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Microsoft's CRM Battle with Salesforce.com and Oracle Heats Up with Free Offer

by Jason Gumpert
Editor, MSDynamicsWorld.com

Microsoft is turning up the competitive heat on its two chief competitors offering online CRM packages by offering free Micorosft  Dynamics CRM Online for up to seven months.

Microsoft Dynamics is offering customers of Oracle and Salesforce.com access to Dynamics CRM Online if they turn off their existing services and turn on Microsoft's remote offering.

The seven months is based on Microsoft's standing offer of free service for 30 days, plus a new offer, good through the end of this year,  of service for six months.

The  offer's value isn't insignificant.  For a company with 25 users, it could be worth more than $6,000. And to encourage companies to sign up lots of users, the offer is good for up to two times the number of users currently using the Oracle or Salesforce products.

However, companies that take advantage of the offer must commit  to a 12-month contract, so they must pay for at least another six months.

The offer of a free initial subscription is a classic marketing tactic for a so-called "annuity" product-a product that users essentially rent indefinitely. The bet is that by giving customers some free usage early on, they will inevitably commit to paying for the product for a much longer period.

The Microsoft offer also illustrates the growing intensity of its battle to woo new Dynamics customers away from competitors.  On its web site announcing the offer, Microsoft includes a comparison chart showing the price advantage of Dynamics CRM Online.

Customer Engagement Customer Relationship Mgmt Customer Service Customer Service Dynamics 365 Dynamics CRM
About Jason Gumpert

As the editor of MSDynamicsWorld.com, Jason oversees all editorial content on the site and at our events, as well as providing site management and strategy. He can be reached at jgumpert@msdynamicsworld.com.

Prior to co-founding MSDynamicsWorld.com, Jason was a Principal Software Consultant at Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC), where he implemented solutions, trained customers, managed software development, and spent some time in the pre-sales engineering organization. He has also held consulting positions at CSC Consulting and Monitor Group.

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