Save the Date: Convergence 2008

Convergence 2008: Orlando, FL- March 10th- 14th

Convergence is the premier Microsoft Dynamics event, bringing customers, partners, team members and industry experts together in an environment created for you to discuss solutions, address business needs and establish a true community that can be leveraged throughout the year.

Ballmer to speak at Convergence 2008 Orlando
After attending his first Convergence event in San Diego this past March, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was impressed by the unique opportunity Convergence provides Microsoft employees, partners and customers to come together and interact. Mr. Ballmer is already slated to deliver the opening keynote at Convergence 2008 in Orlando.

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Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 - News!

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 – Versions

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Workgroup Edition
This version is limited to 5 or fewer users. It can be installed on Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition, any of the supported Windows Server 2003 editions, or Microsoft Windows Server 2008. This version is limited to a single organization and a single computer that is running Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Server.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Professional Edition
This version has no user limit and is limited to a single organization. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Professional Edition Server can, however, be installed to more than one computer.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Enterprise Edition
This version has no user limit. Additional features include support for multiple organizations, multiple server instances, and role-based service installation. Rolebased services let you increase performance by installing component services on different computers.

Original post found here: http://blogs.msdn.com/mscrmfreak/archive/2007/10/12/microsoft-dynamics-crm-4-versions.aspx


Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 – Workflow
The core architectural changes are: • Unified Event Model • Asynchronous Host o Multi-tenant/Stateless o Scalable o Reliable • Windows Workflow Foundation • Extensibility Mechanism

Workflows are now available to end users, who no longer need access to the server in order to create, modify, and monitor them. Child workflows and workflow templates provide two ways for users to build upon existing workflow logic while they are creating new workflows.
Workflows now support many more record types. Also, they can now be triggered by the update and delete events, and a workflow can be triggered by more than one event. Dynamic values and conditionals are more useful. The new user interface for workflows includes the Form Assistant, a tool for specifying dynamic values. Dynamic values are also improved by the increased number of record relationships. So, there are more records and attributes available for inclusion in dynamic values.

One of the other things that has changed in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is that we now can apply and use stages on all workflow logic which makes it possible to define and monitor parts of a complex workflow. In v3.0 we only could use staging on the opportunity level.

Original post found here: http://blogs.msdn.com/mscrmfreak/archive/2007/10/04/microsoft-dynamics-crm-4-0-workflow.aspx

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 – Multi-tenant

With Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 we have build in support for multiple tenants. Multi-tenancy is about sharing hardware and software, NOT transactional data. The customizations are performed at the tenant level and each tenant can have their own set of customizations. Each installation will have a base language and on top of that you can install language pack(s), which can be activated per tenant. A user can have access to multiple tenants.

Original post found here: http://blogs.msdn.com/mscrmfreak/archive/2007/10/02/microsoft-dynamics-crm-4-0-multi-tenant.aspx

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 - Tidbits!

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Tidbits - Entity Relationships

Link to Original Post: http://blogs.msdn.com/ukcrm/archive/2007/10/01/microsoft-dynamics-crm-4-0-tidbits-entity-relationships.aspx

So what's new with entity relationships. Well, In CRM 3.0 we had One-to-Many (1:n) relationships between entities, with the following limitations:

CRM 3.0 Entity Relationships

One-to-Many System-Custom : A custom entity is linked to a system entity. The custom entity has a lookup field to associate it with a system entity.

One-to-Many Custom-Activity/Note: This common relationship can be created automatically when you select to have Notes and Activities associated with a custom entity.

One-to-Many Custom-Custom: This represents when you include a custom entity as the child of another custom entity. The child entity has a lookup field to associate it with the parent custom entity.

One-to-Many Custom-System: This represents when a custom entity is linked to a system entity. This cannot be a parental relationship type; it can only be a referential relationship type. A lookup field is added to the system entity, but it is not a required field.

Custom-Custom: A referential relationship can be added between two custom entities. This means that you can create two relationships between two custom entities. This creates lookup attributes on both entities so that each entity has a reference to another.

In addition, only certain system entities could participate in a One-to-Many relationship. Now with CRM 4.0, the range of entity relationship options has been increased and you can now create the following:

Additional CRM 4.0 Entity Relationships

One-to-Many System-System: A system entity is linked to another system entity. The child system entity has a lookup field to associate it with a parent system entity.

Self-Referential: An entity linked to itself. For example a Case can be linked to a master Case.

Multiple Relationships Between Entities: For example the Account entity might have two relationships with a Contact entity - a primary and secondary Contact

Many-to-Many System-System, System-Custom & Custom-Custom: The one that everyone has been waiting for. Not only will this remove the need to build a "joining" entity, but you have control over how the relationships show up in the UI

****This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.****