by Janet Kahr | The Microsoft Azure Partner Community is led by National Partner Technology Strategists from the Microsoft US Partner Team. Partner Community activities include blog posts, discussions on Yammer, newsletters, and community calls. |
Over the past year, Microsoft executive keynotes and presentations to partners have increasingly included an emphasis on Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, encouraging partners to seriously evaluate adding CRM Online to their Microsoft practices. Cloud and hybrid cloud services are expected to reach more than $127 billion by 2018 (2014 IDC study commissioned by Microsoft), with opportunities that are not limited to Microsoft Azure and Office 365, but extend to CRM Online.
The transformation Microsoft has made to being a mobile first, cloud first company offers new opportunities for partners to identify and pursue new cloud-oriented revenue streams for their business. The two graphics below show that cloud-focused partners are growing more rapidly and more profitably than their counterparts with traditional IT businesses, and that the growth of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online is significantly outpacing Microsoft Dynamics CRM on-premises, presenting partners with a clear cloud opportunity.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online helps sales, marketing, and customer care teams at an organization work as one to deliver personal experiences across every customer interaction of their business. The suite of services offered includes CRM, Marketing, Customer Service, and Social Engagement functionality.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online can go beyond sales force automation as a development platform that helps you deliver differentiated and compelling online customer experiences. This is referred to as xRM. At the heart of these systems of engagement are meaningful line of business (LOB) applications that become key business processes, and help customers compete and win. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online offers Microsoft customers a consistent platform to build additional LOB applications, and also allows them to extend traditional Sales Force Automation (SFA) solutions for specific industries and verticals.
[download the above IDC infographic, Benefits at the Intersection of CRM and Cloud]
By combining CRM Online with Microsoft Azure, which offers world-class cloud computing power, you find the platform to create powerful line of business applications. One of the key selling points of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online is that it isn’t just a sales productivity solution but an integrated, standardized, development platform that a company can quickly utilize as the need arises for line of business applications in the support of key business processes. This platform can be used in combination with Azure to deliver innovative solutions that will delight your customers.
Partners with a Microsoft Azure practice today are well positioned to expand their practice to include CRM Online as a part of an integrated application platform that allows them to rapidly deliver functional solutions that are secure and mobile. They can also deliver a comprehensive productivity solution that includes Office 365, CRM Online, Power BI, and Skype for Business.
While some partners will build practices that deliver the cloud end-to-end—from Cloud Platform to Cloud Productivity and Enterprise Social to Business Intelligence and Productivity—many Azure partners will likely specialize in developing repeatable IP integrated with Azure. This IP can become key business processes that differentiate their client’s offerings attracting new business growth. Leveraging Microsoft CRM Online as a development platform will allow these Azure partners to more quickly be able to create systems of engagement that delight customers and keep ongoing maintenance costs lower.
 | In the Microsoft Azure Partner Community blog series and call for May, we’ll help you learn more about CRM Online and why you should consider adding it to your Azure practice. Register for the May 21 community call. Our next blog post in this series will include examples about how CRM Online and Microsoft Azure work can work together. |
CRM Online partner resources
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online on the partner portal
- Partnership journey with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online
- Cloud SureStep for Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online
- Microsoft Dynamics Cloud Partner Profitability Guide
- Internal use rights guide for Microsoft Dynamics CRM and CRM Online
- Recommended training for Sales, Marketing, and Technical roles
- Modern Biz | Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online marketing campaign
CRM Online product information
- Test Drive Microsoft Dynamics CRM
- Product release information for Spring 2015
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM pricing and licensing