Microsoft reveals some details of CRM 3.0

[mazzy]

Microsoft Corp. will release a new version of its customer relationship management software around the end of this year. With the new version will come a special edition for small businesses, a subscription-based license for hosting services, and support for more languages, including Chinese and Arabic, Microsoft said today.

The software will include two new modules: one to automate the management of direct marketing campaigns, and one that manages complex personnel and resource-scheduling requests, the company said. The new version takes a leap forward in at least one other respect: The company is moving directly from the existing Version 1.2 and numbering the new Version 3.0.

Microsoft is still deciding how the new modules will be priced and packaged, but customers running the higher-end Professional edition who subscribe to Microsoft's Software Assurance maintenance plan will be able to add on the new modules for free, according to Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft CRM.

The decision to skip ahead to Version 3.0 reflects the magnitude of the updates, Wilson said. Late last year, Microsoft had been preparing to release Microsoft CRM 2.0, but feedback from partners during the alpha period convinced Microsoft that it should delay the software.

Подробнее...
http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopic...,102957,00.html