list will then contain the data needed, and this market-ing list can be used to contact the neglected accounts using Microsoft Dynamics CRM campaigns for a callout or an email promotion effort.

If this information is needed by a business analyst for analytical and manip-ulation purposes, a dynamic Microsoft Office Excel Pivot table with information exported out of Microsoft Dynamics CRM will fit that need. The dynamic Excel Pivot table allows the user to find trends with the neglected accounts.

There are many ways to extract information out of Microsoft Dynamics CRM – using views, dashboards, scheduled reports, marketing lists, and/or Excel lists and Pivot tables. Consider the objective for the use of information and who the au-dience is in order to leverage the most out of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

crmBy Kelly Rose, The TM Group



Upgrade Tips and Considerations

CRM2013

By Josh Behl, Summit Group Software

s with any upgrade from one version to the next, there are a series of considerations, hardware and software changes, new features, and end user training that will likely be required. For Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, there are a significant number of each of these to take into account! This article explores some considerations organizations will need to take into account as they begin moving from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 to 2013.


A


Custom CodingMany organizations have varying degrees of customizations within the deployment. While form customizations performed in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 will upgrade, there might be required changes to client side scripts (JScripts) and Plug-Ins (assuming that there are Plug-Ins that came from a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 deploy-ment).

If JScripts are using the crmForm.all.<> syntax used in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 and supported in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 pre-Update Rollup 12, those scripts will no longer work moving forward. Also, if the environment was upgraded from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 and had Plug-Ins designed in Microsoft Dynam-ics CRM 4.0, those plug-ins need to be re-written to work for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 as they are no longer supported using the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 API.

Another consideration for environments that have JScripts, Plug-Ins, or even Workflows is the new Auto-Save feature in Microsoft Dy-namics CRM 2013. The concept is that for created records, changes made to the record will automatically be saved every 30 seconds. This could impact JScripts, Workflows and Plug-Ins depending upon how they are designed. As such, developers will either need to change code to check for and accommodate this or the auto-save feature can simply be turned off across the organization.

IntegrationsDepending upon the integration software used in the environ-ment, an organization might need to wait to upgrade. For example, customers using Scribe Insight or Smart Connect might find that the integration will be ready to be upgrade. On the other hand, if issued the Microsoft Dynamics GP Connector for Microsoft Dynam-ics CRM, organizations might have to wait until that is available from Microsoft.

New FeaturesThere are far too many new features to cover in this article! How-ever, the reason it is important to bring up in the context of an article on upgrade tips is because it will impact user training as well as design conversations if organizations are currently making or considering making significant changes to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 deployment. For example, there is a new feature called Portable Business Logic which allows customizers to design simple client side actions without writing any code. In other words, some of the things that could previously only be done with JScript (cli-ent-side scripting) in the past can now be done using a simple user interface that is similar to the Workflow or Dialog design interface. So, if organizations are looking at spending a significant amount of time writing JScript for the auto population of a field or making a field dynamically hide or appear, it might be a good idea to hold off making that change in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 considering it will require no code in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013.

Additionally, the user interface and how users interact with re-cords has significantly changed as well. The Microsoft Dynamics

2013By Josh Behl, Summit Group Software

SOFTWARESupported: o Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Update Rollup 6 and Update Rollup 14 or later. o Windows Server 2008 or 2012: Datacenter and Standard (both 64 bit based) o SQL Server 2008 or 2012 o Client Machines:

• Windows 8 (64-bit and 32-bit versions)• Windows 7 (64-bit and 32-bit versions)• Windows Vista SP2 (6-bit and 32-bit versions)• Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2008 when running as a Remote Desktop Services application.

o Microsoft Office:• 2013• 2010• 2007 SP2

o Mobility:• Microsoft Surface• Windows Phone• Apple • Apple iPad• Android• BlackBerry• Nokia• Palm WebOS

Not supported: o Windows Server 2003 and Small Business Server editions o SQL Server 2005 o Client Machines:

• Windows XP editions are not supported for installing and running Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 for Outlook. • Windows Server 2003 editions are not supported for installing and running Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 for Outlook as a Remote Desktop Services application.

o Microsoft Office;• 2003 or before

***While there are other details involved, these are the general constraints to be aware of from a supporting software perspective.

CRM 2013, continued on page 45


ne of the great things about Microsoft Dynamics GP is that it has a ton of reporting tools available out of the box! One of the downfalls to Microsoft Dynamics GP is that it has a ton of reporting tools available out of the box.

Trying to figure out which reporting tool best meets the needs of any organization can be a daunting task. This article will share which tools are out there and what role those tools can play in getting the information needed in the proper format from Microsoft Dynamics GP.

There are, of course, a myriad of other third-party report-ing tools available. However, in an effort to break down some of the available tools specifically used in Microsoft Dynamics GP, this article will look at the following report-ing tools in more detail and some of the benefits each one provides:

• Management Reporter (MR)• FRx• SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)• Report Writer• SmartList, including SmartList Builder and Excel Report Builder• Business Analyzer• Analysis Cubes

Reporting Using the Right Tool

Management Reporter (MR) will satisfy a large proportion of financial reporting in most organizations. Everyday accountants will understand and enjoy using the intuitive design process and managers will appreci-ate the high quality output and drilldown functionality in either the Report or the Web Viewer. The Report View-er displays the financial statements which have been stored, organized, and secured in the Report Library. The security features in the Reporting Tree and permis-sions in the Report Library ensure the right financial information is viewable by the right people.

Management Reporter is aimed at providing financial performance analysis at the general ledger account level. The source account data resides in the Microsoft Dynamics GP company databases. However, Manage-ment Reporter has a keen way of extracting a lot of very useful information from the general ledger tables. This data can include an individual account balance for a particular year or period, the automatic rolled-up balance of a particular main account number across all divisions, or even the year-to-date budget for a range of accounts that make up Total Employee-Related Expenses line on an income statement summary report.

Management Reporter is not a business intelligence application whereby it always automatically adjusts and expands as the source accounting system changes. It is best suited for producing monthly financial statements. Choosing to go with a more creative or elaborate design process can yield some amazing report outputs, however.

FRx reports engage a building-block approach to design reports. Finished FRx reports are presentation-quality with drill-down capabilities that enable users to pinpoint detailed information. In Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013, FRx has been replaced with Management Reporter (MR) and is no longer supported by Microsoft.

By Cory Caslow, Integrated Business Group

o


Reporting Using the Right Tool

SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) provides a collection of tools that allows an organization to report on the data generated and retained by their business. Table reports, charts, graphs, gauges, indicators and a number of other tools can take thousands and thou-sands of transactions and reduce them to easily seen trends. Executive dashboards showing open orders, orders invoiced today, purchase orders outstanding, PO’s received today, inventory dollar values, and trans-actions per month compared to last month or this same month last year are all easy to build. SSRS out of the box has over 250 pre-built reports in the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics GP, is a part of Microsoft SQL Server, and only needs to be installed and configured.

Report Writer is the original reporting tool in Micro-soft Dynamics GP and is used by many users for basic, non-graphical reporting needs. With Report Writer, use Customized Reports to modify existing reports or create new ones from information throughout the system. Use multiple fonts, colors, sizes, and graphics to design the report with the look you want. With Scheduled Report-ing, automate report publication. And with Report Scheduler, setup current or immediate publication for any report option or report created with Report Writer.

SmartList in Microsoft Dynamics GP organizes and displays data

from the accounting system in a way that makes sense to users without having to be an

expert in the more advanced reporting tools like SSRS, Man-

agement Reporter, and others. Smartlist contains over 200 favorites that

come out of the box to provide quick access to commonly used data. This tool also makes it very easy to add or remove columns that appear in the Favorites list. This way, when

creating a report that gets used over and over, users can add it to the “Favorites” button, decide

who in the system gets access to it, and save it for future use.

SmartList Builder takes the easy-to-use SmartList tool and builds on it, allowing users to create custom SmartLists. With Easy Information Sharing, create new SmartList objects by linking up to 32 tables, including those from third-party vendors. SmartList Groups allows users to organize SmartLists more effectively by adding them to groups, matching the functionality of report grouping in Microsoft Dynamics GP. With Go To Buttons, create “Go-To” buttons to drill down to a window – including windows from third-party products, other SmartLists, web sites and files. Multi-Company Access allows users to make SmartLists easily available to multiple companies with a user-friendly multiple se-lect list in SmartList Builder Options. (SmartList Builder is a separate purchase not included with Microsoft Dynamics GP.)

Excel Report Builder allows users to access and eval-uate refreshable, real-time Microsoft Excel Reports from multiple sources. The familiar Microsoft Excel interface also allows data to be formatted and shared as needed.

Business Analyzer provides an intuitive dashboard that allows users to interact and view SSRS reports with-out requiring a log on to Microsoft Dynamics GP. Users can select from a set of default reports based on the selected role or customize the application with reports that are most important. Interacting with reports can be easily accomplished with a variety of easily recogniz-able actions, such as copy, view, edit and refresh.

Analysis Cubes takes advantage of Microsoft SQL Server to enable everyone in the organization to analyze from multiple angles and formats. To enable wide-spread use across organiza-tion, Analysis Cubes provide comprehensive transaction information in Microsoft Excel. Users also have the option of drilling down to the detailed transaction level on almost all of the examples in order to see a list of the transactions that make up a specific value.

If you have questions regarding any of these reporting tools, contact your Microsoft Dynamics partner today!



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Transactional Data Integration:Orders, invoices, recurring contracts, and credit card pro-cessing are also important considerations for automating and streamlining transactional processes across the busi-ness. This type of data integration allows transactions to be generated and documented from the purchase all the way through to accounting and shipping.

Type of IntegrationWith these considerations in mind, the types of integra-tion - one way vs. two way integration should be dis-cussed. Again, this depends on the nature and goals of the organization. For integration that increases visibility and insight, most “set-up” types of data such as products/items and units of measure should be managed from Microsoft Dynamics GP and integrated into Microsoft Dynamics CRM in a read-only capacity. When automating processes from sales to accounting, Microsoft Dynamics CRM must be able to “talk to” Microsoft Dynamics GP to relay the information and initiate processes. For these types of objectives, real time, two way integration must be considered.

A major deterrent for companies to integrate their Microsoft Dynamics ERP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM systems is the perceived complexity of the project. This perception would be well-justified if integrations had to be done manually. Fortunately, there are a number of tools available that are made specifically for connecting Microsoft Dynamics CRM and other Microsoft Dynamics ERP databases. One such tool is the Connector for Micro-soft Dynamics. Connector is intended for an implemen-tation when Microsoft Dynamics CRM is used to manage business contacts, track leads, enter sales orders, and perform other sales and marketing activities, and when Microsoft Dynamics GP is used for accounting, managing an organization’s chart of accounts, and maintaining cus-tomer, vendor, item, employee, and other records.

To make integration even simpler, Scribe developed templates that integrate key customer-related business processes. The Scribe Microsoft Dynamics GP to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Template is a highly function-al “starting point” for integrating Microsoft Dynamics GP with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, from which further extensions and customizations can be made to meet the demands of any business.

Integrating Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a great way to enhance the capabilities of the sales team without having to purchase additional software. Combining the two systems creates value that is greater than the sum of each part. The benefits are numerous, the project is cost-effective, and the integra-tion process is simple. Don’t wait to empower the sales team. Have sales team running at peak performance with better utilization of tools already at their fingertips.

Engaging Customers, continued from page 21


the bookshelfBook Review hether in a large chain store or a local mom-and-pop shop, shoppers find all types of books on business. For nearly every type of business, there is likely someone who has written rules on how to run it. While these types of books are plentiful, it is rarer to find books with salient, cross-industry messag-es that have true depth and merit.

Now Discover Your Strengths was written and based on a 25-year study con-sisting of two-million interviews and a multi-million dollar effort by the Gallup organization where they examined people and businesses that were suc-cessful and those that are not. Over the course of research, traits and trends began to emerge. It was discovered that people have multiple strengths that are innate.

The key to the entire book is the online strength-finder survey that readers can access with a special key included with the book purchase. The survey con-tains a lengthy set of questions which measure a number of different criteria. This is not a simple, ten minute test. The survey then identifies of the set of 35 possible natural strengths those that the survey taker may have. These strengths are ones that each person has which do not require a lot of extra effort in order to excel.

It is unfortunate that many classic management and employee development techniques focus on those things that employees struggle with rather than focusing on developing and mastering those things that employees do really well.

If someone does not like getting in front of a prospect, demonstrating and trying to convince a company to buy soft-ware and services might be a struggle. The salesperson that feels they are pestering people when they make sales calls could struggle to be an effective salesperson. As Now Discover Your Strengths points out, the salesperson can certainly take classes, attend seminars, and read every Zig Ziglar book out there, but at best, they might become just adequate.

On the other hand, if a salesperson has an outgoing personality, is not easily discouraged and good at following through commitments, they likely find sales to be “easy.” Sending this individual to sales seminar and training, they are much better at utilizing the information learned because they are building on an existing foundation.

This book is entirely focused on discovering people’s personal and individual strengths. It examines strengths in organization-level aspects by showing how to build and develop teams based upon this concept.

The book does not purport that people should only do the things they like at work (we all know that is not realistic). However, organizations are more likely to be successful when they place people in situations they are naturally good at as often as possible.

This book is both a great read and a great tool for students, employees, and businesses to better direct their personal and organizational strategies, hire more effectively, and put employees in a better position to succeed.

Now Discover Your Strengths By Marcus Buckingham & Donald Clifton (ISBN: 0743201140)

By Josh Behl, Summit Group Software

W


By Kris Berger, Rockton Software

Look Up Employee Information with SmartFillThe Payroll module requires looking up a lot of employee information by Employee ID, whether it is to change the Employee Maintenance card or querying through check or transaction history. SmartFill is the perfect tool for this. SmartFill allows users to type part of the Name, Description, or whatever known into the Employee ID field and then intuitively discovers the correct ID and fills it in. No lookup required! This will save time and energy throughout the day.

Discover Who Changed Employee Information with AuditorHow many times has employee information changed (i.e. pay rate, address, name, benefit, or deduction amount), but there is no history to determine who made the change, when the change was made, or what the original data was? With Rockton’s Auditor product, users have all of this information at their fingertips. Auditor is a simple data management tool which tracks field and record-level changes to the system by user. Answer the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of system data. Auditor tracks old and new values of data fields, who changed them, when they changed, and can require a note for users to explain why they made a change; therefore, eliminating time spent track-ing these changes. This data can now be seen and reported on instantly.

Routine Report Launching with One-Click using Dynamics Report ManagerThere is a lot of routine reporting done with payroll processing; this includes month-end and period-end reporting, as well as other payroll processing reports. Routine reporting can be time consuming when accessing reports since each period is located in different areas of Microsoft Dynamics GP. After locating each period, users must create or edit report options for each report; finally, launching the reports. With Rockton’s Dynamics Report Manager (DRM) product, report processing can be made simple and easy. DRM allows users to create report groups with reports from various modules and types and generate them from one location. This means Report Writer, Crystal, SQL Reporting Services (SRS), Management Reporter reports, Microsoft Office Excel, and Microsoft Office Word reports all needed for month-end processing can be used. Rather than jumping all over Microsoft Dynamics GP and other products, these reports can be launched with the click of a button in one location.

Payroll Processing

ishing to simplify payroll processing routines in Microsoft Dynamics GP? Payroll processing can be time-consuming whether it is on a monthly, biweekly, or weekly basis. Below are five major aspects Rockton Software can assist with regarding payroll processing. Simplifying these routines can certainly diminish some of an organization’s payroll processing pains!

with Rockton SoftwareSimple and Easy

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Locating Rarely Used Windows Using MentorThere are many windows in Payroll that users do not access very often, such as the Payroll Year-End, Edit Liabilities, or Reconcile

windows; these can be easily forgotten until needed. With Rockton’s Dynamics GP Toolbox, the Mentor tool allows users to type in the

name of the window or even part of the window name, and then returns the window and the path to the window. This saves time because users do not have to search to find the unused windows.

Finding Table and Field Names Using InspectorWhen creating new reports in Report Writer, Crystal Reports, SQL Server Reporting Services and Management Reporter, it is necessary for users to know the tables and field names that hold the data they want to report. This can be a time-consuming and frustrating task for many users. How-ever, with the Inspector tool in Rockton’s Dynamics GP Toolbox, when opening the window in Microsoft Dynamics GP that holds the data to be reported on, Inspector instantly returns the table and field information.

This is a sampling of how Rockton solutions can assist with payroll pro-cessing needs. To discuss how Rockton can help with your organization’s payroll needs, please contact [email protected] or visit www.rocktonsoftware.com for more information.

CRM 2013 user interface is nothing like the user interface in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. Even experi-enced users will need a little extra training to cover the new Process Forms, Quick Create Forms, and Business Process Ribbons. The amount of training required after the upgrade would likely be about one to three hours depending upon the organization’s use of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and the customiza-tions used or that might change as part of the upgrade process.

As with any upgrade, organizations should take a very diligent and well thought out approach to upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013. Once on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013….the experience will be much more streamlined, with deeper functionality, more flexibility, lower total cost of ownership, and easier use of the application.

CRM2013

with Rockton Software

CRM 2013, continued from page 39

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Marketing Automation is a relatively new term to many, although the idea and tools have been around for close to a decade. Contrary to popular belief, and perhaps to vocabulary of the concept itself, Marketing Automation is not about putting sales and market-ing on autopilot. It is really just about prioritizing the customer engagement strategy, and determining what a hu-man to human interaction is, and what can be automated through software to enhance the customer experience. It is about creating messages that are aligned with the customer life cycle stage, and allowing the customer to progress in the engagement on their terms and timeline.

Tools like ClickDimensions include content creation and delivery, campaign builders or drip marketing programs, website tracking and analytics, web forms, surveys, landing pages, social, mobile, and email marketing compo-nents all seamlessly integrated with your CRM. This means that organiza-tions can have the same data in both places, and use that data get more and better data. Marketing Automation is about generating, nurturing, and handing off qualified leads, and track-ing those leads as they turn into real revenue. And according to the research of The Annuitas Group, businesses that use Marketing Automation experience a 451% increase in qualified leads.

Modern marketing is no longer about gut instincts, or exaggerated trial and error. It is not just about using the cut-ting edge tactics or jumping on band-wagons because everyone else is doing it. It’s about crafting the right message, for the right person, at the right time. And when using the right tool-set, mod-ern marketing can be a proven science with empirical data, and real results that matter.

Marketer, continued from page 25


Pitch the paper clips.

Go beyond the electronic file cabinet and experience the amazing efficiencies of Paperless ERP from MetaViewer. From AP to AR and HR to the CFO—everyone can share the efficiencies of 100% paperless transactions. MetaViewer gives you paperless invoice and order capture with OCR, automated workflow, real-time visibility and full Microsoft Dynamics® ERP integration. In Paperless ERP, nothing compares to MetaViewer. So pitch the paper clips and visit www.metaviewer.com.

AX • GP • SL • NAV

Myth #3“Dexterity will eventually go away and the customization will not be able to be updated.”Many competing ERP solutions like to challenge the lifecycle of Dexterity. Microsoft is fully committed to the Dexterity tool for Microsoft Dynamics GP with support already forecasted into the year 2023. It is the tool used to write Micro-soft Dynamics GP. Many long-time Microsoft Dynamics Partners and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) have been using this tool for years, understanding the ins and outs of it. Plus, the flexibility of the tool lets de-velopers create windows that mirror the product.

Myth #4 “Most customization projects are never-ending and go over budget.”This is a common myth because many times projects and customizations can go on and on due to poor com-munication. Tip: If your organization is engaging in a software customiza-tion project, be sure there is a dedi-cated project manager from the Mic-rosoft Dynamics Partner. The job of a project manager is to keep the project on-time, setting milestones of delivery with both the client and his/her team, ensure that scope-creep (adding on new requirements mid-project that were not originally identified and bud-geted) does not happen and to watch the budget to actuals. In addition, as-sign a project manager on your team to communicate with the Partner’s PM on a regular basis to discuss the project’s progress.

So if you are thinking “I wish my Microsoft Dynamics solution could do this…” or “I really need more out of Microsoft Dynamics”, don’t let those common myths of software custom-izations hold your organization back. Consider engaging with a Microsoft Dynamics Partner so the business can be run how it was designed, not how the out of the box software made it be run.

Marketer, continued from page 25 Myth-Busting, continued from page 35


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Documents

Dynamics University Q3 Fall 2013