Microsoft trying to break down Google again. You can pretty much guess our stance on this argument, #teamgoogle.
A completely scatterbrained article, but that pretty much sums up the current state of the CRM market: Salesforce.com is pushing the envelope, Microsoft competes on dollars and the “value” of remaining locked into their labyrinth of proprietary on-premise and fake cloud offerings, and SAP will never have a clue.
This is even worse than those crap “To the Cloud!” commercials. In the weekly email blast from the Illinois Technology Association, there’s a link to a press release from a Microsoft partner titled, “Microsoft Launches Dynamics CRM Online Cloud Service.” Intrigued, I click through to see what our friends in Redmond are up to. I realized that it was nothing more than typical Microsoft cloudwashing when I saw this line in the first paragraph:
The on-premises and partner-hosted versions of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 will be globally available on Feb. 28.
But wait - it gets better (actually, worse)…when you go to the Dynamics CRM website that the press release refers to, this is the first headline that greets you:
Now available to run on your own terms and to power your own cloud. Download Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 today.
First off - your own cloud??? There’s only one cloud, and we all share it. Second off - if I have to download something, then you don’t have a cloud service. Software != cloud. And in typical Microsoft fashion, what little value prop they put forth is all centered around dollar costs.
And my reaction to the section about the competitive offer for Salesforce customers? If you’re a Salesforce customer and you’re compelled by this in any way, then please switch now - because you are missing the point of the cloud and the Force.com platform completely and there’s no reason to pay more for CRM if you view it strictly as a commodity service.
