There are many benefits to using social media sites for business – they are easy to use and can improve communication between you and your customers, vendors, and even business associates.  Social media can also shed some light on how you might improve your business operations, product, and customer service.  Some corporations also use social sites to provide offers, tips and information, or use contests to keep the attention of their customers.  Customer loyalty, satisfaction, and repeat business are important to capture and maintain.  However, the risks for using social media are also precarious – there is little to no security to protect customer or corporate privacy and there is no control or process for collecting consistent data.  So, what is a company to do?

Before jumping on the social media bandwagon, first decide on what you want to accomplish by using social media.  Does your current business software have an add-on module that might accomplish your goals in a more safe and secured manner?  Microsoft Dynamics® GP is strong business intelligent software that will give your employees quick access to the critical information that they need to work productively and efficiently.  Both structured and flexible, employees can enter and access data from financials to manufacturing and supply chain to sales and marketing.  Standard or customized reports are easily prepared and shared among employees within any office location and on many mobile devices.  Employees can communicate and collaborate on business tasks through Microsoft Dynamics GP software, and protect private corporate data.

To build stronger relationships with your customers,  look no further than Microsoft Dynamics CRM.  This powerful software will help you improve customer service from initial sales to contract to project completion.  You can track every interaction with your customers, each sales or marketing contact, and more.  You won’t need to wonder if your customer was mailed your current promotion or whether your sales representative is keeping up on phone calls.  With just a few clicks, you can check on your customers and make sure they are receiving consistent customer service.  Since Microsoft Dynamics CRM is more controlled than social media sites, you can then examine your interactions to see what sales or marketing programs were more successful than others.  Microsoft Dynamics CRM will help you streamline your sales and marketing processes which will give you more time with your customers and less time shuffling papers.  You will also see a reduction in the sales lifecycle and higher close rates.

There is a lot of buzz about merging business intelligence software with social media software.  The popularity and ease of use of social media software, like Facebook, combined with the business intelligence software of ERP, such as Microsoft Dynamics GP could be very powerful.  Unfortunately, the security and structure isn’t there yet.  In the meantime, Microsoft Dynamics CRM will give you the security, structure, and power to improve employee and customer interactions.

By Rimrock Corporation, Toronto Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner

Time to Bring Facebook into Your Enterprise? is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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It is no secret that Microsoft Office 365 works well with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. As an online suite that includes SharePoint, Lync, Office, and Exchange, CRM Online pairs well with the overall functionality. What might come as more of a surprise is that Microsoft Dynamics GP also pairs well with Microsoft Office 365 helping the two solutions work “better together” (Microsoft’s official campaign slogan for GP and Office 365).

Microsoft Dynamics GP Product Manager, Errol Schoenfish confirmed in April that he is pushing for a very deep integration to common systems similar to that of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Office 365. With these deep integrations, you can streamline your financial management along with your internal communications. Even better, if you add CRM online to the mix, you can connect the customer service department, accounting department, and the operations team because your three solutions automatically speak to one another….working better together and helping your team work better together as well. This type of deep integration can eliminate confusion about customers, sales, financials, and internal documentation.

If you are interested in pairing Microsoft Dynamics GP with Microsoft Office 365 or even adding Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online to this dynamic duo, please contact us at Rimrock. We are a boutique consulting firm that specializes in the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM software solutions and are dedicated to ensuring that technology grows with you, no matter where you are headed.

By Rimrock Corporation, Toronto Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner

Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Office 365 Work “Better Together” is a post from: ERP Software Blog

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So your first question may be, “well how is this different from buying one ERP solution and customizing it to meet my needs?”

The first main difference is cost. There is no getting around it, customization can get pricey depending on your situation. Sometimes it is a necessity, but with the multitude of functionality out there today in ERP software, going with bundle options may be the more affordable approach to take. Just make sure the solutions integrate with one another.

With customization, also comes third party solutions that could possibly create disconnect or miscommunication throughout your organization. The advancement of third party solutions has come a long way in just the past few years, but this is another area that if you want the solutions to talk with your main ERP solution, you’re going to have to dish out more money.

By bundling Microsoft Dynamics® GP with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, your organization’s financials, sales, marketing, and customer service are all in sync. Reporting is much easier and covers most of the main business requirements of today. Microsoft Dynamics products are also user-friendly with familiar user interfaces, similar to that of Microsoft Outlook. Your employees will adopt the solutions quicker and easier.

Customization is sometimes the only logical route to take, but make sure to check into bundling options of ERP software. It could make your investment much more affordable and increase user adoption throughout your organization so you can see results and benefits fast.

 Cargas Systems is a software and consulting company, specializing in Microsoft Dynamics GP and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. If you’re interested in learning more about the Microsoft Dynamics line, please contact me by emailing JFuller@cargas.com or by calling 717.455.1090.

By Jullie Fuller with Cargas Systems,  Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner

With over 400 successful implementations and a 95% customer retention rate, Cargas is one of the largest Microsoft Dynamics partners in Pennsylvania.

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Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is by far one of the most impactful technology investments for any organization – for several reasons.  New business intelligence capabilities include real-time dashboards that will empower employees at all levels to find the information they need to make informed decisions.  Advanced personalization tools allow users to customize their workspace for specific roles and needs.  Forms and views are designed to be role-based, which helps provide access to the right information and also prevents users from accessing unauthorized data.  It’s easy to incorporate CRM into employees’ daily tasks because it integrates tightly with Outlook and other existing Microsoft products.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM also offers multiple deployment options, including on-demand, hosted or on-premise, depending on your business needs. You can even change from one method to another as your organization grows and changes.  Users can continue to work through offline access, even when disconnected.  Salesforce.com can’t do these things, yet has a higher total cost of ownership. 

If you’re looking to enhance an existing investment, add Dynamics CRM to your current ERP system.  These powerful applications are designed to work together to provide a broader picture of your customer information.   It gives the right people in your organization access to the information they need, including invoices, orders, payment history and inventory.   It’s much easier for your employees to focus on customer satisfaction when they have the right data at their fingertips.  It also gives executives the visibility to make better decisions and adapt quickly to business change.  It makes perfect business sense to purchase hosted or on-premise Dynamics CRM now, and deduct the implementation cost on your 2010 taxes.

Whether your focus is on sales, marketing or customer service, the result of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is real-time visibility into your customer relationships and your business processes.  Why is that important, you ask? Because if you don’t have a true picture of ‘what is’, then you have no way of knowing the true impact of your decisions and whether or not they are bringing you closer to the goal.  Without visibility, there is no agility.

Please note that we aren’t tax attorneys – be sure to check with your tax advisor before making any purchase decisions related to Section 179 of the Small Business Jobs Act.

By OmniVue, a Georgia Microsoft Dynamics Partner

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Customers  worldwide are taking advantage of the power of choice, and deploying fast, flexible and affordable CRM and xRM solutions across on-premise, partner-hosted and CRM Online deployment models. 

In addition, Microsoft Corp. today unveiled new sales and marketing programs for xRM, the new development platform for building sophisticated relationship-tracking applications. With new platform licensing options and close alignment with Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SharePoint technologies and other Microsoft solutions, organizations can now leverage xRM to create mission-critical applications that run on-premise or on-demand, reducing application development time and cost.

“Our fast path to more than 1 million users illustrates our strong market momentum, and shows how our CRM and xRM offerings are driving worldwide customer and partner success,” said Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. “Today, hundreds of Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers are building thousands of xRM applications. We’ve built significant alliances within and across Microsoft to capitalize on these high-growth opportunities, and we’re ready to drive value for our next million customers.” 

Organizations such as the Leicester City Football Club, a professional sports organization based in the United Kingdom, have used xRM to develop its Player Management application, a solution for managing players, training schedules, diet and wellness programs, and injury prevention analysis.

“One big area of concern for a football club is the players, and people come to matches because they want to see good football,” said Lee Hoos, chief executive of the Leicester City Football Club. “In the interest of our fans and our players, we’ve used the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform platform to build applications that help flag warning signs by player to help them avoid preventable injuries. The flexibility of Microsoft Dynamics CRM has been invaluable to our business in many ways.”

In an innnovative use of CRM or rather XRM, Ignify deployed Microsoft Dynamics CRM for contract management for contracts with thousands of vendors for AVID Center – a nation-wide non-profit headquartered in San Diego, CA. AVID Center is also a user of Dynamics GP and  showcases the convergence that customers are looking for between their ERP and CRM systems.  By sticking with a single product family such as Microsoft Dynamics, customers can ensure they get seamless integration between their back office accounting/ inventory systems and front-office customer service and sales force automation systems.

Contact Ignify – an Inner Circle 2009 Microsoft Dynamics Partner  – offering Microsoft Dynamics ERP and Microsoft CRM customers low-cost high value services.  Ignify has offices in Silicon Valley and other locations.

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