Getting re-branded

It could be argued that Microsoft has reached its software leadership position through clever marketing as much as innovative development. However, the process underlying the re-branding of its business solutions could bring real benefits for customers and end-users.

One of Microsoft`s latest marketing campaigns is to re-brand its business solutions as components of the Microsoft Dynamics range. This is a process that in the next 18 months will see the disappearance of the old product names of Axapta, Great Plains, Navision and Solomon.

According to the local Microsoft business solutions (MBS) group manager Derek Kudsee, the re-branding exercise is aimed at getting across the message that Microsoft is in the business of business applications.

It seems Microsoft`s success in other markets has obscured its enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and other business application offerings to such an extent, that re-branding is seen as being vital to winning and securing a share of customers among small and medium business.

Perhaps 'Microsoft business solutions` was indeed a little too generic to emerge with a strong identity of its own as one of Microsoft`s core business units. If successful, Microsoft Dynamics will become as synonymous with ERP and CRM for the mid-market as SAP and Siebel are for the enterprise market.

If successful, Microsoft Dynamics will become as synonymous with ERP and CRM for the mid-market as SAP and Siebel are for the enterprise market.

Warwick Ashford, portals managing editor

Although it must be costing money to re-brand, Microsoft clearly does not believe the relatively limited success of its business applications is entirely due to the product set`s lacklustre name. This is evidenced by the fact that along with the new name will come a whole new approach.

Microsoft plans to get the most out of its investment in Office 12 by sharing the fruits of that research and development with the Dynamics range of products. As a result, the user interface (UI) of each Dynamics application will change according to a user`s business role and as the user moves through standard business processes.

Instead of functionality being hidden in countless drop-down menus, Kudsee says only appropriate functionality will be presented to guide users through standard tasks. This is key to the aim of making it easier for users to do their jobs and delivering greater productivity across business applications.

The benefit to the end-user is that the applications will be easier to use, being based on the Office 12 research projects aimed at mapping common processes and tasks in the software and use of a context-sensitive UI to highlight appropriate functionality within the application as well as across an integrated software stack.

The ability to get better value out of the entire stack is what Microsoft is hoping will prove highly attractive to small and medium business and help win new customers. Of course, only customers with a completely Microsoft stack of software will get that extra value. As a marketing ploy, it cannot be faulted, but at least in this instance there is some value for the customer.

Although Microsoft seems to be betting a whole lot on the benefits and value tight integration across its products promises to deliver, it is not betting everything on customers opting for a Microsoft-only solution.

In a highly competitive market, Microsoft is seeing the value of partnerships, as evidenced by the industry builder initiative and other partnership programmes, which enable independent software vendors to build on top of Microsoft platforms in a symbiotic fashion.

An increasingly tech-savvy market has taught Microsoft not only to share, but also to be a little more pragmatic. In a world where heterogeneous software stacks are a reality, Microsoft is making sure the Dynamics range will be as interoperable as possible.

Kudsee says the strategy that will enable third-party applications to integrate through Web services, proving that Microsoft no longer sees itself as the only important player in the global software market. This is a good thing because it is likely to deliver better products at lower prices.

Lower pricing is another key strategy. If offering a super UI that`s common across all its products and tight integration is not enough to attract new business, delivering high-end business at lower cost is the ultimate backup plan.

By Microsoft SA MD Gordon Frazer`s own admission, Microsoft has always been about low cost commodity software. Now it is taking that principle aggressively to the mid-market.

It will be interesting to see whether Microsoft`s business solutions 'rose` will smell any sweeter by another name. Ultimately the success of the Dynamics range will depend on whether the market feels the software delivers on its promise of better usability and value.