CRM5 Formally Christened Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 at WPC 2010

Today at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Washington DC, Microsoft announced that Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 - formerly code-named "CRM5" - will be publicly available as a "broad beta release" in September 2010. 

This timing is in line with estimates made at Convergence 2010 earlier this year.  Dynamics CRM 2011 is a broad release, with significant changes in areas including expanded cloud capabilities, improved user experience, stronger development frameworks, and easier integration to other Microsoft tools like SharePoint and Outlook.

"We are very confident in our ability to deliver to the marketplace," Dynamics CRM general manager Brad Wilson told MSDynamicsWorld.com.  "For customers, [Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011] offers new levels of user productivity and collaboration that meet their specific business needs with a low total cost of ownership. For partners, it unlocks new opportunities and provides a single development environment for cloud-based and on-premise deployments."

The long-talked-about release will first be available in an upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, which will also include an expansion from 32 to 40 markets and 41 languages including Australia, Cyprus, and seven Latin American countries including Brazil, Costa Rica, and Columbia.

Some 400 partners and 40 customers have already joined the pre-release program for CRM 2011, according to Wilson.

Among the most anticipated improvements in Dynamics CRM 2011 are those that will be enjoyed by developers, both at ISVs and among customers.  They will now be able to develop and deploy customizations and even full xRM solutions more quickly and flexibly (something that has been