CRM 4.0 Gets New Accelerators

Free solution accelerators will help customers and partners extend Microsoft’s customer relationship management (CRM) application, Dynamics CRM 4.0. Scheduled for the last quarter of 2008, the accelerators provide code samples, documentation, reports, and data extensions targeted at specific functional and business scenarios, such as searching CRM data from SharePoint sites and planning and managing events. Interested partners and customers should note that the accelerators are intended as starting points and will generally require modification, configuration, and customization before they can be used in production. Additional software must also be purchased to take full advantage of some accelerators.

Speeds CRM 4.0 Solution Development

Dynamics CRM is a server application used by front-office workers to track customer interactions and plan sales and marketing campaigns—workers access Dynamics CRM via an Outlook plug-in or a Web browser. The product includes tools that allow administrators, developers, and others to customize and extend Dynamics CRM, create custom solutions, and integrate the product with other applications, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The latest version, CRM 4.0, was released in Dec. 2007.