MS CRM 4.0 Implementation Guide (IG)

You can download the Implementation Guide (IG) here. I read the Planning Guide, the Installing Guide and the Operating and Maintaining Guide in less than 3 hours while I was going from Lisbon to Porto (Oporto) by train. These three guides together with some useful file templates make up the helpful Implementation Guide. The IG is very well written and clear.

I confess that I started to deploy MS CRM 4.0 whithout reading the IG as I should. I gave it just a quick look speacilly to the new features and then I started the MS CRM 4 installation. One of the questions I had and I made a post here and at the dynamics forums about it was which base language to choose. Well after my last reading of the guide I got it figured it out whithout no doubts. I read at page 3-31 of the Planning Guide the following: "The base language of Windows Server, SQL Server... must be the same language version as Microsoft Dynamics CRM Server. - or- The base language of Windows Server, SQL Server... must be U.S. English". So it's quite clear to me: the safest scneario is allways to deploy MS CRM in english and then add it the language packs available if you have to. End of discussion.

Another important thing I learned from the IG was that the Data Migration Manager or DMM for friends is quite demanding in terms of requirements. At page 5-40 of the Installing Guide one can read that:

• "Important: You cannot run the DMM on the same computer when MS Dynamics CRM for MS Outlook is running. You must close MS CRM for MS Outlook before you run the DMM." Understood!
• "The DMM can only be run by a user with the System Administrator secutiry role.". They are referring to the MS CRM secutiry role! That could be better explained! I will pinpoint that to Microsoft!

I also realized from what I read that the DMM has to be installed on the client machine rather than the server where MS CRM 4 is running. Don't forget the user has to have Local Administrator privileges to install it on her/his machine. I don't know about you but most of my CRM users are women!

I knew I had read it somewhere: at page 3-30 of the Planning Guide another important requirement or recommendation regarding the DMM:

• "Although DMM and MS Dynamics CRM for Outlook can be installed on the same computer they cannot be run at the same time." Thank you!
• "DMM must be installed on a computer that has a connection to the MS DYnamics CRM Server." Well... That's obvious!
• "We do not recommend that you install the DMM on a computer that is running MS Dynamics CRM Server." That's new for me! As I was havint troubles making DMM work I tried to install it on the server side... I won't do it again, promise!

Finally I also learned that I will need to install and run the MS CRM E-mail Router if I want to send and receive e-mails for Queues as I am planning to not deploy it (router) for my users. I will trust the great MS CRM Client for Outlook to do that because I had really bad experiences with the MS CRM 3 e-mail router.