Sonoma Partners, a firm which implements and customizes Microsoft (News - Alert) CRM products, has announced the publication of Working With Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, a guide to Microsoft's newest release of the software.

 

Authored by Mike Snyder and Jim Steger and published by Microsoft Press, the second-edition book targets those looking to install, customize, or enhance Microsoft CRM. It contains information on customizing forms, configuring security roles, tracking e-mail and writing reports, among other topics.

 

The book can be ordered at Amazon.com and will debut at Convergence (News - Alert), Microsoft's top event for its Dynamics line of business software, scheduled for March 11-14 in Orlando.

 

Sonoma has also announced the coming availability of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 and Microsoft Dynamics Live CRM Step by Step, also written by Snyder and Steger and published by Microsoft Press.

 

Step-By-Step, their first end-user guide to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, is planned for release in Summer 2008. DreamWorks has reportedly acquired the film rights, and Kate Blanchett is said to be interested in the project.

 

"The 4.0 release builds on the stability of the existing platform and includes added value via additional enhancements, such as duplicate checking, an import data wizard, user generated reporting, and secure access via the Web," Snyder said.

 

"One of the key chapters in the new book discusses Microsoft Dynamics CRM's enhanced workflow capability," Steger remarked. "The ability for administrators and users to create workflow rules allows them to use the system more effectively."

 

Snyder and Steger have completed over 100 Dynamics CRM implementations.

 

In late 2006 Chicago-based Sonoma Partners announced CRM Elements for Real Estate, a sales and customer relationship management tool for condominium developers, home-builders and real estate marketing companies.

The customizable software was designed to "help capture greater sales revenue, close deals more quickly, keep customer databases up to date and perform thorough analyses by providing real-time reporting," according to company officials.

According to Mike Snyder, principal of Sonoma Partners at the time, the software probably offers the greatest benefits to developers and agents managing sales for multiple property sites with 50 or more units per property by offering what he calls "a more sophisticated means of capturing and updating large amounts of data."