About HSO

HSO is a multinational information technology and management consultancy company that provides a range of services to clients across various industries. Established in the early 1990s, HSO has since grown into a leading player in the IT services market, with a presence in Europe, North America, and Asia. The company’s offerings include cloud computing, digital transformation, business process management, and customer experience management, among others. HSO’s mission is to help organizations navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape and unlock new opportunities for growth and competitiveness.

HSO has a strong reputation for delivering high-quality services and has been recognized for its expertise by industry organizations and analyst firms. The company places a strong emphasis on innovation, continuously investing in new technologies and approaches to help its clients stay ahead of the curve. HSO also prides itself on its commitment to sustainability and corporate social responsibility, actively working to minimize its impact on the environment and supporting local communities in the regions where it operates. With a focus on delivering value to its clients and making a positive difference in the world, HSO is well-positioned for continued success in the years to come.

May 30, 2014

Dynamics CRM Spring Wave 14 Rolling Out

The Dynamics CRM Spring Wave 14 is rolling out.

The notifications started hitting administrator’s email in-boxes early this week. So, the release is actually a little early! Fine by me as I like nice surprises like this.

You can find more details and getting ready steps here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/crm-customer-center/get-ready-for-the-next-release.aspx

As a Friday Tip the following is what you can expect as part of the upgrade notice. This update isn’t exactly following the previously communicated process of CDU’s (Customer Driven Update). Microsoft was going to provide 90, 30, 15, and 7 day notices of upgrades once they were scheduled. In this case, the notifications just started showing up in email inboxes. Technically Microsoft applied a UR (update rollup) and you have the option of completing the steps for the actual CDU.

As a refresher, going forward a UR will be bug fixes and performance improvements, and will be automatically applied. A CDU will have functionality improvements and notifications and potentially additional steps are required from the customer/user.

In any case here is what the email will look like. if you haven’t received yours already.

Once you receive your notification, login to your CRM application and go to Settings, Administration.

Start with selecting the “Install Product Updates” link. This will take you to a nicely done additional details screen. Check out the materials here as Microsoft did a nice job.

Here is what you find if you click the More links on this page.

Now it’s time to click the Update button; you will get a chance to back out of your don’t want to start the process just yet.

Once you click OK on this page though, it’s too late. The upgade begins but you get to watch a nice little video while you wait. The update time varies, most are taking between 10-20 minutes.

That’s it! You are done.

After the upgrade is complete you will see the following changes to your system.

And here are the admin settings for configuring all the new Customer Service capabilities.

You are now ready to enjoy the Dynamics CRM Spring Wave 14 Updates.

Next tip I’ll cover the Social Listening and Marketing updates that are also included in this wave. There are a few more steps required to add those capabilities.

May 19, 2014

Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring Release Preview Guide

The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Spring Release Preview Guide is now available.

You can download it from here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=395005

The CRM 2013 Spring Release Preview Guide highlights the new features and capabilities that will be released soon. The Spring Wave is one of the biggest updates?to Microsoft Dynamics CRM.?This is going to be HUGE! There are lots?of something for everyone in this release, including marketing, sales and service.

Marketing

Microsoft Social Listening enables you to identify who’s having social conversations about your company, products, competitors or another topics. Track buzz, trends and sentiment related to things like your customers, campaigns and competitors.

Microsoft Dynamics Marketing, provides?email marketing, landing pages, social campaigns and more on par to most of the third party marketing automation systems available today. Quickly and easily deliver qualified leads to your?sales teams and measure the return on marketing investment. It also includes lead nurturing and scoring, improved dashboards and analytics, and an awesome campaign visual designer.

Email Marketing

Send highly personalized E-mail messages to drive improved open rates. Personalize the content per sender, recipient, subject & content allowing you to send fewer emails with greater business results.

Deliver mass and transactional emails scalable to millions of emails to customers per day
Cross campaign rules to build sophisticated nurture and drip email campaigns.
Manage and control how many emails a contact can receive in a given time period to improve email performance.

Sales

For sales teams, there are enhancements to the CRM Tablet apps. We’ll see Social Insights right inside the mobile experience. Social Insights provides real-time company and contact information like financials, breaking news, social buzz and social connections. It’s very powerful for marketing, sales and account management professionals to help you engage more effectively to win more deals and spend less time spent researching and more time selling.

If you are an Android fan, the mobility updates will include a version for Android devices.?As before, the iPad is also supported.

The mobile experience will also be extended to include Customer Service capabilities optimized for people who want to?keep an eye on high priority Cases, monitor Queues?or route items across the queues to deliver amazing experiences no matter where you?are.

Customer Service

There’s lots of new “stuff” for customer service professionals?from the powerful self-service capabilities in the?recently acquired Parature, to the multi-channel capabilities coming in CRM including the Unified Service Desk to empower contact center agents to resolve customer issues with ease.

Parature includes lots of awesomeness including:

Parature Portal: a 24/7 customer support center that is seamlessly integrated into your?current website. It includes a searchable knowledge, submit help tickets, track its progress and receive automatic email notifications.
Parature Mobile Self-Service: Provides mobile friendly, responsive designs of the portal?that work?across desktop and mobile devices.?
Parature Facebook Portal: Seamlessly provides?FAQs and KB searches, or create help desk tickets from inside of Facebook.?
Parature Real-time Chat: provides instant live online support to provide?assisted support online. ?
Parature Knowledgebase: provides quick answers to common questions and support issues, plus essential downloads including forms, how-to videos, product manuals, knowledge base information updates and more.?

Server-side Synchronization Updates

Server-side synchronization allows administrators to easily manage the synchronization of email, tasks, appointments
and contacts between CRM and Exchange. No additional cost….unlike some other solutions out there!

The original release synchronized ?data?between Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Exchange on-premises deployments only. We will now see support for both?Dynamics CRM Online and Microsoft Exchange Online as well as the continued on-premise option. POP3/SMTP3 providers are also supported for sending and synchronization of Email.

SharePoint Integration Enhancements

Simplified integration between CRM Online and SharePoint Online will be managed inside of?Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. If you have?Dynamics CRM Online and SharePoint Online you will no longer need to install and configure the CRM List Component to enable the Document Management integration. Woo-hoo!

Sandbox Environments

A big request from larger customers and those that prefer dev/test and production environments. It will be point and click simple to configure isolated, non-production online environments. Administrators can make a copy of a CRM Online instance into a Sandbox Instance.

Minimal Copy only includes customizations & schema from source
Full Copy includes all application data, users, and customizations from source
Administrators can reset a Sandbox Instance back to factory settings (e.g. delete and re-provision)
Administrators can take/restore a snapshot of a Sandbox Instance??(only one snapshot per instance at any time)

And lots more good stuff!

Microsoft plans to deliver the Spring Wave features to CRM online customers as an automatic service update with the option to opt in for additional Customer Service capabilities, and to the on-premises customers as an installable service pack (SP1).

Market smarter. Sell effectively. Care everywhere.

March 14, 2014

What Customers Want From Partners

I attended a Convergence Pre-Game customer panel session where 4 customers talked about “what customers want from partners”. I heard some really good insights into what customer’s really want and expect from partners.

The session opened with the moderator asking “What one word describes your expectation for a long term, positive relationship with your partner.

Amaze!
Communication
Experience
Initiative

Below are my general notes regarding additional feedback and expectations.

Don’t send in junior consultants that are not experienced, we want people that know what they are doing.
Each customer has changed partners looking for the right fit (this spells opportunity)
Customers generally have their top people engaged, we expect the partners to do so as well.
Customers don’t like it when the courting phase is over. Don’t make it obvious when your energies have switched to other customers, projects, new stuff.
Partners like to trump their experience..they all say we have done thousands of implementations..the customer perspective is then “oh then we are just one if thousands”.
We just helped one of your competitors…that gets our attention.
Pair the right resources…if the customer person is technical then make sure the main person that interacts is technical.

On SOW’s and contracts.

Give good estimates.
Approach with a win win mentality.
Strive for a partnership.
Sign off on all documents.
Get people to sign off on initial project and on any changes.
Make the investment on the front side, drill into the needs then give us the pricing.
If projects are hourly, itemize the billing and don’t be too general.
Giving options is a good thing, but, recommend as well.
Be clear about what the customer can do realistically and what the partner can or should do. Let us know what can be done out of box, or if something is fairly simple. Give us some ownership.
What sources of information do customers find useful: CRMUG, collaborate with the customers, books, blogs, conferences.
Black and Veatch, ALL of their projects and consulting work is fixed fee AND they get a 30 day warranty.
Works best for them to have fixed fee…ranges are a problem.
Requirements must be clear.
A couple are ok with hourly, but for smaller projects and where the requirements may be a little loose.

Best approach from a people/person approach is to have an account manager as a single point of contact. Prefer it. It should not be the consultant or technical resource. It’s a value add person, NOT billable!

Most like over communication…feel like the partner cares…too often partners take too long to respond or provide updates, particularly on issues. Don’t make me call you to get a status update. Even if you say “we are still working on it”, this is ok.

Confront brutal facts and issues up front and head on….don’t wait.

SLAs?

Yes, expected and do track them.

Online tracking systems?

Yes, prefer to have online tracking for anytime, anywhere communication.
Also want to talk to someone Easier for me to wait if i see it online.
When I reach out to you, it’s important!

Training and other best practices

Separate sow for training, implementation and other stuff
Training up front, before the project starts, helps with developing requirements.
Want to see “English” design documents, easy to read, not just technical, execs need to read/understand them
Ask if customer has resources to translate technical docs to simpler docs
Ok with cutting back on some documentation.
Don’t discourage us from using features.
Customer should NEVER be more excited about the product than they are.
The partner should be major proponents and cheer leaders for the product.

What we expect

Integrity, customer focused, fair, honest, dependable, drive to success, amaze us, be creative, deliver measurable ROI, really understand our processes and help us improve them.

Do more than just implement. Look for partners that talk about CRM, that blog, have good content, do more than just implement.

Shared values. Flexibility. Give us the time and attention based on our needs. It cycles so be flexible.

Be proactive with solutions. Help,me make the right decision.

All in all some really great insights and well worth paying attention to!

October 22, 2013

New Era in Dynamics CRM 2013

Notes from CRMUG Summit 2013, Tampa, FL

I have a few posts from sessions and content from the Dynamics CRM User Group Summit held in Tampa FL the week of October 21.

First up was the New Era in Dynamics CRM 2013 presentation by Param Kahlon, CRM Program Manager, for Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Growth in Dynamics CRM continues and in fact is increasing
* 3.5m users
* 40,000 customers
* 66% choose cloud
* 36 double digit growth quarters and accelerating

Key themes for CRM 2013 and beyond
* Performance and scalability
* Agility and process excellence
* Social in context
* Reimagined user experience
* Role tailored mobile experiences
* Richness of custom extensions

One of the key UI/UX Designers for CRM 2013, Wayne Higgins, gave us a little perspective
* Reimagined UI and UX
* All about Efficiency
* New way to get things done
* Relevant tools available (max of 5 commands, drop down nav, etc.)
* Mobile optimized
* Start up experience, easy, user friendly, informative
* Information architecture

Business process management – respond quickly to individual customer need
* Power to business users
* Agility
* Configuration not coding
* Multiple processes
* Client side logic
* Web and mobile
* Rules drive
* Plan to add business process for vertical industries

XRM a much richer platform (back to Param)
* Custom entities flow to mobile devices
* Configurable tool tips
* Quick create for custom entities
* Image data type
* Fluid form entities
* Team selling focus
* Portable business logic (formerly called PBL, now Business Rules)
* Visual process flows for custom entities
* Bing maps for custom entities
* Multiple entity quick find, enhanced search on mobile
* Custom actions and real time workflows

Future
* Online first
* Productivity and communication
* Proactive
* Business process excellence
* User experience edge
* Universal social
* Ubiquitous access
* Mobility

Next few releases
* CRM 2013 now
* Subra, Q1 2014 online only
* Mira, Q1 MarketingPilot updates
* Leo, Q2 tighter Netbreeze and MarketingPilot integration

Subra

* Netbreeze, social list ending and analytical, will be amended directly in CRM
* Scalable online service
* Office 365 integration
* General availability integrated as office 365 service

Mira

* Extended global reach
* Online service only
* Tighter CRM integration
* Multiple channelled campaign management
* Lync and Skype enhancements

Leo

* Revamped customer service
* Mobile and social improvements
* New look for customer service
* State of the art experience
* SLA and entitlement compliance

Will ensure industry templates that have been available in Marketplace will continue to work on 2013 and will add business processes to these as well. Essentially free, unsupported, accelerators.

September 20, 2013

Remote Technology Can Make Medical Device Sales Reps More Efficient

Remote Technology Make Medical Device Sales Reps More Efficient

improving-sales-rep-efficiency | Photo Courtesy of Depositphotos http://depositphotos.com/13564186/stock-photo-Video-chat-communication.html?sqc=14&sqm=1522&sq=1ni7wj

What if medical device sales reps could remotely participate in several operations at the same time using technology? That?s a possibility raised by a system highlighted in an article on the MedCity News website. Reps could use technology such as iPads and even Google Glass to communicate with surgeons during procedures, the article says.

This is a very interesting concept that could allow medical device sales reps to have greater access to more physicians in a shorter amount of time. There are many hours not well-spent by reps because they?re in a procedure in which the surgeon will only be using their medical device for a portion of the surgery.

Most reps are encouraged to not enter or leave the operating room during a procedure because it could increase the risk of infection. Using remote technology, medical device sales reps might be able to focus their time on other opportunities while still responding to physicians? questions or needs during a procedure.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Release Preview Guide Available

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 is right around the corner! Bob Stutz posted a blog highlighting the release of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 Release Preview Guide!? I recommend you check out his blog post here and then download the Release Preview Guide for complete details!

This guide reveals the upcoming enhancements to start preparing users for the upcoming 2013 release of the next major version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

The guide is broken down in five investment areas:

User experience
Process
Tablet and mobile
Enterprise collaboration
Platform enhancements

We?re very excited about the new streamlined form interface, flexible guided processes, simple business rule creation and the increased options for mobile and tablet experiences.

Feel free to contact Infinity Info Systems to learn more or request additional information.

July 3, 2013

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 “Official”

Microsoft has announced the next version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM will be available in the “fall of 2013”.

It is unfortunate that we did NOT hear an official release date, so, that gives Microsoft some wiggle room on what the definition of Fall is. I am all for quality releases and prefer a quality release over hitting a specific date, however, a date helps people with planning. As I learn more information on dates I’ll communicate that. The “unofficial” release date is October 2013. We saw a couple of dates slip late last year, so let’s hope Bob Stutz and company are better at hitting their targets this time around, and more importantly, communicating them in a timely fashion.

On to a few details.

The good news for all users is, this is a dual release for both Dynamics CRM Online as well as Dynamics CRM on-premise. The online version is officially called “Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Fall ’13”. Sound familiar? Yes, I know, real creative there, but, what’s in it, is more important than what they call it. Bottom line with Dynamics CRM, you have the power of choice. We still see a lot of clients that prefer to manage their own servers and software, with Dynaimcs CRM, you get to decide how to use it.

The official announcement:?http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/Press/2013/Jul13/07-02DynamicsCRM13PR.aspx

This release includes a major User Interface overhaul. The user Experience has been “re-imagined” and will be a complete departure from previous versions. ?Below gives you some insight into what that new UI looks like:

No official word yet on whether or not the previous user interface will be completely removed or allowed to be turned on if needed. The stated goal I’ve heard so far, is all screens and forms will be the new UI/UX with no switching back to “classic” views.

Another major area of focus is on process oriented experiences.?Process guidance, based on industry-leading best practices, will help teams more easily, e.g., ?move from lead to close?faster than ever before. Flexible and configurable, it gives your organization the ability to be agile in the face of change. Essentially CRM will guide users through their processes. It’s like having built in step by step guides to working with clients whether you are in marketing, sales, or service/delivery roles.

Also planned are new tablet and smartphone experiences?with access to the CRM functionality and analytics. Smartphone apps for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 8 will follow shortly after. Here is a taste of the tablet experience.

Eager to weave Yammer’s successful enterprise social capabilities into more offerings, Microsoft has been making an effort to bring the technology to its business applications portfolio, including Office. Now, Dynamics CRM is getting in on the act.

Dynamics CRM 2013 will offer deeper Yammer integration, the new release will provide “capabilities for people to collaborate with each other and share customer knowledge through Yammer right within the CRM solution, enabling them to deliver amazing customer experiences,” Microsoft said in a statement. I can tell you we have started using Yammer internally for the last 6 months and see major improvements in collaboration and information sharing. If you are not familiar with Yammer, think of it as Facebook for your company, but really focused on teams working together.

In addition, Dynamics CRM 2013 will feature support and integration for MarketingPilot marketing automation. Microsoft acquired MarketingPilot, a provider of multi-channel marketing management software, late last year. I’ve had a little bit of hands and it’s has quite a few enhancements that you’ll be able to take advantage of. It has the usual suspects in Marketing Automation capabilities, including emails, landing pages, contact forms, and social media. Stay tuned for a deeper dive when we are given the ok to provide more details.

Finally, Microsoft recently announced Lync and Skype integration which provides for sharing of contacts and the ability for the two applications to connect to each other. Included in the CRM 2013 release will be improved seamless support enabling instant access to either or both of these applications. If you are not familiar with Lync or Skype, think of these as Facetime for your company and customers. It’s pretty cool and provides productivity boosts with built-on phone calls, conference calls, video calls, and desktop sharing.