News

Microsoft Rolls out Dynamics CRM5 Community Technology Preview

Microsoft began leaking -- maybe even gushing -- details of Dynamics CRM5 back in late 2008, and today the customer relationship management suite took another step toward availability today.

Community Technical Preview 3 (CTP3) of Dynamics CRM5 is now available to a select group of partners. Microsoft officials said in a statement today that more than 400 partners of various stripes are participating in the program and that Microsoft will open the CTP to more partners in the months to come.

A company statement said CTP 3 is aimed mainly at software developers and that Dynamics CRM5 is due for general availability in the second half of 2010. The suite will continue to be available in three formats: on-premises, partner-hosted and hosted by Microsoft in a product known at Dynamics CRM online.

Microsoft officials said the company will continue to use the same code base across all three suites. In fact, the Redmond giant has been revealing details about CRM5 on its Dynamics CRM Team Blog as far back as late 2008, when Microsoft bloggers revealed enhancements that the product will include.

In particular, Microsoft's CRM team said that it is focusing on making it easier for ISVs and IT departments to manage deployment of third-party applications in the CRM suite. The blog mentions the possibility of allowing developers to write secure custom code on the server in Dynamics CRM Online. The Microsoft bloggers also indicated that improvements to user interfaces and increased capabilities for handling plug-ins and custom business logic are on the way.

Dynamics CRM's market share still pales in comparison to that of competitors such as SAP AG, Oracle Corp. and Salesforce.com Inc., according to the Gartner statistics that date up to 2008. But the economically priced suite has experienced strong growth in recent years, Gartner noted.     

About the Author

Lee Pender is Redmond Channel Partner magazine's senior editor. You can reach him at [email protected].

Featured

  • Microsoft Joins Workday's AI Agent Partner Network

    Microsoft has become a key partner in Workday's newly launched AI Agent Partner Network, aligning with other industry leaders to integrate AI agents into enterprise workforce systems.

  • LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky To Lead Microsoft's Productivity Initiatives

    In a strategic leadership realignment, Microsoft has appointed LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky to oversee its consumer and small business productivity software division, encompassing Microsoft 365, Teams and AI-driven tools like Copilot.

  • Salesforce To Acquire Informatica in $8 Billion Deal

    Salesforce announced on Tuesday it plans to acquire data management firm Informatica for $8 billion.

  • An image of planes flying around a globe

    2025 Microsoft Conference Calendar: For Partners, IT Pros and Developers

    Here's your guide to all the IT training sessions, partner meet-ups and annual Microsoft conferences you won't want to miss.