Mobility Archives

Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs. Salesforce.com

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 [...]

By Mike McPhilomy| 2018-07-18T11:26:06+00:00 May 31st, 2012|Cloud, Dynamics CRM, Mobility|

CRM Blitz Day 1 – Catch the fever!

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 [...]

By Mike McPhilomy| 2018-07-18T11:26:06+00:00 May 17th, 2012|Cloud, Dynamics CRM, Mobility, Social Media|

Is Cloud Computing the future? My sources say “yes!”

First impressions of the Cloud will snare your thoughts and shape your views about Cloud Computing. If you continually hear from your IT department that the Cloud is a fad and that data is not secure, moving forward, you will be not be open to learning more about it. However, if early on, you heard that the Cloud is the future and you took the time to learn more, the Cloud is not the monster that some make it out to be. I have already discussed in past blogs why some may not be as objective as you would think about Cloud Computing. I will not dwell on the issue but encourage those of you who have put the blinders on to learn more. Granted the Cloud may not be for everyone. However, chances are, it is a perfect fit for you. Isn’t it at least worth your time to [...]

By Mike McPhilomy| 2018-07-18T11:27:01+00:00 May 10th, 2012|Cloud, Dynamics CRM, Dynamics GP, Mobility|

Is the Cloud right for my business?

Cloud Computing is an unavoidable topic for business professionals and there are so many different ways the Cloud can be interpreted. So what should you consider when deciding if the Cloud is right for your business? Cost Savings In the present economy, does your business need to save money? Of course it does! Good business practices demand maximizing cash flow no matter what the economy looks like. By not having to purchase hardware, software licenses, or paying maintenance and IT costs, Cloud Computing is a cost effective way to deploy the same apps you are currently using, no matter the size of your business. Scalability Purchasing software licenses means that no matter what happens with personnel within your business, you are always stuck with a set number of software licenses. This may not be a big issue if you need to add a license, however, what if you downsize or [...]

By Mike McPhilomy| 2018-07-18T11:27:01+00:00 April 13th, 2012|Cloud, Dynamics GP, Mobility|

The Cloud Office of Today

Okay, confession time: this blog is late. I usually publish my blogs on Friday’s and an endless number of things have gotten in my way. However, the biggest thing that has gotten in my way is simply this: Writer’s Block! Oh yeah, good old Writer’s Block! But then, recent events have brought me to thinking about the Cloud Office of today. To quantify this, I am speaking of the physical office and how it can be fully deployed in the Cloud. Is it reasonable to expect a Cloud solution to be fully deployable at your office? My recent conclusions are: yes. It is recent that I have had the need to investigate some of the critical elements of a Cloud office that until now have been undefined. The critical element missing has been an online phone system such as Lync Online. So we begin there: In my quest for the [...]

By Robert Houdeshell| 2018-07-18T11:27:01+00:00 April 9th, 2012|Cloud, Dynamics CRM, Dynamics GP, Exchange Online, Integration, Mobility, Office 365, SharePoint|

Cloud and Mobility – Notes from Convergence 2012

Why do we care about Cloud Computing and Mobility?Where are you now? Are you at your desktop? Are you reading this on a tablet? A phone? What is your preference?The same considerations need to be made when considering your consumption of business data. Let's face it, we are all (or at least in my circle of friends and colleagues) afflicted with some sort of attention disorder. Most of us, as business people, will be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that we live, breathe and eat business. That means that during our business meetings someone will bring up a topic and we'll wonder to ourselves "how is my cash position?" or how are my "receivables"? How we answer that depends on where we are at and which device we have at our disposal. Microsoft at their highly successful Convergence 2012 with a record attendance of 10,500 people, announced that their strategy [...]

By Robert Houdeshell| 2018-07-18T11:27:01+00:00 March 30th, 2012|Cloud, Mobility|

Highlights of Convergence 2012

The anticipation of my first Convergence had been building up since January. Convergence is a gathering of Microsoft Dynamics users, partners and ISV’s who come from around the world to crash a city for a few days to learn more about the Microsoft Dynamics family of products and network with fellow business product users. As a first timer, I was warned that I would be going nonstop from early morning to early morning with a few hours of sleep in between. That was not far off from the truth and after coming home and having some time to finally sit and reflect on the past five days, I want to share some of my experiences and takeaways from Convergence 2012. After an already solid two days of GPUG events, meeting up with customers and networking put behind me, Microsoft opened with their keynote Monday morning. Upon entering the arena, it [...]

By Mike McPhilomy| 2018-07-18T11:27:01+00:00 March 22nd, 2012|Business Intelligence, Cloud, Dynamics CRM, Dynamics GP, Mobility, Office 365, SharePoint|

Cloud Computing and Mobility Apps The perfect storm of mobile ERP, CRM and BI

Continuing the conversation about Cloud Computing, I ran into this article through a Google Newsfeed this week. It seems to me and to the author of this post http://www.wired.com/cloudline/2012/03/personal-cloud-2014/ that some companies are not taking Cloud seriously. Tagging onto my post from a couple of weeks ago, the author agrees with my conclusion that deploying enterprise applications through the Cloud is really the "secret sauce" (my words). Cloud Computing's core components have been with us for years. Virtualization, service provider licensing, remote access, .net development platform. However, it's only been the past few years that we, as a Cloud Computing Industry, have been able to fully deploy the Cloud. The next evolution of Cloud is "app-ifying" specific components of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and BI (Business Intelligence). We have seen CRM become one of the first applications to app-ify components such as Accounts, Opportunities, Tasks and Activity Management [...]

By Robert Houdeshell| 2018-07-18T11:27:01+00:00 March 16th, 2012|Business Intelligence, Cloud, Dynamics CRM, Dynamics GP, Mobility, SharePoint, Social Media|

The Future of Business Intelligence

Let us explore the future of Business Intelligence. Last week I spoke about Windows 8 and it's impact on computing. However, let's further explore the problems, yes problems, with Business Intelligence.Until today, Business Intelligence has been primarily provided by Hyperion, Cognos and other solutions. Many years back, Microsoft introduced Microsoft Analysis Services. However these solutions have been either expensive in their software purchase and/or their implementation. Further complicating things are the differing requirements from the user to the manager to the executive.Therefore, we have seen an emerging trend in business solutions in which we believe you should know about. They are:Audience -- the audience or consumer of the business intelligence will always be the number one concern in Business Intelligence. For example, the CEO and CFO will have a varying set of requirements of what they want to see. The manager of purchasing will want to see something different from [...]

By Robert Houdeshell| 2018-07-18T11:27:02+00:00 March 9th, 2012|Business Intelligence, Cloud, Dynamics GP, Exchange Online, Mobility, Office 365, SharePoint|

Windows 8 is coming! The impact of Cloud, Office 365 and Dynamics ERP and CRM

What do you do when you are Microsoft, the 800 pound gorilla in the marketplace when both Google and Apple are taking your customers? In 2007, Apple released the iPhone and subsequently in 2010, the iPad mobile devices. Apple's strategy is to have a single OS on all devices, Mac, iPhone and iPad.Google is no different. Taking the lead from Apple, Google's Android OS on the phone, tablet and now Chromebook is moving in that same direction. However, Google is not as sophisticated in their marketing and positioning as Apple. Complicating things further is that Google, unlike Apple, is not controlling the device like Apple. Now enter Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system. Let's take a look at what they are up against and look historically for answers to where they go. For many years, Microsoft has struggled with devices like phones and tablets. I have witnessed over the years [...]

By Robert Houdeshell| 2018-07-18T11:27:02+00:00 March 2nd, 2012|Cloud, Mobility, Ramblings|