Upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015

Colin Maitland, 05 October 2014

In this blog I will provide a list of the main points from a recently posted Upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 to 2015 Autumn '14 video presented by Matthew Barbour. 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Supported Server and Client Software 

•  The following software is supported:

   •  Microsoft Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2
   •  Microsoft SQL Server 2012
   •  Microsoft Windows 7
   •  Microsoft Windows 8
   •  Internet Explorer 10
   •  Internet Explorer 11
   •  Microsoft Exchange Server 2010
   •  Microsoft Exchange Server 2013  

Here is the full compatibility list: http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/3005167. 

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 On Premise Upgrade Process 

•  The On-Premise Upgrade Process is a one-way process. Two options are available:

 
   •  In Place
   •  Migrate (preferred method)

•  Upgrades to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 must start from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 plus Service Pack 1 or higher.  

•  When importing an Organisation during the upgrade process the Environmental Diagnostic Wizard will run against the Organisation being upgraded and determine if it is safe to perform the upgrade. If there are any issues, More Information links are provided to information about what actions to take to resolve the problems.

•  When upgrading Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 organizations where the database tables where not merged when upgraded from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, it is now mandatory for those database tables to be merged when upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Upgrade Process 

•  The upgrade will be performed by Microsoft Online Services using the migration method.

Solutions in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015

•  Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 solutions will integrate with CRM 2015 deployments but will not be importable into a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 deployment  

•  Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 solution will not be importable into a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 deployment.

Upgrading Forms in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 

•  Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 forms retained in a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 deployment will also be retained and supported in an upgraded Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 deployment. There is functionality provided in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 to merge these v5 Information forms into v6 forms in Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015. 
 

Migration Tools 

•  Microsoft provide documentation, such as the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 Deployment Guide and the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 SDK.

•  In application tools are provided in the Form Designer to provide guidance and functionality to support the upgrade process such as Merge Forms which allows you to merge Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 form customisations into a Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 form.  

Finally, once again, here is the link to the video Upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 to 2015 Autumn '14 presented by Matthew Barbour.