Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 tablet interface favors sales scenarios initially, experts find

In October, Microsoft launched Dynamics CRM 2013, which included the introduction of a new tablet interface. And as the  popularity of tablets continues to skyrocket - the Consumer Electronics Association projects that just under half of U.S. households will own a tablet by next year - the uses for CRM in its tablet form have grown at comparable breakneck speeds.

According to the Dynamics CRM experts we spoke with, CRM for tablet will not replace users' desktop and laptop CRM clients. Rather, the iPad/Windows/Android tablet versions of the software will augment their CRM experience and extend it into the field.

The ultimate portable extension of CRM, of course, is the phone client  - which Redmond also released in October. And power users' experience with the smartphone version of CRM is, in fact, literally another story. But the introduction of standardized tablet interfaces represent a kind of middle ground between the home office and the open road. As the name itself suggests, Dynamics CRM on a tablet works best when used a bit like you would an old-fashioned tablet or clipboard.

Tailor-made for sales

According to Rik Dubbink, partner at the Netherlands-based consulting firm CRM Partners, Dynamics CRM for the Surface provides a robust interface to do real CRM work - not just, say, looking up phone numbers ...