Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Live Add-Ons

We get good bit of questions on what is the ISV role for working with CRM Live. I think most of these questions come from the view that since Microsoft Dynamics CRM Live does not allow code to be installed on the server, that the ISV market is limited. I must say that I completely disagree with that. I think it's a matter of looking at the puzzle a little different. For most of MSCRM history, the ISV market has focused on building server side additions but with CRM Live and other Microsoft Online Services, ISV's need to think of the S+S model. The promise lies in building out additional functionality from the client side not the server side. One of the attractive reasons to purchase Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is the Office integration. Visual Studio Tools for Office and the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 SDK offer a great jump start to get you going. In addition, the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Office Integration in off-line mode with a Pro+ subscription will give you the data model offline. It seems pretty obvious to me that the Microsoft strategy going forward will be more online services connected with the Office platform. Web applications have come along ways in the last few years but they don't compare to the richness of a client side application. Bringing the best of both together is what S+S is all about. I'll be exploring the Office development story in future blogs.

-Jon

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