Microsoft business solutions CRM arrives in ME

Microsoft Business Solutions announced that Microsoft Business Solutions Customer Relationship Management (CRM) 1.2 will be available in the Middle East next January. Microsoft CRM 1.2 will help global businesses take advantage of technology and related services that were previously attainable only by large enterprises with large budgets allocated to technology.

Microsoft CRM goes beyond being simply a scaled-down enterprise solution or small-office application, and is aimed at companies with 25 to 1,000 employees, specifically designed for fast deployment, ease of customisation and flexible and scalable enough to meet the needs of small to medium enterprises.

Soha Kamal, Microsoft Business Solutions Products Manager, Microsoft Middle East said: "Microsoft CRM 1.2 is Microsoft's first business application built using Microsoft .NET technologies. CRM 1.2 has been developed to give small to medium businesses in the Middle East a solid and yet very affordable technology to manage customer relations and retain customer satisfaction."

Accessible from Microsoft Outlook and the Web, Microsoft CRM is easy to use, customise, and maintain. The application integrates with other business systems and scales to grow as the customer's business grows.

"Microsoft CRM offers integrated sales and customer service modules that allow employees to easily share information across the organisation. Its automated processes free employees from time-consuming tasks and equip them with the tools and information they need to sell effectively and deliver consistent, efficient service to their customers," Ms Kamal explained.

As Microsoft CRM is Microsoft. NET-connected, businesses can easily integrate Microsoft CRM with financial applications, third-party applications and Web services, as well as create customised solutions.

With Microsoft CRM 1.2, businesses will be able to take full advantage of additional CRM functionality that facilitates increased business productivity and performance, a strong development environment, and support of Microsoft Windows Server System 2003, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, Microsoft Office 2003 and, specifically for small businesses, Microsoft Small Business Server.

These technologies offer the security enhancements, availability, scalability and reliability businesses need from their operating system, servers and productivity tools.

"The overarching goal of Microsoft CRM is to help businesses increase their profitability by providing the tools to help companies offer superior customer service and improve efficiency across their organization," Ms Kamal added.