Microsoft has announced plans to enter one of the fastest-growing areas of business software, customer relationship management (CRM), with the release in early 2003 of a CRM package built on technology from its Great Plains division.
In today`s competitive environment, it`s more important than ever for small and medium businesses to understand and meet the needs of their customers. And Microsoft Corp will soon be making it even easier for these businesses to do just that, and in turn build more profitable customer relationships, through a new customer relationship management (CRM) software solution designed specifically for small to medium-sized companies.
Microsoft Customer Relationship Management is designed for rapid deployment, ease of use, and integration with Microsoft Office and Microsoft Great Plains` back-office solutions, increasing information reliability, employee usage and productivity.
Microsoft Customer Relationship Management will be available as a standalone product in early 2003 as well as an integrated solution to Microsoft Great Plains Dynamics, Solomon and eEnterprise. It will be sold and implemented through Microsoft Great Plains` reselling partner channel, and support will be provided by partners and Microsoft Great Plains` award-winning customer support team. The solution will be available on-premise or as a hosted solution through select partners.
Says Chris Harris, Managing Director - Middle East Africa at Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions: "CRM is critical for small and medium businesses that are looking to deliver a better customer experience through interconnected business applications.
"With tools focusing on streamlining customer service, sales, and marketing Microsoft CRM will help these businesses do business better - and deliver better service to their customers. The product represents a significant step forward in Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions` vision of an interconnected economy, and is the first business solution to be built completely using the Microsoft .NET products and framework."
CRM has always been an area of focus for Microsoft Great Plains, but it has now stepped up its efforts to develop a product specifically tailored for small to medium markets, he adds.
Harris says that the new product plugs a significant gap in the market for an affordable, effective CRM solution for smaller companies. It builds on Microsoft Great Plains` years of experience selling CRM solutions and more than 20 years of serving the needs of the small and medium business market.
"Microsoft CRM will build on all of Great Plains` and Microsoft`s traditional strengths in the small and medium business arena. It will be easy to deploy and administer, and will provide a secure and robust CRM platform for companies that can`t afford enterprise CRM suites," Harris adds.
Microsoft CRM will offer a low total cost of ownership by allowing businesses to centrally deploy the solution and manage customer relationships through tight integration of front- and back-office applications.
The software will integrate tightly with other Microsoft business software such as the Office productivity tools, Outlook Express and Internet Explorer, and the Microsoft Great Plains back-office solutions Dynamics, Solomon and eEnterprise. Companies will not need to roll-out new infrastructure to support the product.
Harris says: "Microsoft CRM fills the need for a single integrated view of customers and will help smaller companies to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty and to establish more profitable customer relationships.
"The launch of the product is also good news for the Microsoft Great Plains channel partner network. Microsoft CRM represents an opportunity for our partners to deliver an entirely new category of integrated solutions in one of the fastest growing spaces in the software market."
Channel partners will be able to capitalise on opportunities to build Web services or vertical market applications based on the Microsoft CRM platform, and will also be able to offer delivery and implementation services to their customers.
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Microsoft Great Plains Africa, a subsidiary of the American company Microsoft and its Microsoft Great Plains Business Solutions division, provides business applications that help small and mid-market companies become more agile in today`s interconnected economy by extending specific information and procedures to employees, customers, vendors and partners. The business applications automate end-to-end business processes across financials, distribution, project accounting, electronic commerce, human resources and payroll, manufacturing, supply chain management, business analytics, sales and marketing management, and customer service and support. More information about the solutions offered by Microsoft Great Plains can be found at http://www.greatplains.com/ or at http://www.microsoft.com/business/greatplains/.
Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.
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