Microsoft will be unveiling, in the second quarter of 2011, its Microsoft (News - Alert) Dynamics SL 2011, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution designed for midsize project-driven organizations, in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean and Puerto Rico. The software will initially be released only in English and later in Spanish.

The new solution, particularly well-suited for construction, professional services, government contracting, architecture and engineering fields, features a broad range of new enhancements and innovation to support increased productivity, business value and insight across an organization, helping it become a more dynamic business.

"Microsoft Dynamics SL 2011 will drive significant value for midsize, project-driven businesses with its ease of use and ability to extend connections across the entire business ecosystem," said Crispin Read, general manager for Microsoft Dynamics ERP Product Management Group. "The new level of innovation we're providing with the release of Microsoft Dynamics SL 2011 will help customers make more informed decisions with speed."

The updated features give a look familiar to Microsoft Office and role-specific dashboards that give people a comprehensive view across their organizations. Other new productivity-enhancing features include Quick Query, which provides more than 50 predesigned search options to find information faster, and the ability to Quick Send documents, such as invoices and purchase orders from within Microsoft Dynamics SL to customers and vendors.

"Many of the new features in Microsoft Dynamics SL 2011, such as the fantastic user interface, integrated login and multicompany switching, make navigating fast and easy," said Scott Kopald, controller at Metson Marine Services, Inc., an ocean services company headquartered in Ventura, Calif. "With this release, Microsoft has shown that it understands our needs and is committed to supporting the solution for the long term."

The new enhancements help partners deliver added benefits to project-based companies.

"Everything in Microsoft Dynamics SL 2011 is geared toward saving our customers time, and making the experience easier, better and faster," said Carolyn Jasiulewicz, president for Progressive System Solution, Inc., a Microsoft Dynamics Gold Certified partner. "This is a very compelling upgrade for our existing customers and further supports our ability to focus on fulfilling the specific needs of project-based companies."

Microsoft Dynamics SL 2011 further extends existing IT investments by supporting integration with Microsoft Project Server 2010, Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM through Web Services. In addition, interoperability with Microsoft SharePoint 2010 offers people the versatility to access information from virtually anywhere, as well as adapt to specific project needs, helping to drive improved business insight and value across their organizations.

In another development, Acacia Research (News - Alert), an intellectual property licensing company, announced that its subsidiary Smartphone Technologies and ACCESS Co., a provider of advanced software technologies to the mobile digital TV markets, have licensed to Microsoft a portfolio of patents relating to smartphones.