Hosting Microsoft Dynamics 3.0

Microsoft Dynamics 3.0 is one month old and is establishing a presence in the market. Oracle was the chief newsmaker in the CRM market in 2005. Microsoft has increased the customer base for its CRM application by 100% every year. At present the company has 5,500 clients for its CRM software.

Microsoft customers who are already using Microsoft CRM 1.2 have been offered version 3.0 before other customers. The Missouri House of Representatives, which implemented Microsoft 1.2 an year ago, has deployed a beta of version 3.0 since November and is satisfied with the results.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 is well-integrated with the Outlook e-mail application. The software is easy to customize. It features a mobile client, marketing resource management, and campaign and list management. Microsoft partners can charge users on a per-use basis. The next release of the application, which is code-named Titan, will allow users to run multiple instances of the application from one server. This facility is currently provided by hosted CRM providers such as Salesforce.com, NetSuite Inc., RightNow Technologies and Salesnet Inc. Multi-tenancy allows for easy implementation, provides economies of scale and therefore reduces start-up costs.

Microsoft CRM 3.0 does not support a multi-tenant environment and the company has charged its partners with the responsibility of hosting the application. Inetium and Avanade are partners of Microsoft and are weighing the hosted option.