The VAR Guy

A near direct response to VMworld 2011, Microsoft has unveiled “Cloud CRM for Less,” a program to coax SAP, SalesForce and Oracle customers to  convert and migrate to Microsoft’s own Dynamics CRM Online. What’s the incentive? Dollar bills. Read on for the deets …

Microsoft is continuing its “$150 cash per user seat” promo, as long as your business has at least 50 and no more than 500 seats. Microsoft sees price tag as the barrier to change or migration, so the company is trying to mitigate that as much as possible for a potential customer.  By using Dynamics CRM, Microsoft said, customers can enjoy greater ubiquitous interoperability between other Microsoft’s products including Office, Lync and SharePoint. In addition, Microsoft boasted research figures that show Dynamics CRM offers features on “par with Salesforce.com on core CRM at roughly one-half to one-third the per-user subscription price.”

Hmmm. But can Microsoft really compete on price alone in this market? It will try to, since this promo is going on until March 31, 2012. You can also get yourself a free trial of Dynamics CRM Online here. For partners working with Microsoft and customers already living a happy Microsoft lifestyle, this cash bonus could mean the difference between a customer on the fence vs. one signing a contract, so Microsoft is certainly helping out its own.

But really, the cloud space is going to be fight, because not all customers want to, or happen to, live in an all-Microsoft ecosystem. Often times best-of-breed solutions win, despite the price tag, because they work the best. If you’re only competing on price, that’s not much to compete on, is it? Microsoft should also look out for Sage, which has has been boosting its efforts in the CRM and ERP space amid its recent rebranding campaign.

Read More About This Topic

• SAP Rolls Out Mobile Apps, Cloud Services at Sapphire Now
• Sage Offers Subscription Leasing Option for ERP Products
• SAP Rolls Out HANA Edge Edition for SMB/SME Analytics
• Kofax Debuts Enterprise Software Solution
• High-Tech News The VAR Guy Forgot to Write: Oct. 14