Microsoft Dynamics CRM's Growth, Vision the Focus at eXtremeCRM 2012 Kickoff

It could have been a battle plan from a field general, teaching his troops how to win over villagers. Instead, this plan for "winning the hearts and minds" focuses on customers and the boot camp is located in Las Vegas.

Extreme CRM 2012 kicked off its first day Monday (October 1) at the Las Vegas Hotel with a keynote from Seth Patton, Microsoft Dynamics CRM product marketing senior director. Patton gave an energetic pep talk to a room full of Microsoft Dynamic CRM partners, and other attendees, the product's growth, the broad plans for upcoming releases, and how to grow their customer base.

Probably more importantly to those in attendance was Patton's status check of where Microsoft's Dynamic CRM stands today. The company boasts 2.7 million users, 36,000 customers and 1,200 partners with CRM competency, he said. Microsoft Dynamics has also experienced 31 consecutive quarters of double-digit growth.

Microsoft Dynamics also have more than 2,700,000 users in more than 80 countries and in 40 languages.

Another trend of note: Microsoft CRM users are increasingly converting to CRM Online, with about 60 percent of new customers choosing online CRM. And Microsoft is putting more of an emphasis on what Patton calls "partner recognition."

Extreme CRM users got a first-hand look at some of Microsoft Dynamics' demo tutorials during the Monday morning session in Las Vegas. Patton touted the renewed effort by Microsoft to tear down internal corporate barriers between the traditional users of CRM: the sales, marketing and customer service departments.

"Those are the three cornerstones of CRM-CRM 101," Patton said. "But, in the past, they have been somewhat siloed. Now, we are looking to close that loop."

Microsoft Dynamics hopes to provide more customer-information transparency between departments using CRM within the same company, Patton said. To ...