The new version skips from CRM 1.2 to 3.0 and will be available to current users at the end of 2005.
In the beginning, there was Siebel, a name that became synonymous with customer relationship management. Then along came Salesforce.com, and a lot of CRM customers moved from Siebel’s client/server model to the hosted solution.
And open source has had its impact, as some companies wanting CRM in-house without being locked-in to proprietary code have moved to CRM options like SugarCRM.
But will CRM customers find an option with the look and feel of the ubiquitous Microsoft Office and Outlook products an even more appealing prospect? With the latest release announced at Tech Ed Europe and the Worldwide Partner Conference in the US, Microsoft is banking on familiarity breeding market penetration.
The new Microsoft CRM 3.0 offers a number of prebuilt reports users can access to see trends and issues with their relationships. The CRM data can be exported into Excel for further customization online or offline. Data can be synchronized to laptops for traveling users; Microsoft says they will release an improved Windows Mobile client as well.
One feature will be an automated module to handle list, campaign, market resource, and closed-loop response management tasks. The company also says a new module to handle complex service scheduling requests will be part of the 3.0 release.
Microsoft will enter the hosted solution space with 3.0 by offering a subscription-based license alongside the on-site installation options. Also, a Small Business Edition for companies that use Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition will be marketed as an upgrade from Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
