Microsoft takes fresh shot at on-demand CRM with Dynamics Live

Angus Kidman
Wednesday, 11 July 2007 19:22

IT Industry - Market

Its previous attempts at customer relationship management (CRM) haven't exactly set the world on fire, but Microsoft is continuing to plug away at the CRM market, announcing pricing and product details for its new fully hosted on-demand CRM package.

At its Worldwide Partner Conference in Denver, Microsoft announced a "partner-led customer early access program" (in other words, a beta test controlled by resellers) for Dynamics Live CRM. While Microsoft has previously allowed its reseller partners to host their own versions of the Dynamic Live CRM package, the next release marks the first time it will host a service itself, albeit one that will still largely be sold via third parties rather than directly.

Microsoft intends to sell the product in two flavours, Professional and Enterprise, both based on its in-development Dynamics Live platform, codenamed 'Titan'. The main difference will be that the enterprise version will allow offline data synchronisation and (unsurprisingly) will cost more. Enterprise will be priced at $US44 per month (though a post-launch special of $US39 a month is already being talked up by Microsoft), while the professional version will be $US59.

Regional pricing hasn't yet been announced; nor has the location of Microsoft's data centres, a factor which may influence purchase plans outside the US. However, the pricing seems principally designed to woo customers away from Salesforce.com, which dominates the on-demand CRM market. While Salesforce.com's cheapest edition costs $US600 a year for a five-user site, the majority of its customers are paying $US65 per seat per month or more.

The beta test phase will kick off this quarter, and is expected to run until at least the end of 2007. During the beta period, only the professional version will be offered initially, while the enterprise release isn't expected until 2008.