CRM Client for Office Outlook over VPN

Recently I was working on a project where the CRM Client for Office Outlook needed to be connected to the CRM Server over the VPN. It seemed obvious that this would work seemlessly without much configuration(s) involved. Once you establish a connection or open the VPN tunnel, it's likely that CRM Client would automatically connect to the Server and load the CRM Toolbar in Outlook, which wasn't the case at my end.

I will conclude this post with the steps I took to get the CRM Client for Office Outlook running over the VPN.

1. On the Client machine. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc
2. Open the file "hosts" with notepad.
3. Add an entry with the CRM server name and the IP address in the following format
   servername (HIT TAB) IP address.
4. Save the file.

CRM Client must now connect successfully to the Server. The above steps confirms that NSLOOKUP command to the CRM Server works fine with correct resolution.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 5.0 or "CRM V.Next"

Due to release in 2010 now, it has been loaded with features that would get you excited. Microsoft Partners can search for Statement of Direction on Microsoft Partner Site.

Here is a little about what you can expect

• Business Data Auditing Capabilities - Much demanded feature by CRM Administrators you'll see this in the next release allowing you to turn auditing on or off.
• Re-usable Configurations like Global Pick-lists - To save you time and better categorize records, Global Pick-lists and Cascading / Hierarchical Pick-lists will be introduced.
• Better development experience with improved integration with Visual Studio - Developers will find this very intuitive as they will be able to create, update and delete entities and attributes without leaving their development platform "Visual Studio"
• Scheduling recurring activities - One of the most requested feature finally makes way into the product.

There are a plenty other features to look forward for and I hope you are as excited as I am.
Note: This post is provided "AS IS", no warranties.