Using Microsoft Dynamics CRM

11 things to know about customization

Published: April 20, 2007

You have to customize, or supervise customization of, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 and you do not have time to attend training or read a long book. You have opened Microsoft Dynamics CRM and are familiar with the basic features for Sales, Service, and Marketing. You want to make sure that you have a good, high-level understanding of the customization capabilities and are using the correct customization feature for the business requirements. You also want to be aware of common issues other users have experienced. With that goal in mind, these are the core things to know about how to customize Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

This series of articles describes some basic customization features and concepts. These articles highlight key information about the capabilities and limitations of these feature areas.

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Related Links
•1. Metadata-driven customizations
•Course 8525: Microsoft® CRM 3.0 Customization
•Book: Working with Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM 3.0
•Customizing Microsoft Dynamics 3.0
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1. Metadata-driven customizations

Considerations for customizing Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

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2. Security and customization

Describes the privileges you must have to access Customization features and how security applies to the customizations that you create.

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3. Form and view customizations

The most common types of customizations. What you can do and the process to apply changes.

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4. Personal customizations

Let users personalize Microsoft Dynamics CRM to meet their work styles.

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5. Entity customizations

Explains what an entity is and how you can customize and relate entities.

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6. Transportable customizations

How to move your customizations between Microsoft Dynamics CRM servers.

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7. Report customizations

Entity customizations usually need to be reflected in customized reports. What reporting options are available to you and the skills you need to customize them.

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8. Workflow customizations

Create automated processes without programming.

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9. Client extension features

Include other Web applications within Microsoft Dynamics CRM or customize navigation.

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10. Form scripting customizations

Apply business process customizations on the client.

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11. Supported customizations

Protect your investment by using supported customizations.

Summary

All these areas represent core customization features integrated into Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0. They demonstrate how you can use the data-driven design of Microsoft Dynamics CRM to successfully perform some of the most common customization tasks without writing code.

Any customizations that you create for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 will include one or more of these areas. It is likely that you will use several of them in combination to create a solution to meet the business requirements. Having a good general understanding of the capabilities and limitations of each of these areas will help you make better choices in the customization strategies you use.


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