This blog is going to take a closer look at the Out of the Box (OOTB) codeless customization functionality of both Dynamics CRM and Salesforce.com. Why OOTB? Well of course in every implementation of software there is going to be some necessary customizations because every business is different; but what happens when the developers leave? What can you do in each system without spending any more money? What happens when a new position is created, a policy or process changes, or if a department is reorganized? A business is a living and breathing thing. Your software should be able to support that. The reality is that businesses evolve and so do their needs. This post will look at how each system’s OOTB functionality supports that reality without needing to call the IT department or write another check.
There are several business cases for wanting to customize your system. A very common type of customization is a change made to a record such as adding a new field or creating a view within the record to surface relevant data. Both Dynamics CRM and Salesforce.com facilitate basic record customization, and while the Dynamics approach in regards to this feature is clean, intuitive, and simple, the SalesForce.com approach is disjointed, cumbersome, and complex.
Let’s compare the two different systems in regards to these 3 simple and basic customization functions:
- Customizing record forms: fields
- Customizing record forms: Surfacing related records and data
- Saving/Publishing your customizations
First things first, let’s review the overall UI for record customizations:
In Dynamics CRM you can go to the record you want to customize and it’s one click on the customizations tab, and one click on the customize form button. You are then brought to a single screen that facilitates all 3 of the mentioned customizations as well as a few others.
SalesForce offers similar functionality (you can customize directly from the record) however each customization link brings you to a different screen. There is no one screen that allows the user to visually see the record AND all of the customization options in one place. The UI is disjointed and confusing.
Screen for Account customizations
Screen for customizing Account form
Feature 1: Customizing fields:
In Dynamics CRM you can customize fields right from the Customization form. A field explorer or list of fields menu is on your right hand side and you can drag/drop or edit fields as you choose.
To create a new field you simply select the “New Field” button from the customization form and a new screen pops up to create the field.
Once the field is created and saved it will appear on the Customization form in the field explorer menu for the user to place it where they choose.
Customizing a field in Salesforce.com can bring you to a few different screens. The user has to navigate all 5 of these screens just to create and place a custom field on the form.
Furthermore, Salesforce.com will automatically place the field on the form in a default location, you then need to go find it and move it where you want it. Overall, something as simple as customizing a field is very complex.
Feature 2: Surfacing related records and data:
Dynamics CRM provides the functionality to embed subgrids and charts into your record that are created from related or non related records. Why is this relevant? It allows the user to surface any other record or chart and any fields on the record itself. There are several business cases where this feature is helpful including an embedded chart of orders for an account or subgrid of activities associated with an account.
The best feature about subgrids and charts is that they allow the user to leverage multiple views, including custom ones. So let’s say you created multiple custom views for a specific record. You can have one custom view be the default for the chart or subgrid and still have the option to see other views as well all within the same place on the form.
Here we can see the order total by month chart on the account as a default, but we can also select a different chart for orders from the drop down if we choose.
Salesforce.com answers this function with “Lists”. The functionality is limited to which “lists” are available. You can’t just have a list of any records you want. Furthermore while you can customize which columns of data are displayed in the view, and apply relevant filters to the lists, you cannot have more than one view for the record. So you are married to whatever view you choose to surface for a specific record… Choose wisely.
Feature 3: Saving Customizations
The final feature we are going to compare is saving your customizations: (It’s more important than you think)
Dynamics offers a “save” function throughout their system as does salesforce.com, but when it comes to customizations they have added a “publish” feature that enhances the functionality quite a bit.
Saving a customization in Dynamics does not necessarily mean it will be globally changed automatically. The user is allowed to “save” and then get some input, think about it, and come back
later to finally “publish” their changes.
So why is this so great? Well, your CRM system runs your business. Any small glitch can cause a huge headache. So this feature allows the user to think through their decisions about changes to their system for as long as they like.
Salesforce.com only allows the user to “Save” the changes. Compared to Dynamics, this is obviously not as good.
Overall, the two systems both provide lots of functionality, especially around codeless customizations. But it seems apparent that Dynamics CRM provides a better UI for these customizations. Furthermore Dynamics provides a more comprehensive functionality that allows the user to perform relevant and simple customizations with ease and confidence. Dynamics seems to have put in extra effort where it counts in regards to OOTB codeless customization and the results reflect that effort.