Today Microsoft publicly released Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online, the cloud version!

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 On-Premise and Partner Hosted versions have a release date of February 28th, 2011.

Here’s the public Press Pass http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2011/jan11/1-17MSCRMOnlinePR.mspx  

The updated CRM 2011 website has a free 30-day trial and limited time launch offer of $34 per user per month. http://crm.dynamics.com

Microsoft is also offering a cash back promotion for companies who switch to Microsoft CRM from certain Salesforce.com and Oracle products. http://www.cloudcrmforless.com

The Virtual Launch is on January 20th is at http://crm.dynamics.com/2011launch

The Chicago in-person launch is event is on March 8, 2011. Registration and detail are at https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032471465&EventCategory=1&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

Microsoft recently announced some updates to the next version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. I was expecting the next version to be “5.0” but Microsoft seems to like to change naming formats of their products occasionally. So now it’s officially Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. 

Here’s a press pass with more detail on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011

The most recent updates include:

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online will be launched by the end of 2010
• CRM Online will be available in 40 markets and 41 languages by the end of 2010
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 On-Premise will be launched early 2011
• An updated video overview of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is now available
• Microsoft will be launching Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace in September 2010
• Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Public Beta will be available in September 2010

Like last quarter the results weren’t all that great but Microsoft Dynamics CRM is again one of the products that’s continuing to see growth.

On the webcast Chris Liddell, Microsoft’s Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer said “In the quarter we continued to see strong demand for our SharePoint, Office Communications Server, and CRM products which all grew more than 20%.”

Microsoft’s Investor Relations page is at http://www.microsoft.com/msft/default.mspx

Of course, Salesforce.com is trying to downplay this as nothing serious and just “retirement” type of stuff. Seems a bit more than just a coincidence to me.

Here’s The Wall Street Journal article http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/02/06/shakeup-at-salesforcecom/

Odd how things work.

I was talking to a prospective customer about Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. They were also evaluating a few other products including a Software-As-A-Service (SAAS) offering called Rave by a company named Entellium.

The prospect asked me “why go with Microsoft”? Good question. A good answer was that Microsoft Dynamics CRM met their requirements really well.  But one thing that wasn’t part of their requirements was vendor longevity. I suggested that this should be a key factor for them to consider because Microsoft isn’t going anywhere and most likely won’t be adversely affected by the current economic conditions.  

Can the same be said for other CRM software companies? What about all of these small CRM startups? Or what about even traditional CRM/ERP companies with an uncertain future like Sage Software (makers of ACT!, Saleslogix, and Peachtree) who fired their North American executive management team?

If it was my business should I be investing in a long term CRM “safe bet”? Or some startup that could disappear along with my advance payment? Or how about a company whose product I’ll need to rip out and replace in a couple of years with new expensive CRM software because they went under?

The answer just came in through the news.

Entellium executives arrested by FBI for making up revenue figures