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Research firms Forrester and Gartner agree, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is ahead of the pack in customer relationship management for medium to large sized businesses. Although recent reports have shown that Salesforce CRM is a cult favorite among SMBs, Microsoft Dynamics CRM has won the popularity contest amongst the bigger enterprises. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is praised for its ability to seamlessly integrate with other Microsoft products; Dynamics CRM is also structured to allow users to create customized solutions with the xRM framework.

Forrester’s report investigated 15 of the leading CRM systems including Dynamics competitors Salesforce.com, Oracle Siebel and SAP. The research agency conducted their CRM evaluation based on operations, sales execution, cost, customer satisfaction, deployment options, business model, and innovation. To further reinforce Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s leading position in the CRM world, Gartner produced a report naming Dynamics as the best option for large enterprises as well.

“It is an honor to be recognized as a leader in the CRM industry that is helping customers seize new opportunities and grow their businesses,” says New Zealand Dynamics Manager, Stewart Gibbs. “We deliver innovation and value to companies in New Zealand around the world by focusing on end-user productivity, business process flexibility and agility, and the ability of our customers to leverage cloud deployment models.”

What makes Microsoft Dynamics CRM so wonderful? The CRM suite is comprised of a comprehensive set of tools and capabilities that allow users to optimize their business relationships throughout the sales pipeline. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is also fully customizable and scalable, making itself a perfect fit for businesses of any size.

“Our customers have reported a number of benefits from Dynamics CRM, such as having the ability to identify and retain their most profitable customers, and being able to better target and manage their growing customer and sales disciplines around sales, service and marketing, while benefiting from a custom line of business applications built on the CRM platform,” explains Stewart.

With all the functions and features Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers its users, it comes as no surprise that both Gartner and Forrester have recognized the software as the one to beat.

“CRM is one of the fastest growing areas of our business. Customers are really starting to see how a CRM solution, both in its pure form but also in a tailored form, can help their businesses manage relationships of all types. The diverse application of Dynamics CRM is exciting to see- from organizations using the application to manage typical customer sales relationships through to managing training programs for apprentices, and even managing the heritage and location of guide dogs. Things have certainly matured since the days of failed large scale CRM implementations. Now customers are seeing fast ROI and benefits realization from a more agile platform. It’s great to see what can be achieved,” says Simon Bright a Dynamics customer and COO at Intergen.

This week was the July Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. Microsoft announced the new and updated features of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, Microsoft’s next version of its customer relationship management solutions.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 will have a similar interface as Microsoft Office Suite, but the new version will integrate with the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace which is expected to be released in the third quarter of 2010. Microsoft expects that the integration of Dynamics CRM with the Marketplace will enhance the overall CRM experience.

The general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Brad Wilson, said, “Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011… offers new levels of user productivity and collaboration that meet their specific business needs with a lot total cost of ownership…this new release raises the bar in the CRM market.”

Microsoft plans to advance user personalization, enhance the overall Microsoft Office experience, and build on the real-time dashboard. They will also update and expand several features, including flexible goal management, inline data visualizations, guided process dialogs, and RoleTailored design.

Cloud developers will be able to deploy custom code for Dynamics CRM 2011 with tools such as Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Silverlight, Windows Communication Foundation, and Language Integrated Query. Users will also be able to manage and create solutions, as well as download and apply custom solutions from the Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace.

The Microsoft Dynamics 2011 Beta will be released in September of this year. If you are interested in learning more about the Microsoft Dynamics CRM app store, click here. To view a list of other CRM software vendors, click here.

Following in Salesforce.com’s footsteps with AppExchange, Microsoft will create its own CRM application store. The Microsoft CRM 2011 marketplace will be available in beta form in September, then generally available by the end of this year.

The CRM app store will allow Microsoft partners to sell applications to complement Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft’s complex and innovative customer relationship management solution. Microsoft plans to extend the availability of the CRM App store to 40 other markets, including Brazil, Costa Rica, Chila, and Australia, by the end of the year.

The app marketplace will begin online, following Salesforce.com’s release of AppExchange in September. Microsoft is trying to keep up with its main competitor, Salesforce. Analyst, China Martens, commented on this issue. She said, “[The Dynamics Marketplace is an] important integration, since one of the reasons some customers talk about going with Salesforce.com is being able to easily identify a whole ecosystem of complementary apps and extensions around its CRM- something Microsoft does well to emulate.”

Apparently, the Microsoft CRM App store has been in the works for a while. Microsoft plans to release it alongside an updated version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, which will integrate better with Microsoft Office, Outlook, and Sharepoint. Microsoft is smart to keep their CRM applications connected to their Microsoft products, such as Office, because Salesforce.com does not have the same advantage.

Microsoft plans to price their CRM app store similarly to the prices of Salesforce’s applications, but the exact pricing model is currently unclear. This new Microsoft CRM App store could help Microsoft get a leg up on Salesforce.com, but unfortunately Microsoft has a long way to go. According to IDC, an analyst company’s, report, Salesforce had $885 million in application revenue in 2009. Other companies followed, including Oracle and SAP. Microsoft came in fifth on IDC’s report, at $139 million in application revenue. Microsoft probably anticipates that their CRM App store will help them climb the list a little higher.

If you are interested in learning more about other CRM vendors, check this free report of the Top 40 CRM Software Vendors.

Jelly Belly Candy Company, the famous international candy manufacturer, was in need of a customer relationship management system so it decided to deploy Microsoft Dynamics CRM. In the last decade, Jelly Belly has grown rapidly as it has expanded its product selection and number of offices. In 2007, it installed an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and needed a customer relationship management (CRM) system that would easily integrate with it. Microsoft Dynamics CRM was the answer to Jelly Belly’s needs.

Jelly Belly wanted to improve its customer relations and reduce customer churn, while increasing its revenue.The company also wanted to standardize the sales process to make it easier to track and report sales activity. For example, Jelly Belly employees regularly attended trade shows where they acquired several hundred leads, but the company had no system to ensure that these leads were followed up on in a timely manner. Dan Rosman, the Vice President of Information Technology at Jelly Belly, said, “Our manufacturing operations operate with very little waste and produce extremely consistent results. We wanted that same type of efficiency and consistency in our sales, but we needed a tool that would help us achieve that goal.”

Jelly Belly also wanted to attract new customers, on top of keeping its current customers. The Vice President of Business Development at Jelly Belly, Ryan Schader, said, “It takes a lot more time and energy to acquire new customers than to retain current ones. However, without a customer relationship management system integrated with our ERP system, there was little we could do from an organization standpoint to remedy this problem. Our customer relationship management project was critical.” In great need of a CRM solution, Jelly Belly deployed a non-Microsoft CRM system. The system was extremely complicated, difficult to deploy, and confusing to navigate. It did not integrate well with Jelly Belly’s ERP system and the technical issues made it too much of a hassle for Jelly Belly employees. After 18 months of attempting to integrate this CRM solution, Jelly Belly gave up and decided to look into other options.

Jelly Belly contacted Microsoft to look into setting up one of their CRM solutions. In two and a half months, Microsoft Dynamics CRM was completely installed. The deployment was under-budget and highly impressed the Jelly Belly staff, especially after the 18 month failed deployment of their previous CRM solution.

Now, with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Jelly Belly employees have a complete view of customer information and account activity. “Microsoft Dynamics CRM serves as a transparent clearinghouse for customer information at Jelly Belly,” says Schader. “There is no longer a disconnection between customer service, order entry, and our sales representatives in the field. Every customer interaction is logged through the system, whether a sales representative or a representative on our customer service team creates it.” Jelly Belly developed a follow up system within Microsoft Dynamics CRM where they can track their customers. Employees can see which customers have not ordered Jelly Belly products in the past year, which then allows them to call the customers to follow up and create new orders. Schader explained that customers are happy to have Jelly Belly calling and reminding them about both purchase information and new products. It saves them time and increases Jelly Belly’s efficiency and revenue.

Overall, Jelly Belly met all of its needs and goals in just five months. The company achieved a 34 percent reduction in customer churn with the help of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Also, Dynamics CRM helped Jelly Belly formalize its sales processes which led to an increase of $60,000 in additional revenue each month. Microsoft Dynamics CRM paid for itself in less than three months. Schader said, “The mantra for our company right now is ‘Work smarter, not harder.’ Tools like Microsoft Dynamics CRM are helping us grow even as the economy goes through a rough period.” Microsoft Dynamics CRM was really the answer to Jelly Belly’s growth. The numbers alone show how much the CRM solution helped. Find out more about Microsoft Dynamics CRM on Microsoft’s website.

At the end of last month, Microsoft Dynamics CRM was named one of the strongest leading customer relationship management (CRM) solutions by Forrester Research, a technology and market research advising company. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is particularly suitable for midsized and large companies, according to Forrester.

Forrester Research compared Microsoft Dynamics CRM to 18 other CRM solutions. They assessed the CRM solutions based on their market share, future development strategy, current product, and 513 other criteria. Between what Microsoft has now and what Forrester determined their potential is, Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM solution came out on top.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a solution that enables companies to track sales, create price lists, get leads, and track competitors, which ultimately allows companies to increase productivity while driving sales. Dynamics CRM simplifies business processes because all of the necessary applications are in one central software package enabling employees to easily access the information that they need.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM was compared to a number of other major CRM companies, including Salesforce.com, Oracle, CDC Software, and SAP CRM. According to the Forrester Wave for Midsized Businesses, pictured below, Microsoft has a stronger strategy despite having less to offer than Oracle and CDC.

In the Forrester Wave for Large Organizations, pictured below, Microsoft Dynamics CRM is still one of the strongest CRM solutions. It rivals Salesforce and SAP CRM, but still holds its leading position.

Businesses can read more about Microsoft Dynamics CRM on Microsoft’s website, where they can also request a free demo.

Hard Rock International, a company that owns restaurants, hotels, casinos, and concert halls that display an extensive collection of music memorabilia, has a large customer base and was finding it difficult to manage their customer relations. Hard Rock did not have an efficient system to handle the tens of thousands of customer inquiries that they received every year, so they decided to implement Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Dynamics CRM would help Hard Rock manage their customer service relations without requiring new staff members.

Hard Rock International receives around 56,000 customer inquiries every year, by email or phone, within their 157 venues across the world. Patrick Colbert, the Director of CRM and Loyalty at Hard Rock International, said “Our team handles calls and e-mails from across our operations—everything from loyalty program point balances to questions about a product online.” The number of inquiries will grow every year as Hard Rock continues to expand their empire. Frequently, the Hard Rock customer care team has to consult managers at the individual venues to get specific information. They did not have one unified application to share information, so often communication was impaired.

Hard Rock International deployed Microsoft Dynamics CRM in just eight weeks. 1.5 million customer records were uploaded into the system, which allowed the Hard Rock representatives to gather information about their customer base so they could provide them with the services that they needed. Also, Microsoft Dynamics CRM gave employees one unified application which allowed managers or customer service representatives to access information easier. Hard Rock was also able to create email templates, with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, to respond to routine requests. Dynamics CRM also enabled Hard Rock to track inquiries so that they made sure every issue was resolved in a timely manner. Managers could file reports onto the system so that customer representatives knew that the case was handled.

Hard Rock International rapidly ameliorated their customer relationship management system with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Customer business processes went a lot faster and smoother. Hard Rock was able to respond to the increase in inquiries. The Customer Care Manager at Hard Rock International, Davonne Minshew, said, “With Microsoft Dynamics CRM, we’ll be able to keep up with 20 percent annual increases in customer inquiry volume without having to increase staff on our Customer Care Team.” Hard Rock did not even have to hire new staff to handle the growth. Employees are much more productive and efficient with Dynamics CRM. Also, Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s user interface is easy to use, which made training faster and easier.

Colbert said, “Since we began using Microsoft Dynamics CRM at Hard Rock, our response times have dropped significantly to just four hours.” Employees can resolve issues faster with the new system. Microsoft Dynamics CRM completely transformed Hard Rock International’s system by increasing customer satisfaction and expediting business processes. Hard Rock International is very pleased with the results.

You can read more about Microsoft Dynamics CRM here or on their website.

Two reputed and popular CRM packages are Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Office Business Contact Manager: Microsoft Outlook Advantage. Many business owners do not know the difference between these products or why one is better for certain types of companies. Let’s break down the details of each software application and why one is better for one type of business over another.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM helps companies connect with their customers better because key customer information is recorded. Dynamics CRM can track sales and forecast. It has Microsoft Office capabilities, which allows users to create price lists and unit groups. Microsoft Dynamics CRM will help businesses increase productivity, automate lead management, acquire information to help them drive sales, and streamline sales cycles. Users can track leads and put them all in one system where all users have access. Businesses can also track their competitors and how they rank against them to better evaluate their position in the market. Microsoft Dynamics CRM will ultimately give businesses the drive they need to grow. Users can also monitor offers and pricing while tracking actual revenue dollars. Overall, workflow processes are simplified as everything is in one database and customer relationship management is a lot easier.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM helps cut down the time it takes to do certain business processes. It is ideal for medium and large companies because it allows all employees to view the same information on one system which increases collaboration and integration. Dynamics CRM also has many out-of-the-box features, including workflow, territory management, offline access, and more. It will save companies time and money. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is an affordable option, particularly in comparison to Salesforce.com’s CRM applications, and is priced at $44 per user per month.

Microsoft Office Business Contact Manager, on the other hand, is better for smaller businesses. It is a contact management solution that is easy to use. Business Contact Manager helps business owners centralize customer information, which will ultimately help with marketing campaigns and sales leads. Businesses will be able to better understand their customers with this Microsoft management solution. The 2010 Business Contact Manager has many new features, including probability charts for products and services, and the sales stage application. Users can file all of their contacts in one place, and this can be accessed from anywhere.

Microsoft Office Business Contact Manager is better for small businesses because each person has their own emails, tasks, and appointments and other users cannot view their information. This makes it harder for larger businesses because users cannot get the overall picture of the progress with a customer. For smaller companies, Microsoft’s Business Contact Manager is ideal because it is easier to use and is simple. Small businesses do not need larger complex systems. If they do grow, users of Microsoft’s Business Contact Manager can easily switch to Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

You can view a demo of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Office Business Contact Manager on Microsoft’s website.

Last week, Salesforce.com countersued Microsoft for patent-infringement. Microsoft sued Salesforce first, in May, over intellectual property infringement. These customer relationship management (CRM) competitors are battling it out over patent violations. Microsoft and Salesforce are both seeking an injuction and monetary compensation for the violations.

Microsoft claims that Salesforce’s CRM software violates nine Microsoft patents. Microsoft wants Salesforce to stop using any technology that violates Microsoft’s patents. This in addition to monetary penalties could hurt Salesforce.com drastically while giving Microsoft a leg up in the CRM solutions arena.

Horacio Gutierrez, the Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing for Microsoft, commented on the law suit. He said, “Microsoft has been a leader and innovator in the software industry for decades and continues to invest billions of dollars each year in bringing great software products and services to market. We have a responsibility to our customers, partners, and shareholders to safeguard that investment, and therefore cannot stand idly by when others infringe our IP rights.”

Salesforce was not willing to negotiate so the two companies will be going to court. Salesforce decided to hit Microsoft back on Thursday, when the law suit against Microsoft was filed. Salesforce claims that many Microsoft products, including SharePoint Collaboration and .NET platform, violate Salesforce’s patents.

The fight is getting ugly as Salesforce CEO, Marc Benioff, called Microsoft a “patent troll” and an “alley thug”. Microsoft has filed four other patent-infringement suits in the past. Both companies represent a large part of the CRM market and they are direct competitors. It is likely both companies feel threatened by the other and this is the reason that the patent fight is becoming so intense. In history, the longer-standing and wealthier company, which in this case would be Microsoft, would win. On the other hand, Salesforce is a strong and growing company with one of the best prosecuting attorneys in the U.S., David Boise.

Whichever company loses will be hit hard; especially Salesforce because the company is newer and relies heavily on their CRM applications, which are in question.

Last week, Forrester Research Inc., an independent technology and market research company, named Microsoft Corp.’s Microsoft Dynamics CRM a Leader in The Forrester Wave: CRM Suites for Midsized, Q2 2010 and The Forrester Wave: CRM Suites for Large Organizations, Q2 2010.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is one of Microsoft’s latest applications that offers companies a centralized source of customer information that all users can access from any computer or mobile smartphone. This CRM product will help companies increase their sales because they will be able to understand their customers better. Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers sales forecasting, mobile capabilities, and global activity scheduling. It enables companies to capitalize on prospective customers.

The Forrester Wave reports analyzed 19 different customer relationship management (CRM) applications for midsized companies and 18 CRM solutions for large companies. Forrester Research Inc. evaluated the CRM solutions based on 516 criteria to see how the products fulfilled businesses’ needs. Microsoft was recognized in both the midsized and the large organizations categories.

Forrester decided that Microsoft Dynamics CRM is one of the easiest solutions to use. Dynamics CRM is fast to deploy, making it easier for companies to switch CRM systems. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is reasonably priced and is one of the best of the many CRM solutions out there. William Band, Vice President and Principal Analyst of Forrester Research said in the report, “Microsoft owns a SaaS solution — Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online — and buyers value the solution’s native integration with Outlook and being able to work within the familiar Microsoft technology stack. Buyers also like Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s usability, lower price and its quick time to value compared with traditional CRM applications.”

Microsoft Corp. is very proud of Forrester’s recognition of their Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution. Brad Wilson, the General Manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, said, “It is an honor to be recognized as a Leader in the CRM industry that is helping customers seize new opportunities and grow their businesses. We deliver innovation and value to companies around the world through our focus on end-user productivity, business process flexibility and agility, and the ability of our customers to leverage public and private cloud deployment models.”

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a flexible product that is sure to help customer relationship management for midsized and large companies. If you are interested in reading more about Microsoft Dynamics CRM, go to Microsoft Corp.’s website. If you would like to read the Forrester Wave reports, they are available on Forrester Research Inc.’s website.

Microsoft Corp. is suing Salesforce.com Inc with the accusation that the customer relationship management (CRM) giant has infringed nine patents for ways to make software more efficient.

The complaint targets the customer-relationship management software that is the hallmark of Salesforce.com’s business. It seeks a court order that would prevent the San Francisco-based company from providing features that Microsoft claims it invented.

Salesforce.com, the biggest seller of internet-based customer relationship management software with $1.3 billion in sales last year, was founded in 1999 and offers software that businesses subscribe to and use over the web for running marketing campaigns and tracking sales leads. It competes against Microsoft’s Dynamics software in the CRM market.

“Microsoft has been a leader and innovator in the software industry for decades and continues to invest billions of dollars each year in bringing great software products and services to market,” said Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s deputy general counsel for intellectual property and licensing. Microsoft “cannot stand idly by when others infringe” our intellectual property rights, he said.

The complaint was filed in federal court in Seattle after more than a year of talks, according to Microsoft, the world’s biggest software maker. The CEO of Salesforce.com, Marc Benioff, has said he wants customers and software developers to write online applications on his system, dubbed Force.com, much like the way personal computer programs run on Microsoft’s Windows operating system.