Gartner, one of the world’s leading information technology research and advisory companies, recently completed an independent offerings and the report’s number one recommendation is at the heart of Microsoft’s CRM strategy:
“Any size company that has a Microsoft technology stack should consider Microsoft Dynamics CRM for automating sales force automation and customer service and support processes.”
The analysis goes on to detail out some of the tightly integrated features of Dynamics CRM and the Microsoft stack including:
- Native Outlook client interface allows access to all CRM functionality and integrates directly with email tracking, contact management, task management, and calendaring
- Access to live CRM data within Microsoft Excel allows the creation of dynamic pivot tables and reports
- Easy to use mail merge functionality using existing Microsoft Word capabilities
- Extend CRM data to customers and partners using the Business Data Catalog functionality of Microsoft’s SharePoint portals
- Access to SQL Server Reporting Services for executive level reporting and analysis
In addition to Dynamics CRM’s synergy with the entire Microsoft line of business solutions, the Gartner report covers many aspects of Microsoft’s CRM offerings including sales force automation, customer service and support, the Dynamics delivery model, Microsoft’s partner community and platform customization capabilities. At the conclusion of their analysis the Gartner researchers touted the strengths of the Dynamics CRM platform as:
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Strengths
- Competitive price for functionality, especially for the SaaS offering
- Integration with Microsoft technology stack assets, such as Microsoft SharePoint for collaboration and content management or Microsoft Visual Studio for extended customization
- On-premises multitenancy architecture enables companies to create their own private clouds for internal constituents
- User interface compatibility with Microsoft Outlook clients, with the ability to create custom user interfaces
- Broad partner delivery network to augment missing functional capabilities
- Language support for 44 languages and other dialects
To see for yourself how your company can leverage your existing Microsoft investment with a Dynamics CRM solution of Dynamics CRM, or contact the Systematica team.
By Cory Fellers, Systematica Inc. a .
