Why Microsoft Dynamics CRM Takes the Lead in CRM's
November 30, 2013

Why Microsoft Dynamics CRM Takes the Lead in CRM's

Trent Bell | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Online

Modules Used

  • Sales
  • Customer Service

Overall Satisfaction

Pros

  • The workflow engine is quite powerful, especially with the new "synchronous" workflow option.
  • The new business process flows attached to entities helps with usability and guiding the user through the optimal process without forcing hard limitations.
  • The seamless integration with Microsoft Outlook is a huge contributor to capturing all interaction with the customer. Turning emails into Leads, Opportunities, or Cases with a couple clicks is fantastic!
  • The tight integration with Microsoft Excel is very strong. The "dynamics spreadsheet" functionality lets users take advantage of the power of Excel without being afraid of outdated data.

Cons

  • The mobile tablet version for CRM 2013 is great, but the mobile phone version is still lacking a nice usable GUI for easy consumption.
  • I love the new social pane, but there is little flexibility in the configuration to move it around the form.
  • If a display field is too long, CRM fades out the rest of the words instead of wrapping it to the next line. Having the option to wrap text would be a nice improvement.
  • We streamlined our resource tracking as a consulting firm by having our operations team track the allocation of resources within CRM.
  • Our VP of Sales is able to generate his executive forecasting reports in real-time, saving him time and giving the entire executive team immediate visibility into our pipeline.
  • By designing strategic pipeline dashboards, we were able to better focus our Business Development Managers on the prospects and deals that would garner the highest revenue per sales effort.
We are heavily invested in Microsoft Office, so having the tight integration with Outlook and Excel is hard to beat. The other solution to consider is Salesforce.com (which I administered and used for over 2 years), but I don't feel their solution provides any better critical functionality than Microsoft Dynamics CRM. In fact, if any substantial customizations need to take place, I would much rather be on Dynamics CRM since it's built on the .NET platform. With Salesforce.com I would have to find Apex developers and pay a premium.
Do your users use Outlook? How important is offline access? What are your mobile requirements? Does your company use PC's or Macs? Are you invested in Microsoft Office or Google Apps? Do you need the option of doing an "on-premise" setup instead of "cloud"? What is your per/user license budget and how many users will you have?

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