Microsoft Dynamics CRM Team Focuses on Pushing Further, Faster

Microsoft Dynamics CRM team breaks down its investments into three main areas - applications, experience, and platform. With the upcoming Orion release, Microsoft plans to deliver all three: new experiences for the on-premise users who will gain access to the Flow UI for the first time; a new set of applications covering sales and marketing use cases; and at the same time platform enhancements to improve the rendering of custom entities on multiple platforms.

With Orion still at least six months out, the general promise of the release is to take the guided process model and deliver it in more sales and marketing use cases, with customer service apps planned for later releases.

User-centric experience

Polaris introduced the new Flow UI for CRM Online in some scenarios, and Orion, as a major version release, will extend the new user experience to more sales and marketing process-based applications for both Dynamics CRM on-premise and Online.

For the broader device experience, the strategy is to "build great experience as a function of screen size," according to Dynamics CRM program management architect Bill Patterson. That means offering just the necessary information that a mobile device user can consume like calendar, tasks, and email interaction.  While on a tablet, the experience broadens to a more immersive, consumption-oriented approach, and on laptops, desktops, or larger screens, the scenarios broaden to discovery, moving items around, and more detailed views.

Platform enhancements support the XRM, multi-device story

"The ...