Dynamics CRM Online Hits the Streets
Microsoft's not un-hyped hybrid customer relationship management offering is
generally
available...right now. Dynamics CRM Online -- which offers customers an
on-premises deployment, a Microsoft-hosted option or both -- hits the streets
with a cheaper price tag and considerably more storage capability than those
of its biggest rival, Salesforce.com.
Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM at Microsoft, points
out that even though Microsoft is hosting the SaaS (or, in Redmond parlance,
Software+Services) version of the software, there are still plenty of opportunities
to jump in and customize Dynamics CRM online for customers.
"There's lots of different parts to a CRM project," Wilson told RCPU,
citing setting up data models, defining workflows and creating user models as
a few examples of services partners can provide to customers. "Server setup
isn't required, but all the things around domain expertise and best practices
are still there."
Plus, Wilson said, Microsoft will pay partners 10 percent of license revenues
in perpetuity for a Dynamics CRM Online sale. Some other vendors -- he didn't
specify which ones -- pay a 10 percent royalty only once, as a kind of finder's
fee.
"Our partners will get paid in a more generous fashion," Wilson said...and
that sounds like a good thing to us.
Posted by Lee Pender on 04/23/2008 at 1:21 PM