Tag: CRM

The Importance Upgrading

We often say that accounting systems are “sticky”. Once you find one that works for your business you feel locked in because of:

1. The cost.
2. The fact that you need it up and running every single day so that your business can function efficiently.

The problem is that most organizations are constantly evolving and changing and re-evaluating their needs. You may now need functionality that was not initially needed when you implemented the system. How do you rectify this without starting from scratch with a new system? It’s actually quite simple; you upgrade your current system.

February 10, 2015

Making Your Software Work for You: Dynamics CRM

Part of our job here at KTL Solutions is to show or demo business solutions to our clients. These solutions can range from Budgeting/Reporting, AP Automation, Warehouse Management, to Customer Management software. One of the first requirements we hear from most customers is that they need the software to work for them, not the other way around.

All businesses are unique, and everyone has a different way of conducting business. Established organizations have processes already in place. These processes can be extremely difficult and disruptive to the entire business if they have to change to accommodate a new software solution. More to that point, it does not make sense to purchase a “solution” that requires you to change the way you do business. Software is an investment. It takes money, time, and man power to implement a solution so at the end of the day it should work for you, not the other way around.

January 29, 2015

Dynamics CRM: A Team Effort

I’d like to break down the difference between two types of teams found in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013. Most people who are familiar with teams in Dynamics CRM know about what are called, “Owner Teams.” These are the traditional teams that have been around since CRM 4. In Dynamics CRM 2013, Microsoft has introduced a new type of team called an, “Access Team.” The purpose of creating Access Teams appears to be for the benefit of working around and with some of Dynamics CRM’s security features.

December 19, 2014

Kick-Start Your Data Warehousing

Many of the projects that I’ve been working on over the last 12 months have evolved integrating data into a data warehouse. Specifically companies are looking to import more data from other systems to do various types of analysis. Data integration is nothing new, companies have been doing it for a long time, but usually with a very manual process that includes vast Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.

What Is a Data Warehouse?

A data warehouse is a database designed to enable reporting and data analysis activities. Data warehouses store current and historical data from one or more disparate sources. Some of these sources may include:

December 12, 2014

What’s New in CRM 2015

Dynamics CRM 2015 is around the corner and there is a lot of excitement building up towards its launch. CRM 2013 completely changed things by introducing a whole new user interface and CRM 2015 is building on top of it by adding and improving existing features. CRM 2015 has introduced a lot of platform enhancements that make it a solid and great CRM experience. I have listed a few exciting features here but it’s a big list and we will explore through them as we approach the CRM 2015 launch.

December 5, 2014

How to Balance Your Consulting Life Without Going Crazy

A long time ago I started a family and after taking some time off work completely, I was ready to get back to into the game. However, being a mom, I did not want to have a typical 9 to 5 job because I needed to be available to take my kids to school as well as continue to be the main caregiver. I eventually took a job doing consulting work. Consulting, to me, makes me think of having some freedom within your schedule and not the typical 9 to 5 hours. (A testament to this statement is that it is currently 9pm on a Monday and I am writing this. The down side is that I left my house to go to work at 7am this morning and am still working.) But I do enjoy my job. It consists of new implementations, software upgrades, training, and support. Something new that challenges me everyday. But the question still remains (and sometimes, I still struggle with) is how does one handle the process of juggling the demand of multiple clients, multiple projects, and a family life outside of work?

November 24, 2014

Using MSFT Dyn CRM to Automate RFP Responses

We have observed over the last few years that bidding on contracts with the Federal Government is becoming easier and harder; a contradiction yes, but true just the same.

It has become easier because of the standardization of the award vehicles and bid consolidators like INPUT. The task of finding the right contracts to bid on and the less complex responses required make it easier; but now that it is easier, there are many for firms competing, which makes winning contracts harder.

November 7, 2014

Where is Everyone Going?

Do you commute to work? Do you sit in traffic during that commute? Do you sit in an unreasonable amount of traffic? Do you feel your time can be better spent being more productive? If so I’m with you. Anyone else feel it’s crazy to pay $13.50 to go 10 miles slightly faster and then still have to sit in a jam after those 10 miles?

This is life in the DC area and it can easily be that same case for any major metropolitan city. I have heard comedians make the joke that to get ride of all the traffic, if only the people going north could change jobs or homes with the people going south everything would be fine (it goes something like that). Traffic is a plague to the issues like fossil fuels and ozone. There is a 21^st century solution to all these problems; work remotely.

October 29, 2014

Custom CRM Reports with External Data

Perhaps you wish to provide your Sales Reps with the Customer Statement from Dynamics GP or a report which summarizes order history. We would be able to use pre-filtering to only pull orders in GP for the Account in question or if your Sales Rep is on the road, still allow them to print out a Customer Statement without having to us a VPN to access GP. Great! So, I’ll just upload the report I created into CRM and be able access my external data. Not so fast.

October 2, 2014

Dynamics GP & CRM Integration Demystified: Part 2

Continuing from my previous post about Dynamics GP & CRM integration I will go over the tools and technical details on the integration. You don’t have to decide on the integration tool right from the beginning, again it will depend on your requirements and also keeping in mind your future needs. The marketplace is flooded with a lot of integration tools for GP and CRM so take your time in understanding your needs and then choose the integration application.

September 24, 2014