Microsoft upgrades CRM offering

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 offers close integration with Outlook and Office interfaces

Microsoft has made its latest foray into the lucrative area of customer relationship management for small and medium firms with its Dynamics CRM 3.0 suite.

Key features include close integration with the Outlook and Office application interfaces.

The launch represents an attempt by Microsoft to leverage the huge base of users of its desktop applications in a bid to grow its share of a business dominated by the likes of SAP and Oracle.

The package also provides basic analytics including ad hoc query and analysis features, a marketing campaign design wizard, rapid Excel spreadsheet integration as well as service scheduling and dispatch.

Although aimed at small and medium firms Microsoft claims that Dynamics CRM 3.0 can scale for enterprise use with "multi-thousand-seat deals" in the pipeline.

Dynamics CRM 3.0 is available in a Professional and Small Business editions. The Professional Edition is priced from $622 per user and from $1,244 per server, depending on the feature set selected. Small Business Edition prices range from $440 per user and $528-$599 per server.

Neil Morgan, vice president of marketing in EMEA at Siebel, said: "This is unlikely to have any major impact in the CRM market. This latest version is merely an extension to Microsoft Outlook with additional contact management, and is only the second release in three years.

"Until Microsoft begins to invest more in its CRM applications, as we currently see from other vendors which are releasing up to five versions a year, it will continue to be ranked tenth by Gartner [CRM Software New Licence Revenue by Vendor, Worldwide, 2002-2004]."

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