January 11, 2007

Microsoft Announces Preview of Titan CRM

By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor

"We said last summer that Titan will be out in summer 2007 and it will," promised Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft (News - Alert) Dynamics CRM as That Little Ole Software Company From Redmond announced that it is previewing the next major release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM -- code-named "Titan" -- with what company officials said was "a broad range of partners through the company's Technology Adoption Program."

The new version introduces an advanced multitenant architecture, and uses a single code base to support on-premise deployments as well as software-as-a-service deployments through hosting partners and through the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics Live CRM service.

As industry observer China Martens [http://www.itworldcanada.com/Pages/Docbase/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=idgml-bb2da6ad-0e18-41d4-9031-30d2554374a9] writes, "Titan, which will probably be officially known as Dynamics CRM 4.0, will be the first Microsoft CRM release based on a multitenant architecture and using a single code base to support three types of usage -- on-premise, hosted by partners or Microsoft."

Company officials say the Titan release is an evolution of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 product, and will offer "a smooth upgrade path" for existing on-premise and SaaS (News - Alert) customers. It's seen within Microsoft itself as a continuation of  the vendor's long-term ambition to provide customers with the option of on-premise or SaaS deployments and access to CRM capabilities within Microsoft Office Outlook, through a Web browser, and from mobile devices.

Wilson said Microsoft's partners will get look at the upcoming release, as well as the upgrade path it will provide to current customers. With early access to the new release, he said, partners "can develop common offerings that span the deployment options -- on-premise, partner-hosted or Microsoft Dynamics Live CRM."

In early November of last year Microsoft announced it would release a new version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM for the 2007 Microsoft Office system and Windows Vista in either on-premise or on-demand format.

Microsoft also announced that, in addition to being offered through Microsoft's standard Volume Licensing program, Microsoft Dynamics CRM will be offered through the licensing model that is used with Microsoft Dynamics enterprise resource planning products.

Company officials said at the time that it was to make it "simpler and more convenient" for customers and partners to buy and deploy Microsoft Dynamics for customer relationship management, financial management and supply chain management.

Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, said customers and partners could deploy it "as on-premise software or an on-demand service."

Microsoft officials outlined the new features, including an "enriched user experience" based on the 2007 Microsoft Office system, letting users access roles-based CRM capabilities through Microsoft Office Outlook, Microsoft Internet Explorer and other mobile devices.

The Titan TAP program includes approximately 300 partners in the first quarter of 2007, and will include over 1,000 partners in the second quarter of the year. Partners in the Titan TAP program are building vertical applications, SaaS mash-ups, integration connectors and other solution extensions, as well as providing feedback to Microsoft as part of the program.

The Titan release of Microsoft CRM and the new Microsoft Dynamics Live CRM service are targeted for mid-2007. The Microsoft Dynamics Live CRM service will initially be available in North America; plans for international expansion of the service will be announced at a later time.

Taking a leaf from industry leaders' playbook, Microsoft is planning an online marketplace as part of the CRM Live service, where partners can -- tell us if this reminds you of anything available elsewhere today -- offer users technology extensions and as a way to build a community, according to Wilson said.

David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. For more articles please visit David Sims' columnist page.

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IP stands for Internet Protocol, a data-networking protocol developed throughout the 1980s. It is the established standard protocol for transmitting and receiving data in packets over the Internet. I...more

Voice over IP (VoIP)	X
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(source: http://news.tmcnet.com/news/-crm-microsoft-titan-40-/2007/01/11/2239268.htm)