CRM as a Rapid Development Platform

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 provides all the capabilities to be a foundation for building line of business applications and saves you a ton of time!  In this book, you will learn that CRM is an application development platform not just a CRM package.  We will explore how its declarative data modeling, security model, dynamic SOA Web Service creation and other platform services make it a fast and easy platform for development.  CRM 4.0 uses popular developer technologies like SQL Server, SQL Server Reporting Services and Windows Workflow Foundation for process automation.  See how you can build your applications on top of it, integrate with it or simply extend it using ASP.NET, SharePoint, Silverlight, Virtual Earth, Custom Workflow Activities, Mobile and more. 

What you’ll find inside

-            What’s new in CRM 4.0 for users and developers.

-            How to setup a development environment to be more productive.

-            A detailed look at client side development,  including advanced customizations and Silverlight   2.0 integration

-            How to use the dynamic SOA Web Services, including detailed reusable how to’s.

-            Explanations of using the Metadata API to read and update metadata, including the Multi Language capabilities.

-            How to build .NET Plug-ins that extends the platform, including several reusable examples.

-            Deep exploration of Windows Workflow Foundation customization, including building .NET custom activities.

-            Jump Start Framework – Thousands of lines of .NET code to help with Authentication, Plug-ins,  and Workflow Activities.

Who this book is for

The target audience for this book is solution architects and developers that are building applications. It is also for ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) building solutions deployed on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform.

To be clear up front you do not have to be looking to solve a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) problem to benefit from this book. You do not even have to use CRM in its traditional sense.  In fact, anyone building solutions that will help automate and manage business processes can benefit from its insight. 

About the Author

David Yack is the CTO of Colorado Technology Consultants, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner based in Colorado. He is a Microsoft Regional Director and a Microsoft MVP. David has been heavily involved with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 during the product development Betas and has been traveling globally on behalf of Microsoft training their leading ISVs on the capabilities of this new version of the platform. You can read his blogs at blog.davidyack.com and crm.davidyack.com.