On Monday, February 12, 2007, we are publically announcing the release of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Analytics Foundation, a business intelligence solution accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 customers and partners, provided for free via download at http://www.codeplex.com/crmanalytics [File size - 94 MB].

With the Analytics Foundation-

·         Executives can better track and manage business performance with key performance indicators (KPIs) and Microsoft SharePoint dashboards.

·         Managers and employees can create reports quickly and make better decisions with Microsoft Office Excel and Report Builder (part of SQL Server Reporting Services).

·         Line-of-business users of Microsoft CRM across sales, marketing, and service can identify new opportunities to grow revenue and increase efficiency with predictive analytics.

…All while allowing IT departments to maximize the use of familiar Microsoft technologies and reduce report maintenance costs.  Through the implementation of the Analytics Foundation, end users can become more self-sufficient in creating detailed reports and acting on new customer insights.  

Analytics Foundation Content

The Analytics Foundation contains customizable source code and documentation that enables Microsoft CRM partners and customers to effectively present and accelerate the development of customized business intelligences solutions.

The Analytics Foundation download includes:

·         Technical whitepaper

·         Business intelligence solution samples and source code

·         Presentation “demo” script

·         Database for demonstration purposes

·         Design documents

·         Implementation guidance

Note: The Analytics Foundation is a share-source release and is not meant to be deployed “as-is” into a live server environment without additional testing of the supplied solutions. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the technology requirements for implementing the Analytics Foundation content?

·         Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0

·         Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 1

·          SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition

·          Internet Information Services (IIS)

·          Both .NET Framework 1.1 and 2.0

·          Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 or Windows SharePoint Services with SP2

·          Business Scorecard Manager 2005 (required for editing and creating new scorecards)

·          Visual Studio 2005

·          Excel 2007 (recommended)

Excel 2007 is highly recommended because of the new improved end user pivot table experience.  Pivot tables are used to interact with the underlying UDM model provided in Analytics Foundation.  Business Scorecard Manager is required for editing and creating new scorecards.  For viewing scorecards, it is not required.  Note that SQL Server Analysis Services and Reporting Services are included with SQL Server 2005.  We are not using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) by default.

What languages are supported by the Analytics Foundation?

The Analytics Foundation and supporting documents, comments are provided in English; the shared-source code is localizable.

How much does the Analytics Foundation cost?

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Analytics Foundation leverages Microsoft’s broad investment in business intelligence technology across the company, and is available as a no-charge shared source download for customers and partners. 

Where does a partner or customer download the Analytics Foundation?

It is currently available to partners and customers via a free download from CodePlex (http://www.codeplex.com), Microsoft's open source project hosting web site, as well as via the Microsoft CRM Sandbox - a GotDotNet project created for Microsoft CRM users that allows them to share knowledge with other Microsoft CRM administrators, customizers, users and developers.

Direct CodePlex download link - http://www.codeplex.com/crmanalytics [94 MB].

How are partners using the Analytics Foundation?

Microsoft Dynamics CRM partners are using Analytics Foundation to drive new levels of business value for their customers.

“Microsoft CRM Analytics Foundation bridges the disconnect between information and action - and we think that will result in extraordinary business results for our Microsoft CRM customers.” said Ryan Toenies, Vice President, CRM Solutions at Intetium. “The tools available through Analytics Foundation enable our customers to leverage their existing Microsoft investment to provide critical business information to the right personnel at the right time.”

“Analytics Foundation allows our customers to take CRM to the next level,” said Darren Gooding, practice director for CRM and ERP at Neudesic.  “The ability of an executive to see what’s happening across the organization in a matter of seconds via reporting tools and dashboards makes it possible for a company to move beyond simple CRM information sharing, and into a place where they can make decisions about how to improve the overall health of their business. We’re thrilled to provide our customers with yet another choice in how they leverage their CRM data.”