Source: msdynamicsworld

Today at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington DC, Microsoft announced that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 - formerly code-named "CRM5" - will be publicly available as a "broad beta release" in September 2010.

This timing is in line with estimates made at Convergence 2010 earlier this year.  Dynamics CRM 2011 is a broad release, with significant changes in areas including expanded cloud capabilities, improved user experience, stronger development frameworks, and easier integration to other Microsoft tools like SharePoint and Outlook.

"We are very confident in our ability to deliver to the marketplace," Dynamics CRM general manager Brad Wilson told MSDynamicsWorld.com.  "For customers, [Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011] offers new levels of user productivity and collaboration that meet their specific business needs with a low total cost of ownership. For partners, it unlocks new opportunities and provides a single development environment for cloud-based and on-premise deployments."

The long-talked-about release will first be available in an upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, which will also include an expansion from 32 to 40 markets and 41 languages including Australia, Cyprus, and seven Latin American countries including Brazil, Costa Rica, and Columbia.

Some 400 partners and 40 customers have already joined the pre-release program for CRM 2011, according to Wilson.

Among the most anticipated improvements in Dynamics CRM 2011 are those that will be enjoyed by developers, both at ISVs and among customers.  They will now be able to develop and deploy customizations and even full xRM solutions more quickly and flexibly (something that has been discussed and promised for over a year now), and with more granular security. 

Customizations for Dynamics CRM 2011 can also be deployed directly to Dynamics CRM Online, a capability that has been seriously limited until now and pointed out (see question #3) as a major limitation of cloud deployments.  Wilson said that Microsoft has taken steps to ensure that code written by customers will not have unintended side effects by employing throttling and "other measures you would expect in a data center's level of service".

Other "connected" improvements include:

• Contextual documents - Microsoft SharePoint Server users can easily provision SharePoint document repositories and embed them within Dynamics CRM
• Developers can incorporate Microsoft Silverlight, Windows Communication Foundation and Language Integrated Query into cloud solutions.
• Improved versioning, dependency tracking, and security features for managing the development of custom solutions.

Microsoft is also announcing the arrival of what it calls the "Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace".  Described as an embedded tool within Dynamics CRM, the marketplace is intended to allow customers to find, download, and apply custom solutions from within the CRM environment. 

"Partners want a more scalable way to distribute their software," said Wilson.  The first version of the marketplace will not handle e-commerce.  Both free and paid solutions will be available from partners in the marketplace.  Solutions will be broken down into two main classifications - Certified for Microsoft Dynamics, which follows the existing certification standard, and a new "community-rated solution" level, which has been tested for stability on Dynamics CRM but has none of the other assurances of a CFMD solution. The marketplace will be available both on-premise and through Dynamics CRM Online.

Touting the "familiar" experiences of CRM 2011, Microsoft points to several improvements including:

• New Microsoft Outlook experience with more CRM functionality and features like conditional formatting for incoming communication from customers who meet specific criteria (for example, highlighting subjects in red based on a particular sales volume)
• A new contextual CRM Ribbon for Outlook and browser clients that is consistent with Microsoft Office
• RoleTailored design will be extended further into Dynamics CRM, improving what has already been delivered in other recent Dynamics product releases
• Advanced user personalization with personal views and dashboards.

Business intelligence will also receive some attention in the new release with a focus on "real time BI", a term suggesting more embedded BI throughout the application, more capabilities for non-technical users to create their own reports and dashboards, and more flexible definition of KPIs for improved analytics.

Source: Radio-Canada

L'Alliance numérique lance un Guide des meilleures pratiques Web. Un outil que l'organisme de représentation de l'industrie numérique du Québec veut utiliser pour promouvoir l’engagement de l’industrie envers des services de qualité et aider les décideurs dans la réussite de leurs projets Web.

On parle ici d'un guide de 24 pages qui décrit toutes les étapes à suivre lors de l’élaboration ou la mise à jour d’un site Web. Il présente aussi tous les experts qui pourraient être appelés à intervenir dans le processus de création. Le guide est disponible en ligne et il peut être également téléchargé à partir du site Web de l'Alliance numérique.
 

Giganews, INC. le premier fournisseur Usenet au monde, a battu aujourd'hui son précédent record de 365 jours de mémooire binaire. La compagnie propose maintenant à ses clients 400 jours de mémoire binaire dans tous les 100 000 groupes de nouvelles.

Giganews emmagasine désormais plus de données Usenet pour une plus grande période que n'importe quel autre fournisseur Usenet.

"C'était merveilleux d'atteindre notre but de fournir une année entière de rétention des informations sur le serveur, et l'annonce de ce jour est encore plus gratifiante," a dit Philip Molter, Directeur de la technologie à Giganews. "En fournissant 400 jours de rétention des informations sur le serveur à tous les nouveaux groupes, nous démontrons que Giganews n'arrêtera jamais de persister pour dépasser les attentes de nos clients."

Giganews continue d'être le leader de l'industrie Usenet et programme d'augmenter son stock de données à travers le monde.La page d'accueil Giganews est mise à jour quotidiennement afin de refléter l'accroissement constant des niveaux de maintien Usenet.

Giganews® Usenet est une communauté en ligne, mondiale, publique et sociale qui permet à ses membres de partager des discussions et des contenus créés par les utilisateurs sur un nombre illimité de sujets. Aujourd'hui, Giganews Usenet représente plus de 100K (et grandit rapidement) de chaînes multimedia Internet et de discussions interactives qui est accessible par des dizaines de millions de personnes dans plus de 180 pays.

Giganews est une marque commerciale de Giganews, Inc. Toutes les autres marques commerciales mentionnées dans le présent document sont la propriété de leurs détenteurs respectifs.

Giganews broke new ground by providing users with 365 days of binary retention in all 100,000-plus newsgroups. The accomplishment - a full year of binary retention across the board - is an industry first.

A full year of retention means that Giganews stores more of Usenet for a longer period of time and for more newsgroups than any other Usenet provider.

"Providing 365 days of retention is a triumph for us and for Usenet in general," said Philip Molter, CTO at Giganews. "We are absolutely committed to leading the industry, and we'll continue to innovate and stretch limits so we can give our customers the best possible Usenet experience, " Molter added.

Giganews® Usenet is a global, public social networking community that enables its members to share discussions and user generated content on an unlimited number of topics. Today, Giganews Usenet represents over 100K (and growing rapidly) multimedia Internet channels and interactive discussions which is accessed by tens of millions of people from over 180 countries.

Giganews is a trademark of Giganews, Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners