Dynamics CRM Online to expand into 32 more markets

Microsoft plans to expand Dynamics CRM Online, its competitor to the successful Salesforce.com cloud service, into 32 more markets later this year, the company said Sunday.

The expansion will happen in near conjunction with the next version of Microsoft's customer relationship management service, known internally as Dynamics CRM "5." There are 1.1 million paid users of the CRM line, said Marie Huwe, general manager for Microsoft Dynamics marketing.

"This is a really big thing for our business. We're making a big bet on CRM Online," she said. "I'm sure you've heard Steve Ballmer say, 'We're all in.'"

Indeed, the Microsoft CEO in March told an audience of University of Washington computer engineering students that the software superpower is playing its hand for cloud computing. CRM Online is just one of Microsoft's many cloud services. And like many of the others, CRM Online has a formidable online foe – in this case, market-leading Salesforce.com.


"By rolling out CRM Online in at least now 32 markets," Huwe said, "we think that this is a very powerful step forward for us."

Currently available only in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, CRM Online will expand during the second half of 2010 into Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hugary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Sunday's announcement came as Microsoft opened its Convergence 2010 conference for Dynamics customers. The company announced a CRM Online service update for May, including the addition of more languages and portal accelerators.

At the Atlanta event, Microsoft also said Microsoft Dynamics AX for Retail will launch in 16 countries on Aug. 1. The Redmond-based company last week announced the May 1 release of Microsoft Dynamics GP 2010.

Source: Microsoft blog