Dynamic CRM From Microsoft

Customer Inter@ction Solutions, May 2007 by Tehrani, Rich

In my quest to keep abreast of the latest developments in the CRM marketplace, I like to take the time to touch base with the most prominent and innovative CRM solutions providers several times each year to find out where they've been, where they are now and where they are going. CRM is a rapidly changing technology (one might even say that at any given moment, the term "CRM" means something different to anyone who looks at it).

Because of the changeable nature of CRM, the Microsoft division that covers CRM is well named: Dynamics. I recently got a chance to catch up with Brad Wilson, General Manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

RT: What kinds of capabilities can Microsoft Dynamics CRM provide to small to medium-sized businesses that they cannot or are not getting from other providers in the space?

BW: Our approach is a bit different from that of other CRM companies. We've found that most small to mediumsized businesses can't absorb a lot of technologies that require a steep learning curve or hours in training classes. One of the key ways we're addressing this is to provide a CRM solution delivered within the familiar look and feel of Microsoft Oudook and other Microsoft Office applications, enabling employees to work more productively and keep customer information current.

Other big differentiators for us - me deep verticalization and deep customization available using standard technology. The Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform is very easy to customize. That's been a big Achilles' heel for the industry in general; customizing an enterprise application typically involved using a very complex, proprietary toolset that was hard to understand or maintain. We've simplified the process by building a metadata-driven application platform that's both upgradeable and portable.

RT: To what do you attribute the frankly very negative perception and outright failure of many of the early CRM implementations in the dot-corn era that led to a lot of expensive systems gathering dust? Whose fault do you think this was?

BW: The primary cause for most CRM failures has been poor user adoption, driven by a complex and unfamiliar application experience. While these systems may have worked in theory, they fail the test of supporting the way real people do their job everyday. Much of this was caused by vendors focusing on features and functions rather than on driving productivity for the people whose adoption of the system is essential to making CRM succeed within the organization. A secondary factor was the sheer complexity and cost involved in installing and maintaining a CRM system, making it difficult for businesses to ever achieve a decent return on investment.

RT: How has the industry moved to correct these problems?

BW: Microsoft entered the CRM market four years ago with a different perspective on delivering CRM to customers. Gartner recently wrote that it expects Microsoft CRM to be the fastest-growing CRM product in 2006 and 2007. They attributed this growth largely to our ability to provide tight integration with Outlook and our delivery of what diey call a "basic, pragmatic solution." We've made user productivity a core value for our system because people are the linchpin to its success. We're providing a platform that is highly configurable and easy for most companies' IT organizations to adopt and embrace. These two factors are die ones we believe are contributing most to a change in die CRM landscape.

RT: Microsoft seems to believe that CRM should be a business-driven and not technology-driven concept. Can you elaborate on that a little?

BW: At Microsoft, we believe CRM is more dian a product - it's a strategy. Our role is to deliver highly productive, cost-effective technology that enables organizations to implement this strategy and impact its goals. Technology should be mapped to a company's business requirements - an enabler, so to speak, radier dian die driver.

That's why our approach is to offer technology diat works die way people and businesses do, using a familiar interface and tools like our powerful, SQL-based reporting services diat offer multiple ways of viewing and understanding the power of dieir data. A customer example of diis is Volt, a staffing solution company with more than 350 offices diroughout the U.S. The company has experienced great success with Microsoft Dynamics CRM and credits a high rate of user adoption to dungs' like native Outlook integration and the ability for employees to work within a system diey're already familiar widi. An internal survey diey conducted found that 83 percent of respondents saw Microsoft CRM as "a significant improvement and easier to manage" dian die mediod they were using previously.

RT: Can you tell us a little bit about die Mobile version of Microsoft's CRM product? What kinds of companies are using it and how?

BW: Microsoft supports two mobile solutions: CRM Mobile and CRM Mobile Express. CRM Mobile is a native Windows Mobile application that provides full access to SFA data in a mobile environment. This allows users who aren't always at their desks - like sales reps-to easily update customer information or order quantities on the road and be notified of updates via alerts.