Microsoft Dynamics xRM

What Is XRM?

With XRM you do not have to make important trade-offs between buying packaged or building specialized line-of-business applications, because XRM offers an end-to-end, line-of-business applications development platform that combines the best of both worlds. XRM enables organizations to build any number of end-to-end line-of-business applications rapidly and cost-effectively.

XRM works like, and with, familiar Microsoft technologies, such as Microsoft SQL Server, .NET, and the Microsoft Office system, and by optimizing your excising infrastructure XRM enables you to deliver business results.

XRM is a line-of-business (LOB) application platform for the management of any business entity.

XRM arose out of the use of customer relationship management (CRM) applications to manage customer relationships in marketing, sales, and customer service. XRM is the same platform that underlies Microsoft Dynamics® CRM today. XRM is a Microsoft application platform layer that accelerates the development of relational, line-of-business applications through point & click customizations, built on the Microsoft technology building blocks such as Windows, SQL Server, and .NET.

	CRM	XRM
Definition	C = Customer: Manage customers through the automation of marketing, sales, and service processes	X = Any Business Entity: Many any business relationship through the automation of relevant business unit processes
Used by	Marketing, sales, and customer service teams	Any team
To Manage	Customer relationships	Any relationship
Automates	Marketing, sales, and service processes	Any business process
Tracks	Interactions, activities, tasks, and 360-degree history of the customer	Interactions, activities, tasks, and 360-degree history of “X”
Provides	Customer-centric analytics	“X”-centric analytics

One Platform: Many Applications

XRM allows organizations to build many applications on a single platform with shared resources and infrastructure through the following platform capabilities. See some examples below.

Platform Capabilities	What XRM Provides
1 - Multi-tenancy	One platform capable of hosting multiple unique applications for different customers, teams, or business units
2 - Dynamic application services	Pre-built, re-usable application services that each application can use in its own way
3 - Point-and-click customizations	The bulk of application customization is handled through a simple point-and-click interface with a wide range of extensibility options
4 - Tightly-coupled services	When the application is customized, changes propagate through services automatically

Dynamic Application Services

XRM is built on flexible services that provide core functionality. XRM services are re-usable, pre-built capabilities that are flexible and scalable enough to support business requirements:

XRM provides the platform capabilities that organizations require in order to quickly deliver multiple customized line-of-business applications while taking advantage of shared infrastructure and resources.

Flexibility to meet business needs
Built on low-cost scalable Microsoft technologies
Leverage existing Microsoft resources
Out-of-the-box capabilities for Microsoft Office Outlook®, mobility, offline access
Supports on-demand, on-premise, or both

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