Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 in a small business environment
Like Steve, I attended one of Microsoft’s CRM launch events today and found out something interesting:
If you have Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Small Business Edition and want to upgrade to version 4.0, there is no equivalent edition as such.
There are three editions within the CRM 4.0 family:
- Workgroup server - includes and supports a MAXIMUM of five user licenses (approx £1,800 inc. CALs)
- Professional edition - no licensing limit on the number of users (approx £1,500*, £3,400 for the external connector*, and just over £1k for external and limited external connectors).
- Enterprise edition - no licensing limit on the number of users (approx £3,600*, £3,400 for external connector*, and just over £1k for external and limited external connectors).
*per server instance
Above prices are example volume license prices including two years Software Assurance.
Julian points out:
“If you have more than 5 user licences then your upgrade option is to CRM 4.0 Professional Edition. If you are on Software Assurance then there is nothing additional to pay however when you come to renew Software Assurance then it will be at Professional Edition price i.e, about double what it would have been under CRM 3.0 SBE.
If you have 5 or fewer user licenses then you have a choice to make. You can either upgrade to Professional Edition, which is what I would recommend if you are not likely to increase your users, or upgrade to the Workgroup Edition which is limited to 5 users. If later you want to increase the number of users then you have to pay a Step-Up for the Professional Edition.”
The best way to license CRM is through volume licensing (FPP and SPLA also viable options) with Software Assurance (SA). You can find more information on the benefits of SA for CRM 4.0 clients here.
Interesting to note that licensing keys are pre-pidded (where keys are embedded on DVD).
I can see this being an interesting conversation for some SMB partners to have with their small business clients who are looking to adopt 4.0 over 3.0. Unless you are looking to offer a hosted solution via SPLA (where prices can be as low as £10/person/month) it’s going to be difficult to justify the price of a professional CAL (approx £720 each) for 4.0 when it is cheaper at a price of around £250 for version 3.0 SBE CALs (and that’s after a price drop of approx 50%). Moreover, with SBS being so competitively priced, any reseller looking to promote 4.0 is going to have to think carefully about the business value proposition.
There are of course some fantastic features to CRM 4.0 and clearly some marked improvements to version 3.0 such as bulk import and greater user control over workflow processes and reporting. However, I caught up with Roland at the event who agrees that there will be some challenges in convincing businesses to upgrade. He’s found success in working in partnership with resellers who have the appropriate install base to show customers where and how CRM can help deliver ROI. Looks like it might be something we’re going to have to think about if we want to really get the hang of CRM in the small business space.
Was there talk of CRM Live (http://www.crmlive.com)? I noticed the site has changed and says something about “Coming Spring 2008″. The Early Access Programme was only for the US. The hosted version looks really interesting and could be a good option for small businesses, especially if what I’m lead to believe is true and the customisation is as flexible as the full version.
As far as I am aware, CRM Live is at present only available in the US and Canada - it is anticipated that the service is available internationally at some point but no date has been committed to. More information on this can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/crm/live/default.mspx although even the homepage talks about launching in 2007 rather than 2008!
PC World Business in the US posted an article on it last year which gives insight to some of the editions available under the Live service: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/134314/microsoft_sets_pricing_rollout_for_crm_live.html
Check out the CRM Live Early Access II (EA2) Programme. This is designed to demonstrate you can begin building and managing customer relationships online. There is no fee to use CRM Live during the EA2 period. If you are interested in evaluating it, you can sign up on the following link: http://offers.crmlive.com/page.aspx?QS=5c591a8916642e73dc88987fd638a889888e0e22d77a174b706d48c754b0c168
Hi, is this pricing per year? I’ve seen nothing released for CRM 4.0 yet.
Yes the prices used here are the annual repayments, this particular pricing example is using Open Value licensing including Software Assurance which splits over three years. For a specific quote for a particular situation I would suggest contacting your software distributor such as Westcoast (01189 126 088) to understand how much it will cost exactly.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 will be available through:
Open License (NB: no step ups available under this programme for Workgroup or Professional servers. Those who have purchased under these programmes and wish to move to a successive edition or language version will have to purchase it new.)
Open Value
Select
EA
CRM Live (see comments above)
BRL ERP Advanced Management and BRL Academic Alliance
ISV Royalty
SPLA
and System Builder
Does anyone have/know where to find the official powerpoint presentaion for Miscrosoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 ?