MB2-866 Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

SBI is pretty big on Microsoft certifications. The director of IT has at least a dozen and it's one of my quarterly goals. Today I took and passed exam MB2-866 Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, Customization and Configuration.

It wasn't very difficult to study for. I've been reading Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Unleashed by Marc J. Wolenik, Damian Sinay, and Rajya Vardhan Bhaiya and taking practice exams. It's an introductory book and doesn't really go very deep, but it covered the material pretty well. I wish Microsoft would provide a test kit for the CRM exams.

The last time I took an exam (70-100 Analyzing Requirements and Defining Solution Architectures) was about 14 years ago. It's way out of date, but the Microsoft Solution Framework information from it is still relevant.

One of the really convenient things SBI does is pay up front for the exam and provides study material. Sweet Systems did almost the same thing. They would reimburse up to three attempts to pass an exam.

New Focus

My job search is over. I'm a Senior Systems Analyst and the CRM Project Manager for Service Brands International. Great company and awesome group of people.

So, in the not distant future, I'll start a series of posts on requirements capture, design, and development for a CRM solution. Most likely using Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.

I'll still dabble in mobile development but will be spending most of my time dealing with CRM.

Microsoft Windows Azure

I went to Detroit Day of Azure in Southfield this weekend. The speakers, host, and sponsors really did an outstanding job. I wasn't entirely sure which sessions to attend. I had planned on attending the introductory sessions - Azure 101 so to speak. But instead decided I could probably get the same information from the MSDN material.

Microsoft has always provided developer's with the most extensive documentation support. In fact, there is almost too much of it. It can be like sipping cool water... from a fire hose. However, the MS Evangelists and MVPs are a great resource. Find out who your region's evangelist is and attend local .Net user group meetings. MSDN is great, but it's much easier to simply ask a question.

Thanks again to everyone at Detroit Day of Azure for putting on such an informative day. I learned a lot and am looking forward to the next event.

Oh, and the bbq beef brisket was totally awesome!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Sorry for the silent treatment. I've been busy searching for a new employer.

I'm still working on my next blog post - using backbone.js to build a simple mobile Fuel Log for tracking miles per gallon, etc. The app will work offline (using local storage) and sync with a SQL Azure database when connected. It's really just a proof of concept application for the Coffee Shop application I'll eventually build.

See ya soon.

Phone App Development: Old School

Sometimes there just isn't a substitute for paper and pencil.

Phone App Development: Windows Phone 7

I attended a presentation at GLUG.net East Lansing & Flint last night on the Seven Deadly Sins for Windows Phone Developers presented by Samidip Basu. Thank you GLUG.net and Samidip for the great introduction to Windows Phone development.

Windows Phone 7 has some really great features. If you are a .Net developer, it doesn't take much to build a WP7 application. But that's not what blew my mind last night.

It's all about the infrastructure!

I've been teaching myself hybrid phone development for a couple of months. Since I cannot learn everything at once, I've focused on the phone application itself. I really want to have a single code base that is cross platform so I've been looking at hybrid development with PhoneGap. I know that eventually I'll bump into limitations this way and end up writing native applications. But you've got to start somewhere.

The throw-away application I'm using to learn is an "X Shop" application (where X is a coffee shop, pizza store, bakery, ...). It would give customers a mobile app to view the shop menu, select favorites, and place orders. The shop owner could push information like the coffee flavor of the day or other promotions to the customer. While brainstorming the features I'd like, I've started to consider how I'm going to implement the needed infrastructure for these features. Eventually, the mobile app would need to be part of an integrated solution. I think my code base just grew rather large.

The actual phone application has become the easiest piece of the puzzle. How am I going to interface with the point of sale application? Should I offer one? What about inventory?

Microsoft has created a really great enterprise infrastructure behind their phone. In future posts, I'll flesh out how this can be used to support my "throw-away" coffee shop experiment.

iOS App Development with PhoneGap and Spine Mobile: Coffee Shop App

After looking at several mobile application frameworks I’ve finally decided to use Spine Mobile and PhoneGap to build an application.


Most first applications should be tossed out. I'm learning new stuff and whatever I create in this first application is guaranteed to have, at best, a whiff of code smell (if not reek of it). I don’t want to be saddled with an application that will most likely be mangled by the time I’m done. It’s a proof of concept prototype, or at least it should be. This also takes away the pressure to make it perfect.


I need something more than a sample application, but nothing too complex. It should be something I can start small and build on while still being somewhat useful. I’d like it to perform at least the following functions:

• CRUD operations
• Navigation between modules
• Local data storage
• Auto-magic data updates from the "cloud"
• Some form of membership or identity

I think a simple coffee shop application should fit the bill. It can start out small, a simple menu for users to browse what’s available. Then I’ll add features as I go.

Version 0.1

• A home page with a logo
• A menu of available beverages
• Location and hours of operation information

Version 0.2

• A list of “my favorite” beverages
• Loyalty punch card
• Build a beverage (size, to go, flavors, etc.) 

Version 0.3

• Order a beverage and update my loyalty card

Version 0.4

• Coupons and/or promotions
• Management of coupons and/or promotions

and so on...