Friday, May 6, 2011
Reports Order
One of the goals I had for this meeting was to confirm that there is no way for us to have the order of our (Global) Reports list be in number order, rather than by "Type" as they are now, where they are basically grouped by table: COS vs Contact vs Opportunity, etc. Julia and I talked with Chris Lau, Pivotal Program Manager and Keith Fatula of Solutions Consultant, CDC Software, who Leo Lau (Director Product Mgmt..and super nice guy) claimed were the ones to ask, and they both confirmed that at this time it is not doable at this time. I also asked if any of their other clients are displaying report listings other creative ways like on separate tabs, etc. and they said that they were not aware that they were. Both suggested we enter the ability to control report order as a suggestion for future system enhancements.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Final Comments
I think the conference was very informative. We really had some great one-on-one discussions with CDC Staff and I was really glad that I was able to get a lot of excellent contacts at CDC, who would know me if I contacted them with questions. In addition, Kathy and I gave Vrahram requested feedback on how they did with the conference and how to improve future conferences. They plan to offer a conference each year going forward. They also plan a program for every 4 weeks to include webinars/events on the Roadmap. Scott Monroe said that we should ask our account rep if we would like a personalized roadmap presentation.
Met with Vrahram
We had a meeting with Vrahram after the conference today and discussed the following:
1) As for the 75 licenses. What we have are mobile licenses, which are for handheld. We don't want to have to deploy a mobile server to activate. He told me he is going to meet with the CEO tonight and will get approved a one for one exchange on the mobile licenses to regular connected licenses. He said he could not do dollar-for-dollar on it, but that he would get it done tonight and would send us an addendum.
2) As for the report parameter drop-down issue with reports that was being handled by Jumana Selek. She was able to reproduce in their system with the info that I had sent them. They have identified it as a bug and are currently working on rolling out a fix for it. Vrahram is following up with R&D and will have a turn around time for us by Friday.
3) As for the hand vs. magnifying glass/one-click vs. two-clicks issue. Vrahram said that he would talk to R&D and find out what Business Objects had to say and give us a final response by Friday. He doesn't think they are going to be able to get a fix out of Business Objects in a timely manner for us, but I asked him if he could have their best Crystal Expert dedicated to us next week to get these reports edited in a way that gives the reports acceptable functionality if we are going to have to edit them individually object-by-object and he said that he would.
1) As for the 75 licenses. What we have are mobile licenses, which are for handheld. We don't want to have to deploy a mobile server to activate. He told me he is going to meet with the CEO tonight and will get approved a one for one exchange on the mobile licenses to regular connected licenses. He said he could not do dollar-for-dollar on it, but that he would get it done tonight and would send us an addendum.
2) As for the report parameter drop-down issue with reports that was being handled by Jumana Selek. She was able to reproduce in their system with the info that I had sent them. They have identified it as a bug and are currently working on rolling out a fix for it. Vrahram is following up with R&D and will have a turn around time for us by Friday.
3) As for the hand vs. magnifying glass/one-click vs. two-clicks issue. Vrahram said that he would talk to R&D and find out what Business Objects had to say and give us a final response by Friday. He doesn't think they are going to be able to get a fix out of Business Objects in a timely manner for us, but I asked him if he could have their best Crystal Expert dedicated to us next week to get these reports edited in a way that gives the reports acceptable functionality if we are going to have to edit them individually object-by-object and he said that he would.
Mobile or Handheld?
I spoke with Alex Kwain, who is a Senior Solutions Consultant. He specializes in the iPhone/iPad development. I have his contact info if we have further questions, but the following are the available solutions for iPhone/iPad for Pivotal.
1) The have the Pivotal Wireless, which is a legacy app. This is not device specific and can use any browser. The forms are very simple.
2) Pivotal Handheld (this is the demo we had) -- This app is resident. Stored on the device. Is used offline and then synced when reconnected. It works with iPhone, Blackberry, and Android.
3) *New* tablet based or wireless iPad app. Look and feel of apple apps. Demo looked pretty slick. We can have Vrahram arrange to have Alex come demo this for us. Can have role based dashboards. No cube necessary, right into database.
4) New technology being demo'd doesn't have a code name, but we jokingly were calling it Elvis. This is a 3G solution that uses Safari and Thin Client. Strictly for iPad. This is not priced yet.
1) The have the Pivotal Wireless, which is a legacy app. This is not device specific and can use any browser. The forms are very simple.
2) Pivotal Handheld (this is the demo we had) -- This app is resident. Stored on the device. Is used offline and then synced when reconnected. It works with iPhone, Blackberry, and Android.
3) *New* tablet based or wireless iPad app. Look and feel of apple apps. Demo looked pretty slick. We can have Vrahram arrange to have Alex come demo this for us. Can have role based dashboards. No cube necessary, right into database.
4) New technology being demo'd doesn't have a code name, but we jokingly were calling it Elvis. This is a 3G solution that uses Safari and Thin Client. Strictly for iPad. This is not priced yet.
Thin Client
Q: Does the Thin Client run side-by-side wit the client version?
A: If you mean can a user run both versions, the answer is Yes. The same user can run both clients because they run through a different set of channels and have a different API set. If you mean, can we run them both on the same server, the answer is No. The Thin Client will require it's own client server.
A: If you mean can a user run both versions, the answer is Yes. The same user can run both clients because they run through a different set of channels and have a different API set. If you mean, can we run them both on the same server, the answer is No. The Thin Client will require it's own client server.
Features and Enhancements planned for SP9
Jenny Peng, VP of Engineering told me that she would email me the official list, however, here are some highlights of Service Pack 9:
1) A lot of the focus of SP9 was given to rolling out Visual WorkFlow and integrating it into the system.
2) Compatibility with Exchange 2010
3) Enhancement to Outlook 2010 Integration making it possible to change panels on forms and hide task pane. Will be enhanced to remember state for sizing and personalization of appointments and tasks and minimizing of links sections. Will also allow for some client side programming for outlook integration.
4) Search Criteria to be sorted alphabetically or sorted in a specific order.
5) Additional support for SharePoint 2010
Scott Monroe told me that we could talk to our Business Manager to arrange a sit down to review backlog of enhancement requests. I believe he said that they have over 700 that they are currently prioritizing.
1) A lot of the focus of SP9 was given to rolling out Visual WorkFlow and integrating it into the system.
2) Compatibility with Exchange 2010
3) Enhancement to Outlook 2010 Integration making it possible to change panels on forms and hide task pane. Will be enhanced to remember state for sizing and personalization of appointments and tasks and minimizing of links sections. Will also allow for some client side programming for outlook integration.
4) Search Criteria to be sorted alphabetically or sorted in a specific order.
5) Additional support for SharePoint 2010
Scott Monroe told me that we could talk to our Business Manager to arrange a sit down to review backlog of enhancement requests. I believe he said that they have over 700 that they are currently prioritizing.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Driving CRM Results - conversations that matter
This was a discussion about emotional intelligence given by Bill Benjamin, CEO of the Institute for Health & Human Potential. He discussed defining star performers by IQ, Technical Skills, and EQ. IQ was actually a reverse predictor for success as was technical skills. What was a better predictor was EQ. Self Awareness of emotional management, emotional connection, and personal leadership. He explained that smart people fail for the following reasons: if they cannot connect on a personal level, if they have the inability to manage relationships, and if they have the inability to manage change. Interesting session.
User & Developer Productivity
This session was hosted by Steve Roch, President of CRM Culture.
CRMCulture are the vendors for the ProductivityPack which includes ready to install productivity features including: a batch editor, document management, sql query, context menus, tab tools, and email preview. You can sumarize columns, do geo-coding, and easier shortcuts. Do graphs on a highlighted batch or total up sub-sets of data. I picked up their documentation and will bring it back for review.
CRMCulture are the vendors for the ProductivityPack which includes ready to install productivity features including: a batch editor, document management, sql query, context menus, tab tools, and email preview. You can sumarize columns, do geo-coding, and easier shortcuts. Do graphs on a highlighted batch or total up sub-sets of data. I picked up their documentation and will bring it back for review.
Going Social with CRM--How Social Media is Turning Sales Upside Down
Kathy and I both attended the session given by Shane Gibson. He is the co-author of the book "Sociable!" which he gave us all a copy of. The premise is that you tend to believe the opinion or recommendation of a friend or business associate more than you would believe corporate messages. He gave examples of places that you can search on social media such as:
http://search.twitter.com/
http://google.com/alerts
http://blogsearch.google.com/
http://facebook.com/search
http://linkedin.com/signal
He spoke about the levels of engagement of people using social media -- the disengaged, passively engaged, reactively engaged, proactively engaged, and the best form, which is thought leadership
He discussed #SCRM Rules of Engagement, which can be found in his book. I look forward to reading it. I thought he was a really good speaker and what he had to say made a lot of sense. See also #CRM
http://search.twitter.com/
http://google.com/alerts
http://blogsearch.google.com/
http://facebook.com/search
http://linkedin.com/signal
He spoke about the levels of engagement of people using social media -- the disengaged, passively engaged, reactively engaged, proactively engaged, and the best form, which is thought leadership
He discussed #SCRM Rules of Engagement, which can be found in his book. I look forward to reading it. I thought he was a really good speaker and what he had to say made a lot of sense. See also #CRM
Intro to Virtual Workflow
The purpose of virtual workflow is to lower the time and reduce the complexity for implementing a business workflow. It allows admin people versus developers to create work flow. It is basically a drag and drop of objects that works and looks much like the old Pivotal Agents. Server-side workflow is definitely faster that Client-side workflow. It can be used for large batch jobs and you can use client side to call a serverside workflow for update tasks. It can be scheduled using the script scheduler. It can also be mixed with calling code. Application Workflow will come with the standard product in the future.
Development Overviews
I attended two development presentations today. The first, given by Cesar Ceniceros was the Customizing Bootcamp, which was pretty much an overview of everything we already do in the toolkit. The second, given by Daren Kinnaird called "Development Advanced Coding" was interesting. He went through an overview of Outlook Integration and demonstrated a practical example where he created a table with fields, created an extension form in Visual Studio, dragged the fields to the form, created an interaction extension, then showed how the type was autimatically added as a meta type for use elsewhere. Examples of the code and the powerpoint presentations for these sessions will be forwarded to all conference attendees.
He discussed the basic types of controls, which are Windows form controls, Pivotal Form Controls, Other 3rd Party Controls (i.e. Dundas, Org Charts), and Windows Presentation Foundation Controls. He went over an example of how to put a WPF into a form (which is not intended to replace form controls). I look forward to getting these code examples to review.
He discussed the basic types of controls, which are Windows form controls, Pivotal Form Controls, Other 3rd Party Controls (i.e. Dundas, Org Charts), and Windows Presentation Foundation Controls. He went over an example of how to put a WPF into a form (which is not intended to replace form controls). I look forward to getting these code examples to review.
Roadmap for the Future of Pivotal CRM
Focus for each of the coming years is as follows:
2011 -- Rollout of Visual WorkFlow, Thin Client, Sales Force Automation, Customer Service and Support Application, and Marketing Applications.
2012 -- Pivotal in the Cloud and more applications
2013 -- Development of a hybrid between Smart/Thin Client
Enhancing the User Experience:
- Thin Client built on ASP.NET
- Editable Search Results
- Native Mobile Applications
Business Intelligence:
- SSRS Reporting (late 2012 or early 2013 est.)
- Data Visualization
SP9 (6.0.9) is expected to be released late June 2011.
They plan for new releases and service packs every 4-5 months.
Fall -- Thin Client - multi browser, zero footprint, Javascript replacing Client Tasks, customizable in the existing toolkit, can reuse Smart Client workflow (all but forms can be reused). Note: It will use different controls that will have subtle differences.
By the end of this year -- Mobil Product Direction
- more mobile option
- native apps include apple, andriod, and blackberry.
Next Year -- Pivotal in the Cloud
Deliver true hybrid CRM solution without compromise (deploy on premise or on demand)
- Thin Client
- Sign on / Authorization
- 64 bit .Net Server
- N-tier toolkit & admin console
Architecture Evolution
- CMS
-Base App (Contact Management, Data Quality Management, Document Management (SharePoint) OOTB, Application WorkFlow, Account Management/Employee Management Activity
- CRM Modules (Sales Force Automation, Customer Service & Support Module, Marketing Automation)
-Add-On Modules available (Social CRM, Marketing Automation, etc)
2011 -- Rollout of Visual WorkFlow, Thin Client, Sales Force Automation, Customer Service and Support Application, and Marketing Applications.
2012 -- Pivotal in the Cloud and more applications
2013 -- Development of a hybrid between Smart/Thin Client
Enhancing the User Experience:
- Thin Client built on ASP.NET
- Editable Search Results
- Native Mobile Applications
Business Intelligence:
- SSRS Reporting (late 2012 or early 2013 est.)
- Data Visualization
SP9 (6.0.9) is expected to be released late June 2011.
They plan for new releases and service packs every 4-5 months.
Fall -- Thin Client - multi browser, zero footprint, Javascript replacing Client Tasks, customizable in the existing toolkit, can reuse Smart Client workflow (all but forms can be reused). Note: It will use different controls that will have subtle differences.
By the end of this year -- Mobil Product Direction
- more mobile option
- native apps include apple, andriod, and blackberry.
Next Year -- Pivotal in the Cloud
Deliver true hybrid CRM solution without compromise (deploy on premise or on demand)
- Thin Client
- Sign on / Authorization
- 64 bit .Net Server
- N-tier toolkit & admin console
Architecture Evolution
- CMS
-Base App (Contact Management, Data Quality Management, Document Management (SharePoint) OOTB, Application WorkFlow, Account Management/Employee Management Activity
- CRM Modules (Sales Force Automation, Customer Service & Support Module, Marketing Automation)
-Add-On Modules available (Social CRM, Marketing Automation, etc)
Breakfast
Kathy and I picked a great table to sit this morning. We ended up sitting with Steve Lukawitz, who encouraged us to check out their new mobile products. I believe there may be a booth setup that we can stop by and get additional information. We also met and had the opportunity to talk to Jenny Peng, who is the Vice President of Engineering. We were discussing the plans for moving to SSRS in the future. She told us that they have been heavily investigating SSRS as they would very much like to go to it as soon as possible, however, they have discovered at this point that it is not capable of doing everything that Pivotal needs it to do. They are working very closely with Microsoft to address those issues and Microsoft has agreed to implement changes. They do not have an exact time-frame, however, they said that they hoped to get there by late next year or possiblly early 2013. We also sat with Leo Lau, who is the Director of Product Management. Leo and Jenny told us that if we have ideas for future enhancements, that we should definitely pass them along to them. I have both of their business cards and plan to send to them the querying enhancement to how queries can be joined that we have on our task list.
Registration & Welcome
The Registration & Welcome party last night was nice. There are about 150 companies here for the User Conference. We ran into Steve, Dean, and Dave in the lobby when we were checking in. Kathy and I are registered and ready to go. I spoke to Vrahram a little bit about our reporting issues and about some of the things that we would like to get out of this conference. He had to do a bit of mingling with so many people there, but said that he would make sure that I got the information that I was looking for and would like to take us to breakfast on Wednesday morning so that we can disscuss the reporting issues further. It took us until 5pm yesterday to get checked into this hotel. We had to wait in a long line in the hotel lobby 3 times yesterday until they finally got our rooms ready. Vrahram told me that there were several other clients that had issues getting into their rooms. Fortunately, the rooms were very nice when we finally got in them. With the check-in hassles and the added security measures at the airport due to the Bin Laden news, yesterday was a long one. Looking forward to the conference today.
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