By Dave Packard with Cargas Systems

Microsoft Dynamcis CRM 2015 is here and all online customers are set to receive this update over the coming months (if they haven’t done so already). Here is a basic checklist of things to do both before AND after the upgrade. These can also apply to on-premise customers going from 2013 to 2015, but this is mainly intended for online customers.

Since this is not the first upgrade to CRM Online I anticipate the process to get smoother with each upgrade, but these are observations I have made over other updates and rollups that can be issues.

Before the Upgrade:

  • Check custom code – going from 2013 to 2015 is not as large a jump for custom code so if your code is updated for CRM 2013 it should be fine in 2015. But it is good to have a list of where the code is located and what it does.
  • Integrations – As long as it is using supported methods these should be fine after the upgrade but again it is best to make sure you have a list of all the integration points.
  • Third Party ISVs – if you have any add-ons to CRM in the Solutions area check with that vendor to see if they have an update available for CRM 2015 or if their CRM 2013 solution will be fully compatible with 2015.
  • Workflows – take a screenshot of all the ACTIVE workflows you have.
  • Duplicate Detection Rules – take a screenshot of all the PUBLISHED rules you have. These were changed in our upgrade: most of the rules we had unpublished were re-published by the upgrade, so we had to go back and unpublish these.
  • Business Rules – take a screenshot of all the ACTIVE rules for each entity.

After the upgrade:

  • Custom Code – troubleshoot if anything is not working as expected. A code update may be needed if problems arise.
  • Integrations – check all connections first and then mappings between systems.
  • Third Party ISVs – install any updates needed for the new version.
  • Workflows – reactivate (or deactivate) as needed based on the active workflow screenshot you took before the upgrade.
  • Duplicate Detection Rules – Publish or Unpublish these based on the screenshot from before the upgrade.
  • Business Rules – review these for each entity to make sure they match the pre-upgrade screenshot.
  • CRM for Outlook upgrade – End users will need to upgrade their CRM for Outlook. Follow this link for the download and upgrade process.
  • Email Router Upgrade – if you are using the email router you will need to upgrade it to the CRM 2015 version. Here are the details on this upgrade process.
  • Update the new Universal Search feature to query the entities most relevant for your system. See this blog for steps on how to modify this.

The CRM 2013 to CRM 2015 upgrade is not as large a step as other upgrades but things can change and the above checklist can help identify and resolve potential issues.

To learn more about CRM 2015 contact Cargas Systems, a certified Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner offering software, services, and support that help improve your business processes.