Microsoft unveils shared-source programs to bridge Office, Dynamics apps

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Microsoft unveils shared-source programs to bridge Office, Dynamics apps

Microsoft has released Dynamics Snap, a shared-source suite of four programs that "snap into" Office 2003 and call up data from back-end applications like Dynamics AX 3.0 and Dynamics CRM 3.0.

Though these add-ins, users can access financial and customer relationship management, or CRM, data through Outlook. As a result, users can copy, paste, process and send information within the same interface, which cuts down on errors and helps reduce duplicate tasks.

The release is part of a wave of business application development at Microsoft. Internally, the company developed a custom app to work with its Siebel sales force software and

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recently released this project, dubbed Elixir, to the public. The ongoing Mendocino project, meanwhile, aims to bring SAP technology and Office together.

Each of the following four Dynamics Snap add-ins is available on GotDotNet.

  • Timesheet Snap-in: This links Microsoft Dynamics AX 3.0 with a user's Outlook appointments and meetings to hasten the process of submitting timesheets.
  • Vacation Management Snap-In: Also linked to Dynamics AX, this add-in lets users submit vacation requests and sends an e-mail alert to the vacation approver.
  • Business Data Lookup Snap-In for Dynamics AX: With this utility, users can use the Dynamics AX task pane to search Office 2003 documents, copy data from AX into Office docs or attach Office docs to AX records.
  • Business Data Lookup Snap-In for Dynamics CRM: This provides the same functionality detailed above for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0.

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