Heading to London

 

My company, CIBER, is having our Global Microsoft Dynamics CRM Symposium in London this week. As our USA West region’s Solutions Architect, I, of course, get to go. :-)

It will be fantastic to have the whole global Dynamics CRM team together and get to know each other better than a picture and some IM chats :)  In addition we have representatives from Microsoft’s global Dynamics CRM team also coming to participate.

I sure hope I run into Dr. Who and Rose while I'm there. Maybe I’ll get to see the TARDIS in the car park.

I’ll have one day to be a tourist.  If you have any suggestions for “must see” sights on my tourist day, I would love to hear them!

Robert
- One is pleased to be of service

 

Technorati Tags: Dynamics CRM,CIBER,London

Living with HALF a heart!!!

 

In the name of full disclosure, this post is personal in nature and is not really a technical pondering, but is very near and dear to my whole heart, and I’ll tie it to technology somehow. :)

Could you develop with only HALF a computer language? How about half a compiler? Or half a computer? Or, only half of your base-2 binary system?

Let’s take this closer to home…

Could you live (literally just plain survive!) with only HALF A HEART?!?!

Well, a very special friend of ours literally has only HALF of a heart. As it turns out, way too many children are actually born with much of their heart missing.

To learn more about our special friend Liam, please visit this blog:  http://amandaroseadams.blogspot.com/

If you would please be so inclined, and willing to give a few dollars in support of Liam and all the children like him, please consider sponsoring his family in the Congenital Heart Walk. 

I know that everyone wants your money, but every dollar helps and the children really need it.

Many, many thanks!

Robert
- One is pleased to be of service

Technorati Tags: Congenital Heart Disease,Congenital Heart Walk

Dynamics CRM 2011 Partner Readiness Training…

 

I just got back from the partner readiness training day for Dynamics CRM 2011.  I will have to admit that CRM 2011 has got me feeling like a little kid in the proverbial candy shop!  The more I keep playing with and the more I keep learning about it, the more excited I get about it.

Just a few highlights of some new features that are going to be fantastic:

Familiar

• Microsoft Office Fluent UI
• Ribbons (yes I like them)
• Role-based forms and views
• Field-level security
• Advanced personalization
• Support for 41 languages on day 1
• Native Outlook integration/support
• Customizable Help Advisor
• Column filtering (just like in Excel)
• Almost NO POPUPS anymore!!!
• Return of the export –> import bulk edit feature
• Ability to customize EVERYTHING (or very close to it anyways)
• SilverLight support

Intelligent

• Dashboards
  • Real-time charts and grids
  • drill-through charts
  • UI Mash-ups
• Teams
  • team ownership
  • cross BU data visibility
• Processes
  • Enhanced Workflow (background processes)
  • Dialogs/Call Scripting (foreground processes)
• Inline, user customizable data visualizations
• Goal Management and Reporting

Connected

• Native SharePoint integration (including from Dynamics CRM Online!)
  • Automated provisioning
• Queue enhancements
  • Ability to put ANYTHING into a Queue
  • Individual Queues
  • Team ownership of queues
• Connections (connect anything to anything at runtime!)
• Native integration with Azure
• Support for Claims security
  • Start to get true SSO regardless of where the user sits and what they use to authenticate themselves!
• Developer enhancements
  • Native LINQ support
  • WCF Services
  • REST
  • ATOM
  • ODATA
  • Json
  • Ajax

And much, much more!!!

But, that should get you drooling and pondering your own thoughts about the incredible excitement that is coming with Dynamics CRM 2011.

Go get your own BETA site today and learn for yourself! 

Robert

 

Technorati Tags: Dynamics CRM 2011,beta

Dynamics CRM Version Matrix

 

Unfortunately, it can be quite difficult to figure out which Rollup version of CRM you are using as CRM only reports its actual build number and not its “name”.

The below matrix provides a mapping of the version numbers to the Rollup names. Note that this is only a listing of the major Rollups.  Hotfixes and special updates will have build numbers that are different than those shown here.

 

Version 2011 Family

Version	Build Number	Released on
RTM/RTW	05.00.9688.583	1/19/2011
Rollup 1	05.00.9688.1045	4/4/2011
Rollup 2	05.00.9688.1155	6/6/2011
Rollup 3	05.00.9688.1244	7/26/2011
Rollup 4	05.00.9688.1450	9/19/2011
Rollup 5	05.00.9688.1533	10/20/2011
Rollup 6	05.00.9690.1992	1/20/2012
Rollup 7	05.00.9690.2165	3/23/2012
Rollup 8	05.00.9690.2243	5/3/2012
Rollup 9	Update Rollup 9 will not be released because of a delay in the Q2 Service Update. Update Rollup 10 fixes all the issues that would have been included in Update Rollup 9. More information is here.
Rollup 10	05.00.9690.2730	8/16/2012

 

Note that Microsoft will be expiring older versions of the Rollups from Microsoft Update. Note that they will all still remain available from the Microsoft Download site which all the links here point to.  More details are here.

 

 

Version 4.0 Family

Version	Build Number	Released on
RTM	4.0.7333.3	12/19/2007
Rollup 1	4.0.7333.1113	11/24/2008
Rollup 2	4.0.7333.1312, 4.0.7333.1316	1/15/2009, 2/8/2009
Rollup 3	4.0.7333.1408	3/12/2009
Rollup 4	4.0.7333.1551	5/7/2009
Rollup 5	4.0.7333.1644, 4.0.7333.1645	7/2/2009
Rollup 6	4.0.7333.1750	9/27/2009
Rollup 7	4.0.7333.2138	10/22/2009
Rollup 8	4.0.7333.2542	12/17/2009
Rollup 9	4.0.7333.2644	02/11/2010
Rollup 10	4.0.7333.2741	04/08/2010
Rollup 11	4.0.7333.2862	06/03/2010
Rollup 12	4.0.7333.2935	08/02/2010
Rollup 13	4.0.7333.3018	10/06/2010
Rollup 14	4.0.7333.3135	11/16/2010
Rollup 15	4.0.7333.3231	1/10/2011
Rollup 16	4.0.7333.3335	3/9/2011
Rollup 17	4.00.7333.3414	5/2/2011
Rollup 18	4.00.7333.3531	6/28/2011
Rollup 19	4.00.7333.3628	8/21/2011
Rollup 20	4.00.7333.3732	11/10/2011
Rollup 21	04.00.7333.3822	2/7/2012

 

 

 

If you know of something new or different, please leave a comment and let me know and I’ll update the matrix asap.

 

Robert
- One is pleased to be of service

 

Technorati Tags: Dynamics CRM,Versions

Dynamics CRM 4.0 Developers Toolbox

 

Note that this was written for CRM 4.0. Please see the CRM 2011 specific list over here!

I am all the time asked about what tools a Dynamics CRM developer should have in their toolbox. While this is sometimes a matter of personal preference, below is a list of tools that I would consider mandatory to be a highly successful Dynamics CRM dev.

 

CRM Dev’s toolkit items

-          The full CRM SDK

o   http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=82e632a7-faf9-41e0-8ec1-a2662aae9dfb

o   This is more than just the .chm doc! It is full of examples, samples, addons, etc….

o   Including a new, cool, linq provider

-          The Plugin Registration tool 2.2 (far superior than the one in the sdk)

o   http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/crmplugin/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=2010

-          Fiddler

o   http://www.fiddler2.com/Fiddler2/version.asp

-          FetchXmlBuilder

o   http://jamesdowney.net/blog/page/Request-FetchXML-Builder-Key.aspx

-          CRM Developer Toolkit

o   http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/E2DevTkt

-          OrbitOne Bulk edit tool

o   http://www.orbitone.com/en/blog/archive/2009/02/27/crm-4-0-tool-bulk-update-export-to-csv.aspx

 

Microsoft's All-in-one-do-everything VM is located here:

https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/deployment/methodology/vpc/MSD_CRM4VPCApril09

 

 

Production/Deployment Toolbox

 

ScaleGroupJobEditor

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/ScaleGroupJobEditor/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=3251

 

CRM Tracing Enablement

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907490

 

CRM Trace Log Viewer

http://www.stunnware.com/crm2/topic.aspx?id=TraceLogViewer

 

AsyncOperations Cleanup

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968520

 

 

Technorati Tags: Dynamics CRM,Tools

Dynamics CRM 2011 Beta Arrives!

 

I have been waiting a very long time to make this announcement.  I have been working with this new version of Dynamics CRM throughout most of the early access TAP program, which we were of course not allowed to talk about anything during that time.

Well, the Beta has arrived and the world has now been invited to share in the excitement.

If you have not already done so, you can apply to participate in the Beta program and get a free CRM 2011 OnDemand (on-line) beta site.

You can also download the OnPremise BETA version from Microsoft’s Download site.

If you want to get some quick pre-views, check out all the videos.

Once again, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is going to be a game-changer in the CRM space and set an all new bar by which the other contenders will be judged.

As I continue to dig deeper into the Beta, I will post the best of my findings.

Robert
- One is pleased to be of service

Technorati Tags: Dynamics CRM 2011,Beta

Windows PC VM Integration Feature won't start

 

Problem

I constantly use the baseline Dynamics CRM virtual PC image provided by Microsoft Over here. As do many other people I know and work with.

We seem to all frequently encounter the issue when the image is either a) booting or, b) coming out of hibernation that the Integration Features fail to start.  When this happens you will usually receive both the below error, and subsequently a notice from Windows that “…one or more services failed to start.”

The error text from the above dialog is:

Could not enable integration features Ensure that the remote access and Group Policy settings in the virtual machine operating system allow remote connections. Please contact your administrator for more details. you can continue without these features. Integration features enable sharing of clipboard, printers, drives, smart cards and supported plug and play devices between the virtual machine and the computer.

Solution

When this happens, take the following steps:

• Select Continue in the above error dialog
• Once the virtual machine has finished starting
  • Go to the Windows Services manager
  • Locate the “Virtual Machine Integration Services” service
  • Stop and Re-Start the service
• Now, in the Virtual machine client window’s menus
  • Select Tools, Enable Integration Services
• Re-Login if prompted

All of the features of the Integration Services should not be fully functional again for this session.

Robert
- One is pleased to be of service

 

Technorati Tags: Dynamics CRM,Virtual PC,Virtual Machine,Integration Features

Hello World - I’m Going Green

 

As you can see from my profile, I have actually been around for a very long time, but have not dove into the blogging world as of yet.

So, here I am !

This blog is about “Going Green”. By that, I mean giving back to the community from which I have so freely taken.  I have been a technologist for over 20 years (long before blog was a word) and have spent most of that time in the consulting world, which I truly love. Like all of us, I frequently use the communal knowledge out here on the ‘net. Now it’s time to contribute back.

For the last 5+ years have been focusing exclusively on Microsoft Dynamics CRM and designing very large solutions built around Dynamics CRM.  My largest deployment is currently running over 8000 users. I am currently working for CIBER.

You can get all the techie details from my LinkedIn profile over here.

I look forward to sharing my thoughts and experiences with everyone and truly hope that I make at least some of your lives a little easier.

Robert
- One is pleased to be of service

 

Technorati Tags: welcome,hello,bio