This book’s authors, Mike Snyder, Jim Steger, and Brendan Landers, are executives at the Chicago-based consulting firm Sonoma Partners. Sonoma Partners is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner that sells, customizes, and implements Microsoft Dynamics CRM for enterprise and midsize companies throughout the United States and Canada. Sonoma Partners has worked exclusively with Microsoft Dynamics CRM since the version 1.0 prerelease beta software. Founded in 2001, Sonoma Partners possesses extensive experience in several industries, including financial services, professional services, health care, and real estate.
Sonoma Partners is different from other Microsoft Dynamics CRM partners because:
We write the books for Microsoft. Consequently, we know the product inside and out, and our relationships with Microsoft product teams will save you tons of time and headaches down the line.
We offer a cost guarantee on all of our deployments. We can do this because of our experience completing more than 400 Microsoft Dynamics CRM deployments.
We offer clients our unique pre-built intellectual property that consists of a full library of tools, utilities, controls, and solutions that you can plug and play in your deployment—saving clients thousands of hours of development time.
Sonoma Partners offers pre-built solution templates for professional services, financial services, healthcare, franchise management, and real estate.
In addition to the multiple books we’ve written for Microsoft Press, we share our Microsoft Dynamics CRM product knowledge through our email newsletter and online blog. If you’re interested in receiving this information, you can find out more on our website at http://www.sonomapartners.com.
Even though our headquarters is in Chicago, Illinois, we work with customers throughout the United States and Canada. If you’re interested in discussing your Microsoft Dynamics CRM system with us, please don’t hesitate to contact us! In addition to working with customers who want to deploy Microsoft Dynamics CRM for themselves, we also act as a technology provider for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) looking to develop their solution for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform.
Sometimes people ask us where we got our name. The name Sonoma Partners was inspired by Sonoma County in the wine-producing region of northern California. The wineries in Sonoma County are smaller than their more well-known competitors in Napa Valley, but they have a reputation for producing some of the highest quality wines in the world. We think that their smaller size allows the Sonoma winemakers to be more intimately involved with creating the wine. By using this hands-on approach, the Sonoma County wineries can deliver a superior product to their customers—and that’s what we strive to do as well.
Mike Snyder is co-founder and principal of Sonoma Partners. Recognized as one of the industry’s leading Microsoft Dynamics CRM experts, Mike is a member of the Microsoft Dynamics Partner Advisory Council and is a Microsoft Dynamics CRM MVP. He has co-authored several books about Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Press that have sold more than 50,000 copies worldwide. Before starting Sonoma Partners, Mike led multiple product development teams at Motorola and Fortune Brands. Mike graduated with honors from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management with a Master of Business Administration degree, majoring in marketing and entrepreneurship. He has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Notre Dame. He enjoys ice hockey and golf in his free time.
Jim Steger is co-founder and principal of Sonoma Partners. He has been developing solutions for Microsoft Dynamics CRM since the version 1.0 beta. Microsoft recognized Jim’s leadership in the technical community with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM MVP award in both 2010 and 2009. Jim has co-authored books about Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Microsoft Press since the 3.0 version of the software. Before starting Sonoma Partners, Jim designed and led various global software development projects at Motorola and ACCO Office Products. Jim earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Northwestern University.
Brendan Landers is a consulting director at Sonoma Partners, overseeing all of the company’s Microsoft Dynamics CRM consulting projects. He has led numerous Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementation projects for companies in the following industries: professional and financial services, education, healthcare, hospitality, and others. Prior to joining Sonoma Partners, Brendan worked at Information Resources, Inc. as a Director, Quality Assurance and Delivery, where he led several data quality and business intelligence initiatives. He holds a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from the University of Iowa.