Microsoft says its Dynamics CRM pricing undercuts others by half

DENVER – Microsoft announced Tuesday pricing for its Dynamics Live CRM service that undercuts by nearly 50% the current average prices in the market for similar services, according to Microsoft.

The company said at its annual Worldwide Partner Conference that the initial release of the service will include Enterprise and Professional editions. Microsoft plans to deploy other editions but is not disclosing the timing or configurations, according to company officials.

The Enterprise Edition will be priced at $59 per user per month. Microsoft said that compares to competing prices from other vendors that range from $100 to $125 per user per month. The Professional Edition is priced at $44 per user per month, compared with $65 to $75 per user per month for other services, according to Microsoft.

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

DENVER – Microsoft announced Tuesday pricing for its Dynamics Live CRM service that undercuts by nearly 50% the current average prices in the market for similar services, according to Microsoft.

The company said at its annual Worldwide Partner Conference that the initial release of the service will include Enterprise and Professional editions. Microsoft plans to deploy other editions but is not disclosing the timing or configurations, according to company officials.

The Enterprise Edition will be priced at $59 per user per month. Microsoft said that compares to competing prices from other vendors that range from $100 to $125 per user per month. The Professional Edition is priced at $44 per user per month, compared with $65 to $75 per user per month for other services, according to Microsoft.

As an introduction, Microsoft will provide users with the Professional Edition for free through the end of 2007 and for $39 per user per month through 2008.

CRM is a highly customizable application and prices can vary depending on configuration, specialized components and number of users.

Microsoft is playing from behind in the offering of CRM as a hosted service. Last month, Forrester released a study that showed Microsoft was not even in the top 10 of vendors offering CRM/Sales Force Automation software and/or online services.

While Oracle was the top shrink-wrapped software package, software-as-a-service providers took five of the 10 top slots. Pioneer Salesforce.com was third best, while Oracle’s software-as-a-service option, Siebel CRM On Demand, was ranked sixth. Software-as-a-service vendors Entellium, NetSuite and RighNow Technologies came in at eight, nine and 10.

Microsoft’s shrink-wrapped Dynamics CRM finished 13th. Microsoft plans to deliver its CRM in three ways: on-premise software, hosted by partners, and as a service run and managed by Microsoft.

Before the end of the year, Microsoft will release the next version of Dynamics CRM, code-named Titan, which will encompass all those versions on a single code base.

Both of Microsoft’s initial releases of Dynamics CRM Live have custom configuration capabilities, including the ability to add 100 custom entities to the system. Uses can develop mashups with other services, such as Virtual Earth, or data, and support business workflows. Both editions also support Outlook or a Web browser as a client.

“Besides a Web browser client you can have CRM streamed directly into Outlook as a new set of folders that supplement your existing mail, tasks and calendars,” says Brad Wilson, the general manager of Dynamics CRM. “You see those folders inside Outlook but the reality is that part of those folders is pointing to data on the laptop and part to data in a cloud-based service.” Microsoft calls those combined capabilities software-plus-services.

The major difference between the Enterprise and the Professional editions is that the Enterprise version will let users work offline without a network connection and then synchronize their data when they return to the LAN.