Microsoft will add a mobile component to its customer
relationship management software.
Microsoft said the latest compotent will allow end users to
handle CRM workflows right from a Windows-based Pocket PC.
The company's CRM Sales for Outlook software, which will ship
this summer, is designed to allow salespeople to do things such as
review information before a customer meeting and then capture
relevant data to feed back into a company's CRM system during
synchronisation.
Microsoft will also deliver more interfaces to enable
integration between its CRM suite and its back-end ERP
applications, such as Solomon, said Doug Burgum, senior vice
president at Microsoft business solutions group, at the Convergence
2004 business applications user show in Orlando.
All the ERP lines Microsoft has acquired, including Great
Plains, Navision and Axapta, will be supported through 2013, and
Burgum added that the company had "very robust" research and
development plans.
Other improvements Microsoft plans for its CRM line over the
long term include a campaign management module to automate
marketing processes, as well as improvements designed to help
workers who do more than field phone calls, said Holly Holt, group
product manager for CRM. In addition, there will be tighter
integration with the SQL Server 2000 reporting services
application.
Microsoft also announced that it has enhanced its Great Plains
8.0 ERP software to have a Microsoft Outlook desktop look and feel
and tight integration with Office. Great Plains 8.0 will ship in
July.
Marc L Songini writes for Computerworld
