CRM

With the most recent set of commits solidifying our data model and implementing much-needed Drupal-side caching, the Salesforce 2.0 Module is rapidly approaching releasable status. We now actively need people to test this in their own environments and with their own use-cases and to submit issues and offer new features.

Hi folks,

The first DC CiviCRM Meetup this past Wednesday had a great showing. We had over 25 people who came out to talk about the system, where it is going, and how various organizations are implementing the CRM.

We discussed the need for both training and networking sessions, and have decided to hold two Meetups each month. In two weeks, on May 6th at 6:30pm, we will hold an "Introduction to CiviCRM" session. We are still looking for a location to hold this session, so please send me any recommendations on conference rooms we can use that can seat about 30 people.

Hi folks,

Just a quick reminder that the DC CiviCRM Meetup will hold it's first meeting this Wednesday, April 22nd from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at The Black Squirrel in Adams Morgan. We will have a Speed Show and Tell, giving each presenter 5 minutes to give a visual or spoken presentation about what they are doing with CiviCRM. This is a great opportunity to come
out and learn about the CiviCRM project, how people are using the system within their organizations, and meet other CiviCRM users and developers in the DC/VA/MD area. If you would like to present, please come prepared with a laptop.

Hello everyone,

I've posted this in the main Support forum http://drupal.org/node/429874, but I believe it'll fare better here:

one of my customer is using Parature for their support needs and is developping a new web site and store for their products. There needs to be some integration between the two, like SSO (single sign-on) and profile field synchronisation.

Did somone here go trought this? Is this something that could be done easily with Drupal/Parature APIs? Should we better attack the data directly, e.g. using an exported feed or even directly trough SQL?

Scenario:

To get started, I have an organization that needs some very basic CRM added to its Drupal (6) site. The org has been using a Facebook group as its CRM, which works for maintaining a simple membership roster, group emailing, posting notices, and handling invitations/RSVPs for events. Events data is synched from Facebook to Drupal, via a bookmarklet I wrote. The org's membership is between 150 and 200 and administration is all volunteer.

The sf_node and sf_user modules are great.

What I would like to see (and what I'm going to have to build for a few upcoming projects) is a sf_taxonomy module.

In essence, I see this as tying a SalesForce picklist value set to a Drupal vocabulary.

The biggest hurdle, imho, is that SalesForce picklists are specific to single object types, where as Drupal vocabularies are site-wide.

Given that, will this idea even float?
What are peoples' thoughts about ways to work around this particular obstacle?
What are some other obstacles?
Is anyone interested in pitching in?

Hi

I have found Jitterbit http://www.jitterbit.com/.

My first look is that I am impressed. It looks like nice way to get a two way data exchange beetween Drupal and a CRM like SugarCRM or any other.
Has anyone experience on Jitterbit?

Today I'm happy to announce some important updates to the salesforce module 2.x branch. These are for the DRUPAL-6 version for now. I will backport to 5-2.x once we get closer to an official release.

Support for Custom Fields
This is a big step forward, as it gets us off of hard-coded object-definitions on the SalesForce side, just like the inclusion of a CCK-sensing engine got us off hard-coded Drupal objects. This allows you to create an arbitrary number of custom fields in your SalesForce objects (e.g. campaigns, contacts, leads, etc) and map them flexibly to elements in your Drupal nodes.

There's still work to be done here. I would like to get the module to the point of using the Partner (rather than Enterprise) client and wsdl, but that will require further refactoring.

Auto-Population of SalesForce
We're now able to automatically populate and update SalesForce with appropriate objects when they're created and updated on the Drupal end. A critical piece of functionality.

Common Field-Maps
Another common-sense systematic update: we're now using a single fieldmap to link Drupal and SalesForce objects. The use-case for separate maps for import vs. export of data was obscure, and so this complexity has been removed from the system.

I think this module is now ready for wider review and testing. If you've been looking to synchronize your Drupal nodes with SalesForce objects and want to provide feedback, now is a good time.

A development release should is available on the project page. Or you can click here. However, my update to the README.txt didn't make it in before the daily build, so check it in CVS.

I posted this to the d.o forum: 288295

The College I work for is in the process of integrating the Salesforce.com (Customer Relationship Management) CRM into our college-wide processes. I am currently developing a new & improved site using Drupal for the college that needs to go live with the CRM for a number of reasons. Salesforce supplies HTML code to embed an HTML form that feeds right into the CRM (a Lead form). While this is super simple it doesn't allow as much control as I would like.

Has anyone been able to get the Salesforce Module to work on a Demo Account? I'm doing some testing to see if we like the integration of Drupal and Salesforce. Is this going to be possible without an actual Salesforce.com account? I was hoping that I could test it first.

Thanks,
Andrew

UPDATE: I should add that I get a "Failed to Authenticate" error when I try it with my demo account. I'm guessing it's because of my demo account, but just wanted to verify.