Microsoft Business Solutions has decided not to release the long-delayed CRM 2.0 version of the application, and move straight onto version 3.0 following feedback from partners and customers about the version 2 beta that was made available at the end of 2004.
"The feedback, both positive and negative, was that things were needed to make the version fly. Our decision, and it was a difficult one at the time, was to hold back. The delay in the release was difficult to do but I think and hope that the new release will be worth the wait. Version 3.0 represents a significant step forward," he said.
Version 2.0 was originally scheduled for release in April or May 2005. The release date for version 3.0 is slated for fourth quarter 2005 when it will be available to existing Microsoft CRM customers, and will be generally available in the first quarter 2006.
Microsoft has built the CRM product from scratch, and that, combined with its closeness to the fluctuating Project Green development, has contributed to long delays between releases and schedule changes. The initial 1.0 release was launched in January 2003, with the internationalized 1.2 version announced in December 2003 and available internationally during the first quarter 2004. Version 2.0 was expected in the second quarter 2005, shunted back to the fourth quarter 2005, and has now been superseded by 3.0.
A patch was issued in November 2004 that introduced some new functionality like the Information Bridge framework that provided access to the CRM product from within Microsoft Office applications and support for handheld devices. Nash said the new version would represent a step change in terms of what it has to offer. Major new functionality should include the long-anticipated marketing automation capability and include list management, campaign management, marketing response management, and marketing resource management.
Service functionality will also be improved and extended and a complex service scheduling capability will be added, which should enable the software to be used to address the needs of organizations with field service operations where previously the Microsoft CRM's service functionality was geared towards call centers.
The user interface also received attention so that it will look and feel like Office 2003 in a bid to address one of CRM's major problems, user adoption. By making it almost indistinguishable from standard Microsoft applications, Nash said users could almost "adopt CRM by stealth". Support for role-based interfaces will be an important aspect of version 3.0. These will allow for different views of the application depending on the type of user and their role. Their development relates to the rejigged first wave of Project Green deliverables.
Work has also been carried out on the configuration, customization, and integration capabilities, with the aim of making it easier for customers and partners to deploy tailored solutions.
Other additions will include the introduction of a Small Business Edition of Microsoft CRM, designed for companies with 25 to 75 employees, running Small Business Server. Some of the higher-end functionality such as workflow will be scaled back in this version, said Nash, and other features that are appropriate to the low end of the SMB market added, such as a fax server. "We have tried to make it more specific to that end of the market because you cannot have one size that fits all," he said.
Another change will be the introduction of a subscription-based pricing model to accommodate the demand for hosted CRM services. This will allow customers to pay a monthly rental fee rather than buy a perpetual license. Some Microsoft partners offer a hosted service but it can be more expensive than that of competitors like Salesforce.com because either customers need to buy a standard software license and pay monthly fees on top, or the supplier needs to juggle with the license and fee set up.
This release will include a complex service-scheduling module, designed to automatically find the best times to schedule service calls for field service or timeslots for professional services employees.
Microsoft CRM 3.0 will support 23 languages, up from the current 16, with support added for Swedish, Finnish, Turkish, and simple and traditional Chinese, among others.
Annette Giardina, CRM business director at Microsoft partner Aspective welcomed the news about version 3.0. She said it will bring more functionality to what was already a good product and that the addition of the marketing and service functionality means it will be able to compete with the complete CRM suite providers.
She does not think the skip to version 3.0 will be an issue with the customer base. "Whenever there is a delay in the release schedule, people ask why. To me Microsoft has delayed but come up with something more functionally rich than 2.0. As a partner I feel it is important that they listen to partner feedback," she said. "Any [customer] reaction was in March [when the delay was announced]. Customers don't care what it is called, they want functionality and to be able to upgrade easily." As Microsoft's biggest partner in the UK, Aspective is on Microsoft's tester program and has already successfully carried out two upgrades from version 1.2.
Giardina believes release 3.0 will help sales of the CRM product, not only because of the additional functionality and capabilities but also because it has developed a degree of maturity and will start attracting users who refuse to buy in 1.0 products as a matter of course. Aspective will continue to sell version 1.2 over the coming months, and is confident that customers will buy into it because it gives them earliest access to version 3.0. Microsoft CRM has a customer base of about 4,000 companies and 100,000 users.