Issue Creating New Users in Upgraded CRM 4 / CRM 2011 Org

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I have had an issue for a while with one of our CRM 4.0 Orgs (that was originally upgraded from CRM 3.0) and now recently had the same problem on a CRM 2011 Org (that was upgraded from CRM 4.0) where I received an InternalOperation error on a native CRM Plugin assembly when trying to add a new user.

I have seen various forum posts around this problem, unfortunately with no solutions.

My team and I spent quite a bit of time investigating this and finally found the solution to the problem (although unfortunately still don’t have the root cause bedded down, that will be the subject of a future post).

The major credit though, needs to go to my Development Manager, Sean Vowles (@seanvowles) who came up with the simple solution.

The Error message goes a little something like this :

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Windows 8 Developer Preview in 10 mins

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Thanks to the power of Virtualisation and Drive Imaging I was able to setup and try Windows 8 Developer Preview within 4 clicks and a 10 minute wait (In which I made myself a cup of coffee) all thanks to the Go2Cloud Virtualisation platform and Free trial.

I simply signed up for the 5 day free trial, which provides you sufficient resources (thanks to the current promotion) to power up a Windows 8 virtual machine.

Once signed in the process is really simple, Type in a Server Name, Select the Windows 8 Developer Preview Pre-Install Option, enter the size of the disk you would like (20Gb is required for the Pre-Install Image) and click Add.

screenshot

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What’s New in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011?– Part 7 of 7

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In this seventh and final interview instalment from Software Advice, General Manager of Dynamics CRM, Brad Wilson talks about what is new in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

With over 500 new features Dynamics CRM 2011 is a real game changer.

These new features are segmented into 3 key areas :

Familiar – This includes the Office Fluent UI which is visible both in the Web client and well as the new super enhanced Outlook MAPI Client

Intelligent – These enhancements are around the integrated Dash boarding and real-time visualisations capability (something CRM has previously been lacking), Goal Management and more.

Connected – with seamless integration with SharePoint 2011 and Linc and Microsoft Exchange to name a few.

I will of course let Brad Wilson tell you all about them, enjoy this final interview video. Continue Reading…

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Does Microsoft want a piece of the marketing automation pie? – Part 6 of 7

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In this sixth interview instalment from Software Advice, General Manager of Dynamics CRM, Brad Wilson chats about what Microsoft’s strategy is around marketing automation in Dynamics CRM 2011.

Marketing capability in Dynamics CRM 2011 is a standard feature out of the box, with Marketing List automation, Mail merges and campaigns being among the available components.

The beauty of the Dynamics CRM platform however, is the ability for other Independent Software Vendors (ISV’s) to create their own software components that further enhance the native capability of Dynamics CRM.

So although the marketing components of Dynamics CRM are pretty capable there are some really world-class add-ons available from companies like CoreMotives that further enhance the marketing and web intelligence of Dynamics CRM.

Check out this interview for more details. Continue Reading…

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Can the Dynamics Marketplace Take on AppExchange? – Part 5 of 7

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In this fifth interview instalment from Software Advice, General Manager of Dynamics CRM, Brad Wilson discusses the success of the Dynamics Marketplace.

With almost 300 applications available between Dynamics CRM 4.0 and Dynamics CRM 2011 the marketplace is growing at a pretty astounding rate.

I really look forward to seeing how it progresses over the coming months.

Enjoy the video. Continue Reading…

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Can Dynamics CRM Partners Survive in the Cloud Era? – Part 4 of 7

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In this fourth interview instalment from Software Advice, General Manager of Dynamics CRM, Brad Wilson discusses how the Microsoft Partner eco system needs to adapt to take full advantage of the opportunities that exist in moving to the cloud.

The Dynamics Marketplace combined with CRM 2011’s Solution Framework is just one of the examples of where Partners can leverage the move to the cloud, the combination of these two allows partners to easily package vertical solutions that they have developed and on sell them to the broader Microsoft Dynamics CRM customer base, with the option to easily deploy to existing CRM environments.

Another of the many advantages of Microsoft CRM Online and other Partner hosted CRM environments is the ability to quickly spin up a 30 day trial to demonstrate the functionality of both CRM and custom solutions from the Marketplace with minimal cost and time investment.

I hope you enjoy this interview. Continue Reading…

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How Many Customers Really Want CRM in the Cloud? – Part 3 of 7

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In this third interview instalment from Software Advice, General Manager of Dynamics CRM, Brad Wilson discusses the move of customers to CRM in the cloud.

As cloud applications become more prolific, the choice between being able to run applications in the cloud or on premise is becoming more commonplace.

The strategy for Microsoft Dynamics CRM since CRM 4.0 has been for the cloud and on premise version to share the same code base, making it easy to switch between cloud or on premise, it wasn’t achieved perfectly with CRM 4.0 but CRM 2011 has achieved this, in fact if you wanted to move from on premise to Microsoft CRM Online, it is a service that is covered under your software assurance agreement.

Enjoy the interview. Continue Reading…

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Will Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Slow Salesforce? – Part 2 of 7

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In the second interview instalment from Software Advice, General Manager of Dynamics CRM, Brad Wilson discusses the pricing strategy behind Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online, Microsoft’s cloud based offering of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Platform.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online is currently available in 40 Countries around the world and 41 Languages and has been launched with an extremely competitive price of $34 USD per user per month until June 2011 (Pricing reverts to $44 USD after that), less than one third of the current comparative Salesforce.com price.

While Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online is not currently available in every country, South Africa (where I am from) for example, there are usually Partner Hosted CRM environments available as well, like CRMonDemand.co.za.

The massive advantage being that all flavours of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 (CRM Online, CRM On Premise and Partner Hosted) all share the exact same code base so are interchangeable.

I hope you enjoy this next video instalment… Continue Reading…

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State of the CRM Software Market – Part 1 of 7

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Recently Software Advice, a Texas based organisation that researches software and provides advice to Software Buyers on which products match their requirements, conducted some interviews with various Microsoft execs in Redmond, Washington to discuss various topics about CRM.

They asked me if I would make reference to the videos via some blog posts, so although a little delayed, I am getting around to it now.

The first video instalment is an interview with the General Manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Brad Wilson, in which the discussion is around the state of the CRM software market and Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s powerful framework can be leveraged to tailor systems for any customer.

In light of my recent trip to Redmond for the 2011 MVP Summit, where myself and my fellow CRM MVP’s spent some quality time with the Dynamics CRM product team looking at where CRM is going in the future this video is very appropriate.

Enjoy…. Continue Reading…

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Using Distributed Workflow Plugin to Cancel Opportunity Activities when an Opportunity is Lost

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I was recently asked if there was a way to Cancel all activities related to an Opportunity if it is lost (without writing any Plugin Code)

The simplest solution I could think of was to make use of the already existing Distributed Workflow plugin available on Codeplex.

So to start off, download an register this plugin using the Plugin Registration Tool.

Once you have done that you need to create a workflow to complete the activities, unfortunately you will have to create on for each of the activity types you are wanting to work with (Tasks, Appointments, Emails etc.)

Below is a sample for cancelling Task activities.

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Next you need to identify the relationship field name that determines the tasks related to the opportunity in Question. Continue Reading…

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