New Microsoft Dynamics Social CRM White Paper: Can They Deliver Enough Today?

Microsoft has released a new Microsoft Dynamics white paper on social CRM that consolidates analyst thinking  on the business opportunities that can be advanced with the use of social technology and explores the ways Microsoft has incorporated those ideas into its products.

The white paper segments existing Microsoft social capabilities into three focus areas: marketing, sales, and service. For each area, it highlights Microsoft tools that Dynamics CRM customers could take advantage of, albeit from different product teams and in a variety of states of readiness - released software, unsupported add-ins, and even experimental R&D products from Microsoft labs.   What's missing from the report is one of Microsoft's greatest strengths in its social technology story today: solutions from its ISV partners that have been filling gaps in Microsoft's vision and product lineup for as long as the social concept has been showing up on RFPs.

"In the last 18 months I've noticed that almost all organizations are evaluating the impact of social technologies on their business," wrote Reuben Krippner in a blog post announcing the white paper. "They want to get insight into how other organizations are utilizing social technologies in a business context and what Microsoft brings to the table to support a social strategy...We've been working on articulating Microsoft's view of enterprise social: what is it? What is the business opportunity? "

One other notable topic you won't see much of is Yammer.  The $1.2 billion acquisition gets one mention as a major investment in social technology for business, followed by a promise of more to come in the future: " ...