Known internally as Microsoft Dynamics CRM V3C, it will use many of the user interface characteristics of Office 2007 and Vista. These will include the Office 2007 ribbons that will replace drop-down menus, and Windows Vista gadgets that will allow CRM functions such as analytics and alerts to be placed on, and accessed from, a sidebar on a users’ Vista desktop or home page. Users will still have the option of accessing CRM through Outlook and Internet Explorer, and mobile devices.
The company has also been working on data visualization, particularly the ability to combine rich visualization capabilities with BI and Excel data. Improved Excel integration could turn out to be one of the most valuable functional enhancements.
Work has also been carried out at a lower level resulting in unified communications with Exchange Server 2007, which will enable users to store voicemail messages in Outlook and track them automatically in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This feature plays to Microsoft’s ambition to provide search, access, and associations such as associating a call with a particular customer or an ongoing event to all types of unstructured as well as structured data. It has also improved security based on the BitLocker Drive Encryption in Vista using the BitLocker capability to help protect CRM data on laptops from being accessed by unauthorized users.
The only completely home-grown business application in the Microsoft portfolio Dynamics CRM is also the newest in terms of architecture and design so it has become the poster child for Microsoft innovations. According to Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft CRM, one of the drivers behind the forthcoming CRM launch was to ensure there would be applications able to use the new technologies when they launched. The big engines are starting up for Vista and Office 2007. We are making a lot of noise about them so we want to make sure CRM is used to showcase them, he said.
Many of the new features will only be available to those who invest in the whole package of Vista, Office 2007, and CRM V3C. Although Microsoft said customers could use any combination of the technologies, Satya Nadella, who previously headed up Microsoft Business Solutions R&D and was recently been appointed to head the unit, said they would light up when used together. When you use Vista and Office together, you get the benefits, he said. The products don’t stop working, but you get the best if you use them together. We don’t design them so you have to use the complete set, you can still use CRM but you get the value with the whole set. He said users will be able to use any combination of products and versions.
Microsoft’s CRM portfolio and deployment choices are gradually expanding. The current 3.0 release is available as a licensed on premise deployment but can also be supplied on demand via the partner network. The same code is used for both deployment models, only the payment method changes.
Microsoft also plans to make CRM available as part of its SaaS-based Live program, with a launch slated for the middle of 2007 but only in North America. Live CRM will use the same code as the next generation Microsoft CRM application, known as Titan, which will utilize multi-tenant architecture.
In Microsoft parlance, it is putting business processes online, starting with the sales, service, and marketing functions of CRM. In practice, it means it is offering a second SaaS model, where instead of its partners running a complete CRM service for customers, Microsoft will offer a limited service where the product is bought and invoiced online and is hosted by Microsoft within its own datacenters. In theory, customers with on-premise Dynamics CRM could hook up to specific CRM processes running within Live. For example, a company should be able to work on the transactional information related to a marketing campaign within its on-premise CRM while also collaborating with external agencies using the SharePoint services that are part of Live.
While the Live CRM announcement is not breaking news (it was announced at its partner conference in Boston in June), Microsoft is starting to provide details about what the type of services, or online processes, it will offer. The initial offering will include a service that will integrate CRM with Microsoft’s AdCenter online keyword ad service. CRM will be the first business application to go Live, but the company confirmed that its ERP will also take the same route, although it did not provide a timeframe.
Dynamics CRM is gradually being drawn into MBS’s mainstream operation in term of licensing because as of December 4, it will be available under the same licensing options available for the ERP products, able to be purchased under the Business Ready Licensing and Modular Based Licensing models. The move will simplify the buying process for customers who want CRM and ERP software by uniting both types of products and maintenance plans.
