Cloud

A Virtual Machine on one of our Hyper-Visor hosts vanished. It was no longer listed. When I opened the Fail-Over cluster management console to see if it had failed over to another node it was marked as a failed service.

I checked the for the VM Configuration Files and the Virtual Hard Drives on the shared storage. All files existed.

After a quick Google search I found several articles pointing to a corrupt configuration file.

I opened the .xml file and sure enough a closing HTML tag was incomplete:

After closing the Hyper-Visor Console and reopening it on the host I was able to see the VM and restart it.

If the above doesn't work. Delete the virtual machine and recreate it. Here is how I do that:
1. Note the node that owns the virtual machine
2. In Fail-over Cluster Manager delete the resource.
3. On the Node that owns the missing virtual machine open Share and Storage Manager and go to Manage Open Files
4. Close all connection files and folders that have to do with the missing machines Configuration.
5. Rename the Configuration folder
6. On a Fail-over node create a new machine and pick the existing vhd file for the missing server.
7. Go to the settings of the new virtual machine and make sure it is set to migrate to machines with different hardware.
8. From Fail-over Cluster Manager add the new server
9. Start the new virtual machine
10. Connect to it from its Host
11. Set the IP address.

NOTE: If MS Office is installed you have to re-register it.

I have the Microsoft WPC App installed in my Facebook. This morning, I eagerly poured a cup of coffee, got onto the app and began watching the Keynotes. Steve Ballmer spoke extensively about the new Surface tablet coming out soon. Then he turned over the presentation to Tami Reller -- VP at Microsoft. Tami and I worked together when I was at FRx Software and she was at Great Plains.

She demonstrated the Windows 8 applications, OS and hardware. She announced that Windows 8 will release to manufacturing in August and on machines by end of October, 2012. She demonstrated many touchscreen machines and one that I liked a lot, the Lenovo Yoga -- a laptop that folds into a Tablet form factor.

If you buy a Windows 7 PC today you can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $14.99 (she said 1499... I believe that would be $14.99 and not $1,499!) Every PC will have a Skydrive account which is an awesome Cloud file storage application that will give you "on the go" capabilities. Apps are the heart of Windows 8. Every app's touch response seems to be very quick. The Windows App store with e-commerce sellability will be open with the release of Windows 8.

She showed Windows RT running on a Qualcomm device (tablet). She demonstrated all the regular business productivity applications you would want. Instead of going through each, let's just say that for my demands, there is more than sufficient functionality for my needs.

WOW! I was going to refill my cup of coffee but I waited! I am glad that I did. Tami is now showing Windows To Go -- Windows 8 on a thumb drive. This is a 32 GB thumb drive plugged into a Windows 7 machine but now the machine is booting up with Windows 8 Professional with all the IT Security built into it! She booted into Windows 8 with all of her apps, security and personalization! Okay, now I will refill the coffee. That was totally cool!

Microsoft Dynamics CRM or Salesforce.com? Making the decision on which CRM solution to implement can be challenging. Here is a list of some more key differentiators to help you get past the slick story Salesforce.com tells. Dynamics CRM provides the best value and ROI and continues to dominate the CRM arena with over 2.25 million users worldwide. Here’s how:

Power of Choice
Salesforce.com only offers an online deployment for their solution while Microsoft Dynamics CRM allows you to choose how you want to deploy. By choosing on premise, Microsoft hosted or partner hosted deployments, Dynamics CRM gives you the opportunity to choose which deployment best fits your business model. Plus if your needs change, you can change deployments to meet your changing business needs.

Service Level Agreement
Dynamics CRM Online and partner hosted deployments of Dynamics CRM guarantee uptime through a Service Level Agreement (SLA). Usually, this means a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Salesforce.com makes no guarantees to the reliability of their services.

Integration with Microsoft Products
Microsoft Dynamics CRM allows for full integration with other Microsoft Products. There is a native plug in available for integration with Microsoft Outlook as well as robust integrations with SharePoint, Excel, and Lync. This means better connectivity and collaboration within your organization that Salesforce.com can’t provide.

Pricing
Salesforce.com pricing starts at $65 per user while Dynamics CRM Online or partner hosted with Njevity is $44 per user. However, to meet the functionality you would see in Dynamics CRM, you would need to upgrade your Salesforce.com subscription to the Enterprise Edition which is $125 per user. With the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and fastest ROI, Dynamics CRM is the clear choice based on price point alone, not including the better functionality and value.

Data Storage
Dynamics CRM Online users receive 5GB of data storage per user. Salesforce.com offers 1GB of data storage with additional charges for more storage capacity. Salesforce.com customers routinely criticize Salesforce.com for the slide of hand sales approach as the cost continues to increase at every corner even after heavy discounts upfront. Also, with Dynamics CRM online or partner hosted, you own the database. With Salesforce.com if you decide to make the move to Dynamics CRM, they provide you with an endless amount of spreadsheets hoping that the hassle of deciphering will deter you from switching.

Mass Email
Dynamics CRM and Salesforce.com both support mass emailing. However, Salesforce.com limits the number of mass emails you can send per day while Dynamics CRM has no limit.

Sales Automation
Both Salesforce.com and Dynamics CRM provide excellent sales automation. Salesforce.com has this out of the box while Dynamics CRM needs to be configured with simple workflows. However, Dynamics CRM also provides you with the ability to set up workflows for marketing and service. This means that Dynamics CRM is a complete customer management solution opposed to just focusing on sales.

With Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and partner hosted Cloud solutions, Salesforce.com is no longer the powerhouse in Cloud deployed CRM. So what makes Dynamics CRM the superior and most widely used CRM product in the market? Let’s take a look at the key differentiators and find out why Dynamics CRM has an impressive 2.25 million users worldwide.

Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides comparable CRM functionality at 30 percent less than Salesforce.com or more. Customers who elect to add Microsoft Dynamics CRM to their Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) or Enrollment for Application Platform (EAP) agreements can help save additional money.

Productivity: Microsoft Dynamics CRM was built to work with Microsoft Office suites, such as Microsoft Office Outlook® messaging and collaboration client and Microsoft Office Word. Salesforce.com is working on its third Microsoft Office integration program in three years to attempt to offer symmetry.

Value: Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides a full suite of sales, marketing, and service automation capabilities without hidden costs—such as data storage charges or Web API metering. Former Salesforce.com customers routinely talk about SFDC’s high fees in data storage, mobile access, data backup, data extracts, and real-time data mirroring services.

Choice: Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be deployed online (by Microsoft or by a partner) and on premise. It also allows organizations to migrate across the two delivery models as business needs change. Salesforce.com only offers an online approach and it is very difficult to get off of, and receive your data from Salesforce.com if you decide to change solutions or you need to bring CRM on premise.

Integration: Whereas SFDC provides an API for integration, Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers a full event-driven integration framework where developers can insert custom business logic and extensions and build a high-scale, highly reliable integration service.

Mobility: SFDC’s mobility is more costly and limited to certain devices with certain functionality only available only for iPad/iPhone. Further, SFDC limits one device per mobile license. Microsoft Dynamics CRM allows up to three devices per license across all mobile device platforms including iOS, Blackberry, Android and Windows.

Fastest ROI: Dynamics CRM leads all other CRM’s in capability and flexible configurations. It is familiar to users making users more productive and offers the highest ROI in the industry. In a study conducted by Forrester, ROI for Dynamics CRM 2011 is 243% and pays for itself in just 4 months.

For more information about NjevityToGo and Microsoft Dynamics CRM go to http://njevity.com/cloud/crm-togo

I think we can agree that Dynamics CRM is one of the most useful and dynamic tools on the market for sales, marketing and customer care. So what can Microsoft possibly do to make CRM better? After sitting through the CRM training blitz this morning about what’s new in the Dynamics CRM 2011 update, I will say it is exciting. Even though the CRM team is using the corny catch phrase, “catch the fever,” after going through the training “I got a fever, and the prescription is more cow bell…I mean CRM.” Ok, so maybe my Saturday Night Live reference does not directly apply but Microsoft has done a lot with this update and I am excited to see the doors that will be opened with the new feature set.

There were four key trends that the Microsoft CRM team emphasized about the future of business and how the CRM 2011 update adds value to every organization with its new functionality:

1) Mobile - A key trend in business is the ability to stay productive without being tethered to a desk. One of the greatest advantages you will get with the new functionality is the ability to use Dynamics CRM on any mobile device whether it’s your smartphone, tablet or laptop. Now you have the ability to maximize productivity while staying in front of prospects and customers.

2) Social – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. These are just a few of the social applications available to help people stay connected. So why not capitalize on the ability to have the same social connectivity within your organization and to your customers? Through live RSS feeds in CRM your team will have a collaborative pulse on everything going on within the business meaning that everyone within your organization will be empowered to offer the best service to your customers and prospects.

3) Big data and analytics – New to CRM 2011 is the ability to provide personal and customized dashboards to everyone within your organization. Through real time analysis of data, you can make sure that every area of your business is running at maximum efficiency.

4) Cloud – The cloud is a major focus for Microsoft products. Products like Dynamics CRM and Office 365 are already deployed in the Azure Cloud. Products like Dynamics GP 2013 scheduled to release in Q1 of 2013 will also have web based access through the Azure Cloud. However, what you also get with Microsoft products is the choice in deployment between on premise, partner hosted cloud or Microsoft’s Azure Cloud. Partners like Njevity will help you choose the best deployment and you also have the ability to move between deployments if your needs change.

So why have 2.25 million users already chosen Dynamics CRM? Dynamics CRM leads all other CRM’s in capability and flexible configurations. It is familiar to users making users more productive and offers the highest ROI in the industry. In a study conducted by Forrester, ROI for Dynamics CRM 2011 is 243% and pays for itself in just 4 months. Now, just imagine the efficiencies you will gain with the new features in the CRM 2011 update. Stay tuned to learn more after CRM Blitz Day 2 scheduled next week.