Project Services in Dynamics CRM vs. Dynamics AX: Which Microsoft Project Management Solution Is Right For You?

This is the second of a two-part article exploring the new Microsoft Dynamics CRM Project Service solution. In the first article, we explored Microsoft's strategy for enabling transformative customer service experiences across service domains, and discussed how the new CRM Project Service solution supports this vision.

We will now compare and contrast this new solution to the Microsoft Dynamics AX Service Industries solution, since there is sure to be some confusion in the marketplace around which offering may be best for a given organization.

In fairness, there is also a third Microsoft-developed project management solution that is available: Microsoft Project Online. We'll include Microsoft Project Online in this initial definition of the offerings, but the majority of this article will focus on CRM Project Service and Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Let's start with a brief high-level positioning description for each solution:

• Microsoft Project Online is designed to help organizations align the vision and effort to prioritize their business initiatives, to identify the most optimal project portfolio, and to execute their internal projects.
• CRM Project Service extends Microsoft Dynamics CRM to provide a single system of engagement for project-related sales, resourcing, execution, and billing, to help organizations improve continuity across their customer interactions.
• Microsoft Dynamics AX, and the Service Industries solution in particular, is a full ERP system that supports key administrative processes (financial management, human capital management) and operational processes (project management and accounting, procurement/supply chain management, sales and distribution, etc.) all within a single integrated system.

With a reasonable amount of overlap between these project management and project accounting solutions, it's fair to question which solution may be the best ...