Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Q4 Service Update Guides Customers to New Data Sources and Use Cases

With the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Q2 2012 Service Update quickly approaching, it's already time for CRM solution owners and consultants to start getting a grip on the subsequent Q4 2012 release.  Details of the Q4 service update are only partially set, but expect significant improvements around data augmentation, enabling customer care driven by social data, mobile enhancements, and Office 15 alignment.

Data Augmentation

The announcement of Microsoft's alliance with InsideView indicates the CRM team's belief in the value of  data augmentation. They want Dynamics CRM customers to start enriching their CRM entities with available outside data without disruption or separate interfaces.  Accounts and contacts will likely be the first entities to get the free InsideView treatment. 

InsideView has sold an integration of its service to Dynamics CRM for some time and will continue to sell more extensive feature sets beyond the free offering.   But the new free version of its service is not only a nice win for the social data service firm, but a quick way to help Microsoft push its customers into social data without another sales decision. 

Dynamics   CRM product manager Craig Dewar doesn't see the InsideView alliance as the final word in social data augmentation.  He believes many customers will still shop the full marketplace of social data add-on services beyond InsideView, and his team has their eye on other important added benefits for users.  "Look for additional services [in the data augmentation area] coming up," says Dewar.

If nothing else, the InsideView announcement is a testament to the value that the Dynamics CRM team places on putting more relevant sales data in the hands of its customers with the fewest roadblocks.  More useful customer and ...