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Find Out Instantly the Cost of Microsoft Dynamics 365/CRM

May 26, 2019 CRM News and Info

If you are investigating CRM software for your company, no doubt you’ve narrowed your choices to the few that will best meet your needs. As much as we all like all the bells and whistles, one feature that probably carries a lot of weight is the cost. Have you noticed how difficult it can be to nail down the cost of CRM software? Usually, a resale partner will want to make an appointment and deliver a sales presentation. But even if you like what you hear, it’s not a good deal if it doesn’t fit both your business processes and your budget.

We have a better idea. The CRM Software Blog’s Quick Quote tool is designed to provide you with a budgetary estimate for the total price of a Dynamics 365 project, including license and maintenance fees plus estimated implementation and services costs.

Before you even contact a Microsoft VAR Partner, the Quick Quote tool will let you know if Microsoft Dynamics 365/CRM will fit your budget.

The Quick Quote tool is free, fast and easy to use. Just follow these three steps:

1. Click on the orange bar marked “Request instant Quote Microsoft Dynamics 365/CRM” (you’ll find it on the right-hand side of each page of the CRM Software Blog).

2. Fill in the brief form letting us know what your CRM needs are and what level of support you require.

3. Wait just a minute.

The CRM Software Blog Quick Quote Tool will instantly and automatically generate a working estimate and deliver it to your email inbox. There’s further help available should you need it, but there is no further obligation. This is a free service we provide for our valued readers.

So, if you’re investigating CRM software, this is the place to start. Get your free, instant Quick Quote now.

By CRM Software Blog writer www.crmsoftwareblog.com

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CRM Software Blog | Dynamics 365

Feline Friends Stay Cozy

May 25, 2019 Humor

Buddies relax together.

“Let me… lemme just… yeah that’s better!”
Image courtesy of https://imgur.com/gallery/tNF0p3B.

Introduction to DevOps for Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement using YAML Based Azure Pipelines – Part 1.5

May 25, 2019 Microsoft Dynamics CRM

In our last blog we learned why it is important to version control our solutions and explored how to pack a solution from a repository for deployment to downstream environments. Now it’s time to update our script a bit to take advantage of some cool new features and get ready for our next blog. During the Microsoft Build 2019 developer conference, multi-stage pipelines were announced enabling us to create a full CI/CD pipeline in YAML, which will allow us to properly perform continuous deployment on our solutions.

For a deeper look into changes announced during the Build conference check out the What’s new with Azure Pipelines blog and the announcement for YAML Release in Azure Pipelines session at Build.

Rather than re-hash the basics and everything else we’ve done to this point I will urge you to check out the first blog in the series. In this blog, we will look at the new pipeline features, add stages and complete a solution deployment using multi-stage YAML pipelines. The goal, for now, being to automate solution deployment from our source control management (SCM) system as highlighted in the flow diagram below. In the future, we will look at adding more automation and explore different concepts.

Contents

Getting started

If multi-stage pipelines are not enabled by default when you read this you will first need to enable the preview feature. This can be accomplished using the following steps.

Navigate to your Azure DevOps instance (e.g. https://dev.azure.com/example/project)
Click your profile icon in the top right of the page.
In the drop-down click Preview features
In the Preview feature pane toggle Multi-stage pipelines
Close the pane and you are all set to go.

Updating our build script for a multi-stage setup

Below you will find the complete script from the first blog that enables us to deploy any unpacked solution stored in version control. The difference is that this time the script has some new syntax to enable the code to be used in multiple stages. The notable changes in the section are the addition of the stages and job schema. Stages are collections of jobs that will allow us to logically divide our pipeline between various continuous integration and continuous deployment processes. Jobs are collections of steps that will help us logically divide work within stages. In both cases, we can set dependencies and conditions on other processes or run in parallel.

If you are following along from the first blog I have called out the changes that have been made. Otherwise, follow the steps below to implement the updated solution deployment script using a multi-stage pipeline. If you haven’t unpacked your solution and checked it into version control go back to the first blog for more information. Alternately, you can fork the tutorial repository on GitHub and use the Lesson-1.5 folder for setup.

If you are starting from scratch or have forked the tutorial repository follow the steps below to create a new pipeline.

Navigate to your Azure DevOps project repository. For example, https://dev.azure.com/{username}/D365-CE-DevOps-Tutorial
Hover over Pipelines, then click Pipelines in the fly-out menu.
Click New, then click New Pipeline
On the next screen, we will select the location of our unpacked solution: Azure Repos, GitHub, or another service. Note that choosing GitHub or other services requires that you authorize Azure DevOps to access the repository, the behavior otherwise is the same in our build pipelines.
Select the repository containing the unpacked solution files.
Configure pipeline using the Starter pipeline option and copy/paste the script below replacing the starter script. If you have forked the repo on GitHub choose the existing YAML script in the Lesson-1.5 directory.
Click Save and run
Enter a commit message and click Save and run again
Click Cancel to stop the build
Click the ellipsis (…) in the top right
In the drop-down, click edit pipeline. We will need to add some variables to make things function correctly. follow the steps to create pipeline variables below to continue.

name: $  (BuildDefinitionName)-$  (Date:yyyyMMdd).$  (Rev:.r)

trigger:
- master

stages:

 - stage: Build

   jobs:

    - job:
      displayName: "Pack Solution from repository"

      pool:
        vmImage: 'vs2017-win2016'

      steps:
      - script: md tools
        displayName: 'Create tools directory'

      - powershell: |
          Invoke-WebRequest `
            -Uri https://dist.nuget.org/win-x86-commandline/latest/nuget.exe `
            -OutFile tools\nuget.exe
        displayName: 'Download nuget.exe'

      - powershell: |
          tools\nuget.exe install Microsoft.CrmSdk.CoreTools -O tools
          md "tools\CoreTools"
          $  coreToolsFolder = Get-ChildItem tools | Where-Object {$  _.Name -match 'Microsoft.CrmSdk.CoreTools.'}
          move "tools\$  coreToolsFolder\content\bin\coretools\*.*" "tools\CoreTools"
          Remove-Item "tools\$  coreToolsFolder" -Force -Recurse
        displayName: 'Install CoreTools'

      # Don't forget to add the env variables to your pipeline settings
      - powershell: |
          Start-Process tools/CoreTools/SolutionPackager.exe `
          -ArgumentList `
            "/action: Pack", `
            "/zipfile: $  (Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)\packedSolution$  env:SolutionName.zip", `
            "/folder: $  env:SolutionPath", `
            "/packagetype: Both" `
          -Wait `
          -NoNewWindow
        env:
          SolutionPath: $  (solution.path)
          SolutionName: $  (solution.name)
        displayName: 'Solution Packager: pack solution'          

      - task: PublishBuildArtifacts@1
        inputs:
          pathtoPublish: $  (Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)
          artifactName: drop
        displayName: 'Publish build artifacts'

If you do not want the build to automatically run on commits to master set trigger to none.

Schema changes

Note that the only change above to the original script is the following 5 lines and an adjustment to the indentation level of code following our additions.

stages:
 - stage: Build
   jobs:
    - job:
      displayName: "Pack Solution from repository"

Review the Microsoft Docs page for Jobs for examples of how to setup jobs with varying degrees of complexity and the Stages page for similar examples.

Steps to create pipeline variables

For our pipeline to be able to access the variables defined in code, we will need to manually create the variables in our pipeline settings using the following steps:

Click the ellipsis (…) on the top right of the page and in the drop-down click Variables
Click + Add in the pipeline variables view to add a new variable.
Perform step 3 two times to add the following variables
- name: solution.name
  - - value: <desired zip file name. In this example, contosoUniversity>
- name: solution.path
  - - value: <path to repository location of extracted solution. in this example, Lesson-1.5/ExtractedSolution/>
Checkmark both as Settable at queue time
Click the Save & queue drop down and click Save
Enter a comment and click Save

You may now run the script setting the variables for solution name and solution path if you have not defined them in your variable settings. The result should be a new build artifact named drop that contains you packed solution as both managed and unmanaged.

Adding the release stage

Now that we have completed our build stage we can create a new stage to consume and deploy the solution artifact we published earlier. For added utility, we will use a deployment job to track deployments to our downstream environments. For this example, our release stage will be dependent on the success of the build stage using dependencies and conditions. Note that by default stages are sequential so this change is more for demonstration than necessity in this example.

- stage: Release

   dependsOn: Build
   condition: succeeded('Build') 

   jobs:

    - deployment: Deploy
      displayName: "Import solution artifact"

      pool:
        vmImage: 'vs2017-win2016'

      environment: test
      
      strategy:
        runOnce:
          deploy:
      
            steps:

Schema explanation

deployment - a deployment is a special type of job focused on deploying apps to your environments allowing you to track deployments more granularly.
environment - the name of the environment we wish to deploy to. Note that if you provide an environment name for an environment that you have not explicitly created yet one will be automatically created without associated resources, which is what we want in this case.
strategy - at the time of writing only the runOnce strategy is available, this step will run the deployment exactly one time.
deploy - the entry point to our deployment steps.

Download artifacts

Continuing on with our script we will need to download the solution artifact we publisher earlier. The reason we need to download the artifact is because we have logical separation using jobs in which artifacts are not shared across boundaries.

          - task: DownloadBuildArtifacts@0
              inputs:
                buildType: 'current'
                downloadType: 'single'
                artifactName: 'drop'
                downloadPath: '$  (System.ArtifactsDirectory)'

*Note that indentation has been left for copy/paste purposes. If you have issues with the script check your indentation.

While this snippet of code is very simple I will demonstrate adding it via task assistant in the YAML editor as it can be very handy for adding pre-made tasks in a quick and efficient manner.

Open your pipeline editor
On the right, you should see a task pane. If not, click Show assistant in the top right of the editor window.
In the search box type download build artifacts
Click the Download Build Artifacts task
Enter your artifact name (e.g. drop)
Ensure that you have clicked the line in your editor where you would like to have the task added.
Click Add
Update indentation as needed.
Save your pipeline and run to test your changes.

Import solution into target environment

The only change to our actual deployment code from the first blog other than moving to a release stage and using deployment jobs is that we are now importing asynchronously. Importing asynchronously will help us avoid import timeout issues as noted by readers of the first blog.

            - powershell: Install-Module Microsoft.Xrm.Data.Powershell -Scope CurrentUser -Force
              displayName: 'Install Microsoft.Xrm.Data.PowerShell'

            # Don't forget to add the env variables to your pipeline settings
            - powershell: |
                $  connection = Get-CrmConnection `
                  -ConnectionString `
                    ("AuthType = Office365;" + `
                    "Username = $  env:ServiceAccountUpn;" + `
                    "Password = $  env:ServiceAccountPassword;" + `
                    "Url = https://$  env:EnvironmentName.crm.dynamics.com")

                Import-CrmSolutionAsync -BlockUntilImportComplete `
                  -conn $  connection `
                  -SolutionFilePath $  (System.ArtifactsDirectory)\drop\packedSolution$  ($  env:SolutionName)_managed.zip
              env:
                EnvironmentName: $  (environment.name)
                SolutionName: $  (solution.name)
                ServiceAccountUpn: $  (serviceAccount.upn)
                ServiceAccountPassword: $  (serviceAccount.password)
              displayName: 'Import solution'

*Note that indentation has been left for copy/paste purposes. If you have issues with the script check your indentation.

Add deployment variables

Important - We have added some environment variables. We will need to edit our pipeline settings once more following the steps to create pipeline variables section to add the three new variables below.

name: environment.name
- value: <Dynamics 365 CE org name e.g. contoso.crm.dynamics.com, name only>. If your org is in another geo update the YAML script accordingly.
name: serviceAccount.upn
- value: example@contoso.onmicrosoft.com
name: serviceAccount.password
- value: hopefully not hunter2
- For the password variable be sure to select the lock symbol to change the type of the field to secret.

That’s it, now click Save to commit your changes, then click Run to start the pipeline. Once started you will be redirected to the pipeline summary page to see the action in real-time. Click on the various stage cards to view details. Once the build is completed you can click Environments on the left navigation pane to view past deployments to the environment we created earlier.

If you would like to use some pre-made tasks and leverage the task assistant we discussed in the download artifacts section check out Dynamics 365 Build Tools.

In our upcoming blog(s) we will explore templates to make our pipeline code reusable and look at some new tooling to improve our continuous integration process.

Additional Resources

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Dynamics CRM in the Field

Amazon brings voice announcements to all Alexa devices

May 25, 2019 Big Data

Amazon today announced that third-party devices using Alexa Voice Service can now use voice announcements to turn smart speakers into something like a home intercom system. The move makes announcements available for a number of devices, like Facebook’s Portal and smart speakers and soundbars from companies like Bose and Sonos.

Announcements are one-way voice messages that can be sent to Echo speakers so you can say things like “Alexa, tell everybody dinner is ready” or “Alexa, tell Sophia it’s time for school.” Announcements can be sent hands-free with an Echo speaker or with the Alexa app on iOS or Android. The ability to send one-way messages with native Amazon Echo devices was introduced in 2017.

Announcements must be enabled by the device developer, Amazon said today in a blog post.

Announcements are similar to Broadcasts, a feature with Google’s Nest smart speakers, but Google’s solution enables users to respond. In addition to announcements, Alexa’s Echo speakers can make phone calls and Skype calls, send text messages, and make calls or Drop in with other Amazon Echo speakers.

The news comes a day after Google’s Duo introduced group video calls on smartphones. Duo powers video calls on Google Assistant smart displays. Those are still limited to calls with up to two people but will likely support group calls in the future.

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Big Data – VentureBeat

The Top Skills You Need To Lead In Times Of Continuous Change

May 25, 2019 BI News and Info

In times of digital transformation, change has become a constant. Guiding companies through their business transformation journey not only requires creating more agile organizational structures and processes, it also demands instilling cultural change. Business leaders need to transform their organization into an intelligent enterprise, rooted in a corporate culture that thrives on continuous change.

The transformation has to start from the heart of the organization. One of the most striking results in the 22nd Annual Global CEO Survey by PwC was that organizations are turning inward to drive revenue growth in an unpredictable international socio-economic environment. They are focusing on strengthening the organization’s digital core, closing capabilities gaps, and improving organizational efficiencies.

Embracing constant change at work does not happen overnight. It requires shifting mindsets and behavioral patterns. Here are the key leadership skills that help business and IT executives succeed.

Practice active listening

The number one priority in transformation processes is active listening. Organizational change can be unsettling. A work routine offers predictability. Changing job requirements demand leaving a familiar comfort zone. Listening can help to calm fears, recognize opportunities, and embrace a new style of work. While comfort zones can be reassuring, they are also confining and the nemesis of professional growth. Dedicate time to meet with individual teams to listen to their challenges, insights, goals, and ideas. Active listening helps identify the gaps between where we are and where we want to go as a team. These gaps are opportunities for growth for team members. Active listening helps the team become comfortable with being uncomfortable as a driver of change and renewal.

Create a networked organization

One of the top priorities for business transformation is to accelerate the speed of innovation and create a new dynamic within the organization that allows every employee to participate in the innovation process. Similar to the way daily work routines can confine growth opportunities, keeping collaboration within defined organizational structures can also curb innovation capabilities. Approaches like design thinking help business leaders create a network organization with the potential to engage employees across the organization for the development of new products and services. A networked organization opens ups opportunities for teams to collaborate beyond the traditional mindsets and organizational boundaries.

According to Prof. Uli Weinberg and Dr. Claudia Nicolai, who teach design thinking at the Hasso-Plattner-Institute, “design thinking is creating innovation opportunities (within and across the organization) and is a leading principle of change of transformation. The organizational structure of a network offers new, dynamic ways of acting and reacting timely and efficiently – on an intra-organizational as well as on an inter-organizational level.”

Provide a North Star

Leading in an interconnected work environment with flexible processes and fluid teams requires striking a delicate balance between encouraging creativity and maintaining focus. Steering organizations through change is most successful when a clear purpose is the North Star, as it serves as an inspiration and compass for the team. Not having a purpose as the guiding force can be dire. The Global Leadership Forecast 2018 (published by EY, The Conference Board, and DDI) concluded that organizations that operated without a purpose-driven culture, or even a purpose statement, financially underperformed the average by 42%.

Last but not least, leading through change requires having the trust from the team to take the leap with you, or as Seth Godin recommends, “earn trust, earn trust, earn trust. Then you can worry about the rest.”

Invest in employee well-being to drive optimal results for your growing business. Read the SAP white paper “Creating Resilient Cultures: Why Businesses Need to Invest in Employee Well-Being.”

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Digitalist Magazine

Three Takeaways from the 100th National Restaurant Association Show

May 25, 2019 NetSuite

Posted by Kevin Lentz, NetSuite Product Manager, Restaurant & Hospitality, and Brady Thomason, NetSuite Solution Manager, Restaurant & Hospitality

Last weekend, over 43,000 independent and chain restaurant owners, operators and exhibitors converged on McCormick Place in Chicago for the National Restaurant Association’s centennial show. From ready-to-use convenience foods and cutting-edge equipment, to new point-of-sale (POS) technologies, back office systems and training programs, it’s clear today’s restauranteur is looking for ways to operate more efficiently, cost-effectively, all while improving the guest experience in a pivotal time of change. One thing hasn’t changed: the choices you make as an operator today will directly impact your restaurants tomorrow. We’ve rolled up our top three takeaways from the show to help you choose how you inject change into your restaurants wisely.

1. Not All Point-of-Sales are Created Equal

Walking onto the exhibit floor, it’s mind-boggling how many restaurant POS vendors there are to choose from. With so many choices, how do you select the best front-end system for your restaurant?

First insider’s tip: pay attention to nomenclature. Does the POS speak the same language as your business (i.e. checks, guests, staff, menu items)? If the terminology doesn’t match, it’s a telltale red flag that you’re looking at a retail POS in sheep’s clothing, and you will forever struggle to make that POS fit into your business. If the system was purpose-built for a different industry, with different business processes and conventions, you’ll wake up with an awkward partner next to you once the honeymoon phase is over. Hierarchies will be missing in certain key areas and heavy-handed in others. Searches and reports will be off because that “one key thing” you always filter by is missing, and that one KPI you need isn’t there. And once the data finds its way into your accounting software, you’ll find yourself jumping through odd GL hoops to get things to line up correctly.

Second insider’s tip: your restaurant concept(s) should dictate which POS system you choose, and the functionality requirements necessary to achieve your business goals, not the other way around. For example, if you’re buying a POS for a quick-service restaurant chain, you most likely won’t need reservation and floor management functionality. Does the system allow you to scale your business easily like a cloud POS option does? Great POS systems will easily and effectively integrate into your other back-office systems like inventory, scheduling and accounting to give you the 360-degree visibility and control you need to operate your restaurant.

2. Digital Darwinism – Survival of the Selective

Food and Beverage technology is evolving fast, and the propensity for a restaurant chain to bolt on solutions that don’t correctly solve problems, or that will be quickly obsolete, is higher than ever. There were over 116 restaurant technology companies at this year’s show. All of these companies independently strive to provide an effective solution, but if two, different point solutions don’t integrate well, the guest experience will be severed at the heels, increasing human error and operator confusion. There was an overarching theme at this year’s show: with seemingly endless pain points and a limited IT budget to solve them, how can today’s restaurant operator select the right solutions while providing the best ROI and guest experience? Look for flexible, cloud-based, industry-tailored technology solutions with strong reputations, strong integrations and helpful sales and customer support teams that want to partner with you for the long haul. Being selective also means understanding what your goals and priorities are as a business, and what they are not. To learn more visit www.netsuite.com/restaurants, or sign up for a free product tour.

3. Training & Professional Certification with ServSuccess

Along with technological changes, restaurants must be nimble in the way they hire, onboard, train and develop their employees to retain the right talent and reduce costly turnover. The National Restaurant Association has partnered with Amplifire to produce 21^st century, online learning specifically for the restaurant industry. Complete with years of industry knowledge distilled down into interactive training and study guides, ServSuccess is designed to “attract, upskill and retain talent for independent operators, multi-unit businesses, large and small brands, and all types of establishments…” announced Dawn Sweeney, National Restaurant Association’s CEO, at the show’s “Future of Dining” panel discussion. The training features three levels of certification, including Certified Restaurant Professional, Supervisor and Manager, each of which require industry experience, character references and successful exam completion. Organized training is hard to come by in the restaurant industry, so leveraging training like ServSuccess to increase employee satisfaction and reduce turnover will give any owner or operator a distinct advantage.

Posted on Thu, May 23, 2019
by NetSuite filed under

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The NetSuite Blog

Non-Linear model fit returns imaginary numbers in a real fit

May 25, 2019 BI News and Info

I am getting problems when i try to fit a squareroot-like function to a set of real data, here is the function:
\begin{equation}
\left(-\frac{2 \sum _{i=0}^n c_i q^i}{\sqrt{\left(\sum _{i=0}^M b_i q^i\right){}^2-4 \left(a_1 q+1\right) \sum _{i=0}^n c_i q^i}+\sum _{i=0}^M b_i q^i}\right)^2
\end{equation}
Where $ M,n\in \mathbb{N}$ .
I cant try to put Constraints to the NonLinearModelFit because i need the errors, and i cant try to modify the function with Re[] or Conjugate[], because is modify the function. Here is the data:
{{{0.0491483,0.85451},{0.00306566,0.989755},{0.156523,0.634745},{0.19322,0.579874},{0.107026,0.723105},{0.159402,0.630146},{0.126612,0.685905},{0.041859,0.873807},{0.202128,0.567694},{0.00429277,0.985704},{0.0438898,0.868359},{0.202524,0.567161},{0.164643,0.621908},{0.0176414,0.943355},{0.0887417,0.760861},{0.247813,0.511176},{0.2382,0.522303},{0.215778,0.549804},{0.140331,0.661648},{0.0450278,0.865331},{0.079667,0.780801},{0.200001,0.570565},{0.13433,0.672086},{0.130211,0.679405},{0.244809,0.514612},{0.181252,0.596908},{0.104507,0.728124},{0.171583,0.611263},{0.0359265,0.890045},{0.187224,0.58831},{0.225738,0.53731},{0.0723277,0.797555},{0.197513,0.573953},{0.10055,0.736123},{0.141649,0.65939},{0.0926702,0.752483},{0.0598971,0.827301},{0.176524,0.60386},{0.0342446,0.894738},{0.110842,0.715605},{0.0116676,0.961926},{0.163328,0.623958},{0.243646,0.515952},{0.0561636,0.836589},{0.203855,0.565379},{0.0780196,0.784511},{0.196865,0.574841},{0.175081,0.606007},{0.0955304,0.746478},{0.0320406,0.900951},{1.5931,0.0890937},{1.0712,0.146087},{1.75196,0.078463},{2.65825,0.0434119},{0.827541,0.194791},{1.41378,0.104037},{2.60719,0.0446751},{1.56054,0.0915489},{0.647142,0.249531},{2.86556,0.0388113},{2.65311,0.0435367},{2.67742,0.0429519},{0.834751,0.193004},{1.00899,0.156551},{1.5725,0.0906352},{2.34786,0.0520663},{0.270901,0.48594},{0.871762,0.184223},{1.24283,0.122258},{1.30046,0.115596},{0.489775,0.319958},{0.501975,0.31344},{1.51357,0.0952797},{2.58615,0.0452123},{2.08624,0.0616378},{1.91234,0.0696033},{0.646257,0.249857},{1.55824,0.0917261},{2.11203,0.0605774},{0.580136,0.276214},{4.01178,0.0230932},{10.7232,0.00449478},{11.2478,0.00413793},{8.94916,0.00613476},{6.91823,0.00948793},{5.38288,0.0143832},{8.16001,0.00718018}}}

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Recent Questions – Mathematica Stack Exchange

Leveraging Alternative Data to Extend Credit to More Borrowers

May 25, 2019 FICO

You may have heard that alternative data holds great potential for expanding access to credit to more consumers to help them achieve their financial goals. Indeed, more data can enable credit score providers like FICO to provide a more complete snapshot of consumers’ credit behavior and potential risk. While FICO has been the leader in developing innovative ways to incorporate new and regulatory compliant alternative data into credit scores, there are still barriers to fully unlocking the potential of alternative data.

Due to the confusion around this issue, it’s important to be clear about what constitutes alternative data. In our view, for data to be considered “alternative data”, it means that the data is not part of the traditional consumer credit files maintained by the three largest credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). The credit bureaus do maintain utility, cell phone and/or rental data and the FICO® Score has used this data for many years. The problem is that this type of data in traditional credit files is sparse, with utility data present for just 2.6 percent of consumers and cell phone bill data for just 5 percent of consumers. Instead, to reliably increase credit access, scoring must look beyond the traditional bureau files to include alternative data.

In the U.S., roughly 28 million consumers have insufficient data in their credit bureau file to meet the minimum criteria for calculating a FICO® Score (at least one credit account open for six months or more, and at least one accounted reported to the credit bureau within the past six months). Another 25 million consumers have no credit bureau file at all. But just because someone doesn’t have a FICO® Score, it doesn’t mean they’re not credit ready. Instead, innovative analytic firms such as FICO are investing in identifying new predictive and compliant data sources to build models that accurately assess if underserved borrowers are in a position to successfully take on a new credit obligation. Gathering and analyzing these new forms of data to build new credit scoring models allows lenders to make better decisions and extend credit to these consumers within their credit risk guidelines.

FICO is a longtime leader in incorporating available data into our credit scoring models. Telecommunications and utility data have been included in the FICO® Score formula since the first model was released in 1989, while rental data is incorporated into more recent models like FICO® Score 9. We’re also pioneering the use of new forms of data, alternative data: With FICO® Score XD, which takes into account positive and negative telecommunications and utilities data and public record information not available in traditional credit files, millions of U.S. consumers with sparse or no traditional credit files can now be scored reliably and have the opportunity to receive offers of credit.

The promise of these new data sources points to the primary barrier to incorporating telecommunications, utility and rental payment data into broad based credit scoring models: the limited availability of that data in traditional credit bureau files. In the U.S., 92 percent of consumers have cell phones, but just 5 percent of consumers have telco data in their traditional credit bureau files. The story is similar for rental payments: of the roughly 80 million U.S. adults who live in rental housing, just 1.8 million (2.3 percent) have a rental trade line reported in their traditional credit file.

For these types of accounts, furnishing the data to the credit bureaus is voluntary and comes with significant responsibilities and hurdles. Thus, the best way to truly increase the use of alternative data is to make sure that the data is accessible to third-party analytic firms, like FICO, to assure a competitive market. Incorporating new forms of data into a credit score also requires that the data be accessible, a good predictor of credit behavior and compliant with all laws governing consumer credit evaluation. For newer forms of data, FICO uses a six-point test to determine whether the data is worthy of inclusion in a FICO® Score model.

To be more inclusive and meet the demand for greater access to credit for worthy consumers, FICO is making considerable investments in exploring new data sets and model development, including through the use of checking, savings or money market account data contributed by consumers to enhance the predictiveness of their score based on proven indicators of sound financial behavior. Note that demand deposit account (DDA) data such as this is estimated to exist for nearly 250 million Americans, but is found in less than 1 percent of traditional credit bureau files. Our testing has found that as many as 15 million U.S. consumers without sufficient credit history to generate a FICO® Score can now be scored reliably through the use of this DDA data.

Alternative data holds tremendous potential to responsibly expand access to credit. But it’s not simply a matter of flipping a switch and having readily available data suddenly incorporated into a credit score. Considerable resources go into establishing a reliable supply of consumer behavior data and ensuring the data is compliant, accurate, unbiased and predictive of credit risk. Introducing new data has a real impact on a consumer’s credit profile, so we must diligently test the new data’s impact on credit scoring models.

As the independent standard in credit scoring, FICO has been a longtime leader in leveraging innovations in scoring to responsibly expand access to credit, and we will continue to advocate for solutions that both help more Americans responsibly access credit and preserve the safety and soundness of our lending system.

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‘The Hate U Give’ Star Amandla Stenberg Joins Universal’s ‘Fear’ Reboot

May 24, 2019 Humor

Amandla Stenberg is attached to star in Universal’s reimagined take of the 1996 thriller Fear.

The original movie, released in 1996, starred Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon early on in their careers as young lovers David and Nicole. David is charming and affectionate, but Nicole soon sees a darker side to him.

Oscar nominee Jonathan Herman (Straight Outta Compton) is writing the pic. Brian Grazer, who produced the original film, again produces for Imagine Entertainment alongside Imagine’s Karen Lunder. EVP Production Jon Mone will oversee production for Universal.

Stenberg most recently starred in Fox 2000’s impactful drama The Hate U Give, which premiered at the 2018 Toronto Film Festival. She was also recently seen in Where Hands Touch, Everything, Everything, As You Are, and The Hunger Games.

In 2018, Stenberg appeared on the cover of Time Magazine for their next generation leaders issue and was given the Visibility Award by the Human Rights Campaign. She is currently in production on Damian Chazelle’s Netflix series The Eddy. She is repped by UTA and attorneys Nina Shaw and Gordon Bobb.

Source: Deadline

ABC- With Help From ‘Live In Front Of A Studio Audience’-Wins Final Night Of The Season & Best In 12 Years

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Got Customer Data? Here Is Why You Need a CRM

May 24, 2019 Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Data isn’t what it used to be.

Before the dawn of digital transformation, business data was the result of a process – like a simple sales receipt, for example. But with new abilities to store, analyze and segment data, it is now a powerful tool that can offer valuable and interesting new insights into business trends and customer behavior.

A key component of a useful data strategy is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, a system which organizes and automates data flow so that the right information is available to the right person, anytime. And a good CRM boosts the customer experience, leading to customer retention and a substantial competitive edge.

Tracking and Analyzing Data

Sales are a cornerstone of an effective data strategy that leverages CRM. Let’s say you run an online shoe store, with a stylish yet affordable product line that is targeted to adults of all ages. With digital tracking and analysis, you can get behind the scenes to see what is really going on – where sales peak, which customers respond to which promotional offers, etc.

For instance, you have noticed more customers are making purchases on Fridays, when the work week winds down, and a weekend-shopping frame of mind starts to kick in. To leverage that trend, you decide to run a special pre-weekend promotion for 12 hours, from noon ’til midnight, called Fun Fridays: buy one pair, get half off the second. With a good CRM in place, you can segment the customers who participate in the Friday sale, and send them digital coupons for sneak peek specials, such as pre-holiday sales.

Enriching the Customer Experience

The “C” in CRM stands for customers – your focal point as a business owner. Whether you use chatbots or humans for customer service, a data strategy leverages the power of CRM to provide the most personalized service possible. Customers are increasingly used to instant responses, especially in the realms of insurance and retail. The days of being placed on hold are rapidly fading. A modern customer service rep will know who the customer is right away, including their history and preferences. This information works two ways; it immediately makes the customer feel like they are getting personalized service, and it also provides you with important purchasing information. For example, if a customer enters a strange purchasing pattern, it could be a red flag for fraud that previously would have passed unnoticed.

Analyzing regular returns could also be a cost-saver. If a large number of customers are returning shoes based on the color not matching the online photo, you might want to re-adjust your online shop lighting preferences so that the actual shoe color is better represented.

Data strategy extends to social media. By looking at competitors’ postings and offerings, you can better monitor what is out there to ensure you are meeting or beating promotions like free shipping and rewards programs.

Generating Personalized Documents and other Customer Communications

Once a two-dimensional commodity, data has evolved into a powerful multi-faceted business tool. Putting a strategy in place to gain insights is the smartest thing you can do in a digital workplace.

Organizations that leverage their customer data to communicate one-on-one, via multiple channels, will support a positive customer experience, which in turn leads to better loyalty and retention.

Industries like insurance, financial services and retail are increasing the value of each touch-point by combining rich CRM customer data with a document generation solution like Xpertdoc to create highly personalized and contextual documents such as NDAs, proposals, quotes, and other correspondence – which may contain reusable content, legal clauses, Service Level Agreements (SLA), pricing, descriptions of products or services, and more.

Learn more about Xpertdoc Smart Flows for Dynamics 365, or request a free 30-day trial and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter: @xpertdoc, @pamelavelentzas

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Updating our build script for a multi-stage setup

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Add deployment variables

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Provide a North Star

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