John Adali

Creating Custom Edit Forms with InfoPath in SharePoint 2010

Users have the ability to display and edit properties (known as metadata) for items in SharePoint document libraries and lists. This is standard functionality that comes with SharePoint, and SharePoint provides a standard form when displaying/edit an item.

SharePoint also provides the ability for power users or developers to customize these display/edit forms, using InfoPath. I am going to run through the steps to customize a SharePoint 2010 list, to create a custom display and edit form. I will be using InfoPath 2010 (along with Visual Studio 2010) to demonstrate how you can call a web service method from the custom InfoPath form.

How to Use BCS in SharePoint 2010

Introduction

Business Connectivity Services (BCS) in SharePoint 2010 is a robust and powerful technology that is part of SharePoint 2010. Microsoft has enhanced BCS with new features, services and tools in order to streamline the development of solutions with deep integration of external data. This article will run through the steps (end to end) to use BCS to use data in SharePoint coming from an AS/400 mainframe system.

Using SSIS to Import Data into Dynamics CRM

I am constantly being asked to import data into Dynamics CRM from various sources, and over time I have discovered that, even though the sources of data that I am importing vary, the process of performing the import is similar. Which tool I choose to use depends heavily on the source of the data, along with the format it comes in, and whether or not any manipulation needs to be performed prior to the actual import.

Even though 3^rd party tools like Scribe <http://www.scribesoft.com/ > are great for doing these data imports, sometimes it isn’t the best fit for a client. There are times when SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) are a better choice, and I will describe the steps to create an SSIS package to import data into Dynamics CRM. Using the out-of-the-box data import feature in Dynamics CRM is another option, but I would like to focus on the SSIS package in this article.

PowerView Reports in Dynamics CRM 2013

Dynamics CRM does a really good job of hosting and tracking a company’s critical business data, and the PowerBI technology stack does a great job of modeling and displaying business data to end users. While Dynamics CRM does a decent job of providing dashboards to surface this business data, I thought “wouldn’t it be great if CRM users had native access to PowerView reports while using Dynamics CRM”? Well, it turns out that with a little configuration you can provide these types of reports right in Dynamics CRM! Let me explain the process I took to do this:

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Use Rights (IUR) Program Changes

If you work for a Microsoft Partner and use Dynamics CRM or CRM Online, the current Internal Use Rights (IUR) program is changing. I recently spent some time planning for these changes in my organization, and I’d like to details these experiences so other partners can save some time and headache moving to the new IUR program.

Integrating Yammer into Dynamics CRM 2013

Social selling is becoming more important these days, as companies are looking to find creative ways to generate more opportunities. Microsoft provides support for this in the Dynamics CRM space by providing integration with Yammer and CRM 2013. I’m going to show you how easy it is to setup Yammer to work with Dynamics CRM 2013, so your sales force can begin using its social features.

SharePoint 2010 Web Parts and CRM 2011

Recently I was asked to create a web part in SharePoint 2010 that would allow users to create and update entities in CRM 2011. There were some interesting challenges to overcome, so I thought I’d detail the process I went through, so others could benefit from my experience.