Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 - Radical Innovation from Microsoft with the new Process Based User Interface for Dynamics CRM

Radical Innovation Really?

Yes I know that the words Radical and Innovation are not normally associated with Microsoft.  I've been working as a Microsoft partner for the last 4 years and at Microsoft itself for the 6 years before that and I'd have to say that Microsoft have traditionally made their name as a "Fast Follower" in the IT industry, at least over the last 10 years anyways.  But I would definitely say that at least with this new version of Dynamics CRM the words "Radical" and "Innovation" do apply. 

Radical in that the User Interface with this new product is significantly different from the previous Dynamics CRM User Interface.  Users of the old product will have some challenges in getting used to the new user interface.  Innovative in that in my experience across all the major ERP and CRM products (SAP, Oracle, SF.com, etc.) I have yet to see a User Interface quite like this one.

The New Process Based User Interface

Traditional CRM and ERP application require users to navigate to various screens to do various activities and tasks.  For example you might navigate to the Account to update some customer information then open up an Order screen to enter in an Order against that customer then decided to create an Appointment to meet with the customer to get the Order signed and then go back to the Order screen to process or close the Order. 

Invariably then users were navigating to several different screens and were left searching for information.  If they were lucky they had an application that was fully integrated with Outlook and other tools to avoid rekeying.  In some cases the information from several areas of the application might be combined together into one screen to make it easier to enter in the data.  But that assumed one standard process. 

With the new Process Based User Interface for Dynamics CRM, users can configure the application around their business processes not the other way around.  You can now have multiple different processes for multiple different business scenarios and you don't have to navigate around to various screens to complete a process.  In our previous example instead of navigating around to 4 different screens you can sit in one screen and the application brings the data relevant to that particular step in that particular process to you for each step in the process.  You don't have to go look for things.  The system serves it up to you.  If the process you use to sell one particular product is slightly different than the process you use for another product then you can configure those different processes in the system and switch between them depending the product you are selling.  The system changes to match your process.  You don't change your business processes to match the system. 

What are the benefits then of this new User Interface...

1. The application more closely replicates how you do business;
2. It will be easier to train users on the system;
3. It becomes easier for new employees to learn your business processes and you need less knowledge to navigate your business;
4. You can more easily enforce process compliance;
5. Few clicks, fewer screens to navigate to and a generally better user experience;
6. Less time searching for information; and
7. Easier to use from a mobility perspective as everything is brought to the one screen when you need it.  

Business Rules Engine - Power in the Business Analysts hands

In addition to the new Process Based User Interface, Microsoft had extended the tools that people can use to build business rules into their CRM Application.  With the new Business Rules Engine, Business Analysts with a relatively moderate IT skill set can configure how the application responds to users.  Making a field required to be entered is just a few clicks.  Having a whole section of a form to appear or disappear based on the answer to a specific question is just a few clicks.  Giving the user feedback when they've entered in an incorrect value and giving the guidance on how to enter in the correct value just a few clicks. 

Combine this with the new Process Based User Interface and you can have different business processes and different business rules for each process configured into your business application thus more closely matching how you do business.  Again all this is accessible by the user from just one screen for each business process. 

 

 

Microsoft Embraces Mobility

Along with the new Process Based UI and the new Business Rules Engine that Microsoft has released with Dynamics CRM 2013, Microsoft are also in the process of releasing newly reengineered mobility clients for iPad, Windows Tablet, Android and iPhone.

All three of these innovations (Mobility, Process Based UI and the new Business Rules Engine) are complimentary.  User can now sit are the mobility device of their choice and have all the information brought to them in on screen that they need to perform their job function.  All of this is presented in a Mobility User Interface that is optimised for touch and easy to use. 

 

 

How will the Market react?

I've demonstrated this new UI personally to a number of customers and prospects since the product was released earlier this month.  Existing eSavvy Customers were also treated to a sneak pre-view of the new UI during the last eSavvy Dynamics CRM User Group meeting.  The feedback from customers and prospects has been overwhelmingly positive.  Users appreciate how much the application can now adapt to how they want to use it and how easy it will be for them to use. 

The only challenge I see is getting users used to this new way of thinking.  People who have been constrained by the classical layout that business applications have had over the last 20 years will need to break down that paradigm and raise their expectations in terms of how business applications will meet their needs.  It's a challenge though that I'm sure people will be happy to rise to. 


David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia.

Improving Customer Retention in the Insurance Industry using Dynamics CRM

Differentiate on Service not on Price

The challenge these days in the Insurance Industry is that it is almost impossible to differentiate on price given the tools that are at the consumers finger tips.  Web sites such as www.iselect.com.au, www.greenslips.com.au, www.infochoice.com.au and www.ratecity.com.au all give you the ability to get quotes from multiple insurance providers on the same terms, simultaneously with relative ease. As an insurer as soon as you drop your price the competition will do the same.  Conversely you can't raise your price otherwise the consumers will be aware of the variation and migrate to other providers fairly quickly.  Price as a tool to drive demand is working less and less. 

The trick then is to retain your customers in the first place through effective customer service across the Customer Service  Cycle.  This article discusses the key points any insurer should consider when developing their customer service strategy and gives examples of how a tool like Dynamics CRM can assist in the execution of that strategy. 

The Customer Service Cycle

The following is the basic cycle that needs to be considered when interacting with customers in the insurance industry...

In brief ....

• Profile - Having a complete understanding of your customer's needs and wants;
• Segment - Different customers require and prefer different service levels and different types of service.  You need to provide this to them;
• Interact - Having tools that help you manage the interaction with your customers efficiently and effectively; and
• Personalise - Providing offerings and service levels specific to your customers needs.

Profile

The first step in the Customer Service Cycle is to Profile your Customer before you interact with them.  Some refer to this as having a 360 Degree View but it's more than that.  Aside from understanding your customers history it's also important to understand their purchase preferences and what they will want in the future. Basic questions like...

• What have they purchased in the past?
• How will that influence what they would purchase in the future?
• How have they interacted with you before?
• What have your communications have been about ?
• Based on their Demographic what products and services will they be most interested in?

In Dynamics CRM aside from providing that 360 Degree View and complete Audit History you can use custom Workflows to identify potential cross/ upsell opportunities.  You can create customer experience maps which will provide your customers with custom interactions based on their profile. 

Segment

Once you've Profiled a customer you want to Segment them not just based on the types of products and services they would be interested but also the level of service the customer will prefer.  Not only can "over servicing" be an unnecessary cost to the business but it can also lead to reduced customer satisfaction.  Calling the customer repeatedly who does not want to be called can work against you.  Communicating to the customer over the phone when they really would have preferred email also leads to a reduced perception of service.  Once you've determined the appropriate level of service then understanding the types of services they are interested in, not only increases your chances of upsell and cross sell but also increases the overall perception of Quality of Service

An example of this in Dynamics CRM is Dynamic Marketing Lists.  Users can create complex Boolean logic queries which are dynamically updated based on the information in the CRM database. This allows for extremely targeted communication.  For example you can create a Marketing List that identifies customer who are coming up for insurance renewal whom you haven't talked to in the last 6 months but whom prefer to be called after 6:00pm. 

Interact

A good interaction with a customer is one where you have as much information as possible at the point of that interaction and where you have a structured but flexible interaction process thereby increasing the chance that the customer gets what they want as quickly as possible. The customer having to provide information you show already know or having to wait whilst you process through several screens on your business system is going to cause frustration on their end and reduce the perception of service. 

An example of how Dynamics CRM can improve interactions with your customers is through the use of Dialogs for phone based communication.  The Dialog tool in CRM allows you to script conversations with your customer.  It can present information about your customer based on a recognised phone number.  As you ask and answer questions in the system the Dialog determines the next set of questions for you to ask you customer.  All the while the relevant data is being trapped by the Dialog in CRM in one screen eliminating the need to navigate from screen to screen.  Thereby the system improves customer interaction by making sure you have the requisite information at your figure tips, have a structured process and not having to navigate from screen to screen. 

Personalize

Customers expect all their communications to be highly personalized.  One example of this is the email that is addressed to them by name from the person in your organization they know, that shows that you remember their history with your organization and provides them with specific information on the services they are interested in.  Or in the case of a phone, recognises the customers phone number and provides you with the information necessary to continue on the previous conversation with the customer or proactively know what they would likely be calling you about to prepare you for the conversation. 

An example of this in Dynamics CRM is using Click Dimensions to provide Dynamic Content Emails.  These tools allow you to tailor content in your email communications specific to your customer.  The person based out of Victoria, Australia receives contact details specific to that geography, offer information specific to their needs and if you want can even have a graphic on the email specific to them (e.g. If you are in Victoria the header graphic is a picture of AFL star but if you are in NSW the header graphic is a picture of a Rugby League star). 

Improved Service in the Insurance Industry is the Way...

Speaking from a personal perspective the services companies I use for all the services I consume (not just insurance or financial services) I've stuck with or left based on wether that company could give me what I needed when I needed it.  I didn't stick with them for providing me services that I wasn't interested.  Ultimately those service providers whom Profiled and understood me, Segmented and provide me the offerings and level of service I was interested in and made me felt that I was getting more Personalized service are the ones that got my business.  Interactions that were smooth and efficient also helped.  Insurance providers need to understand this model as do services companies across most industries.   Dynamics CRM has a number of tools that can support an effective Customer Service Strategy in this regard.  If you'd like more information you can contact us at info@esavvy.com.au . 


David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia.

Improving Occupancy in the Aged Care Industry using Dynamics CRM

In Aged Care profitability is driven by Occupancy.  There are many factors that contribute to poor occupancy including...

• Poor Forecasting and understanding of availability across assets;
• Marketing which is not targeted to focus on underutilized assets;
• Mishandling of Leads and Referrals once they are generated; and
• Poor management and scheduling of the new resident admission process.

 I will take each of the areas in turn...

 

Improved Occupancy Forecasting

It might be grim to say but one of the most important things in Aged Care is being able to generate reasonable forecasts around future occupancy.  In Dynamics CRM you can trap information about a residents which taken in aggregate can be used as leading indicators to forecast future occupancy across your facilities.  Dynamics CRM can also be used to provide ready access to current availability statistics allowing marketing and sales folks to make better decisions about where to target their efforts.

Targeted Lead Generation  

Once there is a view as to where occupancy is down or forecast to be down Marketing can then focus their demand generation in those areas.  Microsoft Dynamics CRM in combination with the Click Dimensions solution built within Dynamics CRM allows you to develop targeted marketing programs with a customized experience based on the individuals needs.  It also gives you the ability to use surveys to collect residents and their families feedback around why the did or did choose a specific facility.  You can measure your Marketing ROI and you can understand better where your leads are coming from. 

Improved Lead Management

Using the free customer portal that comes with Dynamics CRM allows you to turn your website into a lead generations tool.  Combined with a structure workflow process to automatically manage lead allocation and you will improve response times and conversion rates.

Once a potential resident is identified as a lead then there is a process around attracting them to your facilities and managing their admittance should they chose your facility.  Microsoft Dynamics CRM allows you to manage this process in a structured fashion with a full workflow and queue management capability to automate the application process.  A structured sales process specific to your business needs can be imbedded into the Dynamics CRM tool.  Having a more structured predictable process means you will have a more predictable result. 

A functionality called Dialogs within Dynamics CRM allows you to script the Residence Application Process entering in all the data in one screen.  Mobility tools allows your representatives to have the information at your figure tips. 

Improved Scheduling

Dynamics CRM includes a scheduling facility which can be used to optimize the appointments, room allocations and new residents intakes reducing gaps in occupancy.  This same functionality allows interested parties to automatically schedule introductory appointments with your representatives from the website. 

The Result - Improved Occupancy

In summary then Improved Occupancy Forecasting with Dynamics CRM allows you to be proactive in your marketing and target more effectively your marketing dollars.  Targeted marketing using Dynamics CRM and Click Dimension drives demand in the programs where you need interest the most. Improved Lead Management once you generate those leads allows you to understand better where your leads are coming from and improve conversion rates.   Improved scheduling allows you improve the intake process reducing gaps in occupancy.  Add all this together and the result is Improved Occupancy rates which  leads to higher profitability for your organization.

If you have this question feel free to drop us a line at info@esavvy.com.au    



David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia.

Dynamics CRM Online as a Solution to Student Recruitment and Retention in Higher Education

Is Student Recruitment and Retention in Higher Education a New Problem?

Student Recruitment and Retention is definitely getting a lot more focus from Education institutions these days.  Education is becoming a hot topic in federal politics. All the political parties have been putting forward their own proposals over the last few months and the recently released Gonski Report has generated lots of discussion.  People realise that the surest way to impart a better standard of living to their children is through a good quality education and there are clearly opportunities for improvement in the current education systems in Australia.

Prior to the Gonski Report the Federal Government commissioned the Bradley Report in 2008 to examine the performance of Australia's higher education system in light of growing competition in the global market for skills and innovation.  In responding to the review the Federal injected new funding and a number of reforms.  The most significant of these reforms was the decision to introduce an new demand-driven funding model from 2012, to promote growth in student placements as well as increased student choice. 

Funding for higher education places would be allocated on the basis of student demand.  This gave universities the freedom to expand enrolments but they would also face increased competition to attract and retain students.  These new reforms combined with ever more discerning parents and students and Australia's Universities and Higher Education institutions are now being put into a position where they have to actively compete to get students and they have to actively work to retain them.  In a recent walk through a local train station in Sydney this writer encountered no less than 5 different advertisements on Billboards each from a different education institution inviting potential students to investigate their programs.

Why the Increased Interest in Dynamics CRM as a Solution to Student Recruitment and Retention?

In the last 6 months there has been a dramatic interest from education institutions in Microsoft Dynamics CRM as a solution to Student Recruitment and Retention.  The problem of Student Recruitment is further divided into the problems of finding and interesting potential students in university programs and then processing their applications (trying to ensure that the students that are recruited have a good chance of success).  The problem of Student Retention is also broken down into managing current student interactions effectively (treating them more as customers than students) and proactively identifying and working with students perceived to be at risk to take action to retain them.  Broadly then prospective buyers are looking to a CRM system to help them...

1. Recruit New Students;
2. Manage the Student Enrolment Process;
3. Manage Students on-going Interaction with the University to improve Service Levels;
4. To be Proactive in Retaining Students Considered at Risk;
5. Once a Student is an Alumni actively market to them for contributions. 

With it's preferential Education Pricing, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online provides Education Institutions with a cost effective method of addressing all of these scenarios with one system.  Each Application of Dynamics CRM would be considered in turn...

Recruit More New Students

Students these days use a variety of mediums to make a decision about which University or Tertiary Education Organization to invest their time in.  The majority of these mediums are digital.  Facebook, Linked In, Websites and Email are all key marketing tools which University marketers need to master.  Along with more traditional forms of Marketing such as information sessions and presentations and conferences and industry associations.  Dynamics CRM supplemented by a marketing tool called Click Dimensions provides the answer here.  University marketers can use Dynamics CRM with Click Dimensions to turn their web site into a lead generation tool, doing lead nurturing, lead scoring and using customized emails, EDMs and communication through LinkedIn and Facebook to provide the prospective student with highly targeted communications.  A number of universities have deployed Dynamics CRM with Click Dimensions to great effect increasing enrolments. 

Manage the Student Enrolment Process more Effectively

Student Enrolment can be a complex process.  Once you've identified the student you want to recruit and enrol there can be many steps in the enrolment process.  You want to make this process as efficient as possible thereby allowing your enrolment folks to spend more time evaluating which students to admit and reject versus spending most of their time chasing the requisite paperwork.  Dynamics CRM with it's Case Management, Workflow and Queue management tools allows your Registrar to automate this enrolment process moving the application to the right person at the right time with automated responses in terms of emails and automated follow ups when certain information is missing.

Improve Student Service Levels

Students interact with the University or Higher Education Institution almost weekly for a variety of reasons.  Many Universities employ the use of Call Centres to answer and address the myriad of questions students might bring up.  To improve services levels to your students in an effort to retain them it's important to having systems in place which provide you with a 360 Degree View of the Students and methods to easily answer the most common questions they may have.  These tools in combinations with an integrated self service portal for the Student means more efficient call centres with lower costs to operate and higher perceived service levels on the part of the students. 

Proactively Retain Students at Risk

What about the student who fails an exam, stops showing up to class or fails to make a tuition payment.  Clearly these students are at a high risk of dropping out.  The university has invested large sums of money in recruiting these students and getting them to walk down their halls.  It is clearly more cost effective to put action plans in place to try to keep them.  Universities are looking for systems that can...

• Alert the University for Students flagged at Risk;
• Provide information in a single location so that staff can easily understand the circumstances of the student;
• Ensuring accountability at the University for managing these High Risk Students;
• Provide processes and guides for the staff at the university to manage the students through their issues and to set an effective action plan; and
• Ensure that the action plan for the student is followed up on a timely basis.  

Dynamics CRM has tools and capabilities to address all these requirements.

Market to Alumni

The same tools used to Recruit Students can be used to great effective to market to them once they are alumni and encourage them to continue to support their school. 

Dynamics CRM Online as a Solution to Student Recruitment and Retention in Higher Education 

Dynamics CRM Online thereby provides a flexible, cost effective and easy to use tool for Higher Education to manage the student all the way through their student life cycle from recruitment all the way through to alumni management.  Being provided at the extremely low pricing that Microsoft offers in a hosted fashion (which makes it easy to deploy) it's no wonder that a number of Education Institutions are considering CRM.  The only question a lot of the schools I talk to have is where do they start.  If you have this question feel free to drop us a line at info@esavvy.com.au  


David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia.

A Better Way to Deliver CRM Projects

What you Want vs. What you get Delivered

Having delivered hundreds of Dynamics CRM projects and before that hundreds of CRM and ERP projects using software from a number of other vendors (Oracle, SAP, PeopleSoft, etc.) I've seen what works and what doesn't work.  If the definition of success is giving the customer what they want in terms of scope and being on time and in budget then an even simpler definition of the success is giving the customer what they expect.  So a lot of the successful projects I've seen resulted from the project manager putting processes and procedures in place to make sure there were no surprises and the customer largely got what they expected. 

Most project management professionals will adopt one of one of either two common methods to deliver a project in the effort to give the customer what they want.  These are the Waterfall Approach and the Agile Approach. 

The Waterfall Approach adopts the classic Design, Build, Test, Deploy scenario where the design of the solution has to be fully characterised before build starts and the build has to be fully completed before the testing starts. 

In the Agile approach the idea is to break up the project into small chunks with no formal design phase but rather a set of requirements know as the "Solution Backlog" that the development team works from.  The build is broken up into a number of individual sprint cycles where some requirements form the Solution Backlog are explored,  a component of the solution is built and then given back to the users for testing.  Subsequently more requirements are explored, more building is done, more testing is done and then the cycle is repeated.  Typically the "Sprints" are done daily.

Pro's and Con's of the Waterfall Approach to Project Management

One of the primary benefits of the Waterfall approach amongst other things is that it attempts to characterise the entire solution requirements and design in detail completely before the build is started.  In so doing the customer can be presented an estimate of the total costs and a plan in terms of how the solution would be delivered.  There is also an attempt to discover and address the interactions between the various components of the solution design and the impacts of various processes on one another.  Assuming the consultancy or internal project team has done a decent job of the design and those costs, resource plans and project plans will be relatively accurate. 

The primary disadvantage of the Waterfall Approach is that the customer is expected to be able to characterise all the requirements up front with a reasonable degree of certainty.  From practical experience it is highly probable that once they start to test and use the solution the customer will end up reprioritising those previously listed requirements (what previously was important is now less important and that which wasn't that important is now more so) and coming up with new ones as they understand better the capabilities of the tools they are using.  Scope ends up changing and the previously advertised costs and time frames also change.

Pro's and Con's of the Agile Approach to Project Management

With the Agile Approach you are constantly going back to the customer getting their inputs in terms of the design and how the solution is being built.  The customer learns more quickly how the solution would work and they are able to incorporate those learning's into how the system is built.  They then naturally end up with something which is closer to what they want. 

The primary disadvantage with the Agile approach is that the customer doesn't have a clear view up front as to the costs or time frames of the deployment.  The build of the solution can take off in a direction totally unintended when the system was initially scoped.  Also there is a high probably that there will be a lot of rework because a global solution design was not done and with an integrated complex system items changed in one area have impacts in others with unintended results which leads to higher development costs. 

Because of these inherent pro's and con's of both the Waterfall and Agile approaches it would be fair to say that Waterfall is much more common when external consultants are being used, when the solution is some form of COTS (Commercial of the Shelf Solution) that is being configured and customized and the customer insists on having a clear view of costs up front.  Agile on the other hand is more common when the project is being completed primarily by internal client resources and the solution is a more of a pure development project using one or a number of development languages. 

The Best of Both Worlds - The Hybrid Project Management Approach

So what I am about to recommend is a third option which we've used many times with a number of our customers in doings Dynamics CRM Deployments.  I call it the "Hybrid Approach".  The Hybrid Approach attempts to pull the best from both worlds both Waterfall and Agile.  From the Waterfall Approach we do adopt doing a Global Solution Design and formal User Acceptance Testing with a Structured Build Cycle.  Taking best practices from the Agile Approach we adopt several techniques to gather the clients input during the build cycle and we break the build cycle into more descrete chunks thereby ensuring their are more input signals coming from the customer to the development team.

Key Components of the Hybrid Approach

The following are the key components of the Hybrid Approach...

1. We still have formal Design, Build, User Acceptance Testing and Deployment Phases; however
2. We break the Design Phase down into a several rounds.  First we conduct a Diagnostic which takes a high level pass at requirements gathering and design in an effort to validate costs and scope.  We then do a more detailed round of Design as part of the project proper.  By this time we have a clearer view of what we are designing from the Diagnostic before we start the process;
3. By conducting a Global Solution Design we attempt to reduce the amount of rebuild that occurs because of the interactions between the various modules in the system;
4. We break the build cycle into a number of releases with Solution Testing in-between each release.  We don't let the development team go for more than 3 to 4 weeks before have a full round of solution test to validate what they are building.  In this way gaps in the design are identified earlier in the build process;
5. We do regular Solution Pre-views with the client where weekly or bi-weekly the develop teams present back to the customers what they have been building to gather inputs and validate the correctness of the previously completed design phase;  and
6. We adopt a Phased Approach to Delivery.  Rather than doing the project in a "Big Bang" fashion we deliver the functionality into production in smaller buckets or phases such that we can get feedback of how the system will actually operation in production.  Each Phase will have several Build Releases. 

In essence we attempt to get the benefits of both Waterfall and Agile which are ...

• A clearer view of the costs, time frames and scope up front;
• Less chance of re-development because of Architectural Issues because we have thought through those global design issues up front; and
• A higher chance that the customer will get what they want because gaps in the Solution Design are identified earlier in the cycle through Solution Previews, short Release Cycles and multiple Deployment Phases. 

If you want more information about the Hybrid Approach you can contact me at dgoad@esavvy.com.au or alternatively you can send an email to info@esavvy.com.au. 

David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia.

Microsoft's Latest Release of Dynamics CRM Online - The Last Chink in the Armour Filled

I've been selling Microsoft Dynamics CRM for a long time.  There were always value points for Microsoft Dynamics CRM over the competition such as the Microsoft Outlook Integration, the Price and the ability to customize the solution in a easy and quick way (often referred to as Extended CRM or xRM) but there were also weak points in the Dynamics CRM solution that the competition would pick on as well. 

Microsoft filled a lot of those weak points when they first released Dynamics CRM Online some two years back but there were two things that still came up again and again.  Clearly the competition was trying to take advantage of Dynamics CRM's weak points.  These were...

1. Cross Browser Support (including Support for iPad); and
2. Providing a Simplified User Interface.

... neither of which Dynamics CRM was good at.  Well in the latest release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM both of those problems have been "largely" solved. 

Dynamics CRM Cross Browser Support

The problem with a lot of customers was that they had already made investments in non-Microsoft technologies such as iPad and Android Tablets.  They weren't willing to give up on those investments and it took a while for Microsoft to realise that the Desktop and Laptop were tools of the past and the Tablet was the tool of the future and that for the time being Microsoft was not the dominant player in the Tablet.  Well with the latest release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Microsoft have corrected that oversight.  Below is a list of the browsers and platforms that Microsoft Dynamics CRM now supports.  So if you are an avid Apple Desktop or iPad user your investments in those tools can be maintained and you can have Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online too!

 

 

 

With the Multi-Browser Support Microsoft has also provided a limited iPad Client a screen shot of which is shown here...

 

 



 

Providing a Simplified User Interface

When doing demo's of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online often customers would complain that Dynamics CRM looked too complex and they liked the simplified user interface of the competition.  As a sales person we would go to great lengths to configure CRM simplify the UI to counteract that conclusion.   Well with the latest release of CRM Online Microsoft have started moving to a simpler "Process Based User Interface".   The idea is that the UI changes depend on what stage you are at in terms of your business process and that the business process is built into the system. That same business process is largely user configurable to your own specific needs.   An example of the new User Interface is show here...

 

 

So now when I walk into customers I can tell them that the solution works across all platforms and is simple to use.  Two additional value points which most of my customer appreciate.  Add to this the lower price than the competition and the traditional strength of the CRM to Outlook Integration and really you have an unbeatable combination. 

Now when customers ask me how I position CRM against the competition I simply say " we can do everything they can do... but just cheaper."    This is a story that all my customers understand and appreciate.

David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia.

The New Evolution in Mobility is Already Here

The Next Evolution in Mobility is Already Here

It is clear that the latest and biggest market in IT these days is in mobile devices.  Tablet devices are leading in Retail Sales compared to Desktops and Laptops.  Microsoft's recent foray into the Tablet/ Mobility market with the Surface recognises this fact.  The plethora of devices provided by a number of different vendors and their relatively low cost is changing how IT works.  During a recent visit to a local retailers website there were over 60 tablet devices listed all less than $1000 in price.  Over 1/2 were less than $600 in price.  That same retailer also has about 40 different smart phones on offer again most for less than $500.

Bring Your Own Device

This evolution in hardware means that there is an evolution going on in IT infrastructure.  Most corporate IT organizations have locked down desktop environments and for good reasons.  The greater the variety in devices and software you have to manage the higher your IT costs.  Because Hardware and Software used to be costly and these budgets managed centrally IT could enforce these controls but no longer.  If I had a nickel for every time I heard the following story I'd be a rich man...

A Sales Manager goes to his local retailer and sees a great Tablet Device for less that $600.  He says to himself "I can afford this on my own budget I don't need to get IT's approval".  The next day 30 to 40 sales employees all have a new Tablets.  Then the Sales Manager walks over to the IT Department Manager and says "It's done, I've got these 40 new devices and now you need to support these and by the way I want all my Business Applications to work on these new Tablets".  The IT Manager goes white and you can see his hair greying before your eyes.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is here to stay.  You can't do anything about this.  IT costs go up. 

Bring your Own Application

Now this leads me to the next challenge.  Each of these great devices has their own Applications Store.  Apple, Google and Microsoft all have one and they pretty much all work the same.  Download an Application for free, try it and if you like it then pay a few $ per month to continue to use it.

Suddenly these IT folks not only have a variety of hardware they have to support but also a variety of software to support.   Bring Your Own Application (BYOA) is here to stay as well. IT costs go up yet again. 

Enterprise Application Stores

The smart IT departments are fighting back.  They are developing their own Enterprise Application Stores to combat this trend and try to reduce costs and gain some control.  Gartner says that 25% of Enterprises will have an Enterprise Application Store by 2017.  But these Enterprise Application Stores will need to provide Applications that can work across a multitude of devices and Operating Systems for IT to easily maintain them. 

eSavvy's Response to these Trends

As you know eSavvy have been in the CRM space for number of years.  We were Microsoft's CRM Partner of the Year last year for Australia and Dynamics Asia Pacific Partner of the Year last year as well.  We are a loyal Microsoft partner and will continue to be so in the future.  We believe in the power of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and will continue to have this as being core to our technology strategy as a Systems Integrator.   But we do see a change in how people will use Dynamics CRM in the future.  Taking into account the above trends, customers will less and less want to be using Dynamics CRM over a desktop and more and more need to be using it with their mobile device of their choice (Tablet or Phone).  Microsoft recognises this as well.  They recently released versions of Dynamics CRM which supported multiple browsers and a version of Dynamics CRM for the iPad. 

There is a gap however.  The form factors provided by Microsoft don't suit the mobile phone space well (iPhone, Android or Windows Mobile) and the iPad version is restricted in the entities you can access and isn't very customizable.  It also doesn't allow you to go offline.  There is no support for Android Tablets as well.  Customers needed a mobility solution for Dynamics CRM which can be supported across multiple different devices and operating systems simultaneously.   Enter eSavvy Mobile. 

eSavvy have taken the extraordinary step of developing their own Mobility Application which integrates with Dynamics CRM.  Built on a new Technology called Titanium that mobile application allows you to manage the same code base across multiple different devices and operating systems and it allows you to take your data offline.  It becomes the ideal CRM client for that BYOD and BYOA environment that we have been talking about and becomes something that customers can include in their Enterprise Applications Store.  Best yet, the baseline application is licenced for free to eSavvy CRM customers. It will be released by eSavvy in the upcoming weeks with a webinar being presented in the next few weeks.  To find out more details and to subscribe to that webinar just send an email to info@esavvy.com.au

Enterprises need to include the terms BYOD and BYOA into their vernacular.  IT departments will need to develop strategies to address these trends.  eSavvy is positioning ourselves to be an asset in this regards and help IT departments reduce their costs. 

David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia.