Dearg O'Bartuin's Home On The Interweb

When comparing the deployment and installation procedures of Sage ACT! Premium / Web 2009 to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 i have to stick with Sage being the far more convenient and easy option.

Since my last post (3 hours ago) i have been presented with a range of errors from the Microsoft installation complaining about missing service packs and incorrect SQL Server versions. I think i am closer to completing the installation however a word of warning to others, don’t attempt to install on a machine unless you have the following already:

• Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (If installing on Server 2003)
• Microsoft .NET 3.0 (Will cause problems with Sage ACT! so do not install on the same box)
• SQL Server 2005 Standard (Sorry no SQL Server Express allowed)
• SQL Server 2005 Standard Service Pack 2

Thankfully as Microsoft Partners we get the majority of our CAL licenses free under the Partnership program so no additional costs here. However it is worth thinking about the additional cost to a customer unless they already use SQL Server 2005 Standard or above with a valid license package.

Test 1 – Deployment, ease of installation compared to Sage ACT! Premium – FAILED

I am regularly asked about alternative products to Sage ACT! Premium. My answer is normally to stick with the Sage ACT! Premium product suite due to its configuration options, easy deployment, excellent support team and affordible licensing costs.

Recently a email from microsoft arrived in my Inbox asking me to trial and test the latest edition to the Microsoft CRM Product suite and to make compartive notes when put against the Sage ACT! Premium / Premium for Web products, so i said… Why not?

I am in the middle of installing Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 on our test server and will begin testing as soon as it is complete. I have my Dad coming to visit and need to be at the airport to pick him up soon so not sure what i can do before early next week, but at this stage, after looking at some You Tube videos i am looking forward to using the product and fingers crossed it may offer some of our customers a better solution.

Watch some of the You Tube videos for now and see if it wets your appitite.

Offline mode with microsoft Outlook 2007

It’s not often Microsoft show there hand regarding the anger felt internally around damaging Viruses.
If you would like to be $250,000 richer for little work than why not claim the recently offered reward for simply handing over prosecuting information about the creator/(s) of Downadup / Conficker virus.

Since October 2008 millions of computers world wide have been successfully infected with the Conficker worm however this time Microsoft are

“Not prepared to sit back and let this kind of activity go unchecked” (Microsoft Trustworthy Computer Group)

If you are thinking this is all a big publicity stunt and no cash will ever change hands? Well frankly your pessimistic opinion of the worlds largest software creator is on this occasion wrong!
Microsoft paid $250,000 to the close friends of “Mr Sasser Worm” and he was successfully sentenced by the German authorities shortly after.

So will a reward scheme really change the ways of those in the business of creating malicious code to infect innocent computers around the world?

I personally feel reward schemes may provide an opposite effect, creating a greasy underworld of bounty driven fame hungry virus merchants looking to get there code to the top of the headlines faster than any other.
TIme will tell and the jury is out for now.

The plan this morning was to slave away over a hot stove baking my perfect Sunday Roast beef and parsnips and roast tatties.

However thank’s to the power of Twitter, the legend that is Andi Peters tweeted his intentions to visit Nando’s for lunch after going to the gym.

I quickly popped on the Nando’s website and discovered, to my delight a Take Away menu. Now I know the idea of take away on Sunday possibly revolts the Stiff upper Lip British public, and far be it for me to start a picket line or partake in any public outcry, I still believe the traditional Sunday roast is safe and sound.

Its a hard concept to get your head around replacing the nations favourite dish(Excluding Chicken Korma, Rogan Josh and vindaloo of course) with Nando’s Chicken.

I do believe however, I have not enjoyed Sunday food like my Nando’s chicken today for a very long time indeed. I say, instead of buying a chicken to cook, every once in a while take away from Nando’s to speed the process up.

If you are a fan of Saturday Kitchen you will catch re runs of Andi proving to us all he can more than hold his own in the kitchen! (Not a mention of perri perri sauce anywhere however). I won’t spoil the results but watch it next week as it heats up from now.

So come join me in my quest to spread the word on Sunday roasts with Nando’s chicken! They are free range, very well priced and already cooked.

Next week I may even do this again and invite the family around.

Btw, I forgot to mention Andi Peters in my post about twitter yesterday, sorry for this and thanks again for a great idea. (My better half wasn’t happy but it was worth the ear ache).

Follow Andi, www.twitter.com/xxandip