Partner Readiness a Key Component for Successful Rollout of Microsoft Dynamics CRM December 2012 Service Update

There's no question that the Microsoft Dynamics CRM December 2012 Service Update marks an important milestone for the product, bringing to market important capabilities like cross-browser compatibility, native integrations to more Microsoft products, and a new user interface.   And with the release process now underway with TAP customers and the January start date for deployment to the rest of the CRM Online user base, Microsoft wants partners to know it is time to round out their training on the new release in order to help guide customers through the intricacies of the rollout.

Since the December service update is for Dynamics CRM Online only, the upgrade will have two components - the obligatory software upgrade that all CRM Online customers will get as their various "scale groups" in data centers around the world are upgraded, and the opt-in features that can be deployed if and when a customer is ready to use them.  The obligatory parts include the cross-browser compatibility (minus the iPad browser experience, which is now scheduled for a separate rollout in February) and API changes.  Many of the new features, including Skype and Yammer integration and the Flow UI will be opt-in, meaning customers can decide if and when to enable them after the upgrade.

Deployment of the Flow UI will offer a lot of flexibility in terms of when and how to enabled it, explains Phillip Haase, Dynamics CRM Technical Lead, Microsoft US.  There will be a variety of permutations that users can configure as they see fit.  For example, a customer can deploy the new interface for all the available entities or just one, like updating the UI for opportunities while leaving the "...