What you need to know

A coworker and I were discussing over lunch last week all of the skills that a person needs to possess to properly plan for a Dynamics CRM 4.0 installation, to configure and customize the application, and to keep the application up and running 24x7. This topic came up as we talked about different professions and the level of ongoing learning that's required. For example, his fiancee is studying for the Bar Exam so we talked about the need in that profession to stay on top of the ever-changing legal landscape and courtroom rules to perform that job effectively.

Those responsible for implementing Dynamics CRM, too, need to keep on top of an ever-changing technology landscape while remaining skilled with dozens of existing technologies. When we started naming the skills needed to deploy, customize, and maintain a Dynamics CRM deployment we were surprised at how long the list became. But it explained the late nights and weekends that are sometimes necessary to do our job effectively.

Here's the list of Dynamics CRM implementation skills we came up with, in no particular order:

Dynamics CRM planning, installation, configuration
All Dynamics CRM features and functions (UI, SDK, Filtered views, etc.)
General business savvy (sales, marketing, support, industry-specific)
JavaScript/JScript
Client-side script debugging
HTML
HTML DOM
XML
XML DOM
SOAP
Fiddler output analysis
AJAX
Cascading Style Sheets
CSS behaviors (HTC files)
Object-oriented programming (OOP)
.NET framework
ASP.NET (page development and Web Services)
ADO.NET
C#
Relational database concepts
SQL Server administration
SQL language
SQL clustering
T-SQL development / stored procedures
SQL Reporting Services
Windows Server 2003 / 2008
IIS configuration
SMTP
SSL
Windows Services
Active Directory
Server/network security
Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft MOM
Hardware deployment
TCP/IP (at least the basics)
Microsoft Office
Data Migration
Windows Workflow Foundation
Windows Communication Framework
Debugging (client-side, .NET, SQL)
Systems Integration (messaging, BizTalk, etc.)
Load balancing
Web farms
High-availability (HA) system architecture
ActiveX / COM
Visual Studio 2010 (Added this one and the skills below in January 2010)...
.NET Framework 4.0
C# 4.0
SQL Server 2008
XAML
SharePoint 2010
JQuery and other JavaScript libraries
Microsoft Azure

In reading this list again, it's understandable why SaaS is catching on! That's a lot to know -- and to keep up on on a regular basis.

Still, think about the trade-offs of moving to a SaaS environment. If you really want your information technology to fit your business and not the other way around then it's often worth hiring people who can (and enjoy) working with the technologies noted above. For some reason, I'm one of those. Am I insane? Perhaps. But getting all of those pieces working smoothly and tailoring solutions to a business is very rewarding. And if my Dynamics CRM clients are seeing a return on their investment then this is a win for everyone involved.

Now, please excuse me. I haven't had a chance to crack the seal on my Silverlight Unleashed book yet so I have some reading to do...