The Analytics and Enterprise Search Accelerators are now available for download.

Newly Released

• Analytics: Extends business intelligence for Microsoft Dynamics CRM by delivering sales, service and operations dashboards.
• Enterprise Search: Rapidly configure portal views of CRM data within SharePoint (MOSS) and expose this data to MOSS enterprise search.

 Currently Available

• E-Service Portal: A configurable self-service portal for enhanced customer service through Microsoft Dynamics CRM.
• Extended Sales Forecasting: Enhanced sales forecasting mechanism for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.
• CRM Notifications: Newsfeeds (RSS) that allow users to subscribe to CRM “events” relevant to their job role.
• Event Management: New functionality to plan, create, execute, and review events.

Available Soon

• Business Productivity: A collection of time-saving productivity customizations for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0
• Sales Methodologies: Practical Guidance for adoption of third-party sales methodologies such as SPI Solution Selling, Target Account Selling (TAS) and Miller Heiman)

I came across this PC World article with some performance results and Steve Ballmer quotes. 

Of the few things noted as a bright spot, one of them was Microsoft Dynamics CRM which saw double-digit growth last quarter. http://www.pcworld.com/article/158156/ballmer_provides_grim_outlook_as_economy_resets.html

 ”Among the bright spots for Microsoft in an overall disappointing quarter were double-digit growth in revenue from its Office SharePoint and Communications Server products, as well as its Microsoft CRM (customer relationship management) enterprise software.”

Why would CRM be experiencing such growth during a time when consumers and companies are cutting way back on spending? Probably because companies are having to do more with less. If people and businesses are spending less, companies are faced with doing a better job of finding the few buyers who are spending money. And most companies can’t afford to lose too many existing customers so they need to do a better job of retaining them and finding new revenue opportunities. And many companies must do all of this with fewer employees or without adding any new employees.

I’m starting to see a shift in what companies are planning to use CRM for. In 2006 and 2007 most companies I’d worked with wanted to deploy CRM to manage and analyze customer data better and give the sales team tools to sell more. They also mentioned better productivity and efficiency but data and sales were the top priorities. Around mid-2008 the conversations seemed to shift more toward efficiency.

• How can we minimize redundant and manual processes?
• How can we provide customers with self-service capabilities?
• How can we automate tasks such as new customer “welcome” emails?
• How can we more quickly capture, respond to, and qualify leads?

A thinning of the business herd is already happening. Buyers are more sensitive than ever to price and service. Companies that can see trends and adjust to optimize the customer experience will be in a better position to survive the current conditions and thrive when conditions improve. Companies that continue with dysfunctional processes and poor customer experience will face major hurdles.

More companies now seem to be looking toward CRM as strategic business tool rather than costly tactical software. And this is probably one reason CRM has moved up higher on the priority list for many companies and become a bright spot in this economy.

Wow, Update Rollup 2 for CRM 4.0 is out already. Seems like I just did the post for Update Rollup 1 a few weeks ago.

So, here’s the download link on Microsoft’s website for Update Rollup 2 (KB 959419):
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=aa671769-61e9-45c4-919f-c88199aa4241&displaylang=en&tm

And here’s more detail on what it is and does:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=959419

1. In Dynamics CRM for Outlook select “CRM” from the top menu (In the Web version select “Tools”)
2. From the dropdown list select “Options…”
3. On the window that opens look for the option to “Select the number of records shown per page in any list of records” and change the dropdown next to “Records Per Page” to the amount you would like to display. 
4. Click the OK icon.