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.

CRM 4.0 Data Migration Manager in Multi-tenant Environment

You have installed CRM 4.0 and you want to migrate data using the data migration manager into the Organization.

OK, You know what to do!

Install Data Migration Manager on one of the workstations > Configure it for the Organization and continue your migration using DMM (Data Migration Manager)

Now, you created another Organization in CRM (Multi-Tenant) and you want to migrate data into the new Organization. The good news is you can do it, the how is what you have to live with. Install DMM on another workstation > This time configure it with the new Organization you just created and proceed with the migration

or

Completely uninstall DMM and reinstall it. This time configure it for the other Organization. Before reinstalling the application, you need to manually delete the database or rename it. The setup will create a new database for the new installation of DMM, and will fail if the database already exists. The database that needs to be deleted is MSCRM_MIGRATION.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 5.0

Too early to have such a title. Did you think the same?

Well, Microsoft has announced the next release of CRM around the end of 2009. You might want to check out for yourself.

I'm looking forward to it, are you?

Thank you MVPs & other Community Members

Way to go!