Microsoft Launches Dynamics CRM 4.0

January 30, 2008, marks the release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 on international markets around the world. The global launch of Dynamics CRM 4.0 is synonymous with the customer relationship management solution's availability in no less than eight languages. But today is also the debut of a Microsoft 12-week global launch tour that will permit companies across the world to test drive Dynamics CRM.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 is positioned as a key component of the company's Software plus Services business srategy. In this regard, Dynamics CRM is no longer limited to an on-promise solution. Customers deploying version 4.0 will find that they can enjoy the full advantages of a Web-based on-demand solution. And of course that Microsoft also provides a bridge between Software and Services, allowing for a cocktail of on-promise software and on-demand services. The Redmond company even provided a few examples of its partners starting rolling up the update from 3.0 to 4.0, almost immediatelly after the product initially shipped back in December 2007. Case in point: Increase Ltd..

"The first upgrade for our on-demand Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers was completed just four hours after Microsoft delivered the new 4.0 release," said Neil Benson, director of Increase. "I've been very impressed by the quality of the product, as well the extensive training and tools that accompanied this release. Customers are impressed with the rapid deployment - in fact, it now takes longer to send the contract and receive the signature than it does to deploy the customer's hosted system."

Microsoft has also emphasized that the new multilanguage and multicurrency, as well as its multitenant architecture, make it an ideal solution for companies with worldwide operations. Dynamics CRM 4.0 is now available in Danish, English, Finnish, Dutch, French, German, simplified Chinese and Spanish with support for Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Hong Kong Chinese, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, traditional Chinese and Turkish coming in the following 90 days.

"We selected Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 because it had the global capabilities to support the large-scale rollout to our company's 12 business units," said Mark Lasswell, CRM executive sponsor and president of the Civil Infrastructure Client Group at CH2M HILL. "With the ability to leverage our existing IT infrastructure - largely Microsoft-based - we have a single global view for managing accounts and opportunities across the enterprise."