The never boring life of Me- Julie Yack's Blog

New book is out.. but not what you think #netcookbook

It’s a cookbook, who knew?  Ok, so anyone that knows me knows I love to cook and hate recipes.  But I was asked to contribute to the second edition of .NET Gurus Can Cook! Of course I had to contribute, who wouldn’t want to share a byline with The Gu or Mary Jo or any of the other rock stars that also contributed?

So what did I submit…Brady Bunch Dinner (pork chops and apple sauce).  The “recipe” begins and ends with wine.  And it’s actually pretty yummy.  Go get the book, I’m on page 52.  And there are many other yummies here too.

But now some important info about this book.  First, of the three books I took part of this year, this was by far the most fun and the easiest for me, personally.  By looking at the book we know someone worked very hard at it, it just wasn’t me this time.  It is from a component vendor, Component One (aka GrapeCity).  They are great supporters of professional user groups, as am I (so now you understand why we work on things together).  This book is published on their dime and available for downloads for the asking.  They also send printed books to user groups as fundraisers, again Component One pays for this.  This group coincidentally sells reusable software components.

PS.  First person that accurately names the acronyms in my bio will get a free print booked shipped to them from lovely Colorado.

Please go change your CRM prefix

Full disclaimer, this is a pet peeve of mine.  Not sure I can make a technical argument of why it matters.  It is cleaner and prettier, feels let cluttered and so on.  I even think it is a simple best practice for your small business internal CRM.  But, when I jump in to a new CRM org it drives me nuts when the publisher is still defaulting and the org prefix is “new_”. 

To change this is so easy, no real reason not to change it.  I typically will just change it to some sort of abbreviated name of the client, or test or something.

In Dynamics CRM navigate to Settings->Customization->Publishers.  Find the one that says “new” in the prefix column.  Open and change.

Default

Now

End of pet peeve.

I am now a decided voter in a swing county in a swing state, thanks to my daughter #mykidisawesome

I have been very forthcoming with my personal struggle for this year’s Presidential election.  Even today I was researching what I hoped were reliable polls that might help me decide.  I was looking to see who would likely carry the House and/or Senate races.  I looked there to see if one party or the other were to be a stronghold I would then cast my vote for the President I felt could be more productive with THAT Congress.  No luck there, the estimates and polls are all within the margin of error.  It would be easier to be fanatical one way or the other and just blindly pick someone based on their party affiliation.

Until just a few minutes ago, I was an honest-to-goodness undecided voter.  Then my 17 year old daughter talked me through the issues that I care about and I instantly knew where my vote would go.  (Give me a second here to be proud of my daughter for being able to, at age 17, talk about all of these issues in such an articulate manner.  If she didn’t want to be a surgeon she could totally be my President one day)

What issues?  What are my opinions on the issues?  What influenced my vote?

From where I sit the republicans are good for the economy and good for small business.  Those are both important to me.  Democrats talk about small business support, but in my experience and research their plan is more about helping businesses that struggle and then taxing the hell out of the owners when they are successful.  Dems want me to take out a loan. I don’t WANT a loan.  I want to be a responsible business owner and keep some extra money in the bank so I can still meet payroll during those months clients decide to be late with paying me.  I do that now, but get taxed for it, as if it were income.  And let’s just throw in zero-based budgeting every now and then for good measure, k?

The reproductive freedoms of the next generation is a big deal to me.  There is simply not much room to negotiate the mainstream republican stance on this, and it shouldn’t be a negotiation at all.  I hope that as a parent I have taught my children well and that they take ownership of their own bodies and take preventative measures where they need to do that.  But, I know that’s not always the case, by choice or not.  And I know that insurance to pay for prevention is a big deal (especially if it pays for ED drugs).  And I know that a crotchety old man thinking about my daughter’s reproductive life should be ashamed of himself and get a new hobby.  Own YOUR own reproductive parts, and I will do the same for mine.

Then we go to foreign policy.  This is a bit of a tie for me.  There’s three general types of foreign policy, fiscal policy, tragedy policy and who moved my cheese policy.  Republicans get the fiscal stuff.  The dems got the who moved my cheese covered.  Let’s all do our part in the UN to take care of the tragedy stuff.  I am a global citizen and have no problem with outsourcing.  Step it up my fellow Americans, learn something new, we’ll define the next wave and grow some more.  And no one wants Iran to be nuclear, but as a sovereign nation, not sure we have the right to anything more than an opinion on this one.

“Obamacare”.  They are both wrong.  There are some great things in this.  There are some not great things in this.  BUT, repealing it is the wrong approach.  It does more good than harm, so line-item legislate out the wonky stuff.  That would require legislators to ACTUALLY READ it and know what they are voting for or against.  Too bad, get over it, it’s what we pay you for.  Get to work.

Not working together.  Both sides again share this one.  Just because the dems SAY they want to work together, they didn’t put up much of a fight to get something, ANYTHING, done.  And the republicans, seriously, stop wasting our time and money on useless votes to repeal Obamacare.  DO SOMETHING.

The republicans tend to have more people with a pure hatred of anyone with an opposing opinion (like serious, emotionally driven HATE, it gets ugly). 

The democrats would prefer I not take the time or energy to do my research and just scare me into voting for them (I personally know the difference between income tax and capital gains tax and it doesn’t bother me one bit that the second time you get taxed that the rate is less).

Both want our kids to get a college education.  Republicans want my kids to borrow money from ME to pay for it.  Dems want it to be cheaper, but then give my college educated kid a job on a manufacturing line.

And the one that tipped the scale?

Gay rights.  There is no place for gay rights on the republican ticket.  THAT IS NOT OK. 

Win8 app released #InformedAmerican

My friend and co-worker Hassan Rage has released his super duper cool Win8 app.  It’s called Informed American and it sells for $1.99.  Ok, now that the business is out of the way, the details…

We are deep into the election process here in the US and this app helps you be an informed voting American citizen.  You can drill down into detailed information on any incumbent and any candidate for national and statewide offices.  We wind up talking smack about politics around the office, it produces this kinda coolness. (this app is all of Hassan's doing, but my big mouth can take credit for some of the inspiration)

You can see basic Name, party affiliation and such, but then so much more.  See where they stand on votes and who donates to their campaigns.  Voting records, bill sponsoring, and so on.

Additionally you can see state-wide measures, such as Colorado’s own Amendment 64 to legalize marijuana and who is supporting it or not.

Some screen shots for you.

High level with some summary data

Then drill down for details

Different drilldown detail

Issue detail

State issue detail

 

Let me know what you think?

Rule #1 of CRM- don’t rebuild it if it’s already there

Anyone that’s worked with me on a project knows this is one of my biggest pet peeves.  AND one made by many many many of my beloved developers.  The best way around this tragedy?  Learn what CRM can and should be doing.

How can you do that?

Join xRMVirtual tomorrow for our session with Dynamics CRM legend Larry Lentz. 

More details can be found here, as well as the link for the live meeting (or recording if you’re late to the ball).

And yes, we are a developer user group, but since this is a non-technical session, send us your devs, your BAs, your testers and your PMs too.  We’ll take them all.

(you know I will have a different Rule #1 of CRM tomorrow, but this is today’s rule #1)

Introducing the CRM Field Guide, 1029 days in the making @CRMFieldGuide

So there’s this great new book out there, The CRM Field Guide, How to CRM like and MVP with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The list of authors is a who’s who of global CRM all-stars. Scroll down for the details and some fun stuffs about the project. Follow the book on Twitter @CRMFieldGuide

www.crmfieldguide.com

Like always, great discounts for readers of my blog:

JulieYackMVPBoth
JulieYackMVPEbook
JulieYackMVPPrint

This project started in December 2009 when MVP George Doubinski sent out an email to get interest in what was at the time The CRM MVP Cookbook. We had a couple of false starts, lots of great intent and missed deadlines. But we are here now. 1029 days later. So what happened in that 1029 days? Well, some of the authors were not yet awarded MVP at the beginning, but then came thru and added great value to the book. We have five new babies (and a couple of grandbabies I think) and two more babies on the way. We’ve had kids grow up and move out, my daughter was a high school freshman when we started and this week applied for college. We’ve had heart, liver and kidney transplants for one in our family. It took longer to make this book than it took for me to get my MBA.

So what do we do the next 1029 days? That puts us at July 27, 2015. I for one am planning my around the world trip and hope to touch Antarctica by then, it’s the only continent left that I’ve not visited. I’m not a huge goals person, I’m just always trying to become a better version of myself, a little every day.

What does the next 88,905,600 seconds bring for you?

 

The authors

Joel Lindstrom| Richard Knudson | Donna Edwards | Julie Yack

Pablo Peralta | Rhett Clinton | Jakub Skalbania | Feridun Kadir | Shan McArthur | David Berry

Larry Lentz | Leon Tribe | Scott Sewell |Alex Fagundes | David Yack | Neil Benson

Mitch Milam | Jerry Weinstock |Giorgio Garcia-Agreda

The chapter summaries

Chapter 1 - Building the Foundation – This chapter lays the groundwork for understanding the various terms and parts of a CRM Organization. It includes helpful tips not covered elsewhere in the book.

Chapter 2 - CRM Server Installation & Configuration – Learn the requirements, the planning steps, and the process for installing and configuring your CRM server.

Chapter 3 – CRM Outlook Client Installation & Configuration addresses the different choices and troubleshooting techniques for installation and configuration of Dynamics CRM Outlook Client.

Chapter 4 - CRM 4 Upgrade to CRM 2011 – In this chapter you’ll learn the software and hardware requirements, develop an upgrade plan, prepare your database, upgrade customizations, perform and test the upgrade and train your users,

Chapter 5 – E-mail Router Installation & Troubleshooting covers the necessity of the e-mail router, the deployment wizard, the configuration manager, hardware and software requirements, installation and configuration and user settings for the e-mail router.

Chapter 6 - Security Best Practices covers the why and the how of security in Dynamics CRM, including the security tools already built in to CRM as well as a look at special case handling.

Chapter 7 - Sales Management Best Practices examines critical success factors for sales management, activity and lead management, customer, opportunity and pipeline management, and workflows and sales processes.

Chapter 8 - Service Management Best Practices explains the optimal use of cases, contracts, articles, service scheduling and the service calendar.

Chapter 9 - Marketing Management Best Practices is a detailed look at the benefits of CRM’s marketing tools, including marketing lists and campaigns, as well as campaign reporting.

Chapter 10 - The Power of CRM & Outlook explores the benefits of integrating and synchronizing CRM and Outlook and explains how to make it happen and make the most use of the combined tools.

Chapter 11 – Dynamics CRM Goal Management is an in-depth look at the foundations of goal management, ranging from Sales to Marketing to Service and beyond.

Chapter 12 – Processes delves into the power and scope of Workflows and Dialogs, how they work and how you can use them for maximum benefit.

Chapter 13 - Aligning Reports to the Audience helps the reader understand and meet the needs of different users and stakeholders by exploring the varying needs and expectations of users and using the array of out-of-the-box tools.

Chapter 14 - Report Development shows how to create the best (read: most useful) reports by utilizing SQL, FetchXML and other tools to build custom reports in CRM.

Chapter 15 - SharePoint & CRM: Better Together discusses the benefits of SharePoint collaboration tools being integrated with CRM in order to provide the 360° view of the customer, including how to set up integration and how to access CRM from SharePoint.

Chapter 16 - CRM Outlook Optimization & Troubleshooting examines what you can do to optimize the performance of the Outlook client and how to troubleshoot CRM for Outlook.

Chapter 17 - CRM Server Optimization, Maintenance & Monitoring covers CRM server, IIS, and SQL server optimization, as well as maintenance and monitoring of the servers.

Chapter 18 - Data Management Best Practices explores using the Data Import Wizard, duplicate detection, and bulk deletion, plus best practices for ensuring high-quality data in your CRM system.

Chapter 19 - User Adoption shares key concepts and strategies for encouraging and improving user adoption within you organization.

Chapter 20 - Customization Strategies discusses a variety of strategies that can be used to customize CRM to fit your business needs and reviews the solution architecture and management.

Chapter 21 - Introduction to Solutions gives details on custom solutions and components, managed vs. unmanaged solutions, the importing and exporting of solutions, deleting solutions and managed properties.

Chapter 22 - Solution Management and Troubleshooting is a more in-depth look at solutions, covering import behavior, managed properties, layering strategies and tips and tricks to get the most out of your CRM solutions.

Chapter 23 - Dynamics Connector - From Zero to Hero, in this chapter, you will learn what some of the considerations are when combining CRM with other members of the Dynamics family, what options are available, how to choose and implement the best option or combination of options, and some helpful resources for reference.

Chapter 24 - Rapid Development Best Practices is an overview of the strategies of preparation, planning, execution and delivery of customizations in an efficient and effective way that meets the needs of the client without reinventing the wheel.

Chapter 25 - Community Resources is a plethora, a veritable cornucopia, of resources from the global community of user groups, users, MVPs, Microsofties, social media masters and blogs that can help you maximize your CRM skills and guide you to the answers you seek.

Techies in Colorado here’s your chance to give back! @COGiveCamp

We all like to make a difference.  Sometimes it’s hard to figure out a way to do that.  Lucky for you, my fellow Colorado nerds, Give Camp is back again!  The weekend of October 26-28 looks to be a great weekend of long hours, happy charities and overall warm-fuzzies and productive geeks.  This event is hosted in Colorado Springs at DeVry University.

Past events have helped many charities and Colorado is not the only place that has these events, it’s a nationwide effort, but I want to make sure that Colorado opens its hearts and brains and shows how much we care and that we are willing to back it up.

Your action item?  Go visit http://www.coloradogivecamp.org/ to learn more and to sign up.  If you can’t sign up to help this time, go ahead and click on that donate button, give a few bucks.  We need people that write code, people that know SQL, people that understand requirements, make test plans, manage projects…pretty much if you work as part of the software-making process, you qualify.  AND if by chance you read this and are not a techie, you can help out too, maybe with some organization, maybe picking up food for some hungry coders, maybe tucking them in under a blankie in the corner of the workroom for their 2am nap.  Trust me, if you want to help, we can find your skillset and make it happen.

Join us Sept 15 in Colorado Springs to thank our nation’s firefighters

Just got off the phone with the Colorado Springs Independent and it would seem that our Facebook event page link is not very friendly.  So, here’s a blog post with details.  No RSVPing needed, just show up, hold hands with other community members and say thanks for all our firefighters do for us.  Think back to the 80’s when we did Hands Across America…

 

We all have been looking for a way to say thanks to our first responders that worked so hard putting their lives on the line to save our community during the Waldo Canyon Fire and every other day of the year. We have a chance to show our support on September 15. The Ride to Remember is an annual event honoring fallen firefighters. Let’s line the route just like we all did in the 80s with Hands Across America. We need 26,400 people holding hands to line the street on both sides along the route.

The route starts at the Promenade Shops at Briargate, goes east on Briargare Parkway and south on Union to the Memorial at Union and Pikes Peak. That’s just over 10 miles to cover. In a city with the heart of Colorado Springs, this should be easy. Wouldn’t it be great to have rows of people holding hands showing our thanks?!

It takes 1,320 people to cover a single mile for one side of the road. That’s only 660 for a half mile. 330 for a quarter mile. This is getting easier and easier!

The ride starts at noon, so we should plan to be lined up well before, roads will be closing to allow the riders to pass easily.
Let's do this!

(the Ride to Remember happens every year, so we can make this annual too!)

Self-service Business Intelligence & Level One Data Analytics in Dynamics CRM

(this is from the article I wrote for CRMUG Magazine)

CRM users have constantly changing and individual business intelligence and data analysis needs. And the need it now.

Solution

Teach them how by using custom views and advanced find.

1. You can launch the Advanced Find from practically any ribbon in CRM.

1. From here you can build your data queries, customize your columns in your view, export the query in FetchXML for reporting, name and save your queries.
   
2. The selection will always default to where you came from when you clicked on the Advanced Find icon. For example had you been looking at a Contact record the entity selection dropdown would be defaulted to the Contact records and its default view selected. Note: if you click on Advanced Find from a place where it’s not supported (from Solutions for example) the dialog will still open for you but will be defaulted to the top item on the list. In an out of the box CRM system, that will be Accounts.
3. Let’s have a quick look at our query builder. One column selection will trigger the contents of the next column; it will only give you contextual choices so you will be less likely to build an invalid query. There are many combinations of available columns. Here we’ll just see a couple of examples, but after making a few of your own queries, you will sort out the differences easily.
   1. Column 1 is your fields/attributes for that selected entity. All items that allow for Advanced Find will be shown. If you aren’t using all of the fields, clean up that setting to make Advanced Find more friendly for your users.
      
   2. The next column offers choices to qualify the data you want returned. The values in this dropdown come from the data type of the first item selected, the field. So the first one below is from a date type, the second is driven by the data type of text.
      
   3. The next column, again driven by the prior one allows us to add more details for our specific query. From our examples above, look at what our choices would be next.
      
      
4. For our example, let’s just say we need to see all of our Accounts in Washington. Our sales rep there has been asking for more help, so we want to keep an eye on the business to know when it might be time to hire a new sales rep. Let’s first build the query, and then we build the view in the next step. Using what you learned above, build your query to select Accounts from Washington. In practice, you would want to experiment the best way to make sure you have all instances of the state being Washington, such as accounting for possible abbreviations (and misspellings!), but in our quick example, this should work fine.
   
5. For the view, the columns that would be important for us might include Account name, record owner, maybe communication information and so on. We will also add a display column to show our basic query. Even though we don’t NEED to see state equals Washington, some people just like to see it. In the ribbon select Edit Columns. This dialog pops up and allows you to add/remove/sort columns that you want to see. You can edit column properties, such as width, by clicking Change Properties, when that column heading is selected.
   
6. Once you’ve built your query and defined your columns for your view. You are ready to see the results of your query! Click the Red ! in the ribbon to execute the query and display your results.
   
7. From your results grid, you can select any item/combination of items, just as you would in any CRM grid and then perform actions. Things such as adding to a Washington marketing list or assigning to a new sales rep would be easily accomplished here. Starting a workflow or dialog from here could also be very useful.
   
8. Once you are satisfied that your Advanced Find is what you need, click the Advance Find tab in the ribbon to go back to your save options and select Save As. Give the query a useable name, such as Washington Accounts, then save.
   
9. Close your Advanced Find windows after naming and saving. Navigate to the Accounts area of CRM, and have a look at your views above the grid. You should see the view we just built available to you as a personal view.
   

Summary

Empowered users drive your software adoption. Teach them the value of consuming the data in CRM and they will be eager to learn how to do it themselves.

CRM Rock Star? Prove it. #extremechallenge #MSDYNCRM #CRM2011

Join me at the Extreme CRM conference in Las Vegas and show us what you’ve got!  Join as your own team, or sign up as a single and we’ll build your team for you.  You can bring your own ideas, or we’ll help you.  The Extreme CRM App Challenge is where you can show your stuff and get some recognition.

And….(drumroll…..) you get rock star mentors to help your team. 

And….. (next drumroll……..) you get prizes.

And…..(next drumroll……) you get to brag for a year the YOU won the Extreme App Challenge.

And…..(next drumroll……) you get to join us playing paintball the night before the challenge, along with pizza and beer (and I might probably smoke a stogie with you too).

For details click thru below, sign up there too.  See you in Vegas.

 

App challenge