Why upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015?

There are many reasons to look at a CRM upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015, some of them technical and some functional. Hopefully this blog highlights some of the new features and helps assess if an upgrade should be your next CRM project to move your CRM forward and get even more benefits from the latest technology.

There are lots of new features that make things easier, processes smoother and speed up development time but I am just going to focus on some of the key areas that will impact users on a day to day basis.

New interface

This is the big one, say goodbye to the ribbon and navigation pane. These areas took up too much “real estate” on the screen and meant there was less space for key information about your customers. The User Interface has been streamlined and removes the clutter so the focus is what’s most important – your customer data. The navigation pane now becomes a slim bar across the top which shows the user where they are e.g. Dynamics CRM > Sales > Opportunities.

As well as the main navigation screens changing, each form has been redesigned to provide the user with more information in one place rather than jumping from screen to screen or having lots of popups. The ribbon and navigation bar have been removed from the forms and a standard 3 column layout has been created on each form (familiarity) that shows the user Primary Information (Left), Communication/Activities (Central) and all related/secondary information (Right):

Tablets and Mobile

Standard mobile apps are available for Windows, iOS and Android and provide the users a mobile app experience for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015. These apps come free of charge and are quick and easy to set up. Any customisations from the main web based forms will be automatically brought across to the mobile client with no additional configuration. The apps also have integration to other mobile apps including Skype for calls. With regards to offline access, although the database is not downloaded to the mobile client, users can sign in (in offline mode) and create new records. These records are saved as a draft and are then synced to the CRM server when they get connectivity again.

Quick create

A personal pain for me using CRM was when I created a contact and when I went to set the Parent Account I realised that there wasn’t an Account already created in CRM. I had to close the form, create the Account and then link the two records – it involved opening and closing a few windows and was frustrating. Now with Quick Create you can create a new record quickly (as the name suggests) from any form. A drop down appears and allows you to create a new record without leaving the form/screen you were already on and is great for entering new Accounts/Contacts midway through populating a new opportunity card.

Process bars

This is a big one – we always talk about processes when we are implementing CRM and this feature allows us to map them clearly and show the user where they are in the process. The process bar lets you create a number of Stages, within each stage there can be fields that the user must complete to move the process along. Rules can be created so that a user cannot move to the next stage until all details are completed. I feel this is great as it gives you the ability to implement a best practice approach for a process i.e. best way to close a sale. It also shows the user what they have to find out/complete next rather than having to jump up and down a form. You can have multiple process bars, users can switch between processes if required or the system can automatically change the stages based on a value e.g. if on an Opportunity card the Customer Type is set as “New” there are less stages and fields than if the Type was set as “Existing”. These process bars can be powerful tools to guide users (and data) through the systems as efficiently as possible.

Social Engagement

Social Engagement (formerly Social Listening) can now be embedded within CRM forms and records with new dashboards and the ability to have specific social charts on an Account form:

Account form:

More information can be found in our Social CRM section of the website.

There are a list of great new features that I could go on and on about but this blog post may never end, some other great features and benefits include:

• Getting the most out of your other IT investments (Windows 8, Office 2013, Lync etc.)
• Bing Maps
• Service Level Agreement (SLA) management
• Yammer integration
• SharePoint Integration
• Editable grids for products
• Product groups and bundles – including upsell/cross sell opportunities

For more information about Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 please get in touch. Click the link to take a test drive of Dynamics CRM tailored to your job role.

 

by Richard Dunlop