News

Microsoft Quietly Rolls Out Dynamics SL 2011

• By Kurt Mackie
• April 06, 2011

Microsoft's Dynamics SL 2011 enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution hit general availability late last week. For Microsoft partners, the product was made available for download on April 4.

The release was given a relatively low-key announcement last Friday. Microsoft will likely provide more details about the product at the Dynamics SL 2011 launch events, which will begin in April 10 in various U.S. cities and last through June 30.

The improvements in the new Microsoft Dynamics SL 2011 product include the use of controls common to Microsoft Business Solutions products, a new "quick query" feature, plus Web services support using the Windows Communication Foundation .NET Framework, among others, according to Jeff Wallis, a Microsoft Dynamics product unit manager, as described in a Microsoft partner blog post. This release is also newly integrated with Microsoft Project Server 2010.

The enhancements in Dynamics SL 2011 resulted from a customer and partner collaboration, which was carried out through an advisory board. Changes were overseen by the board throughout the product's lifecycle, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft has set up a campaign to assist its partners in the form of two promotional plans, which are being offered to small-to-medium U.S. customers. One plan is called "Extending the Reach for Existing Customers" (offered between April 1 and Dec. 22, 2011); the other plan is "Extending the Reach for New Customers" (offered between April 1 and June 24, 2011).

The first program offers discounts for "Microsoft Dynamics Light Users or Microsoft Dynamics Business Portal for Microsoft Dynamics SL" customers. The second program is for "Microsoft Dynamics Light Users for Microsoft Dynamics SL." A Microsoft partner blog post explains the nuances here.