Pender's Blog

Blog archive

Microsoft Quietly Gets Serious about Dynamics CRM Online

Microsoft has a strange habit of working on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. We've noted this before, and on Monday it happened again.

While much of the nation was sledding or skating on frozen ponds on Monday (hey, sunshine types, don't knock winter until you've tried it), Microsoft was busy talking up by far its most complete version of Dynamics CRM Online, it's software-as-a-service customer relationship management suite.

Dynamics CRM 2011 Online could put a serious hurting on Salesforce.com and Oracle, both of which (particularly Salesforce.com) have come to dominate hosted CRM with simple, sleek, feature-complete offerings. Finally, Microsoft is on the bandwagon with a version of CRM Online that does everything its on-premises counterpart does.

Plus, there's that old Microsoft calling card -- integration, in this case with Outlook and browsers as well as with mobile devices, including the iPhone. CRM 2011 Online is fairly cheap, too, with pricing starting at $34 per user per month.

So,  if CRM Online is the one that's finally ready to go toe-to-toe with Salesforce.com (and it is), then why on earth is Microsoft giving it the short shrift? No lesser a luminary than Steve Ballmer himself was there to introduce the product to partners and customers Monday...in Redmond...on a national holiday...in a presentation that wasn't streamed live online.

Seriously, Microsoft, what gives? You're sitting on a gold mine, as well as on some superb products, with Dynamics. Why do you always treat Dynamics as if it's some sort of country cousin or drunken uncle and only trot it out when nobody's around? Set Dynamics free, Microsoft. Give it the full launch treatment, with a party and a live stream and a debut date that doesn't coincide with most people sitting at home and sipping brandy by the fire.

Have you seen a demo of Dynamics CRM 2011 Online? What's your take on it? Send it to [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on January 19, 2011


Featured

  • Microsoft Appoints Althoff as New CEO for Commercial Business

    Microsoft CEO and chairman Satya Nadella on Wednesday announced the promotion of Judson Althoff to CEO of the company's commercial business, presenting the move as a response to the dramatic industrywide shifts caused by AI.

  • Broadcom Revamps VMware Partner Program Again

    Broadcom recently announced a significant update regarding its VMware Cloud Service Provider (VCSP) program, coinciding with the release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0, a key component in Broadcom’s private cloud strategy.

  • Closeup of the new Copilot keyboard key

    Microsoft Updates Copilot To Add Context-Sensitive Agents to Teams, SharePoint

    Microsoft has rolled out a new public preview for collaborative "always on" agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, bringing enhanced, context-aware tools into Teams channels, meetings, SharePoint sites, Planner workstreams and Viva Engage communities.

  • Windows 365 Cloud Apps Now Available for Public Preview

    Microsoft announced this week that Windows 365 Cloud Apps are now available for public preview. This aims to allow IT administrators to stream individual Windows applications from the cloud, removing the need to assign Cloud PCs to every user.