Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 vs. Salesforce.com: Why Microsoft is the better investment?

With the advent of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 right around the corner, the choice between Salesforce.com and Microsoft Dynamics CRM just got a lot easier.  If you are a business that utilizes Microsoft Office applications, including Microsoft Outlook, choosing Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 over Salesforce.com makes a lot of sense.

Here are the key differentiators that make us feel Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is the better investment:

1)      Office Experience

• Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a true Microsoft Outlook application, not just a plugin
• SFDC is repealing Outlook features; for example, users can’t manage opportunities and leads anymore
• SFDC Outlook plugin can be a point of failure.  This is true of any CRM vendor doing integration with Microsoft Office, Microsoft will always be one step ahead on this front. 

2)      Dashboards

• CRM 2011 inherits security and data privileges…SFDC does not
• CRM 2011 allows charts, lists, iFrames to be displayed…SFDC only reports
• CRM 2011 data is real time…SFDC has a lag of 30-60 minutes
• CRM 2011 allows for unlimited data refreshes.  SFDC limits refreshes

3)      Inline Analytics

• CRM 2011 offers Inline Analytics…SFDC does not have a parallel offering
• SFDC users must leave their task or process…open reports or dashboards..and hope that they don’t get distracted

4)      One-Click Drill Down

• CRM 2011 offers One-Click drill down…SFDC does not have a parallel offering
• SFDC users can click on a static image of a chart to pull up the full report.  From the full report they can drill down…much less clicks with CRM 2011

5)      User Interface Customizations

• CRM 2011 offers a new drag and drop capability for end users that is so easy
• SFDC offers UI personalization…but users can’t revert changes
• SFDC personalization features are for power users and administrators only

6)      Value Matters

• CRM 2011 Online – $44/user/mo. – one version.  A promotional introductory price of $34/user/mo. was recently announced and will be available through June 30 2011.
• SFDC Professional – $65/user/mo.
• SFDC Enterprise – $125/user/mo.
• SFDC Unlimited – $250/user/mo.

7)      Hidden Costs – aka, the SFDC Tax

• CRM 2011 Online – $44/user/mo. – one version, one price.  Includes 5 GB data storage, mobile client, web portal accelerator that you can customize, knowledgebase, and document management options (simple – out of the box, robust – out of the box SharePoint 2010 integration (SharePoint purchased separately)
• SFDC – Data Storage (5GB) – $1,000/year.  Professional / Enterprise provide 20 MB of data and 600 MB of file storage/user.
• SFDC – Mobile $/user/mo.
• SFDC – Knowledge Base – $/user/mo.
• SFDC – Customer Portal – $/user/mo.
• SFDC – Partner Portal – $/user/mo.
• SFDC – SLA – Not Available.  CRM 2011 has a 99.9% uptime, financially backed SLA.

Need to decrease the number of users?  SFDC does not allow the number of user subscriptions purchased to be decreased during the subscription term.