Now blogging on MSDynamicsWorld.com, too

In addition to the Surviving CRM blog right here, I have recently also published a few writings on MSDynamicsWorld.com. If you’re not familiar with the site yet, then I recommend you to take a look at their offering and subscribe to their newsletters. In short, MSDynamicsWorld.com is an independent online publication (meaning: not sponsored by Microsoft) that publishes content for Dynamics CRM & ERP users, partners, independent software vendors (ISVs) and consultants.

The articles I intend to write for MSDynamicsWorld.com will be somewhat different than the blog posts you see on Surviving CRM. In my own blog I tend to cover the types of topics that I run into as a part of the day-to-day job of a Microsoft Dynamics CRM consultant: how to do X with Y, workarounds to common issues, updates on the new functionality to be expected from Microsoft & partners, etc. I speak my mind on both the good and the bad, the highs & the lows, in an effort to spread awareness of how anyone working with or around Microsoft Dynamics CRM can make the most of this great platform.

How I’m hoping to leverage this new channel that’s been graciously offered to me by the editors of MSDynamicsWorld.com is to broaden the scope of discussion and look at the world of CRM and Dynamics CRM from a slightly different angle. Instead of the hands-on, application level topics, I’m planning to allow myself some space to move onto a higher level of abstraction and share some thoughts on the business impact and considerations involved with implementing, developing and, at the end of the day, just living with a CRM solution at the customer organization. Don’t worry, it’s not going to be too far detached from the everyday reality. I promise!

My first articles published on MSDynamicsWorld.com are actually series of articles under the theme The Design Language of Your CRM Solution. It’s a journey through the many considerations involved in improving the user adoption rate of CRM systems – a hot topic that never goes out of style, right? I started thinking about these user adoption challenges once again when I heard Bill Patterson make a statement in his WPC 2012 presentation about designing CRM systems that can go viral. Contrasting that with the traditional world of enterprise applications (anti-viral almost by definition) gave me enough food for thought to come up with the following articles:

• Part 1: What does it actually require to build a CRM application for viral adoption vs. top-down enforcement?
• Part 2: Common sense design principles for making your CRM system easier for the users to adopt
• Part 3: The importance of visualizing the processes that the users are expected to follow
• Part 4: How the new mobile device clients are helping to make CRM a more lightweight, context-aware application

You’ll need to create a user account at MSDynamicsWorld.com in order to access the full articles. I know, signing up to yet another website can feel like a bit of a burden, but considering it’s an independent publication that doesn’t charge their readers any money, I personally understand the requirement of creating a user account to get access to the content. I’ve signed up for the site already years ago (4.5 to be precise) and haven’t ever come across any messages from them that I would have considered spam emails not relevant to my areas of interest.

Anyway, the choice is of course yours, but I at least encourage you to circle MSDynamicsWorld.com on Google+ or follow their RSS feed, as it’s a great source of news for all things related to the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem. Oh, and while you’re at it, do make sure that you’re also following the Surviving CRM Google+ stream where I personally share the most interesting blog posts and articles I’ve encountered while surfing the big waves of the #MSDYNCRM community.