CRM 2011 is Live!

CRM 2011 went live today!  I watched the global launch at the Irving Microsoft campus with the local Microsoft CRM team.  We watched Steve Ballmer, Kirill Tatarinov, Brad Wilson, and Craig Unger highlight the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online launch in 40 markets and 41 languages and showcase customer success stories.  CRM 2011 or version 5.0 has made leaps and bounds over previous version and will bring alot of value to CRM v4.0 users or new users of the product.  The most impressive functionality includes: the Outlook interface and user personalization, the dashboard and charting capabilities, and the overall enhancements to the user experience.

To sweeten the offer, Microsoft has aggressively priced CRM 2011 at $34 per user per month until June 30th, 2011.  This is a $10 discount from the previous version and less than half the monthly fees of many competitors including Salesforce.com and Oracle's CRM On Demand.  Microsoft announced a call to action:  'Cloud CRM for Less' targeting Salesforce and Oracle customers offering of $200 per user to switch to CRM Online.  These 'rebate' funds can be allocated to reduce the cost of switching to the Microsoft platform.  Based on the new pricing and the rebate, CRM 2011 Online users will have a lower overall TCO compared to Salesforce.com and Oracle CRM on Demand users.
It is shaping up to be an interesting year in the world of Cloud CRM! Sign up for a free trial of CRM Online at http://crm.dynamics.com/