So!!, What am I going to post about?. Well, since I am going to work quite focused on “Dynamics (CRM, NAV & AX) as a Development platform”, I am going to post about it. Especially talking about technical information and technical solutions.

What do I mean with “Dynamics (CRM, NAV & AX) as a Development platform”, well, I mean “How to build vertical solutions over Dynamics (developing and extending each Dynamic product), or also, how to integrate Dynamics products with other applications like .NET Applications/Front-Ends, or integrate it with SharePoint portals (WSS 3.0 / MOSS2007), or with Office2007 (InfoPath Forms, InfoPath Forms Web Server, VSTO, VSTA, Ribbon extensions, etc.)”. There’s a bunch of new possibilities!!!

The key point is, “do not re-invent the wheel” with your own business-components (developing everything in .NET/SQL/DB from scratch). Microsoft has a huge business platform already developed for that (ERP & CRM business components offered by Dynamics!!), so, why not using Dynamics as a development platform re-using its business components and SOA services?. Most ERP/CRM ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) have huge costs just maintaining a similar base platform. It would be much more productive to forget about maintaining basic/global business components (Customers, Invoices, Orders, Contacts, etc.) and getting  specialized just in vertical solutions.

For me, it is like going up one level… Several years ago, Microsoft said, do not re-invent the wheel!!, do not waste your time and money in developing “plumbing stuff”, I mean, it is nonsense to develop your own relational database system (like SQL Server), your own transactional system (like MTS, COM+, System.Transactions), your own development environment IDE (like Visual Studio), or event going to the old days, developing your own development-language or your own operating system!! 😉

So now, Microsoft is going further, one more step!, going up one level with base ‘Business Components’ and ‘Business Services’. Why re-define, re-implement and maintain the same business base entities in so much products? (ERP & CRM overall). All of those products have quite the same business entities (Customer, Invoice, Order, Contact, Warehouse, Accountancy, etc.). On the other hand, what the companies need is specialized software, I mean, vertical solutions. It is not the same an ERP for Hotels, or for Factories, for logistics, and so forth. So, put all your efforts in designing and developing the best vertical solutions you want. Do not waste your time on ‘plumbing stuff’ (what I call base business plumbing stuff) ;-).

BTW, usually I am going to post about technical stuff (tips, tricks, architectures, solutions and so forth), but  this post is talking about why I am working on this area and why we think it is so important to “go up one level with Dynamics in your development process”. J

On the other hand, I’ve got quite a deep background in .NET, SOA, WCF, WF, Biztalk, Team System/TFS & SharePoint (WSS/MOSS2007) development, also in Agile Methodologies, MSF-Agile, Scrum, etc., so I will keep on talking about it, for sure!!, but integrating it with Dynamics dev platform!! 😉