Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online upgrades to CRM 2013 proceeding with few headaches, partners report

For Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online customers, the end of the CRM 2011 user experience is within sight - if it hasn't already arrived.  Microsoft is now well into its effort to migrate its CRM Online customers to new CRM 2013 instances. The process is no small task given the thousands of organizations that rely on the service and expect continuity after the changeover.

CRM Online upgrades so far

But how is the process going in the real world? According to Dynamics CRM pros we've talked to, the upgrades on CRM Online appear to largely be calamity free so far. There has been "very little drama," according to David Kohar, chief customer officer at Zero2Ten, a Dynamics CRM consultancy focused exclusively on CRM Online. Though there are inevitably some issues to deal with, he says, his customers have largely been able to navigate the process either on their own or with a pre-planned level of support from Zero2Ten.

"Our own CRM Online environment that we use for sales demonstrations was updated [several weeks ago], the earliest date that was available on MS's calendar," says Jukka Niiranen, a senior consultant at CodeBakers in Finland and a Microsoft MVP. "Apart from a few minor configurations that needed manual adjustments, no issues appeared, but it was purposefully low on customizations due to its role as the baseline for CRM core features."

One explanation (perhaps obvious) for the smooth rollout of CRM 2013 for CRM Online so far is that the organizations with the simpler, lower risk systems are going first, proceeding according to their update schedules ...