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the Free CMSWire NewsletterWhen Brad Wilson, GM for Microsoft Dynamics said the upcoming release of Dynamics CRM 2011 will raise the bar in the CRM market, he could be accused of being a tad presumptuous. However, the new release due for public beta in September looks set to challenge Salesforce.com's (news, site) dominance in this space.
The irony of the announcement, which was made at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, will be missed by few following the recent spat in the courts between Microsoft and Salesforce over patent rights, the former being described by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff as “alley thugs”.
While there’s nothing like a row to shake off sunshine lethargy, the bottom line here is that there is more than just summer fireworks with the release of the beta in September, and it's likely to provide a developer environment that should provide a serious challenge given Microsoft’s business reach.
Dynamics CRM 2011
However, this all just speculation until the September release. What is definite, however, is Microsoft CRM 2011, known as CRM 5, will provide better integration with other Microsoft applications like Outlook and Office, as well as new collaboration and visualization features.
Furthermore, while Microsoft announced at Convergence 2010 that it would make the new versions of CRM available in 32 countries, the announcement at yesterday’s Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference said there would be eight additional markets, bringing the total to 40 markets in 41 languages.
So what will users get with the new product, which is marketed under the dubious slogan “the Power of Productivity”? Leaving aside the new apps store there are three principal areas in which Microsoft has said they have improved.
Familiar Experiences
Microsoft says it has built the new version to ensure that users would be working in familiar environments. Improvements here include:
- Easy use of native Outlook functions including previews and conditional formatting through tighter Outlook integration
- Contextual CRM Ribbon for both Outlook and browsers enabling easier Office navigation
- Role-based forms containing data relevant to those roles
- Customized views with records and personal dashboards to monitor performance
Dynamics CRM 2011 familiar views
Intelligent Experiences
The new version of Dynamics will give better enterprise information, Microsoft says, by:
- Easy creation of inline charts with business intelligence taken from across the enterprise
- Easy creation of real-time dashboards based on up-to-date information to monitor business performance
- Easy goal definition to measure enterprise and individual progress
Dynamics CRM 2011 intelligent tools
Connected Experiences
Microsoft also says this version will have better connection capabilities for people working inside, and connection with those working outside the enterprise. Features include:
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