Microsoft CRM vs Salesforce CRM, What’s the Best Choice?

As the person in charge of making the decision between Microsoft CRM and Salesforce, how do you make this decision? You know that both are powerful and proven solutions in the field and both are backed by companies that are dominating the market. Vendors are going to tell you that their solution is the best for your environment, but they can’t both be best, can they? There has to be one right solution that will best fit your environment; after all, you can only install and use one CRM solution to drive the expected results. Therefore, the Microsoft CRM vs. Salesforce CRM battle is on!

Ease of Integration: Microsoft CRM vs. Salesforce CRM?

It is likely that the first selling point offered to you in any presentation from a Microsoft vendor partner is the ease in which Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be implemented into a current Microsoft environment. If your users are already familiar with the Microsoft interface because they use Windows, Outlook and even Office on a daily basis, the integration of the Microsoft CRM vs. Salesforce CRM is an easy sell; but it shouldn’t be the only sell. Think about the other software platforms you have implemented within your environment. Even if these platforms were not Microsoft based, you still implemented them because of the benefit they would provide the company. An opportunity to skip the learning curve is not enough to tilt the meter one way or the other, so look deeper.

How Important is the Cloud in Microsoft CRM vs. Salesforce?

It is important to remember that Salesforce.com was born in the cloud and Microsoft was not. In fact, Salesforce.com was a key pioneer in this space, although Microsoft CRM has certainly claimed a significant market share by taking many of its proven solutions to this environment. Salesforce.com offers an open API that ensures easy integration with back office systems and web services from within the user interface. The customization of the Microsoft CRM platform is easy at the basic level, but does require the help of a .NET developer when your requirements get more complicated.

The Cost Factor: Microsoft CRM vs. Salesforce.com CRM?

You do have a budget to adhere to in your decision-making process. The reality when examining CRM options, however, is that price should not be a key determining factor. Yes, you do need to stay within a reasonable parameter, but don’t simply choose the lower price. When it comes to Microsoft CRM vs. Salesforce, there is a more than double the price difference per month, per user and Salesforce.com will always come out as more expensive. You do have to consider what you get for the money and the fact that Salesforce.com CRM does offer a powerful CRM platform.

The Final Decision: Microsoft CRM vs. Salesforce CRM

While you are likely looking for the answer here, the unfortunate reality for you is that this is still a decision you must make on your own. Here are a few things to keep in mind – aside from what was mentioned above – Microsoft is a viable option if the budget does not allow for a Salesforce.com integration; Salesforce.com offers a large ecosystem of consultants to customize the implementation primarily within the user interface, which can be worth quite a bit in terms of the cost of finding your own consultant; and Microsoft Dynamics CRM will live in the cloud or reside on your server.

There is a right solution in the Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs. Salesforce CRM battle: you will have to decide the winner.