Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM News: Cortana, Portals, Salesforce, and Updates
Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM News: Cortana, Portals, Salesforce, and Updates
Beginnings and endings in the CRM world
Hi everyone! Mariam and I are back with another edition of Microsoft Dynamics CRM News: the News You Can Use, with the Taste You Crave.
Let’s do this!
Cortana Assistant Preview Ends
Last month, Microsoft announced that they are ending the Dynamics 365 CRM Cortana assistant preview. The Microsoft team announced via their blog that
“We are working to deliver a robust and scalable digital assistant experience across all of our Dynamics 365 offerings […] We are focusing on building a new long-term intelligent solution experience which will include Cortana digital assistant integration.”
I would report further on the rumors that Cortana achieved sentience and demanded this change but…she’s listening and I don’t want to upset her.
New Plans for Customer Portals
Microsoft has advanced their plans for customer portals with the news last year that as of August 1, 2018, the legacy version of ADXStudio Portal will no longer be formally supported. Customers should start planning to move to the newer Microsoft Dynamics 365 Portals solution for their self-service and sales portals.
One thing to pay particular attention to is that the Dynamics 365 Portals solution will not work with on-premises CRM installation, so businesses might take this opportunity to evaluate the migration to Dynamics 365 Online.
The good news is that rumor has it all Dynamics Portal sign-ups will come with portal guns, which will make getting around a lot easier.
Dynamics 365 2017 Updates
Many Dynamics 365 customers who have been waiting for the 2017 updates will be happy to know that Microsoft is allowing businesses to start scheduling 2017 updates as of February 2018. The actual updates will be applied through August of 2018.
Microsoft has done a great job with the updates, and has dramatically increased the functionality and user experience. We encourage all customers who need help to reach out to us to assist with scheduling and training on new features. Operators are standing by.
We were going to say something about there being no word on when the 2016 updates will be scheduled, but we agreed it was too mean spirited…
Salesforce Opens New Office
Speaking of mean spirited, Salesforce has opened their new office building in San Francisco to muted fanfare. In fact, upon opening, only two of the floors were actually staffed, so foot traffic is minimal to non-existent in the building.
The most talked about aspect is the general shape of the building, which is very suggestive. Some have said that in cold rain the building shrinks from 61 floors to 31 floors.
These things happen. I’ve heard. From others.
That’s all for this episode, but you can follow all the CRM news that’s fit to film in our Microsoft CRM News Archive!
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Peter Wolf is the president and founder of Azamba. He has spent the last 20 years focused on helping small and medium-sized businesses become more profitable through effective and efficient usage of CRM.
His passion is blending the promise of CRM with the realities of business needs to create successful outcomes.
Mariam Florio is the director of CRM implementation at Azamba. She helps new users get up-and-running with their CRM solutions, and experienced users get more out of their systems.
Mariam has been a consultant in the software space for 16 years, and has spent the last 11 focused exclusively on CRM. She delivers intelligence, friendliness, and efficiency in every customer interaction.
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