Unless you’re a hermit and you don’t have a TV or a radio, you’re probably quite familiar with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Perhaps you’re not as familiar with the Movember movement, but you can click on it and our friends at Wikipedia will tell you all about this worthy cause that has also become a movement of sorts. And what about Don’t Get Forced? Is that a movement, too? I see headlines in technology publications that read: “The ‘Don’t Get Forced’ Movement Is Gaining Momentum.” But what does actually mean?

Like any other movement, Don’t Get Forced needs converts to survive. And in this case, converts means companies choosing to purchase Microsoft Dynamics CRM instead of Salesforce.com. Or, companies moving to Microsoft Dynamics CRM from Salesforce.com. So it’s a business movement, not a protest movement like Occupy Wall Street and not a charitable movement like Movember.

Don’t Get Forced is a play on words meaning: ”Don’t get forced into a one-size fits all CRM solution like Salesforce.com.” So maybe it’s more like a battle of the bands, as opposed to a movement.

Altico Advisors, the company I work for, is a Microsoft Dynamics CRM partner. So there is no way I can claim to be unbiased, but…I have used both systems and while they both have their pros and cons, Microsoft Dynamics CRM has been more user friendly for me personally. Now, never mind me. Here are some interesting factual comparisons aimed at convincing you that…

You Don’t Want to Get Forced

	Salesforce.com	Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Price per user	$125/user/mo	$65/user/mo
Cost to add collaboration tools	$15/user/mo	From $3/user/mo
Storage	1GB	5-20GB
Cost per GB for additional storage	$3,000	$120
Outlook interface + Office 365 interoperability	NO	YES
Process-driven user experience	NO	YES
Dedicated database	NO	YES
99.9% financially backed SLA	NO	YES
Industry standard development platform	NO	YES
No flipping between apps	NO	YES
Contractual privacy protection via European Model Clauses Available	NO	YES

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/crm.aspx

I think Microsoft calls Don’t Get Forced an online campaign. Advertising campaign? Marketing campaign? Campaign is also another word for battle. Hmmm…. Whatever you call it, I hope Microsoft wins! Does anyone want to take odds? You can find us at http://www.AlticoAdvisors.com/.

By Marcia Nita Doron, Altico Advisors, Microsoft CRM partner serving Massachusetts (MA)