Lines in the Sand: Microsoft Increasingly Sharpens Distinctions Between Competitors and Dynamics AX, CRM, and GP

Microsoft is working ever more aggressively to distinguish its Dynamics products from well-known competitors. Increasingly, it is focusing on what it claims is more attractive pricing, along with seeking to leverage the familiarity many users have with Office and other Microsoft products.

Among the recent shots it has taken at competitors:

--In a press release just issued, it states that "PACCESS, a global supply chain integrator based in Portland, Ore., has selected Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 as its enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, replacing an Oracle 11.0.3 system that had become very expensive to maintain and too limited in its ability to meet the company's needs."

While Microsoft has previously singled out Oracle in announcements about new customers for AX, it goes to great lengths in the latest announcement to demonstrate that AX is lower cost: "Previously PACCESS faced expensive upgrades to its Oracle system, which it had modified repeatedly to meet its business process requirements. Scaling the system was very costly. ‘We tried to add five users, but we would have had to pay Oracle $365,000 because of a license-model change,' said Nina Palludan, vice president of IT for PACCESS. ‘The five-year total cost of ownership for Microsoft Dynamics AX 4.0 was more than $1 million less than Oracle's, even though we already owned the Oracle software. Actually rebuying the Oracle e-business suite would have cost less than upgrading our current licenses.'"

--At its Convergence 2008 conference in Orlando earlier this month, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer compared the new Dynamics CRM Live with Salesforce.com. "They are only available online," Ballmer said of Salesforce.com. "We give you choices."

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