Prospects Explore Features, Perceptions in Choosing Between Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Salesforce.com

Every business attempting to filter through the litany of features, functions and customizations among various CRM solutions will eventually return to the question: "Which is best for us?" When deciding between two of the frequent competitors, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Salesforce.com, understanding the differences is critical in selecting the most appropriate platform to build on.

"They're both very mature CRM applications," explained Matthew Wittemann, CRM practice manager at C5 Insight. C5 Insight hosted back-to-back webinars on Thursday, March 11 examining Dynamics CRM and Salesforce.com separately.

"There are some functional differences," Witteman continued.  "A lot of times it depends on what [a company's] main objectives are. Companies that already have a Microsoft infrastructure or users that have a skill set for Microsoft applications, whether it's Windows Server or development skills, they're going to lean to Microsoft. But a company with external user groups, without a lot of infrastructure, may lean to Salesforce."

Prospective users are focusing ever more intently on the strengths and weaknesses of the two solutions.

"Both of these applications have evolved rapidly," said Geoff Ables, managing partner at C5 Insight. "There are plenty of solution accelerators and add-ons that have recently been added. One webinar focused on what's new with Dynamics CRM 4.0 and what you can do with CRM 4.0 that wasn't there a few months ago. And we're doing the same with Salesforce. That's what people want to know about, and these webinars are user-driven."

Charlotte, N.C.-based C5 Insight specializes in three CRM-related applications: Dynamics CRM, Salesforce.com, and SharePoint. Thursday's webinars each demonstrated customized solutions that were tailored from Dynamics CRM or Salesforce.com to demonstrate features and navigation highlights. C5 Insight concentrated its efforts ...