After you've signed up for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, but before the business users in your organization start using it, there are some basic tasks that you, as the Microsoft Dynamics CRM administrator, should complete. They are summarized for you in this article. Also, see the links at the bottom of the page for more advanced projects you might want to do to tailor Microsoft Dynamics CRM for your organization.
Define business units and security roles
After you've signed up for Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the next step is to create an organizational structure that protects sensitive data and enables collaboration where appropriate. This means defining business units and security roles. Business units are a way of representing a division or department in an organization. All users in the same division or department are assigned to one business unit. Security roles are a defined set of privileges that determine which tasks users can perform and which parts of the user interface they can view. More information: Controlling Data Access.
Tasks: Create or edit a security role, Create or change the settings for a business unit
Add users
Although you can add users to Microsoft Dynamics CRM whenever you want, it will be easier now that you've created your organizational structure. After creating the users in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, you can send them invitations to join your organization.
Remember that you need a license for every active user in your Microsoft Dynamics CRM organization.
Task: Add Users
Assign users to security roles
You must assign at least one security role to everyone in your Microsoft Dynamics CRM organization for them to be able to access the system.
Task: Assign a security role to a user
Import your data
You likely want to import your organization's existing data into Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Before you do, consider learning more about how to import data, including data preparation, error messages, valid values, and working with special characters. More information: Getting started with importing
Task: Work with Imports
Install Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for Microsoft Office Outlook
Microsoft Office Outlook is an add-in for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. It brings Microsoft Dynamics CRM into the everyday Outlook experience by displaying the Microsoft Dynamics CRM areas as subfolders in the Outlook mail folders. Most of the same functionality is available, including setup and configuration features. Some exceptions include that administrators can't customize Microsoft Dynamics CRM, or manage user permissions. More information: Key steps to get started with Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook.
Task: To download Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 for Microsoft Office Outlook, visit the Microsoft Download Center and first review the requirements. Follow the instructions on that page to complete the installation.
See Also
