Between the release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013, to the new capabilities in the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3 update to its flagship ERP product, the big M is trying to delivered something for everyone…everywhere.
And by everywhere we mean both feature improvements that affect all users, some that are country specific and the ability to deploy on Windows Azure. The latter allows companies to choose between an on-premise deployment or a private cloud. With the addition of multiple new apps and the upgrade of several others Microsoft Dynamics is supporting the use of their powerful systems on the go.
From accounts payable to marketing and human resources to inventory management there are too many new features to list here. In general all the new features are aimed at streamlining processes and providing industry specific process templates that further enhance the usefulness for the nearly 100,000 customers of the product.
Among the new features are a number that are country specific.
Belgium users wil gain the ability to generate electronic payment files for Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) direct debits. Chinese users will be able to update and maintain the transfer history for a fixed asset that you transfer from one location to another. Finlanders will be able to generate electronic payment files for Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) credit transfers and folks in Denmark will be uploading and maintaining European Union (EU) entry certificates for items or services. There are seventeen specific countries gaining new features several with multiple new features.
As for the release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 it too has become more mobile, added multiple apps to aid in its mobile use. At their 2013 Global Premiere in Barcelona the company announced a set of 18 new predefined and configurable process templates that include sports management, healthcare, government and nonprofit, as well as some specialized areas such as prison offender management.
Delivering on the promise of giving customers access to their CRM information on any device, Microsoft also confirmed the availability of new touch-optimized experiences on Windows Phones, iPhones and Android phones that give customers powerful functionality and analytics on the go, all without a separate license fee.
This continues Microsoft’s push towards integrating all of its business related applications and systems, as well as, making them both cloud ready and accessible by mobile device. Nonetheless and despite the huge positive impact this creates for businesses that use these tools it makes the IT exercise a bit harder. Planning for their deployment, customizing applications or even the creation of need specific applications often call for broader experience and skill levels than are available with existing staff.
If your company is considering taking full advantage of these powerful new features soon to be available in the Microsoft Dynamic universe you may want to consider outsourcing part of the planning and execution of these projects to a company that has deep experience in these types of upgrades and deployments.
Often there are U.S. based project teams that employ offshore programming and development personnel focused specifically on supporting systems like Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, and other CRM/ERP systems. Taking advantage of onshore experts to guide the offshore resources, companies can support the deployment and custom development requirements at costs far lower than if all development is U.S. based.
One thing is for sure, Microsoft once again is not sitting still and with these new features and updates their flagship CRM/ERP products are becoming formidable options for particularly smaller and mid-size companies.
