Microsoft Launches Microsoft Dynamics Snap, New Collection of Software Programs that Snap into Microsoft Office

Orange County Business Journal, Mar 26-Apr 1, 2007

Four new snap-in programs allow Microsoft Office 2003 users to interact with data and business processes from certain Microsoft Dynamics applications as they create documents, collaborate and manage their calendar - all without having to leave Microsoft Office.

Microsoft announced the release of Microsoft Dynamics Snap, a new collection of software programs that snap in to Microsoft Office 2003. These four new programs help enable information workers to easily coordinate and manage data in certain Microsoft Dynamics business management solutions using the familiar interface of Microsoft Office 2003. These applications can enhance the productivity of information workers by allowing them to access and use business processes and data from business management solutions back-end applications like Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0 (formerly Microsoft Business Solutions-Axapta) and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, directly from within certain Microsoft Office applications.

The new programs are available on GotDotNet.com and enable users to enter or retrieve data using Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, within the familiar Office client environment. Microsoft partners and other independent software vendors (ISVs) can benefit by using the shared source code in the Snap-Ins that have been developed for Microsoft Office to enhance or customize the shipped solutions or to use them as examples to build new composite applications for their customers.

PressPass spoke with Safya Nadella, Microsoft corporate vice president, Microsoft Business Solutions Group, to learn more about today's release and what it means for customers.

What is Microsoft Dynamics Snap?

Microsoft Dynamics Snap is a collection of products for Microsoft Office 2003 users to work with certain Microsoft Dynamics applications and is another example of our strategy to deliver business management solutions that fits with our customer's existing systems. It is a set of four programs that "snap in" to Office 2003, making it easier for users to use Microsoft Office Outlook calendar data as part of a business process managed by certain Microsoft Dynamics solutions, or to easily pull business data managed by certain Microsoft Dynamics solutions and use it as part of a collaboration, email, or document managed by Microsoft Office 2003.

We have articulated a vision for Microsoft Dynamics (the new name for the research and development roadmap formerly code-named "Project Green") that involves two waves of releases. One of the key goals of the first wave is to deliver a user experience that is deeply integrated with Microsoft Office by using a roles-based approach. Today's announcement of Microsoft Dynamics Snap offers evidence of the progress we are making against that goal.

Can you tell us more about the four Microsoft Dynamics Snap programs you are announcing today, and how do they benefit customers?

The first group of programs, available today, include: Timesheet Management Snap-In. Vacation Management Snap-In, and two flavors of a Business Data Lookup Snap-In, one for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 and the other for Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0.

* Timesheet Snap-In, developed for Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0, allows users to use Microsoft Outlook to view or submit time entries for tasks that are performed on a periodic basis. This solution links Microsoft Dynamics AX time entries with Outlook appointments and meetings, automatically filling in the data and helping track changes the user makes to linked appointments or meetings. This helps save users the time and trouble of correlating those tasks, and reduces errors as a result of users having to transpose data from one program to another. This will be very useful for Microsoft Dynamics AX customers in service industries or who have a requirement for employees to track how they allocate their time across multiple internal projects.

* Vacation Management Snap-In, developed for Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0, allows users to submit vacation requests using Microsoft Outlook. This triggers an e-mail to the approver, who can view details of the request along with the requestor's vacation history, and approve or reject the request The vacation time entry is then automatically updated into the Microsoft Dynamics time and attendance module.

* Business Data Lookup Snap-In, developed for Microsoft Dynamics AX, allows business workers to use the Microsoft Dynamics AX task pane to search and browse Microsoft Dynamics AX data using Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Office Excel or Outlook, and to copy selected data into Office 2003 documents or attach the Office documents to Microsoft Dynamics AX records. One of the many useful scenarios for this includes sending order status e-mails to customers.

* Business Data Lookup Snap-In, developed for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, allows business workers to search and browse customer relations management (CRM) data using the familiar Office 2003 environments of Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook. Using a CRM task pane, users can copy data into Microsoft Office documents or attach the Microsoft Office documents to CRM records.