The Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Resource Center can either be a valuable tool to encourage user adoption or if it’s not used, it can clutter users’ screens without any value add. This post will discuss what the Resource Center is good for, and if you don’t buy it (or if your users do not have access to the internet from their workstations) we’ll also discuss how to remove the Resource Center to open up valuable screen real estate.

By default, the Resource Center is added as a “Group” in CRM just like Workplace, Sales, Marketing, Service, and Settings are Groups. Via the web client, the Resource Center is accessible by simply clicking the Resource Center group.

 Via the CRM for Outlook client, the Resource Center appears alphabetically with the other CRM groups.

The Resource Center has quite a bit of content on it, some of which is applicable to typical CRM users, some of which is applicable really only to admins and super users. One of my favorite pieces of the Resource Center is the Getting Started Videos.

There are three videos that can be quite eye opening to users who are new to the system. The videos are high quality, and can really convince Marketing and Management that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is much more powerful than a simple contact aggregator. Altriva teaches Advanced Find as a topic in user training, but it doesn’t always sink in the first time. A quick video refresher can help solidify CRM concepts introduced in training.

Still not sold? Think it’s just a bunch of clutter, or maybe it’s just not right for your business? Then remove it with the below steps. Anyone can still access the resource center by going to the following link in a web browser: http://rc.crm.dynamics.com/rc/regcont/en_us/opdefault.aspx

The following is taken directly from the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Installing Guide (4.4.0, pages 123-124)

1.     Export the SiteMap by using the Export Customizations feature.

a.    In the Navigation Pane, click Settings, click Customization, and then click Export Customizations.

b.   Select SiteMap, then on the Actions toolbar, click More Actions, and then click Export Selected Customizations.

c.    Save the customization compressed (.zip) file and make a copy of it as a backup.

2.     Extract the customization.xml file from the customization.zip file.

3.     Open the customization.xml file by using a text editor such as Microsoft Visual Studio or Notepad.

4.     Locate the following node in the file.

/ImportExportXml/SiteMap/SiteMap/Area Id="ResourceCenter"

5.     Comment the Area by using <!-- and -- > tags where the Id attribute is set to "ResourceCenter" as follows:

<!--<Area Id="ResourceCenter"

 ResourceId="Area_ResourceCenter"

 Icon="/_imgs/resourcecenter_24x24.gif"

 DescriptionResourceId="ResourceCenter_Area_Description">

 <Group Id="ResourceCenter">

  <SubArea Id="nav_lc_overview"

   ResourceId="Homepage_LearningOverview"

   DescriptionResourceId="LearningOverview_SubArea_Description"

   Icon="/_imgs/ico_18_129.gif"

   Url="/resourcecenter/overview.aspx"

   AvailableOffline="false" />

  <SubArea Id="nav_lc_sales"

   ResourceId="Homepage_LearningSales"

   DescriptionResourceId="LearningSales_SubArea_Description"

   Icon="/_imgs/ico_16_sales.gif"

   Url="/resourcecenter/sales.aspx"

   AvailableOffline="false" />

  <SubArea Id="nav_lc_marketing"

   ResourceId="Homepage_LearningMarketing"

   DescriptionResourceId="LearningMarketing_SubArea_Description"

   Icon="/_imgs/ico_16_marketing.gif"

   Url="/resourcecenter/marketing.aspx"

   AvailableOffline="false" />

  <SubArea Id="nav_lc_services"

   ResourceId="Homepage_LearningServices"

   DescriptionResourceId="LearningServices_SubArea_Description"

   Icon="/_imgs/area/18_service.gif"

   Url="/resourcecenter/services.aspx"

   AvailableOffline="false" />

  <SubArea Id="nav_lc_customization"

   ResourceId="Homepage_LearningCustomization"

   DescriptionResourceId="LearningCustomization_SubArea_Description"

   Icon="/_imgs/area/18_settings.gif"

   Url="/resourcecenter/customization.aspx"

   AvailableOffline="false" />

 </Group>

</Area>-->

6.     Make your changes to the customization.xml file.

7.     Import the updated XML file by using the Import Customizations feature.

8.     In the Navigation Pane, click Settings, click Customization, and then click Import Customizations.

9.     Locate your modified XML file and then click Upload.

10.  On the Actions toolbar, click Import All Customizations.

- Phil Edry