New Solution Accelerators for Dynamics CRM

Microsoft is gearing up to make available no less than three solution accelerators designed to integrate seamlessly with its Dynamics CRM lineup of products. According to the Redmond company, Dynamics CRM customers will be able to access a Social Networking Accelerator, a Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Accelerator, and a Portal Integration Accelerator in the next few weeks. A specific availability deadline was not provided.

“We continue to drive rapid innovation and outstanding price-to-value for customers and partners globally,” explained Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. “These new accelerators expand the capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics CRM to address emerging business trends in social networking and drive efficiencies in collaborative business processes.”

Microsoft informed that, with the latest additions, Dynamics CRM solution accelerators would continue to be available for free. The new accelerators will be provided for free to both Dynamics CRM customers and partners, being able to either kick Dynamics CRM up a notch as packaged extensions or act as the foundation for the development of new solutions.

With the new Social Networking Accelerator, Microsoft is essentially bridging Dynamics CRM with Twitter while promising that additional networks will be added in the future. The tool is designed to harvest information from social networking websites related to products and services.

“In this market, insight into what customers are saying is extremely valuable,” added Warren Wilson, senior analyst at Ovum Inc. “These new social networking features can provide greater visibility into customers’ experiences and opinions, helping companies to make better decisions and, ultimately, to improve brand awareness and customer engagement. This is a smart enhancement to Microsoft Dynamics CRM.”

Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Accelerator is designed to streamline the management of sales leads and sales opportunities across members of the partner channel. At the same time, Microsoft is making it easier for businesses to extend their processes to the web with the Portal Integration Accelerator.