Shaping CRM Online 2011 to fit your unique business needs

Every company finds itself going about its day-to-day business slightly differently than the next. So how does using the same Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online 2011 product work so well for so many different business types? Glad you asked! CRM Online 2011 is built upon a very malleable environment, which can be shaped to fit your unique business needs. This environment can grow as you grow and adjust to your ways of doing business. Microsoft has provided CRM Online 2011 customers with the ability to customize and configure CRM Online 2011 to fit their unique business needs. Some common customizations can be performed without hiring a developer to write code, although some of the more complex interactions will likely require an outside expert such as xRM.com. Some of the customizations available include the creation of entirely new functionality, the changing of the user interface, and controlling navigation within CRM Online 2011 (further detailed below).

Customizing entities – Are the provided standard entities not sufficient for the structure of your business? A standard CRM Online 2011 entity (account, contact, lead, etc.) can be entirely modified to fit the needs of your business. You can also have an outside expert create a brand new entity specific to your business with the attributes that you require.

Entity relationships – Want to view all the contracts you have closed with a specific contractor? Entity relationships make this easy. Entity relationships are special configurations that allow for one record (such as a contractor) to be linked with a relationship to another set of records (such as a contract).

Visualizing your data – CRM Online 2011 includes default reports for many common business needs. These reports allow you to visualize your data easily using advanced filtered views that can be generated on demand. However, most organizations will customize the default reports and add custom reports for specific needs.

Solutions – Solutions are prepackaged pieces of software that add functionality to CRM Online. Solutions are new in CRM Online 2011, and are intended to help developers author, package, and maintain units of software for CRM Online 2011. These developers then distribute these solutions to organizations. Using CRM Online 2011, you will be able to install and uninstall the business functionality defined by any of the solutions you choose to utilize.

Integrate external websites with CRM Online – Microsoft has provided three advanced extension features in CRM Online 2011 for integration with other applications. These extensions allow website developers and CRM Online 2011 system customizers to work together to develop an integration solution with an external application such as Internet Explorer. Want to host a feedback form on your website for your customers and then be able to track and report on all of that feedback in CRM Online 2011? Extension features make this possible.

Most companies will choose to work with a developer when extending or customizing CRM Online 2011. Whether you want to begin modifying the basic components of your business, or dive directly into advanced solutions or reporting, a developer will be able to shape your CRM Online 2011 organization until it is a perfect fit for your business.

xRM.com is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner that specializes in Consulting Driven CRM Online Software Implementation. Not a CRM Online 2011 customer yet? By choosing our Gold CRM Online Quickstart Deployment Package you will have access to 22 developer-created and -implemented customizations.